It’s official.  With this post I’ve hit the big 100.  And, not wanting to break from tradition, I put myself to task and came up with 100 very random (and hopefully a tad interesting) things about yours truly.  So, without further ado, I present me (the condensed version!)…

1. I wrote a novel. It’s unpublished, but it’s a novel nonetheless.
2. I’ve been saying that I’m going to find a publisher, but I haven’t tried very hard.
3. I graduated high school a year before I was supposed to.
4. I was pregnant, not genius.
5. Fast food disgusts me.
6. My favorite pizza toppings are green olives, pineapple, artichoke hearts and red pepper.
7. I’m not a pet person.
8. It’s not that I don’t like animals.
9. Well, okay. I guess it is that.
10. I consider myself a scrapbooker but I can’t remember the last time I completed a page.
11. I often dream of losing my teeth. Those dreams are always painful.
12. I looked this up on a dream interpretation web site once and learned that teeth dreams signify a feeling of helplessness, or a fear of things being out of control.
13. That makes sense because I am totally type A.
14. My favorite author is Jodi Picoult.
15. Her novels, My Sister’s Keeper  and Change of Heart  had me sobbing like a baby.
16. I had a mole removed recently that came back with abnormal cells.
17. Ever since, I’ve been a freak about wearing sunscreen and lathering it on my children, much to their chagrin.
18. For that, and for their diets rich in whole grains and suspiciously lacking anything with high fructose corn syrup, I’m sure they’ll thank me one day.
19. We do eat sweets. Homemade, typically, with real sugar, not the fake stuff.
20. And I make exceptions when we’re on vacation. We’re plain gluttonous then.
21. Since we’re talking vacations, I confess that I am nothing if not a Disneyphile.
22. When I’ve had a bad day my family tries to cheer me by asking me Disney World trivia questions during dinner.
23. I’ve recently gone green. I don’t use the heat cycle on my automatic dishwasher and we use canvas shopping bags for our groceries.
24. I’ve even started buying green cleaners for our home. I think that officially makes me a convert.
25. I don’t much care for jewelry. I find it heavy and obnoxious.
26. A pair of one carat princess cut diamond stud earrings, though, would really put a smile on my face.
27. Oh, and a Tiffany bracelet. Every girl should get something in the little blue box.
28. I have the best, most nostalgic memories of spending time at my grandparents’ house as a little girl. Rides in their wheelbarrow, rummaging through treasures in the barn, and picking fruit from the trees and vines are among the memories I hold most dear.
29. I think one of the funniest things in the world is my husband’s reaction to gross things. I enjoy strategically placing little balls of earwax so that he happens upon them when he least expects it.
30. Right after our son was born I dreamed of using a medicine dropper to squeeze little beads of breastmilk into my husband’s ear while he slept. The sound of my own laughter woke me up.
31. I have a heart shaped face and pointy ears. I used to want to have them (my ears that is) surgically pinned back but I’ve come to appreciate them now. They’re pixie-ish like Tink’s.
32. Three things I’ve always wanted: a boob job, a tattoo, and to have my teeth whitened.
33. I’ve managed to do two of the three and I’m holding out hope that the third will happen one day.
34. Since moving to Arizona, I’ve found a rattlesnake on my front doormat, a scorpion on the rug by my couch, and a tarantula crawling up the wall by my front door (outside of the house).
35. I can’t stand to let my bed go unmade.
36. The first time I ever drank, I was well under the legal drinking age. It was Peppermint Schnapps. Way, WAY too much Peppermint Schnapps. To this day I can’t take a whiff of it without throwing up in my mouth.
37. I don’t foresee myself ever being compelled to vote for a Democrat.
38. I can’t swim.
39. Or sing a single note in tune.
40. With each passing year I become more of germaphobe. I can no longer walk barefoot on hotel room carpeting and if I don’t sanitize my hands immediately after pumping gas I feel like my skin is going to melt away.
41. The word “retard,” when thrown around inconsequently, makes me cringe.
42. As does the phrase, “oh my God” when it’s used frequently and irreverently.
43. I love having manicured fingernails, but I hate having manicures. That whole cuticle pushing and cutting thing really creeps me out.
44. Board games are one of my favorite things.
45. With the exception of Monopoly.
46. I hate Monopoly.
47. In the fall, I used to love to soak in a hot bath after dinner. But then last October we bought a hot tub and I don’t think I’ve used the bathtub since.
48. I stopped eating red meat when I was 12.
49. The smell of rain puts a smile on my face.
50. I want to move to Florida and work at Disney World when the kids are grown and Jeff retires.
51. I love People magazine but can’t bring myself to pay what they require for a subscription.
52. By the time my youngest turns 18, I will have been raising children for 30 years.
53. I’ve given birth to four babies.
54. The first one was completely natural.
55. The next three, not so much.
56. I require piping hot food.
57. Unless it’s a salad in which case I require fresh and crisp. No brown leaves.
58. I. Love. Reality TV.
59. I. Hate. ESPN.
60. Whenever I feel nauseous my thoughts gravitate towards carnival foods. Cotton candy, caramel apples, funnel cakes. It’s a little form of torture my mind puts me through.
61. I also think of a cow’s underbelly when I drink milk and scrawny, scratchy, scaley chicken legs when I eat chicken. Again, torture.
62. My husband and his family freely talk about gross things (think bathroom humor) while they eat. I find it disturbing.
63. If heaven has TV, mine will show a continuous loop of hidden camera shows.
64. I’m a homebody.
65. I don’t inherently know right from left. I have to sign my name in the air to know which is which.
66. I’m left handed by the way.
67. Fall is my favorite season.
68. It’s very easy for me to admit that I’m wrong to my children when I behave badly in front of them.
69. It’s REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for me to admit that I’m wrong to my husband.
70. That’s probably due in part to the fact that I’m right 97% of the time.
71. I couldn’t properly iron a piece of clothing if my life depended on it.
72. The second toe on each of my feet is longer than its neighboring big toe.
73. Ever since I started a blog I’ve taken to carrying a camera in my purse.
74. It’s necessitated me carrying a much larger purse.
75. I don’t care much for chocolate.
76. I’d choose crème brulee, cheesecake, or bread pudding over a fudge brownie hands down.
77. My knowledge of all things technical begins and ends with email.
78. Except of course for posting on my blog. Obviously.
79. I’m slightly anal when it comes to balancing my checkbook. The teensiest discrepancies keep me from sleep.
80. Non-fiction books typically don’t do a thing for me.
81. I could spend all day in a book store though.
82. I grew up in California, but I don’t care so much for the beach.
83. The wineries they have there though? Now those I enjoy.
84. I liken myself to Jesus in that my drinks of choice are water or wine.
85. I’m learning to treat myself to iced chai lattes or sweet tea a bit more often though.
86. I don’t understand why people like coffee. It’s bitter and caffeine-laden.
87. Mocha Almond Fudge ice cream from Baskin Robbins, though, is heaven. sent.
88. A few years ago I went through a Dr. Laura phase.
89. Even the wine fell victim.
90. I’m back to normal these days though.
91. Probably a heathen by Dr. Laura’s standards.
92. I went to a private religious school from K-5th.
93. It wasn’t until my daughter was born with Down syndrome though that I truly, willingly, and whole-heartedly turned to God.
94. I love to watch Survivor but I could never do it.
95. Peeing (and, um defecating) in the woods is SO not my thing.
96. With the birth of my fourth child I let daily showers go by the wayside.
97. I like to think of it as another means of water conservation.
98. I’ve never traveled abroad.
99. I used to want to, but now I’m not sure I could endure that long of a flight.
100. Writing this list proved easier than I thought it would be.

If you’re still reading - thank you.  Perhaps you can spare just a few more minutes to go and enter my celebratory giveaway for a $50 gift card.  Good luck!