25 Random Things about Me

Late last week, two of my friends tagged me on their list of 25 Random Things on FaceBook and asked me to reciprocate. As I started working on my list, it seemed like it would be more aptly titled An Incomplete List of My Neuroses, but I decided to take one for the team and post it. And I'm sort of cheating by re-posting it here as a blog entry, but there you have it. Without further ado ...


25 Random Things About Me (in no particular order)

1. I have gotten two tickets in my 20-year driving career: one for speeding (in NC on the way to Grayson’s dad’s house at 2 a.m. on Thanksgiving Eve 1998); and one for running a stop sign (near my apartment when I was late to an internship interview in college in May 1994). The speeding ticket was legitimate. The stop sign ticket was not.

2. I’m only at Number 2 and I’m already having trouble coming up with things because practically everything I think comes tumbling right out of my mouth. ARE there things that people don’t know about me?

3. I am a huge fan of blogs. I read about 30 a day, split between mommy blogs, daddy blogs, daily photo blogs, and people whose writing styles I just love. Last summer I actually went to the home of a woman whose blog I’ve read for a couple of years, and I met some NEW bloggers to connect with. SO. MUCH. FUN.

4. Meats and vegetables are just a means to an end. I will eat them for my meal so I feel like I’ve earned dessert. If I could just eat desserts all the time and nothing else, I would choose that.

5. I have to build a nest every time I go to a public bathroom. I’ve just seen too many things I didn’t want to see, and I feel like I have no choice but to put a couple of layers between Me and That.

6. I would like to have another baby (“just one more”) in a couple of years.

7. I don’t read books more than once. No, not even the good ones. I had to read Huck Finn twice, though, once each in high school and college. It was the exact same book both times.

8. I read Pillars of the Earth last year when I was pregnant with Jake because my OB asked me to and said it was one of the best books on the planet. I may never take his word for anything again.

9. I don't like watching sports and have never seen a playoff game of any kind in any sport. I have, however, accidentally seen a couple of quarters of a few Super Bowls.

10. Other than my blog and watching TV, scrapbooking is my main hobby. I’ve completed 27 scrapbooks for our family spanning from 1987 to the present, and 13 more as gifts for other people.

11. I don’t watch movies more than once. In the past, I saw Total Recall, Shawshank Redemption and The American President three times each, and I have seen parts of Pretty Woman and Rudy more times than I can count because of repeated TV airings. But in general, most entertainment doesn’t bear repetition for me.

12. Number 11 also applies to TV shows.

13. Including all the members of our family, we have over 100 Season Passes on our TiVo. Yes, it IS a sickness.

14. I hate working out and I hate dieting. That is a bad combination.

15. I count backward from 100 every night to put myself to sleep. The quickest I’ve ever fallen asleep was at 98. The longest it’s taken was the night I had to count from 100 to 0 four times.

16. I have to have at least two hours of Alone Time every day, so I stay up until midnight or 1 a.m. every night.

17. My favorite thing to do with my kids is go hiking in The Preserve near our house.

18. I have a freakish ability to spell well and remember the meanings of obscure words. Those things don’t come in handy nearly as often as you’d think.

19. In the kitchen, I have to clean up as I go. The second the brownies go in the oven, you’d never know I made them if it weren’t for the smell of them baking. (I was going to say, “The second the chicken goes in the oven,” BUT WE ALL KNOW BETTER.)

20. A meal without bread of some kind is a meal wasted.

21. I sing well and was among the best in the state in high school, but I absolutely won’t perform in front of anyone.

22. My favorite TV shows are Lost, The Office, Brothers & Sisters and Grey's. I also like Gossip Girl and shout it loud and proud.

23. I believe I am really good at gift-giving.

24. If I could go back to school … well, wait a minute. I guess I COULD, but I never WOULD. Hated it the first time, endured it to get that degree, never going back. Already dreading when Nathaniel surpasses my math skills in third grade.

25. I leave myself voicemail messages at work every day. Otherwise, I’ll never remember to do anything. I think my personal record was coming in one Monday, having 14 voice messages – all from myself – and being so thankful I’d done it because I didn’t remember the content of A SINGLE ONE.