Happy 100th Post! And 100 crazy facts about me...

My little 5-year-old self

In blogging tradition, in this my 100th post, I will divulge to you, my readers, 100 odd facts about myself. In no particular order:

1. I was born in Fairfax, Va.

2. Part of my growing-up years were spent living on a horse farm in Ashburn, Va.

3. I didn't actually learn to ride horses well (at more than just a walk or slow trot) until I was in college.

4. My horse's name when I was a kid was Joker.

5. Joker was in love with our MUCH younger horse named Harika.

6. Riding poor old Joker bareback was quite uncomfortable, as he was very bony.

7. My mom used to give us kids a little tiny bit of salt on our hands so we could lick it off like the horses.

8. My mom is my best friend (and not just because of the salt!)

9. I went to Mary Washington College, now called the University of Mary Washington

10. UMW's football team is undefeated.

11. UMW doesn't have a football team. ;-)

12. I majored in Historic Preservation.

13. I graduated from MWC in 2004, on the same day as my 1-year wedding anniversary.

14. My husband is awesome.

15. I received my bachelor of arts degree in Historic Preservation.

16. I once worked as a telemarketer selling newspaper subscriptions.

17. I was one of the lead telemarketers, and I actually wrote a new script for the company to use on cold calls.

18. During the summers in college I worked at Colonial Williamsburg.

19. I dressed up in costume and did outdoor retail sales.

20. When people would say, "Are you hot?" I would answer, "Well, are you hot?" "Yes." "Okay, now look at what you're wearing and then look at what I'm wearing. I think you know the answer."

21. My favorite question from a tourist was, "What time is the noon parade?"

22. It's hard working somewhere where everyone you talk to is on vacation.

23. I love CW and I would actually go there on my days off to tour the historic homes.

24. I also love to tour the James River Plantations.

25. I think that historic preservation is a lot like playing pretend when you're a kid.

26. When I was a kid my brother and I would play Arctic Explorers whenever it snowed.

27. My brother and I also made paths in the forest on the mountain behind our home and built forts out of logs and branches.

28. We also both loved to build with Legos.

29. My brother is now an architect.

30. I have always dreamed of writing a book.

31. I love to read books.

32. My favorite authors are Orson Scott Card, Stephenie Meyer, and Nicholas Sparks.

33. I love to get book recommendations from friends.

34. I love the smell of books, and I like to stick my nose in the Book Drop at the library and take a whiff before I put the books in. ;-)

35. I also like the smell of basements and fresh laundry.

36. Laundry is one of my least favorite chores.

37. I hate dishes even more.

38. Pretty much any chore that must be done daily or else my house will be gross is a chore I hate.

39. But I kind of enjoy vacuuming.

40. I have a dog named Buck whose shedding issues cause me to vacuum a lot, so it's a good thing I don't mind doing it.

41. I have a black cat named Skye who still looks like a kitten even though she's 6 years old.

42. I got Skye as a Christmas present when she was a kitten and she was wearing a little red collar with a bell on it.

43. Skye drools.

44. One time right after we got Buck he randomly jumped into my lap while I was sitting in an armchair.

45. Buck is a German Shepherd/Lab mix. It was quite a surprise finding him in my lap.

46. I have kept a fairly regular journal since I was in 8th grade.

47. My journals are my most valued earthly possession.

48. When I was in high school I had a friend who read my journals (with my permission) when we went to camp, and it was like she was reading a best-selling novel- she couldn't wait to get to the next entry!

49. I have considered turning the more interesting parts of my life story into a novel.

50. When I don't write in my journal I feel like I'm losing parts of my life. Sometimes I have gone back and read an entry in my journal about an event I would have completely forgotten had I never written it down and re-read it later. If I don't remember it, it might as well have never happened.

51. I have a life list of goals I would like to accomplish.

52. Someday I want to go the Kentucky Derby.

53. Someday I want to learn to play the violin...and the piano.

54. I really want to find that list because there were a lot of things on it and now I can't remember half of them...

55. When I was in college learning to ride, I was selected for the college riding team.

56. In one competition, we were tied with another team to win regionals, and my class was going to be the tie-breaker. They didn't tell me, and I came in first which gave my team the victory.

57. I felt a little silly that it all came down to me, because all I did was walk/trot.

58. I miss riding and I wish I could do it more often.

59. This is a really long list.

60. I have played the flute for 17 years (not the whole time, that would be exhausting)

61. I remember how cool it was when I got good enough that playing was more fun than work

62. I was the flute section leader in high school.

63. In our first section meeting I gave all the floutists a small laminated card with my name and phone number on it so they could reach me if they had to miss a practice.

64. After that I was forever known as "Lamination Girl."

65. My marching band was awesome, and band geeks rock.

66. I was also a choir nerd.

67. In my high school, choir was actually cool, because it was a nationally acclaimed madrigal choir and we got to dress up in medieval costumes.

68. I miss being able to use my musical talents in performance.

69. I sing Primary songs for my kids sometimes.

70. My kids usually tell me to stop singing.

71. I don't stop singing, I just sing louder.

72. Sometimes my son will cover his ears when I do that.

73. One time I lulled an entire room of children to sleep by singing, but maybe I just bored them to slumber.

74. I love to sleep.

75. I have to shower before I go to bed- I can't stand to sleep feeling dirty.

76. I am pretty good at dream interpretation.

77. I am very grumpy in the morning, but I prefer to wake up early rather than stay up late.

78. I only pulled an all-nighter once in college, and it was to finish a final project for my art class- a self-portrait. I was painting from a photo, and I was so focused on the details that I wasn't really looking at the whole thing. I stopped for a moment to rub my eyes and take a break, and when I looked back down I jumped because I saw myself staring back at me.

79. I'm pretty good artistically when it comes to copying things from photographs, but not so good with things from my imagination.

80. My favorite color is burgundy.

81. My favorite kind of food is Chinese food, or anything asian except sushi.

82. I am a total chocoholic.

83. All I need to be perfectly content is a comfy couch, a good book, and some good dark chocolate (like Dove).

84. My favorite upper-end chocolates are Lindt (truffles) and Ghiradelli (squares)

85. Someday I dream of making a chocolate cake using brownies for the cake, fudge for the filling, and melted chocolate (which would solidify into a hard shell) for the topping. Mmmmmmm.....

86. I wonder- Is it possible to OD on chocolate?

87. I also love cotton candy, and my hubby buys cases of it for me from Sam's Club.

88. I also really like to drink the juice from a can of black olives.

89. It was a family tradition growing up for me to put olives on each of my fingers at Thanksgiving. 

90. The olives break now when I try to get them on my fingers. My fingers are too big. 

91. So I've taught my son how to do it so he can carry on the tradition. He thinks I'm weird.

92. I'm almost done with this list.

93. I have never ever thrown up before.

94. I cannot stay underwater for more than 2 seconds without holding my nose.

95. I love to jump on trampolines- it makes me giggle.

96. Gummi worms also make me unusually happy.

97. I love to dance, but I am NOT good at it.

98. I also love to play tennis, but I am even worse at that.

99. I kind of suck at sports in general.

100. I am done with this list!!!!