100 Things About Me

I've been avoiding posting even though I've had many reasons to post. Why? Because this is my 100th post and I had to find time to write it before I could post the other things. Since today is Backwards Works for Me, and I have a question I need to ask, I'm left with needing to find time NOW! So here it goes...

1. I've been thinking this post to death, like I usually do, trying to figure out what to say.
2. I'm going to just go with the flow, like I usually do when I'm done thinking something to death.
3. I'm very indecisive; I can't even choose something on a restaurant menu so I resort to eeny, meeny, miney, mo.
4. That has led to some interesting dinners at our house.
5. I am so picky that I fear other people's cooking because I've offended a host more than once by not liking the food.
6. I threw up someone's cooking once because I didn't like it that much; it was stuffed grape leaves. I won't touch grape leaves now.
7. Being picky makes weight loss tricky because I cannot follow meal plans.
8. I'm about 50 pounds overweight but most people don't believe me because I carry it well (in person not in photos).
9. Despite being overweight (and old-feeling), I'm pretty athletic when I want to be.
10. I take taekwondo classes 3 times a week with my son.
11. I love that I'm learning to defend myself.
12. I can't wait to get to black belt and to learn a more painful martial art--like hapkido or aikido.
13. My fantasy is to be a female Steven Seagal...those who'd do my kids or me harm...watch out!
14. I quit taking my kids on hikes or nature walks because I'm afraid of running into a bad person where there's no help around.
15. I quit letterboxing for the same reason.
16. Now I create letterboxes and plant them temporarily at the retreat center for retreats I go on twice a year.
17. I'm easily distracted.
18. I forget things often.
19. I lose my keys constantly; once I lost them for 2 1/2 months.
20. I never worry when I lose my keys because I know they are in the house somewhere.
21. I just use my spare set until I find them.
22. I thought about getting a spare set for my spare set in case I lose those too.
23. I once had to have the car dealership make me a new key for my car and bring it to me because I lost my only one.
24. I can't eat cilantro; it tastes strongly like soap.
25. My husband didn't believe me that I could taste it in anything so he told me the green stuff on my plate was parsley; my first bite resulted in a contorted face of disgust. He believes me now.
26. I'm a cat person; I've had 12 cats in my life (Midnight, Charlie, Sandy, Stubbles, Kitty, Tigger, Pandro, Abby, Ally, Angie, Smokey, Gracie).
27. Kitty was and will always be my favorite.
28. I love the way Tigger smells; I smell the scruff of her neck all the time.
29. I'm not a dog person.
30. I caught 7 stray dogs one year.
31. I found the owners for 6 of them.
32. Now I have two large dogs of my own.
33. I often wish I didn't have dogs; but I'm glad I have their protection.
34. I like gardens and flowerbeds; I hate gardening.
35. I love clean and tidy homes.
36. My home is cluttered and messy.
37. I want my home to be clean and tidy but I tend to put things wherever rather than away.
38. I often I can't find things because I sometimes choose unusual homes for things.
39. When I finally find the item, I'm confused as to why I would have put it there.
40. It's especially hard to find things when I put them somewhere where they'll be safe and won't get lost.
41. Cleaning a home is especially difficult when you are easily distracted; I may never finish a task I started but I do start 10 other tasks that I also don't finish.
42. I named this blog after my husband teasing me about being distracted by shiny things; "Ooh, Shiny!" he teased.
43. I actually get distracted by anything, not just shiny things.
44. This post is distracting me f
45. I got un-distracted on #44 and finished what I should have been doing.
46. That's the way my life is every day...moving from one distraction to another.
47. Having a schedule/routine has alluded me my whole life.
48. I took birth control pills for 6 years; I missed 3-5 pills every month of those 6 years.
49. I love the sunshine.
50. I have a split personality: my winter self and my summer self.
51. I love my summer self because I'm happy, full of energy, and get a lot done.
52. My winter self is low on energy, somewhat down, and gets little done.
53. I used to suffer from chronic depression that was sometimes severe.
54. I've been depression and medication free for about 3 1/2 years now.
55. I love playing fun music loudly.
56. Especially 80's music.
57. And dancing around silly with my kids.
58. We haven't done that in a long time; I think we will today.
59. Sometimes, especially in the car, I can't stand having the radio on.
60. I usually prefer to drive in silence (my husband probably won't believe that one).
61. My favorite color is plum (a specific type of purple for you guys out there).
62. I do not care for other types of purple though.
63. My favorite decorating scheme is called "romantic" according to a website I found once.
64. My ideal room is sage with white trim and pink, floral accents or sage with white trim and plum accents.
65. I'm not fashionable; I usually start liking a fashion after it has gone out of style.
66. I prefer to just wear jeans, tennis shoes, and a comfortable cotton shirt.
67. I like how I look with my hair done and makeup but a rarely take the time to do it; its just not that important to me.
68. If I'm having a bad day, the best way to fix that is to do my hair, pluck my eyebrows, put makeup on, and change into nicer casual clothes.
69. I love cold cereal.
70. I love baked goods: cake, cookies, donuts, muffins, brownies, cheesecake, etc.
71. I like to slightly overcook my cookies so they'll soak up the milk when I dunk them.
72. I love oreos.
73. The Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant; the salad, the bread sticks, the chicken parmesan, the lasagna, the fettuccine alfredo, the manicotti, the desserts...
74. I make my favorite lasagna...from scratch with double the cheese called for in the original recipe I started with.
75. I love cheese, but only certain kinds: cheddar, mozzarella, string, Monterey jack, cream cheese.
76. I can't stand the fancy cheeses or anything with mold in it.
77. I enjoy simple food.
78. I do not generally like gourmet meals.
79. I love crafts; I scrapbook, knit, crochet, create DVD slide shows, designed my blogs, made wreaths, and tried many other things including basket weaving.
80. I can usually figure out how to do almost anything with a book, the Internet, or just thinking about it.
81. I love learning new things; this makes homeschooling lots of fun for me, at least.
82. I love going on day trips; homeschooling gives me a convenient excuse to go lots of places.
83. I do not like going places overnight; I get homesick.
84. I'm ok on overnight trips if I'm having fun every minute of the time I'm gone like at Disneyland or my retreats.
85. I love roller coasters and thrill rides.
86. I love white water rafting, the wilder the better; I want to raft a class 5 rapid some day. (this hardest passable rapid)
87. I love downhill skiing. When I first started, I was terrified now I love it. I'd love to get to the point I can ski expert level runs some day.
88. I haven't skied since before I got married. It's been 11 years.
89. Now I have a bad knee and I'm afraid I'll never be able to ski again.
90. I hurt my knee taking ice skating lessons with my daughter; overweight mothers shouldn't forget to remove their blade guards before stepping on the ice.
91. I used to play volleyball every weekend at the beach. I was pretty good. I have only played volleyball once since I moved to Washington in 1992; there just aren't many beach volleyball games in Tacoma.
92. I love the piano. I started teaching myself to play a couple of years ago and am starting up teaching myself again.
93. I love "chick flicks."
94. My favorite genre of books are science fiction and romance.
95. My kids amaze me; they are all so smart.
96. I like taking my kids with me most places; they are so well-behaved it is easy to have them along.
97. I look forward to park days and summer reading club activities (puppet shows, music shows, etc.) just as much as my kids.
98. I don't read very much even though I love it; I tend to get lost in the book and everything is neglected until I finish the book.
99. I'm very extroverted. My energy stores are filled by being around other people and I lose energy by being alone too long.
100. I worry too much about what other people think...maybe you'll think my list is silly.

I'm glad that is done!