On a Lighter Note

I really don't feel much like discussing last night's election results. I've just decided to move on and pray. Boy, do we ever need to pray for this country.

That being said, I thought I would begin the day on a lighter note. Awhile back my good friend, Sharese, wrote a post titled, "100 interesting things about me". I thought I would give it a shot. So, here is my list of 100 interesting (or not so interesting) things about me. Maybe you'll learn a thing or two that you didn't already know about me. Then again, maybe you won't.


1. My maiden name is Butcher (now there’s one to get us started).
2. I have always found myself in disbelief when someone asks, “how do you spell that?”
3. I always answer, “just like it sounds” while thinking, “Haven’t you seen it spelled in huge block letters on the grocery store wall your entire life?” Dummies.
4. My father was a High School Vice-Principal or Principal for most of his career.
5. We (his kids) thought he should hang a meat clever on his office wall.
6. He never did.
7. I learned to drive a stick-shift at 14.
8. I taught my older sister how to drive a stick shift when I was 14.
9. I drove a 1968 Ford Mustang nicknamed “The Green Pig” in high-school. Wish we still had it today. It might be worth some $$.
10. I once had 13 people piled (more like smashed) into said Mustang.
11. I was the only girl on our water polo team in middle school and high school.
12. I quit playing after my freshman year and became the “manager” (kept the books at the games) instead. Was tired of everything that went on under the water.
13. I missed out on Title IX.
14. My grandfather was a fisherman. I hate fish. Don’t know how that happened.
15. My favorite food on the planet is lobster. Smothered in melted butter. Don’t know how that happened either. Did I mention that I hate fish?
16. I think I have the perfect family.
17. No, we’re not perfect. Just having 2 boys and 2 girls is.
18. My family couldn’t survive without me. Example: Monday morning I spent an hour looking for a cell phone that wasn’t mine, got a phone call from my oldest saying he forgot his trumpet at home and could I bring it to him (I did which made #4 late for school), then received another phone call from 2nd child saying he lost his backpack (how does one lose their backpack walking from the bus to the classroom) and therefore did not have a lunch. Could I bring him one? When I showed up at school with one, the secretary informed me that the backpack (and lunch) had been found. Why couldn’t I have received that call?
19. I love my life.
20. I hate doing laundry.
21. I hate ironing even more.
22. I would much rather scrub toilets than iron.
23. There is a skinny hard body inside of me screaming to get out.
24. I’m working on that.
25. I am also not delusional enough to know that it will never happen.
26. I love playing sudoku.
27. I love doing puzzles.
28. I’m good with numbers. Trevor’s not.
29. I deal with all of the finances for our household.
30. I still remember my best friend’s phone number from the 4th grade—213.254.5854. Wonder who it belongs to now?
31. My dream car is a Suburban. Yes, a Suburban. I love driving those boats.
32. I’ll never have one as my husband thinks they guzzle too much gas.
33. I traveled alone to India at the age of 16. I arrived at the airport outside Calcutta praying that someone would be there to meet me. The first place we stopped was at my friend’s uncle’s house in Salt Lake City. I kid you not.
34. I’ve been to the Taj Mahal.
35. I’ve always wanted to visit the 7 Wonders of the World. What are they? Depends on who you talk to.
36. The 7 musts on my list include: the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal (check), the Great Barrier Reef, Machu Pichu, the Grand Canyon (I lived in Arizona for 5 ½ years and never went—we’ll have to take the kids), the Colosseum. By no means is this an all-inclusive list.
37. I was Homecoming Queen in high school.
38. I used to alphabetize my mom’s soup cans and spices when I was a little girl. I still like to have my spices alphabetized.
39. I hate my wardrobe. It basically consists of jeans and a collection of long sleeve t-shirts for the winter and shorts and short sleeved t-shirts for the summer.
40. My shirts are arranged in my closet by color. Lightest, to darkest. Used to do the same thing with my collection of Izods when I was a kid.
41. I love to organize. Can you tell?
42. My favorite animal on the planet is a dolphin. Wish I could swim like them.
43. I got to swim with them once. I’m dying to do it again.
44. I’ve promised Jonathan that we’d do it together someday—just the two of us.
45. I can’t stand ungrateful people. We all have so much to be grateful for.
46. In addition to my hometown in the LA area where I lived for 17 years, and Ohio where I currently live, I’ve lived in Arizona, Utah, Hawaii, Chile and Argentina.
47. When I married Trevor, I dreamed we would live the perpetual ex-pat life. I’ve now lived in Ohio for 7 ½ years with no end in sight.
48. I love Ohio.
49. I still dream of living an ex-pat life.
50. I’m insanely jealous of Amy who is about to move to Spain to live the ex-pat life.
51. I like to think I’m funny. See #37.
52. I’m really not that funny.
53. I love, love, love my funny friends.
54. Wish I could spend more time with my funny, funny friends to laugh until I cry (or pee my pants).
55. Laughter truly is the best medicine.
56. Other than babysitting, my first job was at Baskin-Robbins.
57. I was only 14 and my boss thought I was 17.
58. I got paid minimum wage--$3.35/hour. Soon got a raise to $3.50/hour. Was worth it for all the ice cream you could eat!
59. I was a swimmer in high school.
60. I spent 3+ hours a day in the pool. Good thing because of #58.
61. The bottom half of one of my front teeth is fake.
62. I have a great dentist (Dr. Della Bella) that makes it look like I don’t.
63. I have to pull the blinds in my house when it gets dark. I can’t stand the thought of anyone watching us.
64. I grew up in LA with the Night Stalker running the streets.
65. I am a true sap. I cry at everything—movies, sappy articles, even Pampers commercials (the one with the baby animals).
66. I love to swim.
67. I love the water.
68. I get sea sick.
69. I deal with the sea sickness to be on the water.
70. I’m proud of my moldy watch and my thrashed car. It’s a symbol to me that we’re living within our means. Besides, if I got a new car, my kids would only trash it (i.e. mud, food, books, etc.) and my husband would crash it.
71. I know a lot of people named Jennifer and none of them are the age of any of my kids.
72. I hate exercising, but I love waking up sore the next morning after a good workout.
73. I like proper grammar.
74. I try very hard never to end a sentence in a preposition.
75. One of my pet peeves is when I see “sister-in-laws" (or anything of the like) instead of “sisters-in-law”. The plurality is in the sisters! I almost e-mailed Ann Romney one time when she posted "daughter-in-laws". Trevor informed me that I should refrain myself. I took his advice (although I didn't want to).
76. I really wish people would learn the difference between your and you’re and there their and they’re.
77. I really, really wish we lived near family.
78. No two members of my immediate family or Trevor’s immediate family live in the same state.
79. My family lives in the states of California (OK, both parents live there, but they’re divorced), Washington, Maryland & New York.
80. Trevor’s family lives in the states of Colorado, Virginia, Nebraska, New Mexico, Arizona and North Carolina.
81. It’s difficult for our families to get together.
82. I love maps.
83. I could sit and study a map for hours.
84. I can’t study maps on road trips because I get car sick.
85. I do most of the driving on road trips or I get car sick.
86. I hate doing most of the driving on road trips.
87. My last (paid) job was at Fox Animation Studios in Arizona.
88. I can’t draw.
89. I am a pretty good cook.
90. My family is extremely spoiled when it comes to dinner.
91. Loved having a 7 foot fence in our backyard in AZ. We had complete privacy.
92. I wish I had one here.
93. Fall weather is my favorite. Crisp, cool weather with the sun shining. It doesn’t get any better than that.
94. I hate cold, grey, Cincinnati winters. They bring cracked, bleeding hands and feet.
95. I have this phobia that everyone looking at me is picking out every single one of my physical flaws. Please don’t tell me if you really are. It will just make my phobia worse.
96. It bothers me that I color my hair. I wish I could have just held on to the natural blonde I had pre-kids. Maybe I should just let it go yucky brown again?
97. I had a killer Farrah Fawcett haircut in high school—too bad it was the 80s and I hated it the minute it happened.
98. I can’t stand people that think they know it all.
99. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.
100. I’m grateful for repentance. I need it a lot more than I would like.