Fifty Things You May Not Have Known About Me

(At least forty nine of which won't mean a damned thing to you!)

1) I love to play board games.

2) When I do, I sometimes get a little overly competitive. SOMETIMES.

3) Ice Cream is my favorite food group. (Thankfully, the new low fat alternatives are making my life less barren.)

4) I like buying things for other people, but hardly ever buy anything for myself.

5) MY kids are the center of the universe. (But I'm thinking most of you already knew that.)

6) I usually start planning for Christmas in like September.

7) People say I have a weird sense of humor, but they like me anyway.

8) My first car was a second-hand blue 1968 Ford LTD and it had an 8-Track tape player in it.

9) Whenever a celebrity dies, I'm the first one in my office that people come to with the news. It's like they think I have this morbid streak or something.

10) In the summer season, I will eat fresh tomatoes every day. When I was a kid, I'd take the salt shaker out to the garden and eat them as I picked them...warm from the sun.

11) In fact, in the summer season, I will spend more of my grocery budget on produce than anything else. (Much to Highlander's dismay.)

12) I come from a long line of cooks (and their groupies).

13) While living at home, my freshman year of college (and shortly thereafter), I was notorious for breaking my 2AM curfew. I made it most of the time, but with little or nothing to spare.

14) I am a descendant of Pocahontas.

15) I love the smell of coffee brewing, but can't stand the taste.

16) While I have 11 uncles, 10 aunts and 19 cousins, I have only 1 niece and no nephews.

17) I am the eldest grandchild on both sides of my family. The youngest is the same age as my oldest daughter.

18) My favorite color is pink.

19) I'm a little like my mother, but I'm MUCH more like her mother.

20) I love my dad, but we are worlds apart philosophically.

21) I cry at the sappiest stuff.

22) I wish I were a better photographer.

23) I've always wanted to be able to draw.

24) When I was a kid, I was a powerhouse at kickball.

25) My middle daughter shares my middle name.

26) None of my children were born in the month they were expected. Even now, I (foolishly) expect them to be on time.

27) The first word I ever learned to spell (while in kindergarten) was 'helicopter'.

28) I once was grounded for the entire summer for passing notes in class (in 4th grade) that said my (male) teacher was gay. In my defense, I didn't start the note, but I certainly added to it. I have no idea if the teacher was gay or not. We just didn't like him.

29) The smell of lilacs reminds me of my childhood. (We had a large bush in the backyard and the smell takes me back there, every time.)

30) As a general rule, I like nuts in my cookies and cake, but not in my candy or ice cream.

31) I like winter far more than summer, but fall is my favorite, followed by spring.

32) I lived in New York state for twelve years and have never been to New York City, but I've been to Niagara Falls twice.

33) I love to ride motorcycle.

34) I have seen THE DEER HUNTER more than thirty times.

35) I used to wear a POW bracelet with the name Charlie Brown Davis, Jr. on it. I sometimes wish I still had it.

36) I can't eat in restaurants alone.

37) The first cat I ever had was named Mutorcs (scrotum spelled backwards), but I didn't name him.

38) I have never been fired or laid off from a job. (Talk about tempting fate.)

39) I quit smoking eight years ago. Well, I should say I successfully did it eight years ago. I'd quit smoking so many times before that I can't remember how many.

40) My mother, my only sister, all of my female cousins, and even my 15 year old daughter each have bigger boobs than me. And sometimes, it makes me feel inadequate.

41) Both of my grandmothers died within six months of each other, the year of my 40th birthday. I still miss them so much sometimes, it makes me cry.

42) My rollercoaster days are over. (Take that one any way you want to.)

43) I love the serenity of camping.

44) I regret not finishing college.

45) I don't like flashy jewelry and wear very little of the non-flashy variety as well.

46) I've been a notary public for ten years.

47) As a mom, I've become accustomed to dealing with vomit, snot, and diarrhea. I don't do nearly as well with blood. I will pass right out. (There is an exemption for fake or movie blood.)

48) I've been out barhopping with lesbians. And it was a hoot every time! Though I think my (then) boyfriend enjoyed it more than I did.

49) I once had a car engine catch fire while I was driving. Just whoosh flames shooting out from under the hood.

50) I broke two toes once when I was bolting from a dead sleep to retrieve a crying baby and ran foot-first into the end of a couch.

I'd ask Highlander to add to the list, but I'd be most afraid of what he'd choose to include...;)