A Blogging List and 15 Things About ME!

Alright, so what do I want to type about? Well, just little fun stuff. I came across a list the other day -- a list of 30 things to be typed about for 30 days of blogging. Well, heaven knows I won't actually blog 30 consistent days, and, to be honest some of the ideas were bleh. But, I did jot down 20 of them that seemed fun-ish. So, not necessarily consistently, but perhaps I will blog these 20 things.

Here's the list:
1. A recent picture and 15 interesting things about yourself
2. A picture of somewhere you've been
3. Your short term goals for the month
4. Something you've been proud of in the past few days
5. Put your i-pod on shuffle and list the first ten songs that play
6. The things you find in your purse
7. Nicknames you have
8. A picture of something that makes you happy
9. A nick knack
10. The last thing you purchased
11. Your favorite room in the house
12. Something you own that has a lot of sentimental value
13. The oldest thing you own
14. Something you are good at
15. Something you are currently reading
16. A picture of your handwriting
17. Pets
18. Something someone made for you
19. Something interesting outside your house
20. Picture of you with loved one(s)

Well. Let's go ahead and try number one. You know I have tried time and time again (and failed) with this "making lists of fun or clever or strange or interesting things about yourself" business. But, I think I can do it today! I'm ready! Bring it on. Let's go. OK.

Oh yes, first, a recent picture of myself. How 'bout these:

Now that will lead us to number one:
1. Those pictures -- they reminded me of something about me. I look much better in pictures than in real life. That's all good and well. I like pictures, but it's a little sad to know the real me doesn't quite measure up to the photos. Odd.

2. I am quite claustrophobic. I really feel uncomfortable to be in any small space. Even the back seat of a car that doesn't have back doors makes me feel a little panicky. When I was little I didn't know there was a word for the panicked sensation I would get if someone was squishing me someplace tight so I would just begin crying out, "I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Which wasn't really true, but was the best I knew to explain what was happening.

3. I am a thousand times more likely to fold a batch of laundry happily if it is a load of darks. They always seem to have more easily foldable things in them.

4. I get asked if I am a volleyball or basketball player on a regular basis.

5. I was a phone call away from pursuing a PhD in Neurobiology. I'd applied, sent all my letters of recommendation, taken the GRE, been interviewed by two professors who had both agreed to take me on (you have to have a professor agree to be your "mentor" to oversee your work if you go on to graduate school in Biology). I merely had to let them know my decision. Mike and I had been discussing it but hadn't decided anything for certain. The graduate school I'd attend was an hour away from where Mike was currently enrolled. I was working full time and wouldn't be able to keep my job, etc. The day I found out I was pregnant with Abe, Mike came home from school and, before I could tell him the news, he told me to go ahead and call one of the professors -- that we'd move up there and maybe he'd transfer schools. Then I told him our baby news and, with the excitement of our first baby and knowing I'd want to be home with him, my PhD plans dissolved pretty quickly. I wasn't at all disappointed, but I occasionally look back and wonder about life had I gone down that path. I can't imagine having accomplished it having kids, but it would have been something that I would have really enjoyed.

6. I really prefer 2% milk -- which I know disturbs some.

7. I'm always a little happier when I am driving a standard. It's all we ever had growing up and it makes me feel extra in control.

8. I had a pet frog for a few weeks when I was little. When it's cage got too smelly, I graciously freed the frog in a small rain puddle. I'm sure he survived to live a long and happy life of freedom . . .

9. My fingernails are rarely (if ever) painted, but my toenails always are.

10. I can't bare the thought of mixing egg whites "until stiff peaks form." I have tried several times and I am certain no stiff peaks ever planned on forming! Which means, sadly, that I will likely never make truly great waffles. Ooh, but that leads me to number 11 --

11. I love waffles but have a difficult time eating a pancake even though they are about the same thing. Is it the texture?

12. I was pretty much the queen of 5th grade. I don't know why, but it's true. Kids flocked to me. Friends adored me. Everyone wept when I was chosen only to portray Lady Capulet in the 5th grade play of Romeo and Juliet when surely its success depended on my being Juliet. Alright, there was no weeping about that, but I have to say I was pretty darn big time in 5th grade. I have never re-attained that glory.

13. I knew I wanted to go spend a semester in Jerusalem when I was only 12. I don't recall if that was when the church built the Jerusalem center or how I even knew about it, but I wrote in my journal how I wanted to go there someday and planned on it from that time 'til age 20 when I finally did go.

14. I don't enjoy seeing any scary movie or even slightly scary image ever. They stay with me for a very long time and make me feel like bad spirits are hanging around me. When we were first married, Mike would occasionally have me watch a slightly scary show with him. Now, he knows it disturbs me so much that he actually covers my eyes if a scary face pops up in a commercial!

15. When Mike and I broke up, we had been sitting on my front porch talking in the cold for so long that when I came in I suddenly realized my feet were nearing frost bitten stage. I sat in my room rubbing my frozen feet and crying and crying (over Mike, not my feet!) 'til I finally fell asleep -- only to wake up in the morning and cry and cry again. I'm really glad I married him.

Well, that was actually quite fun. But my "doing what ever I please" has come to an end. That laundry really does need folded . . . and it's a big batch of whites. Booo.