100 Things About Me

1. On November 18, 2003, I will be 43 years old.
2. I was married for three years, from 1983 to 1986.
3. I have been a seriously practicing Christian since Easter of 1991.
4. With the exception of one year spent in southwest Oklahoma, I have lived my entire life within a 50-mile radius of Lexington, KY.
5. One of the hardest questions for me to answer is, “Where are you from?” since I was born in one town, spent my childhood in another, and spent my teenage years in yet another.
6. I have never been west of Wichita Falls, TX.
7. At age 7, I attended Expo ’67 in Montreal, Canada.
8. Other than that, I have never been outside the United States.
9. I have one brother (younger) who lives with his wife and three children in Hope, KS.
10. My favorite color is green.
11. My favorite rock band is U2.
12. I like most genres of music, including classic rock, Celtic, classical, Gregorian chant, bluegrass, and even some rap and country.
13. My favorite comedy movie of all time is Monty Python’s “Holy Grail”. And “Blazing Saddles”. And all the “Austin Powers” movies. And anything else with Mike Myers, Mel Brook, or Monty Python associated with it. And…
14. My favorite dramatic movie is “Braveheart”. And “Rob Roy”.
15. My favorite regular beer is Killian’s (genuine Irish beer made in Colorado).
16. …And then there’s Guinness! (not a “regular” beer at all.)
17. I used to be a belly dancer, for fun more than for profit.
18. I used to be a member of a ‘50’s and ‘60’s cover band, as a backup singer. Once again, for fun more than for profit.
19. I am a calligrapher and artist, for fun and a little profit.
20. I once illustrated a children’s book entitled, “Goose on the Loose”.
21. My not-so-secret dream is to live and minister in Ireland.
22. I have been known to hang out with pagans, wiccans, homosexuals, and Baptists.
23. I once long-distance dated a man from Norway, and almost married him.
24. Although I sit at a computer for 8-10 hours a day, processing dental claims, I consider myself to be functionally computer illiterate.
25. When I was a child, I used to beg for braces because all the other kids called me “beaver”. Fortunately, I grew into my teeth without braces.
26. I graduated from high school 5th in a class of 362.
27. I was a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist in high school.
28. One of my biggest regrets in life is not accepting the four-year scholarship I was offered to the University of Louisville and instead making my parents pay for college, because “I didn’t want to be away from my friends”, none of whom I know now.
29. Because I grew up about 10 miles from the nearest town, I had never had a pizza delivered to my door until I went to college.
30. I never drank alcohol until I got to college.
31. I was once told by a college accounting professor, in answer to a question of how to improve my grade, that I should go home and have babies.
32. I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University (after five years and one summer semester of trudging through four different majors in two colleges of the university) with a Marketing degree that I have yet to use in a marketable way.
33. My nickname in college was “Little Widget”. Long story.
34. After my freshman year of college, I found out that my roommate for that year was a lesbian.
35. The friend I have had for the longest time was a roommate in college (not that one), and we’ve known each other for 25 years now.
36. Although my longest-term friend is female, most of my closest friends have been male.
37. When I was engaged to be married, all my best friends were guys, so they threw me a bachelorette party.
38. Another not-so-secret dream of mine is to go back to school and get a degree in graphic design.
39. I try to work out three times a week, and have a friend (Rachel) who functions as a personal trainer for me.
40. My fitness goal is to lose 100 pounds and get back some (or all) of my flexibility.
41. Once I meet my fitness goal (or get reasonably close), I want to get either a tattoo or a belly-button piercing to celebrate.
42. As of now, I have no tattoos or piercings (other than my ears, of course).
43. I am (hopefully) at the end of a two-year battle with Graves’ Disease (hyperthyroidism).
44. I am obsessive about the proper use of punctuation, spelling, and grammar. (PLEASE don’t use “it’s” when it should be “its”!)
45. I like to learn new (and especially obscure) words and use them in conversation.
46. My favorite game show is Jeopardy.
47. My favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit. And Cranium.
48. I have a phobic aversion to scary movies of any kind.
49. I’m a good cook, but I have a limited repertoire, because I hate to cook for just me.
50. I don’t have one friend that I feel like I can tell EVERYTHING to.
51. I make up for that by having several friends that I can tell most things to.
52. I waver back and forth between wanting to be married again and wanting to stay single forever.
53. I used to be such a big fan of Christian comedian/singer Mark Lowry that I believed (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) that I was destined to marry him. I still enjoy his humor, but I’m over the crush.
54. I have a tendency to dominate conversations, especially in “party” situations.
55. I hate to shop for clothing.
56. I love to shop at crafts fairs and hardware stores.
57. I’m a lousy housekeeper.
58. I’m a procrastinator and a perfectionist, which psychologists say often go together.
59. I never knew my mother’s mother or my father’s father.
60. I subscribe to the philosophy that, if you take the photos, you don’t have to be in the photos.
61. I am politically conservative, but more liberal theologically.
62. I voted for George W. Bush, and don’t apologize for it.
63. Giving me a houseplant is cruel and unusual punishment—for the plant.
64. I have far too much clutter—in my apartment and in my life.
65. My “dream house” would be either a quaint little cottage with a rose garden, or a two-story building in an urban area where I could run a coffee shop/gallery downstairs and live upstairs.
66. When I die, I want to be cremated and have my ashes scattered somewhere lovely. I haven’t decided where yet, but hopefully I have plenty of time to figure that out.
67. I have signed the back of my driver’s license to be an organ donor. Have you?
68. I have a tendency to lapse into a voice almost resembling baby talk when I want to say something serious in a non-threatening manner.
69. I’m a sucker for people with foreign accents, especially Irish, Scottish, or Australian.
70. My current favorite ethnic food is Mediterranean (Greek, Middle Eastern, etc.).
71. I have no pets.
72. I have no children.
73. I have been known to babysit friends’ kids as an excuse to go to kids’ movies.
74. I just bought tires for the first time without consulting my father about the purchase beforehand.
75. I feel closer to my “family” at Vine & Branches than I do to my own biological family. This, I think, is due to distance, both physical and emotional.
76. My best physical talent is my singing ability.
77. I used to think that I would never live to the outrageously old age of 40.
78. Now that I’m past 40, I realize that my life is just beginning in so many ways.
79. I’d love to become a vegetarian, except for that whole “no meat” thing.
80. I sometimes obsess over what I call “flow-chart” moments— times in my life when I had two paths to choose from. I wonder what life would be like if I had chosen the other path.
81. My eyes are green with an outer rim of blue, causing them to appear as any color from bright green to violet, depending on what I’m wearing.
82. I have names picked out for the children that, at this point, I may never have: Kathryn for a girl and Aidan for a boy.
83. There’s this vestigial Charismatic part of my brain (deeply buried) that thinks that my destined husband is in Ireland, tapping his foot and wondering where the heck I am.
84. Sometimes I secretly cringe inside when I’m talking to someone and they mispronounce a word.
85. I would love to learn the art of woodworking and furniture-making.
86. I have never smoked a cigarette (or anything else, for that matter).
87. I have never taken illegal drugs.
88. I am the only person I know who grew up in Central Kentucky, yet has an active dislike of anything having to do with the University of Kentucky, especially their sports teams.
89. I listen to the Rush Limbaugh show on the radio.
90. I believe that no one is truly “ugly” until they open their mouth and words come out.
91. I would love to learn how to paint icons, with the proper “symbols” and all.
92. I just bought my first piece of game software (Hoyle Card Games), and I’m already addicted to it.
93. I can’t be bothered with “action” computer games, though.
94. I use Microsoft at work and Mac at home.
95. I’m an avid reader. If a book interests me, I’ll lose all track of time for three to four hours or more, reading.
96. I have a tendency, when watching TV, to tune out all ambient “noise”, including conversations I’m supposed to be participating in. This happens even if the sound is down.
97. I have a very strong work ethic, and it bothers me when those around me at work slack off.
98. I am probably at my least “Christian” when I’m driving.
99. I think it would be fun to have an herb garden and make soaps, lotions, etc., for sale and personal use.
100. I have discovered that it’s virtually impossible to do one of these “100 things” lists without thinking what a narcissist I must be to attempt this!