You Asked For It . . .

Well, maybe you didn't, but Sara did, so you can thank her later. I dodged the "100 Things About Me" on my 100th post (which was 27 posts ago, but who's counting?), but I've been called out, and I'm no chicken . . . although I used to own chickens, but you'll have to read the whole list for the details!

1. My second toe is longer than my big toe. I've been told that's a mark of royalty, but I've also been known to suffer from delusions of grandeur.

2. I used to live on a Marine Corps Air Station and it was the happiest neighborhood I've ever known.

3. I've broken the same toe three times. By stubbing it on the baseboard.

4. I've also broken my wrist. By reaching out for a railing that wasn't there.

5. My dad used to call me "Grace." I wonder why . . .

6. I am an early riser by nature. I like to feel that most of my work is done by noon and the rest of the day is a downward slide towards bed.

7. It never works out that way. I'm always working on something.

8. I have a serious office supply fetish. It's an illness.

9. I used to be a pack rat, and then I married a military man and I became a purger. Less stuff for the Navy to lose or break.

10. I also learned that when the packers come to your house, they are under orders to pack everything that is not nailed down. We once unwrapped a 3 inch long sliver of soap and half of an eraserless pencil. Friends of ours once unwrapped the contents of their kitchen garbage.

11. I took typing, but I still hunt and peck. But I am pretty darn fast.

12. Speaking of typing, I miss our old typewriter. It made such a satisfying "thud, ding!" when you finished a line and the carriage returned.

13. I do not miss those stupid little White-Out films that you used to correct typewriter mistakes. Spell check me, baby!

14. I started going gray in my late teens/early twenties - it's genetic, I knew it was coming.

15. I took 6 years of Spanish, and although I have lost the ability to speak it very well, I can pretty much read anything in Spanish. I read signs in Spanish just to keep up my skillz.

16. I went to 12 years of Catholic school, and I found that my first year at college was easier than my last year of high school.

17. I prefer chocolate chip cookies without the chips. So I guess that means that I like cookies.

18. I went to college with about 12 Amy/Amey/Aimees. 5 of us lived on the same floor in our freshman year. Our parents were on board with 1975-76: Year of the Amy

19. For that reason, we all went by our first and middle names. My middle name begins with a "C" and it was shortened into one of its diminutive forms when paired with my first name.

20. Guess what it is in the comments. (And if you are an old friend/family, don't give it away!)

21. My name was supposed to be Kathleen, but my dad held me for the first time and said, "There's my Aimee."

22. Little bit of a surprise to my mom.

23. I love the beach, and I dream about going to Hawaii or the Caribbean. Especially at this time of year.

24. My family used to own chickens that my sister's class hatched during a science lesson.

25. We had one rooster and one hen and they were named George and Martha. As in Washington.

26. My dad built them their own chicken condo, complete with heat lamps for the winter.

27. They more than doubled their life expectancies, and they were good pets, but they stank to high heaven in the summer!

28. They are buried in the garden in matching plots.

29. I am the oldest of 40 first cousins on my mother's side.

30. My maternal grandmother is one of 13. My mother is one of 8.

31. I am 31.

32. I love the Autumn, even though everything is dying. I feel more alive.

33. I cannot read in front of the TV or listening to the radio. I get too distracted.

34. I have great pregnancies and deliveries - it's the postpartum that's not so great.

35. It takes me about a full year to really get through postpartum depression. Better living through chemicals, people.

36. I like to exercise if I don't think of it as exercise.

37. I once lost a spelling bee on the word guarantee. I still can't spell that without thinking really hard first.. And even then, it usually pops up on spell check.

38. Otherwise, I am a pretty accurate speller.

39. I am the oldest of four children.

40. I know all the words to the theme song from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

41. I have been known to read baby name books just for fun. I am fascinated by names.

42. Every librarian I've ever known has been grumpy, and I can never figure out why. But maybe I would be grumpy too, if I had to reshelve all those books.

43. Sometimes I feel very restless, and I wish that I could just pack up my old kit bag and hit the road.

44. But when I'm travelling, I hit a point where I just want to go back home and stay there. That's how I know I'm not a wanderer at heart.

45. I've never been outside of the US, but I have big plans for travel when the kids are a smidge older.

46. I like taking The Boy to therapy because I don't feel like I need to explain anything there. They get it.

47. I have a major sugar addiction. I used to have Skittles and a Coke during my 8 am classes in college.

48. I've also had a lot of dental work in my past, even though I am meticulous about dentist appointments and cleanings.

49. I still have a permanent retainer on my bottom teeth. I've had it for almost 20 years.

50. Am I only halfway through? Gah . . .

51. Rob and I once spent 6 hours on the phone - for one conversation. We didn't see each other very much while we were dating, so something had to give.

52. We still haven't run out of things to talk about - that's how I know we were meant to be together.

53. I am very specific about my pillows, and I hate when Rob puts his head on them. He does it just to bug me.

54. I always wonder if guests think my house is weird.

55. I just discovered that I like pomegranate martinis.

56. I am allergic to cats, grass pollen, nine hardwood trees, and pig hair.

57. Apparently, old sofas and chairs used to be stuffed with pig hair. Lots and lots of pig hair.
So when I start itching around antique furniture, I always wonder if I'm sitting on a huge mound of pig hair.

58. I am also allergic to penicillin.

59. Our garage is where strollers go to die. We can never seem to keep one from breaking after just a few months of use.

60. It bugs me when my neighbors come and dump all kinds of yard clippings and tree branches in the empty lot next to my house. Especially the guy who drives his tractor all the way from the other side of the development.

61. We get a real tree for Christmas every year, even though I can see the merit in a fake tree when I am taking our tree down.

62. My dad made his First Communion on the same day as me.

63. I have perfect vision.

64. That's about the only thing "perfect" on my body, and I'm OK with that. Perfection is too much work.

65. I hate tweezing my eyebrows, and I am afraid of waxing, so sometimes I look a little like a mad scientist.

66. My kids birthdays are June, July, and August. We have the summer birthdays covered.

67. Sometimes I don't call people because I'm afraid they won't want to talk to me, and I hate rejection.

68. I love to send and receive snail mail, and I buy cards months in advance.

69. I've never eaten anything made by Chef Boyardee in my whole life. My mother is part Italian and we always had homemade Italian food.

70. I am a Capricorn and so is Rob. We always have the same goals.

71. Moving away to college did wonders for my relationship with my mom. She let go, I grew up, and now we are great friends.

72. Southern sweet tea is so delicious.

73. So is a properly made biscuit. I could eat hundreds of them.

74. I didn't learn to drive until I was 21, but I got a free pizza when I took my driver's test, just for putting on my seat belt without being asked. Gotta love the State of Florida.

75. I once talked the State of New York out of giving my husband a ticket for something he didn't do. The guy got so tired of listening to me that he just erased the charge to get me to hang up.

76. I like showers so hot that my skin turns red.

77. I've never had a manicure, pedicure, facial, or a massage. I'm intimidated by them for some reason.

78. I don't really like the middle part of an Oreo - I just eat it because it's easier than scraping it off.

79. When I get started on a project, I like to work straight through until it's finished. It really bothers me if I need to leave something undone.

80. I drink 64 ounces of water every day. I started doing that when I was pregnant and I never stopped. I can feel the difference when I don't get enough water.

81. I used to spend entire summer afternoons roaming my neighborhood, playing in the woods by myself, or walking to the pool. It was great, and I mourn the loss of that for my kids.

82. I've been known to watch infomercials. It drives Rob crazy.

83. I'm not a good gardener, but that doesn't stop me from planting stuff every year. Hope springs eternal - but so do weeds.

84. I did not find out the gender of my children before they were born, but my gut feeling about them was correct each time.

85. My grandmother once made me a dress out of the same material she used to slipcover her sofa. It was really pretty material, though.

86. I was disappointed when I had to get a fiberglass cast on my arm instead of a plaster one. Fiberglass is much harder to sign, and what's the point of having a cast if no one can sign it? (well, you know, besides immobilizing your broken bone so it can heal, blahblahblah)

87. Sometimes I'll "see" something that's going to happen. Not days before, like a psychic or something, but the second before something happens, I'll just know in my gut what's about to go down. It's hard to explain, but I believe it is God or my guardian angel telling me what to watch out for.

88. I bite my fingernails, especially when I'm nervous.

89. I drove myself and the kids from Pennsylvania to Florida, and back. It was a long, long drive.

90. Home stretch, people, don't bail on me now!

91. When I'm really angry, I just get very quiet and sometimes I cry. If I'm yelling and stomping, you can be pretty sure it will all blow over soon.

92. I have a small mouth, but a long tongue, so I bite my tongue. A lot.

93. Coffee ice cream is probably one of the world's most perfect foods.

94. I wish that I could find a good adult beginner tap dance class because I'd love to tap dance.

95. I have an absurdly large collection of purses. I am the Imelda Marcos of handbags.

96. I don't tan. I burn and then go straight back to being white.

97. I used to enjoy grocery shopping. Then I had kids, and now I hate it.

98. I love a big brunch. Especially when someone else makes it.

99. I am a control freak about my kitchen. I try not to be, but it is very hard for me to let people help me out in the kitchen. But anywhere else is in the house is up for grabs.

100. The last one! Huzzah! Let's see, what will I divulge? That I've always wanted to be a pirate? No. That I ate so many marshmallows in my youth that now I can't stand them? Nah. That when I was 10 my career goal was to drive a big rig? That I wanted to join the circus but couldn't stand the smell? That I love the smell of unlit cigarettes? Huh. I got nothin'.