100 Things

1. I have two children, ages 17 and 13. I wanted to name my daughter Aleksandra and my son Braden, but those aren’t their names. That’s ok. I like their names.
2. I have a great hubby. We met in January, didn’t start dating until April and got married 5 weeks later. I wouldn’t recommend this, though. Do as I say, not as I do.
3. We eloped in a field of flowers. It was beautiful.
4. Next Wednesday is our 11th wedding anniversary.
5. I really like in the mornings to sprawl across the bed when he gets up. We used to have a king size bed, but we didn’t move it here, which was fortunate because if we still had it, that would be all we had in the bedroom.
6. I am a Speech Therapist/Special Ed. Teacher. I love it.
7. I have been teaching for 15 years, and in those 15 years, I have taught at 11 schools.
8. I was voted Teacher of the Year last year at the school I currently teach.
9. I am wishy-washy. It’s not a good thing, don’t emulate me. Except in the case of what’s best for the child, then I’m likely to fight you to the end.
10. My first car was an aqua 1966 Ford Mustang Convertible. Two weeks and two days after I got it, a lady ran a stop sign and I hit her. The car was made before shoulder belts came along, so I had a nice black eye and big bruises on either arm. We fixed it and I drove it for two years before it got passed down to my sister.
11. I have hypothyroidism. I’m (still) waiting for all the weight to dissolve away as easily as it got there! No such luck.
12. I have had bilateral carpal tunnel surgery. Not at the same time, thank goodness. Caused from #11.
13. I hate to talk on the phone.
14. I am very frugal. Cheap, there, I said it.
15. I taught myself how to cross stitch, knit, scrapbook, and play the cello.
16. I can also quilt, crochet, sew, and play the guitar.
17. I am fluent in sign language (well, obviously not fluent enough to pass that blasted test!) and I have voluntarily taught sign language classes at three different churches.
18. I can sing. I frequently sang solos at our last church and have sung in four different cities’ civic choruses.
19. I own a Klingon Bat’Leth. Signed by Lursa, B’Etor, Martok, and Galron. I saved a spot in the middle for Worf. Yeah right, I heard he doesn't give autographs anyway.
20. I am afraid of heights.
21. My husband forced me to go on a roller coaster one time and promised never to bug me about going on them again. As I was walking off hyperventilating he said “See you in Heaven!”
22. When I was in high school everyone said I looked like Molly Ringwald. I even got the “Molly Ringwald” award in choir.
23. We got a new dog, we named her Molly.
24. Molly died a few years ago, and my mom and step-dad eventually got another dog. Her name is Molly, too. They look nothing alike.
25. My favorite place in the world is Disney World in Orlando.
26. My favorite ride there is Haunted Mansion. I remember being about 5 years old and the ride got stuck where the ghosts try to ‘hitchhike’ with you. It is an awesome ride. Last time we were
there, I went back to Magic Kingdom by myself and rode it three times in a row.
27. I collect Disney pins.
28. And stamps. I have some “I Love You” sign language stamps that are precious.
29. In my other life I would be a pediatric neurosurgeon.
30. I once had a greeting card that I made for our anniversary published in the magazine RubberStampMadness. July/August 2002 Issue 124, page 68.
31. We collect glasses from Hard Rock Cafes. We have glasses from: Dallas, Key West, Miami, Hollywood, FL, Orlando, Washington DC, San Antonio, Atlanta, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dubais, Cayman Islands, and Paris. The last two are compliments of my brother, so we haven't actually been to those. We've had one from New Orleans. Twice, actually. For some reason I keep breaking it.
32. We lived in New Orleans. My husband went to school there. It is a beautiful place to visit but not so nice to live, since we aren't rich. Mardi Gras is pretty crazy, and lots of fun!
33. We actually stayed outside in a tent during the time a hurricane was coming. We didn't know any better. No, it wasn't Katrina. We were gone before then.
34. I watch wrestling. My favorite wrestler is Sting.
35. I have lived in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Georgia. Oklahoma is the farthest place north I've lived.
36. I miss Texas. I love it. Yep, I'm one of those annoying people that think Texas should be it's own country.
37. Although I grew up in Texas and one of the things I miss is hearing the cadence of Spanish being spoken, I took French in high school.
38. My French teacher was from France. She couldn't say my friend Duane's name right. It sounded like Doh Ahn. Of course, I started calling him that.
39. I prefer dogs over cats. My favorite dog was a pug named Phoebe.
40. I love working with special needs children, but not always their parents.
41. I played the lead role, Mary, in Give My Regards to Broadway in the eighth grade play. My teacher started calling me Mary and one day I said "Stop calling me that! I hate that name!" Her name was Mary Beth. I felt terrible.
42. I use a Neti Pot daily.
43. I have 47 pairs of shoes.
44. While growing up in San Antonio, we took field trips to the Alamo. I was so disappointed the first time I saw it. It's right in the big middle of town....not out in the open like you expect.
45. I am a procrastinator. I once researched and wrote a 5 page paper on facial clefts the day before it was due. I think I got an A. Again, do as I say, not as I do.
46. Besides teaching I have also: waited tables, worked in a shoe store, and worked in a book store (my first and fav job).
47. I have trouble saying no, therefore am usually overextended and don't take care of me.
48. Relating to that, I like to please people and do things for them. It makes me happy.
49. In fact, I have made at least nine quilts and given them away.
50. I love to play board games. Except monopoly, my husband is brutal. My favorite growing up was Clue.
51. I love school supplies. Fresh, new school supplies. So much fun when it's back to school time. Remember in You've Got Mail when he says "I would buy you a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils." That's a great line.
52. I am a list maker. In fact, I've been known to add something to my list just so I can cross it off.
53. I love purses and bags, too. I don't know how many of those I have, but never too many.
54. I thought David Lee Roth was so hot when he wore those pants with the plastic butt.
55. I have a sweet car. I love it.
56. But I should have gotten the Yaris.
57. I have only broken one bone. My toe. I was running down the stairs in the dorm in college and tripped at the bottom. It hurt.
58. I have a Bachelor's degree in Speech Language Pathology.
59. I have a Master's Degree in Special Education/Elementary.
60. My goal in life as long as I can remember is to have a PhD.
61. I have no patience for people who don't have their facts straight.
62. I hate lying.
63. I don't like rude, inconsiderate people. Like the lady in front of me at Wal-Mart last night. She had 22 items and then *after* she was told her total proceeded to dig through her purse to pull out.....her checkbook. Are you kidding me, people really still write checks!?
64. I don't like cussing.
65. I love books. Especially good children's books. So much fun!
66. I am "end reader." I can't stand not to know 'whodunnit' or if the girl's gonna get the guy, and I can't stay up all night, for Pete's sake, so I read the end. I still go back and read the rest of the book.
67. I also like to read the same books over and over if I like them. There's a comfort in the certainty and predictability. Like visiting an old friend.
68. My favorite Bible verse is Matthew 25:40. I consider "the least of these" to be the kids I work with everyday.
69. Someday I would love to go to Ireland.
70. I don't have a passport. Guess that's a problem.
71. When I was in high school, I was a 'punk.' Dyed hair, pretty much teased daily, white makeup with black blush. I turned out ok. And my mom was cool with it.
72. But I never snuck out. My sister did, but she left a note.
73. Last year, I really thought I wanted a tattoo. I even put in an application to be on Miami Ink. They never called. Which is fine, cuz I'm a big chicken and really, tattoos on old ladies? Yeah.
74. I hug and pat children, even though in this day and age I know we're not supposed to! Call me a rebel!
75. My grandmother is my hero.
76. She was a very sweet lady who was at church every time the doors were open.
77. We would go 'visiting' people. You know, no rush, just stop by someone's house, sit down and chat, have a coke and some cookies.....people don't do that anymore.
78. She grew up on a farm and had the most hilarious stories. She was a great story teller and would tell me stories before bed. I always told her she needed to write a book.
79. I remember being so excited when my sister had her first child. I kept talking about my new nephew, and how excited I was! Finally, my husband says, you have other nieces and nephews, you know. Oh yeah, on his side I have 3 nephews and 7 nieces.
80. I like to mow the grass. It's just that you can see your progress and it looks so nice when you're done.
81. I drink a lot. I mean, a lot. My friend called me a camel. Waiters have trouble keeping up with me. The doctor told me if caffeine was an illegal drug, I'd be locked up. That's why I was having heart palpitations and to lay off! Sigh.....
82. A running joke in our house when someone is faced with something they don't want to eat is: Eat it, it's not going to kill you. Response: It might.
83. I usually listen to Contemporary Christian music, but I need some Hard Rock every once in awhile.
84. I've seen Van Halen, the Scorpions, Iron Maiden, and Aerosmith in concert.
85. And Tears for Fears, U2, and the Cure. I'm very eclectic that way.
86. I lived in Austin when Ozzy Osbourne peed on the Alamo and was politely invited never to return.
87. I have seen the Dralion, Zoomanity, and Mystere Circe du Soleil productions.
88. I like to watch fish in aquariums.
89. The most outrageous thing I've ever heard a parent ask for: "Can he just ride his horse to school?" No, we didn't live out in the country. It was a city. Course with gas prices, maybe we should all get horses!
90. The first blog I ever read was The Pioneer Woman. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard about her retarded brother Mike. She is part of the reason I am blogging today. Bless her.
91. For seventh grade Texas History, I had Mrs. Naranjo. She spend what seemed like the *entire* first class period making us repeat her name until we could all say it beautifully with no accent. Na-Ran-Ho! Roll that /r/!
92. In fifth grade, I sat across from a kid named Michael. I can almost remember his last name, it was so traumatic. You know those pencil erasers that fit over the end of your pencil? He would put one up his nose, occlude the other nostril and blow it at me.
93. Our teacher's name was Mr. Cage. A fitting name, he had all kinds of animals in the classroom. As a class project, we made a slide show with the animals of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Well, I happen to be the lucky one that was out there when the bird got away from me and my friend and ran off into the trees never to be seen again.
94. Also that year (I guess it was a memorable year), our math teacher pounded into us that numbers such as 5342 do NOT have the word 'and' in them. The 'and' indicates a decimal point, as in: five dollars and eleven cents. So every time I hear someone say two thousand and eight (or whatever), I just cringe....Sorry Mrs. Majors, they must not have had you as a math teacher!
95. My biological father was killed in Vietnam two months before I was born. On Valentine's Day. Sad.
96. My dad adopted me when I was two. He's an awesome guy! He'd do anything for you.
97. Once while I was waitresses I got one penny for a tip. That's worse than getting stiffed.
98. My high school choir teacher was the one that really boosted my confidence about singing. She said, Michelle, I have this song I want you to try out for me. It was Out There On My Own from Fame. I sang it in the Talent Show, and promptly burst into tears when I was done.
99. My sixth grade science teacher's name was Mr. Awalt. He walked up and down, up and down the center aisle while he was talking. We once put a penny there to see if he'd stop and pick it up. He didn't. No telling how many other things kids put there.
100. I didn't think I'd love this blogging thing as much as I do. Never thought the 100th post would come after only 5 short months. It's been a great ride! Thanks for listening, oh, your weren't listening? I know, it was long, it's OK.