100 Things About Me

In honor of my 100th post, here are the 100 things that make me who I am. Who knew it would be so hard to come up with interesting things?

1. I am totally a cat person.


2. I am an expert at cutting cat claws.
   


3. I try to like dogs, but their owners are usually the turnoff.


4. I am married to a Swedish guy.


5. I tell people I chose a great lifepartner, but I secretly still cannot believe how lucky I was that he chose me.


6. I travelled to Croatia to meet and visit with "long-lost cousins" on the family tree. Neither of whom I had ever met or seen a picture of.


7. I stayed in their houses with them. By myself.


8. I have my MS in Linguistics. I dare anyone to contradict me about raising my children in a bilingual household.


9. I name LittleBird after my best friend.


10. Now we are kind of on the outs even though she doesn't really know it.


11. My absolute favorite floral scent is lilac. It will literally stop me in my tracks when I smell it.


12. I am terribly judgmental when it comes to things I consider cultural or educational givens. If you do not know what VENI VIDI VICI means or who said it, I will privately think you are a total moron and respect you less for it.


13. That being said, I am horrified by how much of a brainsuck my children have been. I hope I will start to remember all the facts and figures I used to know, but I am afraid they permanently killed those brain cells.


14. My first car was a Cimarron. I still love that car.


15. I have endometriosis. If you ask me the story, you are in for a good 15-20 minute monologue, so make sure you really want to know before you ask.


16. I went through a phase as a pre-teen/teenager where my hair became so curly I could not brush it. Now it is straight again. Go figure.


17. In the fifth grade I wanted to be an astronaut. People told me I couldn't be an astronaut because I was a girl.


18. I wanted to be a marine biologist when I went to college. A 42 on my first university calculus test made me re-evaluate my goals.


19. I took the super-hard courses in high school: Pre-Cal and Anyalsis instead of Senior Math. I took things like Physics, Chemistry, AP English. Now I wish I had been more social and studied less. What the hell was I thinking?


20. I want to learn Russian.


21. I speak some Swedish, but I think I suck at it.


22. My in-laws underestimate how much I do understand, and I have caught my MIL in lies.


23. I grew up in the Mojave desert, and I am still a dry heat kind of girl.


24. I still think seeing a Joshua Tree at sunset is one of the most beautiful sights on earth.


25. I love the smell of rain, and will walk in a rain storm if I can.
    


26. I currently live more than a mile above sea level.


27. That means I am a legitimate member of the Mile High Club.


28. My favorite author as a child was Piers Anthony. His books fundamentally changed the way I looked at the world.


29. My favorite author is Howard Pyle. His two works that take my breath away are Marooned and The Mermaid. The size online does not do them justice.
    


30. Reeds that grow in lakes absolutely terrify me.


31. As a child, I thought I was going to drown while swimming in a lake near a patch of them. I managed to make it to the surface, and no one had realized I was in trouble. I think that is what did it.


32. One of my favorite poems is by Stevie Smith, Not Waving But Drowning. Not related to #29, obviously. But the first time I read this poem as a teenager it hit me like a fist in the stomach.
    


33. My sister and I are not friends. It is something I truly regret, but do not know how to fix.


34. We went to the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon.


35. I have to make my sandwiches in a certain order.
    


36. My favorite dessert is a hot, fudgy brownie topped with cherry pie filling and vanilla ice cream.


37. My favorite food is Mexican.


38. I don't have a favorite holiday anymore. It used to be Halloween, but I am currently between holidays.


39. I went to parochial school for 10 years


40. I believe uniforms for kids are excellent


41. I had a friend who died of Cystic Fibrosis when I was in the 8th grade.


42. I worked at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. And I got paid for it.


43. I was a bag handler for a major airline one summer.


44. I am lucky I didn't lose a finger, and I will never let my daughter do something like that.


45. My dad still thinks that is the best job I ever had.


46. I have taught both high school and college courses.


47. I don't have any friends left from high school or college.


48. I once flew jump seat from Stockholm to Paris.
    


49. I used to sleep over at my Gramma's house and we would watch Alien together.


50. Her mind has slipped a lot in the last few years. I miss the Gramma that was my best friend.
    


51. I smoked my first cigarette with my Gramma when I was in my twenties.


52. I got buzzed for the first time with my great uncle at her house.


53. I still have dreams that I am in college and I either have a test I haven't studied for, or I am enrolled in a class that I did not know I was enrolled in and now I am failing it.


54. I once flew to D.C. for the day to have lunch, went the Smithsonian for the afternoon then flew home that night.


55. I had a successful VBAC. And yes, I think that makes me a badass.


56. I did my VBAC without an epidural, and now part of me wonders what the fuck I was thinking.
    


57. I was huge into the swing dance movement in the late 90's. I would go to class with huge bruises on the backs of my knees and arms from all the flips. My students thought I was nuts.


58. I think Bryan Adams has written some of the most amazing lyrics.
59. I love love love to cook.


60. My children will grow up to love some version of Star Trek. I want them to learn to dream big.


61. I was big into genealogy before I had kids.


62. I wear glasses/contacts.


63. I can play guitar.


64. My oldest girlfriend from the first grade came to my son's baptism and sang.


65. My husband is my best friend.


66. I started dancing at 3 years old and danced through my first year of college.
    


67. I learned to drink both coffee and tea for cultural reasons.


68. I am a night person.


69. I was a Who's Who for my university


70. I love to go barefoot


71. I am ashamed of how my feet look


72. I rode on the equestrian team for my university


73. I got my undergrad in History.


74. I would take a history class every semester for the rest of my life if I could.


75. My final exam for History of the Roman Empire was one of the most stressful and difficult things I have ever done.
    


76. I think I am one of the most dedicated, creative and kickass high school history teachers out there.


77. Which is why I cannot go back and teach while my kids are young.


78. Two of my favorite films are Seven Brides For Seven Brothers and Calamity Jane (with Doris Day).
    


79. If I have to exercise, I prefer to swim.


80. My taste in music could be described as eclectic (or the musical library of a madwoman).


81. I have had four abdominal surgeries, including my c-section.


82. I can never have a manicure or have my nails painted.


83. I have always wanted to get my tongue pierced, but never had the balls to do it.


84. I do not have any tattoos, but both of my cats do.


85. I want hubbie to get a piercing, but he won't.


86. I worked as a pharmacy tech.


87. I once filled a Rx for a man with leprosy.


88. I swear like a sailor, and I love it.


89. I am a stay at home mom, for now.


90. My husband works a mile away from our home.


91. I wrote for one of my college newspapers for a while.


92. I love to tell nasty jokes. The nastier the better.


93. I cannot hold my liquor, so I rarely drink.


94. I do not drink anything carbonated.


95. I got my first and only speeding ticket on my dad's 50th birthday.


96. I was in two musical productions for our city: Paint Your Wagon and The Desert Song. And I can't sing for shit.
    


97. I hate country music, but I love Hank Sr.


98. I had braces in high school, and I still wear my retainers at night.


99. I am afraid of clowns. I think they are evil motherfuckers and want them to stay the hell away from me.


100. I have an emotional and psychological aversion to macaroni and cheese.

That is my Top 100! Whew! Thanks for sticking with me!