100 things about me

Thank you, Posthipchick for giving me the impetus to do this!

1. I have lived in Iowa for almost 35 years, but was born in New Jersey.
2. I was raised without a dad.
3. What I lack in a dad was made up tenfold in my mom.
4. It was love at first sight when I met my husband.
5. I have 2 lovely daughters.
6. I teach high school Spanish and love it.
7. I have naturally curly hair that has at times been the bane of my existence.
8. I cannot resist popcorn.
9. I have never once been able to see one of those 3-D pictures that you press your nose against and back up.
10. I spent a semester in Mexico my junior year in college.
11. I never thought I'd want to be a teacher.
12. I always wanted to leave my hometown and go live in Chicago or New York.
13. I now live in my hometown and like it.
14. I love the smell of rubber tires and gasoline.
15. I can still name all 50 states and capitals.
16. I love to read.
17. I don't see the point of Cirque du Soleil.
18. I've never used a tanning bed.
19. I have 20/15 vision.
20. I am paralytically afraid of rats.
21. Other rodents are right up there, too.
22. I love the smell of my cat's belly.
23. I'm in 2 book groups.
24. I have almost a minor in French.
25. I used to teach ESL.
26. I have hitchhiked, although not in this country.
27. I hate any movie that is remotely scary.
28. I come from a long line of salty-tongued women.
29. My cat is obese and the vet makes me feel guilty about it.
30. I like Grolsch beer even though it tastes like a skunk smells.
31. I stood in line to buy the last 3 Harry Potter books the first day they came out.
32. Once, I drove to Maine (from Iowa) in a Saturn wagon with a 3 year old and a 10 month old.
33. I sometimes take a mental health day and stay home from school.
34. I'm a Democrat.
35. I am happy to live somewhere where there is a definite change of seasons.
36. Just thinking about the movie Napoleon Dynamite makes me giggle.
37. I tried to read The Lord of the Rings, but couldn't.
38. I refused to see the Passion.
39. The more I learn about Mel Gibson, the more of a nutball I think he is.
40. I wish Atticus Finch were our president.
41. My kids go to Catholic school.
42. I'm a convert.
43. There are many things about the Catholic church that I don't like.
44. Love the whole Mary thing, though.
45. I would love to be a stay at home mom.
46. I love it when my skin peels from sunburn.
47. I can totally see why people get hooked on morphine.
48. Sometimes I get on a roll and tell people way, way, way too much information.
49. I am often inappropriate at faculty meetings.
50. Whenever someone talks about financial stuff, all I hear is "blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah."
51. I didn't see The Titanic because I thought the amount of money spent to make it was obscene.
52. I don't shop at WalMart.
53. I live in a town along the Mississippi River.
54. When I was 21 there were 2 flash floods in my neighborhood.
55. Now I get really anxious when it rains really hard for a long period of time.
56. I like to listen to Garrison Keillor's News from Lake Woebegone before I go to sleep.
57. I only have 6 first cousins.
58. Most of the time, I forget to use my cell phone.
59. I spend way too much money on books.
60. My favorite tv show is the Gilmore Girls.
61. If I have to go to another "children's museum" or play another round of Candyland, I will gladly shoot myself.
62. I am a Brownie leader. (it makes me giggle.)
63. I can find common ground with damn near anyone.
64. My favorite color is green.
65. Fundamentalist Christians creep me out.
66. That credit card commercial where they play the Five for Fighting song "100 years" makes me bawl.
67. So do the Latter Day Saints commercials.
68. Both of my children were born Caesarian section and I don't feel like I missed out on anything.
69. I still kind of want another baby.
70. My only biological uncle is an herbalist and lives on a secluded island in the Puget Sound.
71. I can't imagine living in a land-locked city.
72. I almost married someone other than my husband and moved to Louisiana for a month.
73. I am soooo glad I didn't.
74. The smell of Giorgio, Stetson, Polo or Designer Imposter anything give me a migraine.
75. My house was built in 1914.
76. I have a box of old letters from my great aunt and I love to read them.
77. 2004 was the first time since 8th grade that I didn't send any Christmas cards.
78. I can't have many houseplants because my cat eats them and then barfs them up.
79. My ideal job is to be a dialect coach.
80. I love regional differences in language.
81. I've been a teacher since 1992 and still get "stagefright" sometimes.
82. I try not to eat at national chain restaurants.
83. I have a collection of nuns and other religious kitsch.
84. One of my college PE credits was ballroom dancing.
85. I love trivia.
86. I have a freakishly good memory.
87. I get frustrated when other people aren't as detail-oriented as I am.
88. I love movies about the Mafia.
89. As much as I enjoy a smoke free environment, I don't want the government telling every single bar and restaurant they have to be a no-smoking establishment.
90. I brought 5 little Cuban cigars into the country from Mexico last summer when I was chaperoning a school trip. Shh.
91. I'm all about being sexist if it gets me free drinks.
92. I like to drive fast with the windows down and music blaring. In my white mini van.
93. I had a tougher time with my 25th birthday than I did my 30th.
94. Pink star-gazer lilies are my favorite flower.
95. Much of the news I get comes from The Daily Show.
96. I am under 5 feet tall. (but not much.)
97. My eyes are green and even greener when I wear something green close to my face.
98. Both of my children are left handed and neither my husband nor I are.
99. I love having cable television.
100. When 2 bad things happen close together, I always expect a third.