152 insights into my soul

Part I (not sure where I'm going with this but it's been in the works for months...and by "in the works" I mean floating around in my head at night while I should be sleeping)

You can lump it or leave it (like my grandma used to say...or some other old person I know but I'm pretty sure it was my grandma).

And the picture has nothing to do with anything. I just think it's cute.

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1. I like to have the volume setting on the tv to be an even number or a multiple of 5.

2. I felt embarrassed when I was pregnant with Cate. I was an old lady (34 is practically ancient right?). I thought people were staring at me and wondering why that old lady was pregnant.

3. I don't like it when the dishtowel hanging on my stove handle is crooked.

4. I hate gardening. I hate touching the dirt. I hate wearing garden gloves because then I can't really feel what I'm doing. Nobody has planted our garden yet. I planted petunias in the front yard and that's as far as I'm getting this year.

5. I didn't pump gas until I was 23.

6. I learned to drive on a stick shift. I took my driving test that way too.

7. We used to call the back part of the station wagon the "back of the back." That was the best place to ride. Mom would sometimes yell back at us to duck. I guess when we passed a police car. I don't know. It was scary and fun. You know what those crossover cars are? Station wagons with a few more seat belts.

8. I had a gerbil named Gloria. When she died, my dad said she was just old. I don't think she was. I believed him though. I don't remember being sad about it.

9. I don't like to eat fish. Or smell it for that matter.

10. I don't like to go fishing.

11. I went fishing with my dad once for a Girl Scout activity. We caught a fish. I wasn't happy about it. I remember being very upset when my dad was cleaning it in our backyard that evening. He was sitting there scraping the scales off with a knife. I wouldn't eat any of it.

12. I don't like blueberry pie. I don't like most kinds of fruity pie.

13. I don't like getting syrup on my scrambled eggs if I'm eating pancakes on the same plate. I rarely ever eat pancakes but I still don't like the syrup to touch anything but their intended target. Syrup on bacon is a tragedy.

14. I don't mind going to the store without makeup on.

15. I don't mind going to the store before I've showered.

16. Cilantro makes me gag. Even the teeny tiniest piece.

17. I wasn't happy about the lady at the Miami airport telling me that I shouldn't let Cate crawl around because the floors are very dirty. REALLY? Duh. I'd be happy if my almost 18 month old daughter would learn how to walk already but she didn't.

18. I used to want to be a brain surgeon when I grew up. That all changed after I took AP Biology my senior year.

19. I decided to be an elementary school teacher after I got accepted to college and realized I had to register for classes.

20. Grandma had to buy a new phone so I could register for classes. The rotary phone wasn't going to cut it. No internet registration back in 1991.

21. I think my sense of humor is misunderstood sometimes.

22. I think my shyness is misunderstood sometimes.

23. I don't like guacamole. It looks like green puke. I don't like hummus either. Too stinky.

24. I don't like it when people write "could of been" instead of "could have been."

25. I enjoyed learning about diagramming sentences in my seventh grade English class. I got quite good at it. I think that has never come in handy in my life though.

26. I scored a 5 out of 5 on the AP English test.

27. I scored a 2 out of 5 on the AP Calculus test.

28. Sometimes I wonder if I would like to have my head shaved.

29. I used to bite my nails.

30. I don't like butterscotch.

31. I don't like listening to people write on the chalkboard.

32. I don't like writing on the chalkboard.

33. I don't like yard sales. They make me feel poor.

34. I try to park in the same spot every time I go to the store. If the store has numbered rows (like Walmart does) I write the number on my hand.

35. I peel off the label on my Chapstick tube.

36. I don't usually listen to music in the car. It's too noisy and distracting and one kids likes it and the other doesn't and it's just not worth it.

37. I don't like using the first drive-up window at the bank. Too close to the lady behind the glass. I might as well just go inside.

38. I hate buffets. Cafeterias are possibly worse than buffets.

39. I hate the self checkout at the grocery store.

40. I don't like it when the kitchen faucet has drops of water on it. Especially when I don't catch it and they dry all spotty.

41. I have a hard time being happy for people who have what I want. Which means a lot of the time I'm not happy for people. This is a hard one. I'm working on it.

42. I almost always use the handicap stall in public restrooms. Then I worry that a person will come in who actually needs to use it and I'm in there because it's nice and roomy. Then they'll give me a dirty look when I come out and they realize I don't have any special needs, I just like a roomy stall. And this is even when I don't have my kids with me. Everyone knows that kids in the restroom with you warrants the use of the big stall.

43. I've never given a baby a bath in the kitchen sink. That just seems disgusting to me.

44. I can't eat taco soup since the time I ate it at the church Halloween party and then was up puking taco soup all night. Puke doesn't taste good but taco soup puke is especially painful. It burns. Real bad. No more taco soup for me. Ever.

45. I have nice handwriting. Or is it called penmanship? I know I have nice handwriting because lots of people have told me so. And I believe them. I'm pretty good at writing on the chalkboard even though it gives me the willies to do so.

getting to know you, part four

This is me.

I'm 36.
So here's 36 things about me.

1. I've had gray hair since my very early twenties.

2. I was a girl scout for 10 years.

3. I always pick red polish for my pedicures. I can make a pedi last for months by simply touching up the chipped parts with the little bottle of red polish in my bathroom drawer.

4. I have freckles.

5. I don't like dogs.

6. When I was 19, I went to the mall to have my ear pierced. Not my ears...just my ear. I already had my ears pierced once in each ear. I just wanted a second hole in my left ear. Why? I was young and stupid. That's all I can figure. I haven't worn an earring in that second hole for probably 15 years, maybe more. You can still see the hole though. I can still put an earring in it too. What a waste.

7. I hate wearing my glasses. I prefer my contacts.

8. I do not eat mushrooms, olives or onions. Ordering the supreme pizza is a waste. I just end up having to pick all that yucky stuff off. Then my fingers stink like onions, I've lost my appetite and the pizza is cold.

9. I hate cold pizza.

10. When I was a little kid, I stole some polished rocks from a neighbor's flower bed. I thought they were beautiful. I decided that I wanted to try to sell them on the side of the road (kind of like a lemonade stand). My mom found out and made me take them back and apologize.

11. I cried the first time I saw the movie E.T. It was at the movie theater. I was 8 or 9 (I know it was 1982 but I'm not sure which month). That long finger with the glowing tip touching Elliott's heart, E.T. saying "I'll be right here"...it gets me every time.

12. I like reading blogs. Friends, family, strangers. It doesn't matter. When Cate was a tiny baby I gravitated towards blogs of preemie or sick babies. I'm glad that phase has passed. It was kind of depressing. I'm done with the crafty blogs. They just make me feel inadequate.

13. I love cinnamon gummy bears.

14. I love chocolate.

15. I don't love chocolate covered cinnamon gummy bears.

16. It bothers me when people say "I could care less" about something they don't care about. If you could care less, then that means you care. If you really don't care, then you should say "I couldn't care less."

17. I don't like frosting.

18. I've never had any of my body hair waxed. I'd like to. I'd start with my eyebrows. They're uneven, thanks to my amateur tweezing skills (not plucking...eyebrows are tweezed, chickens are plucked).

19. I like Sharpies.

20. I hate summer. It's the pits. I hated summer even when I was a kid. I loved school and couldn't wait for it to start again every September. I hate being outside in the summer. Hot sun. Yuck. Sweaty forehead. Yuck.

21. I don't like going to dances. I went to the eighth grade dance with some friends. The boy who my best friend liked (and who later became her boyfriend throughout most of high school) came over to where we were standing and asked me to dance. I told him no because I knew she liked him. He asked her next. I felt horrible and stayed in the restroom for the duration of the dance. I never went to another dance after that (except for the one I was forced to go to during the only Youth Conference I ever attended).

22. I went country dancing once in college. I don't count that as a dance though. I was nervous and not excited to be there. I didn't even have on Wrangler's or boots. I was asked to dance once. It was a slow song and the guy was about 3 inches shorter than me.

23. I enjoy shoveling snow. I hate driving in it.

24. I don't like to be late. I don't like it when other people are late. I don't like it when other people make me late.

25. I don't know how to use a sewing machine (although I have one).

26. I don't like candy corn.

27. I had my stomach pumped when I was a little kid because I ate a bottle of vitamins (or part of it, I can't remember...it was way too much though). The neighbor kid made me do it.

28. I love bacon.

29. I didn't skip a class in college until half way through my junior year (so I could wait for my mission call in the mail).

30. I love Costco.

31. I like the smell of gasoline.

32. I like the smell of coffee.

33. I do not like gravy.

34. I do not like downhill skiing. I've only been once. I hated it. I struggled to get a grip on the stupid rope that pulled us up the kiddie hill. Once I got up there, I had no idea what to do so I just sat down in the snow. I finally got enough courage to stand up and get down that hill. And I got down it in lightning speed since I kept my skis pointed straight down the hill. I stopped at the bottom of the hill by making myself fall. I'll never ever go skiing again. Unless it's cross country skiing. I did that once too and I actually enjoyed it.

35. I had a job mowing lawns during college. I quit after 3 weeks. I haven't mowed a lawn since then.

36. I misspelled the word banjo in a 6th grade spelling bee. I spelled it bango.



(In case you missed them, here's part one, part two and part three. Parts one and two are in need of a little updating.)

getting to know you, part three

This is Dan.
He's 39.
So here's 39 things about Dan.

1. He likes KISS.
2. He does not like olives.
3. He snores. He'll deny it.
4. He is extremely ticklish.
5. He calls me "Love."
6. He calls Cate "Pooker" (pronounced Pooka).
7. Sometimes he calls her Danny.
8. He strongly dislikes the game Scattergories.
9. He likes to push the snooze button.
10. He likes to drink Diet Coke, no ice.
11. He uses toothpaste for sensitive teeth.
12. His dentist was one of his missionary companions.
13. He enjoys roller coasters...riding them and reading about them.
14. He reads the newspaper every day.
15. He hates to wash wooden spoons.
16. He likes to give Danny whisker pie.
17. He read all 7 Harry Potter books this summer in about 5 weeks.
18. He gets sick on the spinny rides at amusement parks. I have to ride them alone.
19. He likes to eat cold pizza and cold meatloaf sandwiches.
20. He does not like mushrooms.
21. He does not enjoy ice skating.
22. He likes to sing karaoke.
23. He does not like it when I leave knives in the dishwater to soak.
24. He has forbidden me to use the electric hedge trimmer ever again.
25. He likes the Jazz.
26. He watched the movie Mama Mia and enjoyed it.
27. He can name all of the presidents of the United States in order.
28. He enjoys playing Scrabble with his mother-in-law.
29. He dressed as the Unknown Comic one year for Halloween when he was a kid.
30. He knows how to properly use a semicolon; I'm pretty sure that I do not.
31. He is a master at the game of Trivial Pursuit.
32. He passed out at the dentist's office once.
33. He entered the MTC exactly 20 years ago today.
34. He does not like hot chocolate.
35. He likes to bench press Danny and Cate (not at the same time).
36. He can't roll his r's.
37. He drinks a glass of orange juice every day with his breakfast.
38. He was allegedly in line with Michael Jackson at Disneyland many years ago. I believe it was the Peter Pan ride. Allegedly.
39. He plays the ukulele.

getting to know you, part two

Cate is 14 months old today.
Here are 14 things about Cate.

1. She loves popsicles.
2. She can nod her head and say "isssss." I'm pretty sure this means yes.
3. She can shake her head to mean no. The shaking is usually accompanied by a big cheesy smile.
4. She says Mamamamamama (that's me), Dadadadadada (that's her dad) and babababababa (that's her bottle).
5. She says uh-oh when she drops something. Actually she only says the oh part. I'm pretty sure she means uh-oh though.
6. She only likes to be held on one of my hips. If I try to hold her in front on my chest/stomach area, she puts her hand on my shoulder and tries to push herself onto my hip.
7. She pants (sometimes sounding a little like she's going to hyperventilate) when she sees something she wants...like her mamamamama or her babababababa.
8. She has a top molar currently breaking through.
9. She loves to be outside...especially in the sandbox.
10. She is showing no signs of giving up the morning nap...dangit.
11. She pulls her hair when she's drinking a bottle. If I'm holding her and don't have my hair up in a ponytail, she pulls my hair.
12. She rolls her hands when I say Cate, can you do patty cake?
13. She loves a bath.
14. She wore a onesie today that was labeled size 6-9 months. Maybe she really is going to be my baby forever...or for at least many more months to come.

getting to know you, part one

Danny is 33 months old today.
Therefore, I give you 33 things about Danny.

1. He likes broccoli.
2. He does not like corn on the cob.
3. He likes tools.
4. He is not a fan of the nursery at church.
5. He thinks his Spanish-speaking nursery teacher's name is Hola.
6. He loves tractors.
7. When you say you're welcome to him, many times he responds with "No, you wup-um to you!" (No, you're welcome to you!)
8. He can identify a square, rectangle, triangle, circle, oval, star, heart, diamond and hexagon.
9. He can count to ten, then sometimes eleven, twelve and then some mumbly numbers ending in teen.
10. He likes olives.
11. He likes whole strawberries. Don't you dare cut them and expect him to still want to eat them.
12. He has finally figured out how to eat an Otter Pop.
13. He refers to Costco as the pizza store.
14. He likes his Danny and the Dinosaur book.
15. He refers to his Great Aunt Nancy as Nurse Nancy. That's the name of one of his books.
16. He likes to eat "bips and bip" (chips and dip...actually tortilla chips and salsa).
17. He can open the childproof lock on the fridge.
18. He can almost open the childproof locks on the cupboards.
19. He yells, "Mama, mail bime (time)!" when the mailman comes.
20. He loves to watch Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
21. He can identify the letters E, F, I, L, M, O, S, W, X, and Y...most of the time.
22. He likes firetrucks and ambulances.
23. He likes to go to Emo's house (across the street) to get a popsicle.
24. He likes toast.
25. He does somersaults and calls them his "cool trick."
26. He is 71% potty trained.
27. He rubs his stuffed puppies' ears between his finger and thumb when he's sleepy.
28. He tells me I'm getting "ginky buff" (stinky stuff) on him when I lay my head beside him on his pillow at bedtime.
29. He likes to be tickled.
30. He tells me things are too boring lately...a cheese stick he didn't eat and the lotion I was trying to rub on his cheeks.
31. He can identify the signs for Diet Coke and McDonald's. I'm so proud.
32. He calls his baby sister Date or Datie.
33. He tells me I'm his "dest dend" (best friend).