1. I find Blank Page Syndrome to be seriously debilitating.
2. When Beans was born I was so unprepared for someone to look so much like me that I nearly dropped her (really, the nurses all shot forward, arms extended, like you see in cartoons).
3. I met my husband in college.
4. We didn’t date until after college but in college we dated a lot of each other’s friends.
5. Cape Cod is perhaps my favorite place on earth.
6. There is no #6.
7. The Incredible Hulk is a distant cousin on my dad’s side.
8. My parents divorced when I was 26.
9. My brother is one of my very best friends.
10. I once kissed a CIA agent.
11. I bumped into Senator Ted Kennedy in a elevator. My colleague (a young lady) was carrying a heavy box and obviously struggling. He looked at her and said “wow, that looks heavy.” Thanks, Teddy.
12. I have an inexplicable infatuation with DisneyWorld.
13. I didn’t learn to like brussel sprouts until I was almost 30.
14. I probably should have been in therapy for most of my 20s.
15. I wish I could speak a foreign language fluently. To that end, I should have fought harder to take French in high school rather than the Spanish my dad made me take. Now I speak neither.
16. My next career will be in nutrition policy/advocacy.
17. I can slalom waterski.
18. I am very vain about my hair.
19. I was in 15 plays and musicals in high school.
20. I had the lead in several of them.
21. I sang in a semi-pro a cappella group until I got pregnant with Beans.
22. Now I sing at weddings, funerals, and karaoke bars.
23. I don’t like other people’s feet.
24. I love pedicures.
25. I love to cook.
26. I’m a great cook – I learned from my mom and grandmothers.
27. My husband had an unexplained grand mal seizure when I was pregnant with Beans.
28. I visited friends in England whom I had only ever met on the internet.
29. I have about 20 close personal friends in 5-6 countries whom I originally met on an internet mailing list for the TV show FRIENDS.
30. We have been friends for over 13 years.
31. I have a Secret clearance.
32. Sometimes I listen to Christmas music when it isn’t anywhere close to Christmas.
33. I was on an airplane between New York and San Francisco when We Are the World aired for the first time in 1985.
34. When Flight #77 hit the Pentagon on 9/11, my office building windows shook. I was freaked because I initially couldn’t get in touch with my brother who works very close to the Towers. I will never forget being on the phone with my sister-in-law…she looked out of her mid-town office window and said “I have to go — the tower is …I think it’s… falling. I have to go. Mike and your mom are fine – we’ll call you later. I love you – get home safely.” I felt horrible for my dad in Florida because his two kids were located in DC and NYC — and he couldn’t reach us, either.
35. I don’t like cats.
36. I love some dogs.
37. I hate yippy dogs.
38. In theory, I would like to have a 3rd child.
39. My dream car was a Saab convertible.
40. We coincidentally got a used one a few years ago.
41. It’s a money pit. Live and learn.
42. If I could do it all over again, I’d have taken at least a year off between high school and college. I’d not have a desk job.
43. I play(ed) flute.
44. I wish I had taken the piano lessons that were offered me as a child.
45. I love yoga and pilates.
46. As much as possible, I eat organic, local foods.
47. My first concert was Squeeze in 1986 or 1987. It was awesome – standing room only at The Ritz and we were 10th row. I saw them again in 1999 in D.C…they were terrible. But the Band that opened for them, Great Big Sea, was terrific and remains one of our favorites to this day.
48. I saw Depeche Mode from the 10th row at the Meadowlands.
49. I almost got arrested at the 1986 World Series Parade (How ’bout those Mets?)
50. I am a beer snob.
51. And a chocolate snob.
52. And a cheese snob.
53. Except for Wispride – I love port wine cheese though I rarely indulge.
54. Ice cream should be its own food group.
55. I have never broken a bone.
56. Sometimes I think about getting Lipo.
57. I have excellent Gaydar. It developed over time out of necessity, as half the guys I had crushes on — or dated — in high school and college turned out to be gay.
58. I was raised Catholic and married in the Catholic church.
59. I do not consider myself to be Catholic anymore…
60. …for three reasons: 1) The priest who led Beans’ baptism class said that the men are the spiritual head of the household (my DH is an atheist); 2) I couldn’t to tell my daughters that they could grow up to be anything they wanted to be…except for spiritual leaders in their church; and 3) the Catholic church’s practice of requiring annulments before permitting subsequent marriages for divorced people.
61. I believe in God but I strongly dislike organized religion.
62. Beans is baptised; Muppet is not. I feel odd about this.
63. I had two miscarriages between my girls and one before A.
64. I have a blood clotting disorder that only presents when I am pregnant.
65. I have 8 years worth of journals from high school and college – I am scared to read them because I am still not ready to relive my teenaged years.
66. I have somewhat of an addictive personality – I have never tried hard core drugs for this reason.
67. My favorite colors is red.
68. I have no living grandparents.
69. I love my job.
70. I would like to take a sabbatical from working for a few years.
71. I love red wine.
72. My favorite gelato flavor is hazelnut.
73. I take sugar in my tea but not my coffee, unless it is iced coffee.
74. Coffee needs at least whole milk, but preferably half and half; tea is fine with skim milk.
75. I like to cover up with a blanket when I nap but I don’t like the blanket to cover my feet. When I go to sleep at night, the blanket *must* cover my feet.
76. My mother is the only person who knows this. I never understood how she could possibly remember this.
77. Until I had children of my own. Now I know why she’ll never forget it.
78. I want to open a book store.
79. My mom and mother-in-law are two of the best cooks I know.
80. When I was small and something was bothering me, I would say “I’m tired” when asked what was wrong.
81. I still say that sometimes.
82. I am 100% Italian.
83. I used to wish I was a mix of nationalities – one St. Patrick’s day I tried to convince my 6th grade teacher that I was part Irish.
84. I could spend hours in small, independent book shops.
85. I usually don’t like to shop in stores but I love to shop online.
86. Jeans are harder to fit than bathing suits.
87. I love to travel.
88. I know how to sail.
89. I used to have a fabulous memory for names and details – I don’t anymore.
90. I hate talking on the phone.
91. I would love a yard full of blue hydrangea.
92. My favorite hair color is red.
93. My favorite book as a child was A Wrinkle In Time, by Madeleine L’Engle.
94. I still don’t see what all the fuss was about Shawshank Redemption.
95. Some of my favorite movies are The Princess Bride, The Big Chill, and When Harry met Sally.
96. I will watch nearly any movie with John Cusack in it.
97. I used to drive 62 miles round-trip to work each day. In August 2006 I woke up and started taking the train to be more environmentally friendly.
98. At the beginning of Summer 2007 I read that most of the food the average American eats has traveled at least 1,500 miles. I was horrified. Almost all of our fruit and vegetables this summer were purchased from local farmers within 100 miles of us. We’re continuing our baby steps into the 100 Mile Diet.
99. An Inconvenient Truth should be required viewing (spoken by she who is not an Al Gore fan).
100. Supporting sustainable agriculture is possibly the most important thing we can do for future generations.
