New 100 Things

(updated 12/5/13)

1. I'm sneaking up on 30 and feeling okay about it. The thirties have been pretty good so far. I'm closer to 35 now than 30, but it's okay.

2. I'm married to a great guy. You can call him MB.

3. We have one child, a boy born January 2010. You can call him Nico. Our second boy was born February 2013. You can call him Elliott.

4. We have a flop-eared black Lab / Chow mix dog named Indiana Bones. You can call him Indy. Or Scones. Or Snoopicon.

5. We live in a house with really terrible wallpaper.

6. I love to read.

7. I used to write fiction.

8. I'm not too fond of math.

9. I have a BS in geology and a BA in English with a creative writing emphasis.

10. I like to paint my toenails silver.

11. I have really ugly feet.

12. I don't own any dresses.

13. Or makeup.

14. Or even a brush.

15. I love yoga and I'm still proud of the fact that I could stand on one leg and pull the other foot up behind my head when I was 41 weeks pregnant.

16. I do have photographic proof of this feat.

17. I'm not really into shoes.

18. Or fancy jewelry.

19. Or vampires.

20. I do like dinosaurs, though.

21. And owls.

22. I love stars, both the shape and the kind in the sky.

23. My favorite thing to drink is milk.

24. I don't drink alcohol because it puts me to sleep.

25. If I could only eat one kind of ice cream for the rest of my life, it would be the vanilla bean from the ice cream place where I worked in high school.

26. I like to swim laps and will totally put a lap pool in my mansion if I ever win the lottery.

27. I love to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm.

28. I have an overactive imagination.

29. Despite this, I like to watch paranormal reality shows before I go to bed and then I'm all creeped out and scared to take a shower.

30. My official favorite color has been yellow for as long as I can remember.

31. Don't tell yellow, but I kind of like green better now.

32. I'm adopted.

33. I have one kick-ass younger sister, also adopted.

34. I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 12 and took medication for it until I conceived Nico.

35. I have had glasses since fourth grade.

36. I never played sports.

37. Or took dance. Or gymnastics.

38. I did take years of piano lessons.

39. I also took Taekwondo lessons for seven years.

40. I earned my 2nd degree black belt, but please don't ask me to break any boards.

41. I always wanted to be a paleontologist.

42. When I was halfway through college I changed my mind and decided to be an environmental geologist instead.

43. I'm neither, but I'm pretty happy anyway.

44. I love camping and hiking and canoeing.

45. Not big on birdwatching, I'll admit.

46. Or birds in general. I think it's the erratic flight paths and the gross scritchy bird feet.

47. I have a skull collection. That's not creepy at all, is it?

48. I really like taking photographs.

49. I'm not very artistic, but I'm rather crafty.

50. I'm always late. I apologize, truly.

51. I talk too much.

52. I think pancakes are the perfect meal for any time of day.

53. I like my eggs scrambled.

54. I have a serious weakness for chai tea lattes and cheesecake.

55. I'm not a very good cook.

56. I love to bake.

57. I'm kind of a naturally messy person, but I also have a deep and overdeveloped organizational streak. It's complicated.

58. 13 has always been my favorite number.

59. I was born on Friday the 13th.

60. MB was born on Saturday the 13th.

61. Nico missed being born on Wednesday the 13th by two days. Two days! If only I'd signed up for that induction...

62. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 18 and halfway through my freshman year of college.

63. I didn't get my first car until two years later, at the end of my junior year.

64. I love road trips.

65. I've been to 39 states, not including one that we drove into by accident before turning around and one where I was only in the airport.

66. I've been to Canada twice, but only visited Ontario.

67. I went to England once.

68. I have a really good memory for nerdy facts.

69. I'm also great with movie quotes.

70. I was never good at remembering things from math class.

71. I'm pretty kumbaya and accepting of all creatures, with a few exceptions. Like ticks.

72. And cave crickets.

73. And giant squid.

74. I've never had a broken bone.

75. But now I'm terrified that I've jinxed myself.

76. I don't eat anything made from pigs. I'm back on the bacon wagon. I have no regrets.

77. I'm not a vegetarian.

78. It's a long story.

79. It's not related to the fact that I grew up in a family that's very non-adventurous when it comes to food.

80. I didn't eat tacos or Chinese food until high school.

81. I've still never eaten Brussels sprouts. Or artichokes.

82. I'm not really into sports, and the only pro sport I'll watch is American football.

83. I have naturally curly hair.

84. It was the bane of my existence for years and years.

85. We've mostly made our peace now, though I wear it in a bun every day. I got my hair chopped almost as short as a pixie cut in March 2012. I don't think I'm ever going back.

86. I never had to get braces.

87. I still have my wisdom teeth, and I'm kind of scared to get them taken out.

88. I love hoodies.

89. I wear jeans almost every day.

90. I don't like to sleep with socks on my feet.

91. I do like pajama pants.

92. Sometimes I miss having a cat that sleeps on the bed, even though the cat we had was kind of an asshole.

93. I have an English degree, but I still have problems with who / whom.

94. I've got lie / lay figured out, though.

95. I'm a really good speller, though I never won a spelling bee.

96. I'm a nerdy liberal, but I don't listen to NPR.

97. I wear three earrings in each ear, but I never change them.

98. I have blue eyes.

99. I'm right handed.

100. I really do want world peace.