100 Things About Me

Thanks to Corinne for this fun idea.

1. I am actually very shy, but I have worked hard to overcome it and most people are surprised to find out how hard it is for me to connect with people.
2. I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah in August sometime in the mid-sixties.
3. I moved to Maryland when I was 4. I have no conscious childhood memories of living in Utah and proudly consider myself a Merliner. (That's Marylander in a Merlin accent)
4. When I went to school at BYU, Utah felt like home and now I love to go back there as often as I can.
5. People in Maryland thought I talked funny when I was growing up and would ask me to say words out loud.
6. People in Utah thought I talked funny when I went there for college. They would ask me to say words out loud.
7. I love the history of this area and the knowledge I that I grew up with as second nature about the settling of America.
8. I love the green trees and rolling hills of the east coast.
9. I love the beach, with special fondness for wild beaches like Assateague Island or parts of the Outer Banks, and rocky beaches like Maine and the Oregon coast.
10. My hair color is the only thing about my appearance that I genuinely like so I am reluctant to color it. I hope I will go gray gracefully.
11. I hate humidity, in spite of #3.
12. I love my hair to be long. I somehow feel more like myself when it is long.
13. I used to sew all my own clothes and all my children's clothes. I have made jeans. With rivets and little coin pockets. I think that is one of the definitions of insanity in some medical textbook somewhere.
14. I stopped sewing for my kids when my daughter refused (at the age of 3) to wear a hand-smocked dress that took me about 100 hours to make.
15. I love getting older. I would never want to be 16 again. Not even to have that body.
16. My favorite magazine is National Geographic. It is my window to the world.
17. I love maps.
18. I have an innate sense of direction (maybe from looking at all those maps) and very seldom get lost, or if I do, I can figure out how to get found pretty easily.
19. I have been an Apple computer user since 1984. We didn't own a PC until about 4 years ago, and now it barely gets used. The current crop of Apple commercials is some of the best television I've seen in years.
20. I do not feel 40 and am often surprised at the face I see in the mirror.
21. I am curious about everything and love research. If I went back to school, one of the many majors I would consider is Library Science.
22. I have a creepily good memory for many things.
23. I have considered myself a photographer since I was 13 and my dad bought a really nice Minolta SLR camera. I used it more than he did.
24. I love music more than almost anything else I do, but it is the thing I have the least natural talent for. I play the piano and fiddle and sing, but none of them well enough to perform.
25. We have owned 4 Hondas in our 20 years of marriage. We owned a Toyota minivan only because the Odyssey had not yet been released in 1991 when we needed to buy one. We own a Ford truck only because the Honda Pilot had not been released in 2000 when we needed a bigger car.
26. I learned to knit when I was 10. I never dreamed how it would impact my life.
27. Designing a sweater on the fly without any notes is one of my favorite things to do.
28. Writing a pattern for said sweater is one of my least favorite things to do. I do occasionally overcome this weakness though, and I am a published designer with about 15 patterns in my catalogue.
28. I am a runner and have completed 1 full marathon and 3 half-marathons.
29. I won a gold medal at the state track championships my senior year as a last minute substitute for our first-string relay team. I never felt like I deserved the medal and tried to give it to the injured girl but she wouldn't take it.
30. I am also a cyclist and have completed 4 hundred-mile rides.
31. In spite of all this physical activity, I haven't been able to lose the weight I gained with my third child 15 years ago. This is the year, though.
32. The reason for #31 is that I love to cook. And eat. Especially chocolate.
33. I cry at the drop of a hat-commercials, blogs, poems, you name it.
34. I love computers and gadgets and technology but did not like carrying a PDA. I prefer a calendar and a freshly-sharpened pencil.
35. I am, however, lusting after the iPhone--it looks so cool!
36. I was a slob as a teenager, but am a puttering clutter-hater as an adult. I am one of those annoying people who will put your glass in the dishwasher before you are finished with it because it was sitting out on the counter.
37. Whenever I think I want to buy new stuff, I look through my old stuff for an equal number of similar items to give away to the Salvation Army (except books). I find this very satisfying and it helps me enjoy the new things so much more. The added bonus is that many times I realize I like my old stuff enough to keep and therefore don't need the new stuff.
38. I am running out of places to put books.
39. I have been a U2 fan since I first saw them on Mtv in 1981. I did not get to see them in concert until 2002, however.
40. I love shopping at thrift stores. Will this still be allowed once Eric makes partner at his law firm?
41. I love my Dyson vacuum, probably because it is British.
42. I love blogging more than I ever thought I would. Item #1 speaks to this. To those of you I know personally, it will still sometimes be hard for me to say hello to you or sit by you in church even though I feel so close to you in other ways. Please forgive me when this happens.
43. Libraries, bookstores, office supply stores and yarn shops are my favorite places to buy things.
44. My literary tastes are a study in contrasts. I enjoy a rousing Naval history novel like Master and Commander or Horatio Hornblower as much as I enjoy Pride and Prejudice or Anne of Green Gables. When M&C came out in theaters, my friend and I were the ONLY women in the audience. And it had Russell Crowe!
45. I love the show Mythbusters. I have the same curiosity as those guys and would LOVE to be able to have the resources to explore things like they do.
46. I am an original Star Wars fan. It came out when I was 11. I can hardly remember life before it.
47. If I had to get a job today, I would want to work for a bank that offers micro-loans to small business start-ups in developing nations. I am very interested in the micro-economic movement and the idea of promoting self-reliance instead of dependence.
48. I read Sports Illustrated from cover to cover every week so I will be able to talk to my sons in their native tongue.
49. I believe that the power to change any society is held in the hands of its women.
50. My desire to be completely out of debt in 8 years (When our youngest graduates high school) has totally overcome any desire I ever had to live in a big, fancy house. I am completely satisfied with my wee home because it will pave the way for future dreams to come true. I truly love our cozy little place.
51. I have 6921 items on my iPod (including audio books, talks and podcasts). This is our entire music colletion starting from the time we got married. I try to listen to everthing at least once a year and weed out the stuff I don't like, but I love music so much that I always end up with more.
52. Over 800 songs on my iPod are folk and traditional music from all over the world, but mainly Celtic.
53. 956 songs are classical music.
54. My favorite cereal is Cocoa Puffs. See #31.
55. I have the ability to be happy in just about any situation. I tend to like the place I'm in and the people I'm with and don't often wish that I was somewhere else or with someone else doing something else.
56. I really enjoy helping people.
57. I do not believe in over-programming kids. One special activity is enough, but even that is not necessary. The work of childhood is play.
58. I do believe that teenagers should be busy. A teenager with time on his hands is asking for trouble.
59. I believe Legos are the best toy. Ever.
60. I did well in high school, but did not work hard.
61. I wish I did not need to sleep because even though I like to stay up late, I also like the early morning.
62. I believe it is okay for children to be bored once in a while and have to figure it out without my help.
63. I believe that providing responsibilities, opportunities for work and chances for problem-solving is the way to instill self-esteem in a person, not endless praise.
64. I believe it is healthy to fail at things and try again. This also applies to kids. I think it is okay for them to fail occasionally in connection with their decisions. I would rather my child get a poor grade because of poor effort and maybe learn a lesson rather than me bail them out just to get a good grade.
65. I hate to fail and have to try again. But I really do think its healthy.
66. I like Levi's 501 Button-Fly Shrink-to-fit blue jeans. I am breaking in a new pair now. I will wear them for 5 years.
67. I like to drive a manual transmission.
68. I love motorcycles and would buy one except for the fact that I am aware of the statistics and feel it would be irresponsible as a mother of 5.
69. #68 says a lot about my personality. I have a huge wild, happy-go-lucky streak and love to take risks and be impulsive, but I am hyper-responsible and repress my impulses continually. Driving with the windows down and the radio up loud is a habit that indulges my wild streak.
70. I like roller coasters but hate the ride up, especially on the new really tall super-coasters. I've been on Superman at Six Flags and the ride up almost did me in but as soon as we got going I was fine.
71. I read the endings of books and it does not mitigate my enjoyment of the book at all.
72. I wear mostly clogs and birkenstocks due to my extrmemly wide, short feet. I love pretty shoes but am getting old enough to allow comfort to trump vanity. Crocs and Keen are my two new favorite shoes. They are not pretty but they sure feel good.
71. I knit my own socks and currently have about 6 pair in rotation.
72. My favorite time-waster computer games are mine sweeper, tetris and text twist.
73. I love to play around with Google Earth and Google Maps.
74. I read dictionaries and encyclopedias.
75. I am terrible at strategic games like chess and Risk.
76. I am good at Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble and Pictionary.
77. I want to drive the Pacific Coastal Highway (101) in a convertible someday. Or on a Motorcycle.
78. I have visited or driven through 46 states. I am only missing Alaska, the Dakotas and Minnesota. I have never been to Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa or the US Virgin islands either. I think there are a couple other protectorates but I can't remember what they are.
79. My original plan for college was to become a physical or occupational therapist.
80. My most-read and re-read books as a kid were the Laura Ingalls Wilder books (Little House on the Prairie) and EB White's children's books (Trumpet of the Swan was my favorite of those).
81. I love Greek Mythology.
82. I use my crock pot 3-4 times a week.
83. I love to make homemade bread but don't do it often because I like to use the sponge method and it takes about 24 hours.
84. Warm bread with butter and honey is one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten.
85. I tried Pate de Fois Gras once and did not love it. It was okay.
86. I tried Caviar once and did not love it. It was okay.
87. I like chocolate chip cookies chewy and warm, almost not done and right out of the oven.
88. I love really cold milk.
89. I am an iNFp (Healer Idealist) in the Brigg-Myers Personality test. I get the same result every time I take the test and the descriptions I find of this personality type are amazingly accurate overviews of my own personality. Maybe it's like horoscopes and I just see myself, but it is still exceedingly interesting to me. Especially the fact that two of my siblings have the same profile.
90. I love to share. Nothing makes me happier than when someone can use something I have. When I was a kid, I would literally give stuff away before my parents could stop me. It would be easier for me to let a stranger borrow my car than to strike up a conversation with them.
91. I know how to spin my own yarn. Spinning is relaxing and meditative-I could do it for hours.
92. I love dogwood trees. Right now the wild trees in the woods look like flocks of butterflies floating among the burgeoning undergrowth.
93. I sunburn almost immediately upon stepping outside.
94. I actually like my freckles.
95. I can reliably make a decent pie-crust.
96. I love to have my bed made and even if the rest of my house is a disaster, the bed is made.
97. I have been unable to convince my children of the value of making their beds.
98. I can't wait to get the mail every day. You just never know what will come!
99. I admire my parents tremendously.
100. I used to feel badly about myself because of my many interests and what I perceived as a lack of focus. Now I value my ability to turn from one thing to another with ease, to be adaptable and curious and to enjoy just about every minute of life because it is all so interesting to me.