100 Things

1. I dated my husband John for a year, then broke up with him for six and a half years, and then got back together with him and (eventually) married him.
2. I think that #1 worked out quite well in the end and use it to remind myself that tough stuff is often worth going through.
3. I like order, and people frequently refer to me as “organized.”  You would not be able to discern this fact by my bedside table, my desk at work, or the general state of my clothes closet.
4. If I could, I would have about fifteen animals, including a pack of dogs, a couple of horses, and a miniature bunny.  As it is, we have a “zoo” of 2 cats and one dog.
5. I've done Yoga for about ten years.  My mom got me into it.
6. People are generally surprised to find out I do Yoga.  I don't “look like” a Yogini, apparently.
7. I can usually ease their minds on this fact by doing something that proves I am flexible.
8. I'm not proud of the fact that I have this desire to prove my Yogini-ness.
9. For someone who calls herself a knitter, I have a woefully small stash.
10. I'm frequently doing something about that.
11. I've been a homeowner since 1998. 
12. I have had three homes since then, but have moved six times. 
13. I hate moving, and temporary housing is awful, especially if the prior tenant was a smoker.
14. We got a puppy when we were in our last temporary apartment.
15. I think this certifies us as clinically insane.
16. Tosh turned out to be a nice dog, despite his clinically insane human parents.
17. I leave most of the cooking to my husband, who is better at it (and likes it more). 
18. I can cook, though.
19. I got a law degree in 1995.
20. I make bread and knit (not at the same time).  These two minor accomplishments seem to impress people a lot more than the law degree.
21. I learned to read music at six, two years after I learned to read.
22. I rarely play the piano anymore, though I get it tuned on a regular basis and think I should play.
23. I hate to “practice.”  If I label it “playing,” it works better.
24. My mother used to bribe me with Jelly Bellies to practice the piano.
25. Perhaps I should put a skein of sock yarn on the piano to encourage me to play.
26. I've lived in the Washington, DC metro area since 1998, with a one-year hiatus in Massachusetts, but still consider myself a “New Englander.”
27. Clearly, you can take the girl out of New Hampshire, but you can't take New Hampshire out of the girl.
28. I hate party politics and usually register as an independent.
29. See #27 for why I don't consider this odd behavior.
30. I have known my best friend since she was four and I was five.  We grew up half a mile from one another, and now we both live in the DC area.
31. I've been a blogger since 2003.
32. I have a love-hate relationship with my writing.
33. I am almost incapable of holding a grudge. 
34. Almost.
35. My parents divorced when I was in law school.
36. I now have a stepbrother.
37. It is very odd to grow up an only child and suddenly have a stepsibling in adulthood.
38. My stepbrother knows exactly how this feels.
39. We get along alarmingly well.
40. I want to learn to spin and received a drop-spindle kit as a gift from the friend who taught me to knit.
41. I have no capacity for learning to spin from written instructions and internet video.
42. I tried.  Really, I did.
43. I don't belong to an organized religion.
44. I resent being told that I should.
45. Yes, someone related to me really did voice that opinion once.
46. Yes, he's still in perfect health.
47. I don't do guilt trips: I don't take them, and I don't give out tickets.
48. I can't stand phrases like, “Look what you made me do,” or “I can't help it.”
49. Yes, I believe very firmly in personal responsibility.  Why do you ask?
50. I also don't like phrases like, “Everybody likes _____.”  That sort of statement is so demonstrably false, it beggars belief.
51. I love phrases like, “it beggars belief,” or “I was well chuffed,” or “she was gobsmacked.”
52. Yes, I like British accents too.
53. No, that does not make me pretentious.
54. I haven't been to Europe in four years.
55. #54 startles the hell out of me when I think about it.
56. I am really close to my mom.
57. I really love the fact that my husband not only understands this, but really likes her too.
58. When Mom comes to stay, John and I frequently argue over who gets to pick her up from the airport.
59. This is one of the few running arguments that John and I have.
60. I can live with #58-59 quite happily.
61. Between December of 2002 and fall of 2005, I took a new job, sold a house, bought a house, moved, got a dog, got married, volunteered to be laid off from my job, spent 18 months un/self-employed, and finally got re-employed (full time) again.
62. A lot of #61 was terribly difficult, looking back on it.
63. I love to read.
64. I love to sleep.
65. One of my favorite things to do during the weekends as a teenager was to read late into the night until I was ready to go to sleep, then wake up in the morning, roll over, and pick up my book again.
66. I haven't done that in a long time.
67. I hate disappointing people, and parental disappointment proved to be the worst/most effective punishment I could receive when I was young.
68. I am baffled by intentional cruelty.
69. I used to ride horses and owned a horse from age 10-18.
70. I grew up in a little town where owning a horse was a reasonably normal event for all sorts of people and still have a hard time with the concept of automatically equating horse ownership with wealth.
71. On occasion, I could swear that my dog is the reincarnation of my late horse.
72. I can read certain books over and over again, without any diminution of the enjoyment they give me.
73. I once owned a cat I am convinced was autistic.
74. I am terrible at drawing, but really wish I was good at it.
75. I don't understand the veneration of objects that were once owned by famous people.
76. Snakes, heights, and horror movies all scare the bejeezus out of me (no, I won't go see Snakes on a Plane with you.  Stop asking).
77. Actually, despite being afraid of heights, I have no problems with flying or skiing.
78. I loathe heat and humidity.  Don't ask me why I live in the DC area.
79. I have a habit of spontaneously coming out with nonsense words when I'm happy.  “Meef!”  “Quacky!”  I like to think of it as a cheery form of Tourette's.
80. John and I call each other “Bubba.”  We also call the animals “Bubba” and I will sometimes substitute the word “Bubba” for “thingy” or “whatsit,” as in, “Hand me that Bubba over there, will you?”
81. My father tells me that if he cut off my hands, I couldn't speak.  While this is a disturbing image, it's possibly also true.
82. I am often hot, and my husband is often cold, in direct contrast to the usual gender arrangement.
83. I attended two private schools I disliked so much (junior high and college) that I am intentionally on their “lost alumni” lists, because the idea of giving them money now makes me angry and I don't want to be made angry by expensively produced junk mail imploring me to give to their capital campaigns.
84. But I liked (private) high school and law school, for the most part.  (I am aware that this is not normal.)
85. I'm mostly Scandinavian; though most people guess I'm Irish due to my reddish hair and pronounced fondness for the color green.
86. I can't stand St. Patrick's Day, and refuse to wear green on March 17.
87. As hokey as it is, I love Christmas and gift-giving and shop for presents all year long.
88. What all that shopping usually amounts to is 37,000 things for my husband and my mother (the easiest two people on the planet to buy for).
89. My husband got me hooked on Dr. Who.  I got him hooked on Jeeves and Wooster.  We got hooked simultaneously on Farscape, House, and Battlestar Galactica.  I'm not sure who is a bigger geek.
90. Somewhere in early 2006, a lot of people (mostly strangers) started calling me “Mrs. Smith.”  I think this sounds oddly retro.  It also reminds me of when I started shading from “Miss” into “Ma'am.”
91. I have some grey coming in, and I adore my hairdresser for agreeing with me that it currently looks like highlights in my reddish/blondish/light brownish hair.
92. I believe that, on a fundamental level, people do not change.
93. I can wind up into a full-scale rant faster than a rocket car on a desert straightaway and use the phrase, “Don't get me started,” all too often.
94. John claims he loves me both in spite of and because of my ranty predictability.
95. I am rarely ill and am a terrible patient.
96. I mostly hated having roommates (with one notable exception) and loved living alone, but I enjoy living with John so much, it's a bit sickening.
97. My food dislikes are things that most people seem to enjoy quite a bit (see #50) such as peanuts and sweet potatoes, whereas I like things a lot of people find repellent (Brussels sprouts, pickled herring, lima beans).
98. I have had a computer since 1985, but have never owned a PC.
99. I often go for great, long stretches of time without seeing a movie in a movie theatre, though I quite like movies.  I just usually can't be bothered to go.
100. I have worked in biotech for a good many years, and if you had told me in my younger days that I would one day work in a healthcare-related capacity, I would have told you that you were off your trolley.

April 17, 2006