100 Things About Me

Having been inspired by my dear friend Martha, I have decided to post my very own list of 100 things about me. Please let me know if you find something of particular interest in this gathering of opinions and mostly trivial biographical information. These are not necessarily listed in any particular order.

1. I'm officially 9 months pregnant tomorrow. And yet I have a month till my due date. Go figure.

2. I met my darling husband on the internet almost 7 1/2 years ago - back when it was not very common to do so.

3. In high school I took 4 years of French, 2 years of German and a year of Spanish. I did NOT, however, take any math higher than Algebra II.

4. My current favorite TV show is "Battlestar Galactica". This is the new version on the SciFi channel, and is about 100x better than the cheesy 70s version.

5. I have 3 cats (Max, Millie and Maggie) and a dog (Hershey). I am worried about how they'll handle having a baby in the house.

6. I've been living in the south since November 1998, but I'm a born and bred Yankee. Folks down here still don't know how to take me sometimes.

7. Watching shows like "Babies: Special Delivery" make me feel simultaneously educated and terrified. I'm aware of all the things that could happen, so I feel aware, but I'm scared that some of those things will happen to me.

8. I'm serving as the Director of Children's Ministry at my church. I took the job a week before I got pregnant. Little did I know I'd be immediately starting my own personal children's ministry so soon after accepting the position.

9. I have one brother, Jason, who is 6 years younger than me. He and I have very divergent personalities and interests.

10. My degree from Millersville University in PA is a BA in Political Science. I haven't used this degree for work since October 1998.

11. Paul (my husband) and I honeymooned in NY and New England. My two favorite memories are going to the Culinary Institute of America for lunch, and visiting the Ben & Jerry's plant in Vermont. (Interesting that they are both food-related.)

12. I have never in my life been accused of being skinny. Weight has always been an issue for me, but at 36 weeks, I am still under my pre-pregnancy weight by 8 pounds. The doctor says as long as the baby is growing, he's not concerned.

13. I love to do sign language to music at church. And from the responses I usually get, folks like to see it, too.

14. I love to paint, but I'm really not very good at it. I consider it more therapeutic than anything else.

15. I loathe cleaning. I only do it because once it's done, I feel better.

16. My favorite meal is roast beef, mashed potatoes w/gravy, green beans, sweet tea and chocolate cheesecake for dessert. YUM.

17. My husband and I have moved 7 times in less than 7 years. I can't stand the thought of another move anytime soon, but sometimes I don't get my way.

18. I have never broken a bone, but my mom didn't break a bone till she was 40, so I may get there one day too.

19. I think I accidentally threw out my high school senior year book. Oops. Oh well, I didn't get along too well with a lot of those folks anyway.

20. In high school as well as in college, the classes I did the best in were the classes taught by my favorite teachers. I figure there must be a correlation.

21. While I'm not really a big fan of antique furniture, we sure have a LOT of it. It's inherited from my husband's family.

22. I think that no matter how nervous my husband is about becoming a father, he's going to be fabulous at it. I just hope he accepts that no one does it perfectly.

23. After having read the blogs of other folks, I wish mine were wittier. I do the best I can, but I'm not nearly as funny as some others I've seen.

24. My great aunt Ethel died 2 days ago. She was 89, and I don't remember what she looked like. She lived in Arizona for most of her life.

25. I had a baby shower today, hosted by friends from church. They gave me the leftover cake - it equals a quarter-sheet. Gadzooks, that's a lot of cake.

26. I am nowhere near ready for this whole parenthood thing. But then again, is anyone, really?

27. Someday my husband and I would like to live just outside Nashville, TN. It's pretty expensive around those parts, so we'll see.

28. I've been to both US coasts, but never to a Midwestern state. I'd like to go to Texas someday, hopefully when it's not too hot.

29. I'm more addicted to TV than I would dare admit to most of my friends. I intend to work on this after the baby is born.

30. I haven't had any good Greek food in years, and I'd really like to have some. But sadly, there are no Greek restaurants where I live.

31. In college, I was very active in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and served as the worship leader for several years. I miss those folks a lot and I wish someone would organize some sort of reunion. I live to far away to do that myself.

32. I have reached the point in this pregnancy where I get hungry all the time, but when I eat, I get full very quickly. This makes it seem like I'm eating 24/7, and it's getting old.

33. I completely fail to see the point in TV shows like South Park and Trippin' the Rift. It takes very little talent to do sick humor, in my opinion.

34. My 21st birthday was celebrated in the middle of a farmer's field in Germany. I was a missionary and was on a bicycle camping trip. The campers all circled my tent at the stroke of midnight and sang to me. I told them that since I was born in America, it really wasn't my birthday yet. They didn't care.

35. My husband and I tried to conceive for 4 1/2 years, and after the first year we conceived but suffered a miscarriage. It was awful.

36. The first secular rock concert I ever attended was Nelson, Lynch Mob and Cinderella. My taste in music got better, I promise.

37. Speaking of music, my husband has hooked me on the band Rush. I've been to two of their concerts and thoroughly enjoyed them both.

38. As a kid, I hated having an August birthday because we could never celebrate it in my school classroom with a party.

39. I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was about 7 yrs old. I really started to grow as a Christian in my teen years.

40. When I was a very young kid, my parents had a vacation trailer in Delaware. One day at the beach I swam into a huge swarm of jellyfish and was stung so badly that my mom rolled me in sand to pull out the poison. I'm still petrified of jellyfish.

41. I have 4 weeks till my due date and I still haven't packed my bag for the hospital OR bought a carseat. I'm beginning to panic.

42. I don't have any in-laws. Both Paul's folks passed away, and he's an only child. There are times this makes me sad, and other times, I am relieved.

43. I have no tattoos, but I know exactly what I'd get and where I'd put it if I ever got drunk or brave enough. :) But I'm not telling.

44. I stopped dying my hair when I got pregnant. My hair was long at the time, so I got it cut, and now I remember what my real hair color is. Boring.

45. I miss my grandmother (on my mom's side). I never had to question how much she loved me, and I know if she were still alive (and in good mental health) she'd be thrilled about me having a baby.

46. Now that I'm an adult, I revel in the fact that no one can force me to eat things I don't like, such as liver with onions or stewed tomatoes.

47. I firmly believe that if gas prices get any higher, we're not going to be able to afford going anywhere but to work, church, the doctor and the grocery store. Today the lowest price per gallon is $2.53/gallon.

48. I don't think I have a singularly favorite movie. I have favorites among genres. I wonder if these means I watch too many movies.

49. I will miss the show "Six Feet Under" when it is finished - even though I probably shouldn't be watching it to begin with, because it's not exactly the purest show on TV.

50. I used to make cabinet doors for a living. I'd have never imagined me doing that kind of work, and I'm not sure I'd want to do it again.

51. At church, I participate in a group of people who help plan each church service. It's fun because we get to come up with creative ways to express the point each Sunday.

52. I cannot stand beauty pageants. I think they're ridiculous displays of boobs and legs, no matter how much the promoters try to convince us that they're scholarship programs. The degree to which I find them reprehensible is directly proportional to how young the contestants are.

53. I played field hockey when I was in 10th grade. I was the goalie, and it was by far my best year of high school. Apparently, sports can do that for a person.

54. I have developed an affinity for contemporary country music. I'm not much for the older stuff, but I like a lot of what is coming out now.

55. I love both episodes of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. They are hilarious, especially if you have ever lived in the south.

56. My father was actually interested in my mom's sister first, but when she didn't show him any attention and my mom did, he switched gears and soon mom and dad were married.

57. Only once in my life have I been drunk enough to throw up. It was very unpleasant; hence, it happened only once.

58. When I was a kid, I lost control of my bike and fell at a high rate of speed while going down a hill. I had 7 stitches in my chin, and because I was wearing a halter top, I had to have gravel picked out of my tummy.

59. Some of my favorite memories from my teenage years involve my church youth group and especially my best friend Kristin.

60. My parents took me to the movies when I was about 4. The movie we saw? Jaws. I spent most of it with my head covered by my mom's sweater.

61. I have never seen so many pink clothes as I have at my 3 baby showers. I really REALLY hope the ultrasound techs were right.

62. We are not naming our baby girl until we see her. I'm too afraid of declaring her name now and then changing my mind after she's born, and I really didn't want any wrongly-embroidered baby items.

63. Only once has a flight I've taken been cancelled. I got stuck in Atlanta overnight with no luggage at 7 months pregnant. Definitely a low point of this pregnancy.

64. I am fairly sick of people thinking and acting like life is all about them. Haven't they seen all the other people walking around?

65. For the life of me, I cannot neatly fold a contour sheet of any size. My mom insists it's easy, but I am still having trouble.

66. On my last birthday, which just passed on Aug. 10, I turned 34. I feel a lot younger than that.

67. I do not like jazz, especially free-form or fusion. I just don't get it.

68. By marriage to Paul, I am related to the 2nd Vice President of the United States, William Rufus King. Apparently he was gay and was involved with James Buchanan. So I'm not sure I should be proud of this.

69. The first time I saw the movie "Sister Act", it was in Germany, and therefore dubbed in German. I still understood most of it.

70. It freaks me out a little to see shows I remember on prime time TV now being featured on the TV Land network. It makes me feel really old.

71. I am really scared of labor, but I think at this point I'm more scared of that giant needle they use to administer the epidural. I have no idea what I'm about to deal with.

72. I was a pretty good kid in school. Never got detention - never even got sent to the principal's office. Boring, huh?

73. While I found TV shows like "Friends" and "Seinfeld" funny, I never saw it as "appointment TV". I'm thankful for this, because now if I catch these shows in syndication, they're actually interesting.

74. The only thing I've ever won in a raffle was a Thanksgiving turkey. I was about 8 years old.

75. I refer to Christmas of 1993 as "The Christmas from Hell". We spent that Christmas in a hunting cabin in northern PA. It was freezing cold, we had at least 2 feet of snow, and the cabin has no running water. On top of that, my grandfather got sick and couldn't make it to the outhouse, so he'd just "whip it out" in front of anyone in the room.

76. It annoys me when people drive their shopping carts like they drive their cars - with no indication that they recognize they are sharing the aisle with others.

77. When I was a kid I saw the movie "The Shining". It scared me so badly that I truly thought I saw those two little girls at the end of the hallway in our house. I didn't sleep all night that night.

78. When I'm choosing paint colors for our house, I get really nervous about making the right decision. In some strange immature part of my subconscious, I'm worried that my mother will not approve of my choices. Crazy, huh?

79. I don't make casseroles, largely because I don't know how. I can follow a recipe for one if I have it, but I wouldn't even know where to start to make one on my own.

80. My eyes are blue, and I think they are my favorite thing about my appearance.

81. This pregnancy has been very easy - almost no morning sickness or strange cravings. No high blood pressure or gestational diabetes. Just some round ligament pain every now and then. I feel very blessed.

82. I play guitar and piano, but neither of them well. I like to sing, but I'm not sure how good I am at that, either.

83. My grandparents on my mother's side used to play music for square dances. They spent almost every Saturday night out playing when my mom was a kid.

84. We have a place on a lake in Alabama, and most times, I'd rather be there than wherever I currently am. It's beautiful and very relaxing.

85. I HATE those Enzyte "Smilin' Bob" commercials. They are hokey and in poor taste.

86. I am a fan of University of Alabama football, largely because my husband is a graduate of U of A, and once you cross the line into the state of Alabama, you have to declare allegiance to either U of A or AU (Auburn University).

87. I've never seen the Godfather movies. Never had an interest in them, honestly. Not my style.

88. I think Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have great on-screen chemistry. Hollywood has yet to find a comparable couple from the next generation.

89. Fall is my favorite season. I love the smell of woodsmoke and the crispness in the air.

90. I love college towns. There's just an air of adventure, learning and fun. Maybe when I get older I won't like them so much, but for now I really prefer that environment.

91. I like chatting online, but I don't think people should be rude online just becaues they can hide behind a screen name. I act online the way I act in real life.

92. When people are ignorant enough to call me "fat" to my face, I want to say "Yeah, I may be fat, but I can lose weight. What are you gonna do about being ugly?"

93. In some ways I'm glad I'm having my first child at 34, because this has given me time to observe other parents and make decisions about what seems to work and what doesn't regarding parenting styles. I've learned a lot from watching my friends.

94. I really wish I were the type of person who always has a smile and a cheery comment, but I tend to express any emotion I'm having very obviously. This may be my downfall someday.

95. I really love my husband. He's my best friend, and anytime anything happens in my life, he's the one I want to talk to about it.

96. I'm really scared about raising a child in today's culture. When I see kids out there and what they're faced with, I see how much worse it is than it was for me, and I pray hard for wisdom and guidance to help my child navigate the confusing path to adulthood.

97. I get really nervous dealing with the elderly. I don't know how to talk to them. I think it may be because the elderly sometimes say whatever they are thinking, no matter how rude, because they figure they're old enough to not care, and I've had my feelings hurt by older folks.

98. Christmas is my favorite holiday. There's just something fun about the atmosphere. This doesn't mean, however, that I like it when the holiday decorations come out before Halloween. That's a little ridiculous.

99. As much as I like attention, when I'm the center of it, I never know how to act or what to say. I'm always afraid I'm making a fool of myself.

100. It took me about 5 hours, off and on, to complete this list.

Well, there ya go. If you read the whole thing, kudos to you!