100 Things

1. I was born in Nashville, Tennessee
2. On October 2, 1975
3. Via emergency c-section
4. I was raised in Charleston, West Virginia
5. I got my first real kiss from a boy when I was 10
6. And my first kiss from a girl when I was 26
7. What can I say, it was Bourbon Street and the drinks were 4 for 1
8. I used to hate olives
9. I would literally vomit a little bit if an olive so much as touched my tongue
10. I got hungry after drinking 4 for 1’s and kissing girls and I ate a muffuletta and now I like olives
11. I also used to hate cantaloupe
12. Now I like it
13. Although I didn’t need to get drunk and kiss girls to like it.
14. My favorite food is crab cakes
15. The best crab cakes in the world are sold at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore
16. When I was a kid we visited my great aunt every summer in Baltimore and we went to Inner Harbor
17. In the fifth grade I wrote an essay about my summer vacation to Pearl Harbor
18. I’m not every good at history and/or geography
19. I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up
20. I took AP English my senior year of high school
21. I liked reading the books but the work that followed and my crappy teacher ruined English for me
22. I changed my major on my preadmission forms to college from English to Nutrition
23. I picked nutrition as a major because of my dance instructor- Mrs. Edwards
24. Well, because of her and because of my very unhealthy relationship with food growing up
25. My unhealthy relationship with food was further fueled by need to fit into skimpy dance costumes
26. I weighed 132 pounds the day I graduated from high school
27. I weighed 135 pounds this morning
28. In 1996 I weighed 175 pounds
29. It was difficult to be a nutrition student and be overweight
30. Fortunately, since I was in college, I was too drunk to really care
31. I no longer have an unhealthy relationship with food
32. I eat what I want when I want
33. I watch my portion size
34. I eat a large salad with tons of toppings every night for dinner
35. I have eaten a salad almost every night for dinner for over three years
36. I LOVE salad
37. I received my Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from West Virginia University
38. I moved 6 times in six years when I was in college
39. My favorite place I lived was a big brick house on Beverly Avenue I shared with 4 other friends
40. In graduate school I lived by myself
41. Because I thought it was the right thing for a grown up grad student to do
42. I was miserable living on my own but fortunately, lots of friends were constantly crashing at my apartment
43. A guy once broke up with me because I “always needed to be the center of attention”
44. To get back at him, Sarah and I toilet papered and soaped the windows of his truck
45. Sarah and I wore socks on our hands when we did it so not to leave finger prints
46. I don’t always need to be the center of attention
47. At least I don’t think I do
48. It feels really funny to write that I don’t need to be the center of attention on a list of 100 things about ME
49. I miss living in West Virginia
50. I don’t think I will ever move back
51. I hate snow
52. I love music- all kinds of music
53. My memories- my senses- are closely tied to music
54. I often say “this song reminds me of…”
55. I drive people nuts when I say “this song reminds me of…”
56. Because I say it ALL. THE. TIME. when I’m listening to music
57. I have a really, really, really good memory.
58. I’m talking Rain Man good memory
59. I used to keep diaries, journals, and calendars on which to write my thoughts, feelings and what I did every day
60. I think all my writing is why I have such a good memory
61. And why sometimes things that happened ten years ago seem like yesterday to me
62. My favorite summer job was working as a ride hostess on Ripcord at Cedar Point
63. I worked there the summer of 1996
64. My dad worked there the summer of 1966
65. I would like for Grace to keep the tradition alive and work there the summer of 2026
66. Sometimes I forget how old I am
67. I work with kids so that keeps me young
68. Almost all my friends now are my friends from when I was younger so that keeps me young, too
69. I feel- and act- much, much younger than 31
70. I think that one of the best things about having kids is that now I have a reason to play like a kid again
71. I like playing outside more than my kids like playing outside
72. Sometimes it is hard to be on the parenting side of things
73. Sometimes I feel like I still need to be parented
74. I like to laugh
75. I like people who make me laugh
76. This one time, at band camp, I laughed so hard that I peed my pants
77. And all over the floor
78. My favorite board game is Trivial Pursuit
79. Before kids, the husband and I would play strip Trivial Pursuit
80. When I met my husband, I was living with a guy
81. No drama here- sorry! The guy was just a roommate
82. Me, the husband, and the guy all lived together for a few months
83. I imagine I was quite the talk of the neighborhood
84. I suppose I should mention I was married once before
85. I rarely even think about it
86. In my nightmares I wake up and I’m married to my first husband and I’m trying to figure out what happened to Lloyd and the kids
87. Those nightmares make me cry
88. I fell in love with my husband at first sight
89. Lloyd and I were engaged when Gavin was conceived
90. I conceived Grace on my 29th birthday
91. Both my kids were wanted but neither pregnancies were planned
92. My world totally changed when I became a mother
93. I would like to have more kids
94. But I would like to see my husband more
95. So we plan to only have two children
96. Only one more year until both kids are in preschool the husband and I can stop working opposite shifts
97. If I were to have another boy I would name him “Julian” and call him “Jude” after my grandpa
98. My grandpa died in 2001
99. I think about him every day
100. This is the first time I have ever told anyone that