25 Things

I did it on Facebook--so figured I'd re-post it here, for readers who are not on Facebook...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. When I was six years old, my sister slammed my pinky in the bathroom door at my Grandpa’s house. She got in trouble, but it was totally not her fault because I stuck my pinky in there on purpose when she was about to slam the door shut. Morbid, irresistible impulse.

2. I have never seen my husband without a beard, and we’ve been together for nearly ten years.

3. I really want to vacation in Italy. Without my children.

4. Coconut is my enemy. Unless it’s in Thai food.

5. I’ve had my nose pierced twice. I want to do it again.

6. I’m a joiner. I hate to be left out. (Which is why you can almost always count on me to perpetuate these memes.)

7. I cannot wiggle my ears, flare my nostrils, or roll my tongue in any direction.

8. I do iron clothes occasionally—but I don’t think I’ve EVER done it without burning myself.

9. I also have a tendency to cut myself (at a rate higher than the average person, I think) when using a knife in the kitchen.

10. I have never, however, broken a bone in my body.

11. I have four tattoos. The second one is covered up by the fourth, so only three are visible.

12. I believe in the power of a corndog.

13. Though I read labels at the grocery store to avoid buying foods with trans fats and high-fructose corn syrup, I fantasize about (and occasionally indulge in) Sonic (see #12 above) and McDonalds.

14. I worked for John Hughes (the movie director) for about 3 months in the spring of 2003, as a gardener (growing organic vegetables) on his private estate. It was the worst three months of my life.

15. I also once worked as the caretaker of a 17-acre estate with a private beach on Lake Michigan, just north of Chicago. The owner of that property, my former employer, is now in federal prison on charges of racketeering and insurance fraud.

16. I make a better door than a window.

17. I would rather be on my scooter.

18. I can keep a secret.

19. I am Actually Afraid of Halloween haunted houses, haunted barns, haunted hayrides, and the like. As in, it is not fun for me because I am terrified, squeezing my eyes shut and screaming. Exception: the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. Not scary.

20. My husband is a horticulturist. I used to be a garden writer, and could practically CLEP out of a two-year hort program. Still, our own garden is a mess! Hip-high weeds, ad-hoc plant arrangements and an out-of-commission compost bin. Babies make it hard to find time in the garden!

21. I adore asparagus. When it’s in season, I cannot get enough. I even get an inexplicable sense of satisfaction from the weird-smelling you-know-what that results from eating a plateful of spears.

22. I really want to take up camping.

23. At any given time, I probably own about 23 tubes of lip balm.

24. I am a neat freak at heart, but a slob in practice. I adore order but have trouble attaining it. Sometimes I resent the factors in my life that make it difficult to maintain order. (See # 20 above.)

25. I wrote more words on this “assignment” today than I wrote for actual work assignments.