100 for the 100th

It is my understanding that it is tradition to write 100 things about yourself for your 100th post. I am proud to say that I have reached this milestone and I have written the 100 things. I started working on this a couple of weeks ago because I knew it would take me a little while. Let the weirdness begin.

1. I could eat cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the same day, and I have.
2. I have always wanted to ride in a hot air balloon.
3. My favorite ice cream these days is Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate.
4. I have wanted to travel to Iceland for many, many years and swim in the Blue Lagoon.
5. My absolute favorite guilty pleasure is watching the Real Housewives of New York.
6. I grew up in a small farming town in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia but I am a city girl at heart.
7. My favorite trees are Redbuds. Love the flowers, love the leaves.
8. I love to read and do so whenever I have a spare five minutes. My Grandma Urath taught me to carry a book everywhere I go and I am so glad she did.
9. I am the oldest of 3 children, we have the same parents but we were born in 3 different decades.
10. I am part of a Mazda family, I am driving my third Mazda, my sister drives a Mazda and Sheldon owns two Mazdas.
11. My first car was a baby blue '69 VW Beetle that had been bought new by my aunt and uncle when I was 3 years old. I paid my Granddaddy Palmer $250 for it in 1983 and traded it in for $250 on my first Mazda in 1988. They had kept all the gas and maintenance records for its entire life. Sadly, I didn't bother continuing the tradition.
12. I work on the 11th floor of a building that is only four blocks from the White House in Washington, DC. No buildings in DC are over 12 stories tall, so I get plenty of sunshine.
13. I haven't had caffeine since my teens. I can't tolerate it at all. I can only have chocolate during the day or I won't sleep.
14. I worked in a movie theatre in my small town when I was 16. I got to see all the movies for free as often as I wanted and I even got to sit in the balcony which was off limits to the general public.
15. I once worked in a bakery.
16. I was a pharmacy technician for a year after high school and toyed with the idea of going to pharmacy school.
17. I once kissed James Taylor's cousin. His name was Bill Taylor and he was a comedian/actor. We were 18. I didn't believe he was related to James Taylor until a couple of years later when I saw a picture of James and realized that Bill looked exactly like him.
18. I took part in an outdoor production of Val Balfour's Oberammergau Passion Play every Summer from age 13 to 17. Usually I was just an extra, but one Summer I was the Sound Technician. (My daddy will be so proud that I spelled that right without having to look it up!)
19. My first date was on my 16th birthday with a boy from out of town named David Braunshweig. It was very romantic, right down to kisses on a bearskin rug in front of a roaring fire. I wonder whatever happened to him...
20. I read The Stand, in three days, at age 15 while I was home from school sick with the flu. Not a good book to read when you are sick, I was scared of tunnels for YEARS!
21. I didn't go to prom. In fact I only went to one high school dance and that was because I was on the planning committee. I went with a gay guy who didn't want his parents to know yet. My parents on the other hand, did know.
22. I didn't have a boyfriend until the second half of my senior year of high school and he was from another town. His name was Chip Anderson. I wonder whatever happened to him...
23. I am the oldest grandchild by five years on both sides of my family.
24. My paternal grandparents, Flossie and Palmer, had a house on Smith Mountain Lake when I was a child and I spent all my Summers there from age 5 to 12. It is still one of my very favorite places on Earth.
25. I cannot wink my left eye.
26. I am right-handed but I iron with my left hand because Mama is left-handed and always had the ironing board set up that way.
27. Periwinkle is my favorite color.
28. I had my son when I was 29. He wore me out. I can't imagine how the women who have babies in their 40's or (shudder) 50's do it!
29. If money was no object and I could have one full-time employee, I would choose chauffeur hands down!
30. My ex brother-in-law who never liked me, said I made the best lasagna in the tri-state area.
31. I never learned to cook until after I left home.
32. I love deviled eggs. I put spinach and bacon in mine!
33. I met Sheldon on Match.com. I knew he was special as soon as I read his profile, I paid to join just so I could write to him.
34. I want to be cremated and then buried in Jerome, VA with generations of my family. I want the song "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone" played at the funeral.
35. I grew up with cats but now I'm allergic.
36. I flew a helicopter for my 40th birthday. It was a beginner lesson and it was fabulous!
37. I never had a Caesar salad until after I turned 40 and now that is my absolute favorite. The best chicken Caesar salad in the land is made at the Lafayette Deli in Chantilly, VA.
38. My favorite painting is Flaming June by Frederic Lord Leighton. She lives in a museum in Puerto Rico. I saw her when she visited the National Gallery of Art here in DC. I want to visit her someday.
39. I graduated from high school in 1983 and then went to Lord Fairfax Community College for one year, George Mason University for three years, Towson State University for one year, back to George Mason, then Northern Virginia Community College for ASL. I'm planning on tackling my last nine classes starting this Summer. My Grandma Urath graduated when she was 78 so I'm still ahead of her record. Miles says he won't GO to college until I graduate, so I only have three more years!
40. It is tradition in my family to have four names. I had to get married to get my fourth name. My sister likes to remind me that when she marries she'll have five names. I'm not playing that game though. Once was enough for me.
41. Stephen King is my favorite author, although I love his wife Tabitha King as well.
42. I have been known to crochet at stop lights. I made 23 baby afghans in nine months, two years ago while commuting, for a church festival.
43. I love to cross stitch.
44. I drove a NASCAR race car on my 43rd birthday. I was scared out of my wits and never even managed to break 100 mph. I want to do it again.
45. I wear Chanel Chance perfume.
46. I don't handle stress well.
47. I am alergic to the whitening ingredient in toothpaste. Makes it very tricky to find toothpaste these days as almost all them have whitening in them.
48. Yellow roses are my favorite.
49. I love M&M's, Reece Cups and Mounds Bars but can't stand Milky Way.
50. I have been to England, France, Switzerland, Germany and Mexico in that order.
51. I have lived in Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia in that order.
52. I have visited 25 states and can't wait to see the other 25.
53. Other than dogs and cats I'm not a fan of critters. I'm always afraid of getting bitten or stepped on or peed on. I'd rather watch them on tv than see them, or smell them, in person.
54. Something in the Way She Moves by James Taylor is my all time favorite song.
55. I am deathly afraid of snakes.
56. I almost never use strange bathrooms. If I come to your house, chances are that I will not use your facilities the first five or ten times I visit. Weird, huh?
57. I have a thing for tall guys with deep voices.
58. I drink lots and lots of water every day and I have for many years.
59. I had a huge crush on Tom Selleck in the Magnum PI days, but I really wanted to be TC and fly the helicopter while fighting crime.
60. I am the adult child of an alcoholic.
61. I have a VERY strong sense of smell and can smell a cigar 10 cars away in traffic. I cannot even walk past Stone Cold Creamery in the mall because the smell makes me nauseous. Strong smells give me a migraine.
62. I love to play board games and card games. I don't care if I win or lose, I just like spending time with my people.
63. My Grandma Flossie made the best fried okra ever.
64. I love to cook. Especially in my new kitchen. With Sheldon. And my Stand Mixer.
65. I never tan, just freckle. I used to burn but in my 40's I seem to have outgrown it.
66. I have green eyes with golden centers, although for some reason Sheldon is convinced that they are blue.
67. I am very chatty if I know you, but I hate meeting new people.
68. I bought my first home computer in 1990 and had email and internet before anyone else I knew. Remember Tandy and Prodigy? I'm so glad that the rest of you caught up to me!
69. I am completely addicted to Packrat on Facebook and have been for almost a year now.
70. I got a unicycle for my 42nd birthday, but I haven't learned how to ride it yet.
71. I would love to own an RV and travel all over the US. Sheldon and Miles think this is the worst idea they ever heard.
72. I was never claustrophobic until I got pregnant at age 29, now it gets worse as I get older.
73. I never had motion sickness until the last year or so. I hate it!
74. I love "quest" games, Packrat, Post Hunt, Letterboxing...
75. I voted for Obama and still get goosebumps when I hear them say President Obama on the news. It makes me a little giddy that Hillary is the Secretary of State as well.
76. I would love to own my own tour bus/travel company. I would take busloads of people to all my favorite places. It would be so much fun. Sheldon also hates this idea.
77. Any medicine that is supposed to help you sleep just keeps me up all night. This didn't used to be true. I loved Nyquil back in the day. Sigh. I miss Nyquil.
78. I have never been drunk in my life. Ever. I don't drink very often at all and then usually only one. That first one always tastes so good, but I have found that the second is never as tasty and I've never had a third. I am a cheap date. This makes Sheldon very happy.
79. I like almost all types of music but not really a fan of opera, jazz or punk.
80. When I was a kid I really did walk 2 miles to school, uphill, both ways!!!
81. I am a list maker...I can't do anything without a list. I love crossing things off with highlighter when I am done.
82. Growing up I had one Nanny and three Grandmas, two Papas and two Grandaddys. They are all gone now, but I like to imagine them watching over me. I hope I make them proud.
83. I love bacon.
84. April and August are my favorite months of the year. I was born in April and Miles and Sheldon were born in August.
85. My drink of choice is Makers Mark Bourbon straight up, I sip it very slowly.
86. In the past 14 years I have collected over 57,000 aluminum cans for my local fire department. They use the money they raise to send burned children to camp.
87. I hate to scrub bathrooms.
88. I love to do the dishes, something about playing in the warm water and making things clean. Funny how that doesn't apply to bathrooms...
89. I also love laundry, the sorting, the folding, the putting it all away when it is done.
90. I get up at 4:25am in order to commute to the big city.
91. I go to bed at 9:30pm because I need plenty of sleep to function.
92. I much prefer Pringles and Munchos to regular potato chips.
93. I prefer the softness of flannel sheets all year round.
94. I like sleeping in a cold bedroom with lots of warm covers.
95. I used to sing in a praise band at my church.
96. I won the Miss Poppy contest put on by the American Legion in my hometown when I was 16 because my dad and his friends stuffed the ballot boxes all over town.
97. I am a Yankees fan and I now live with a Red Sox fan. This might be war.
98. My theory on having an only child is that if you do it right the first time there is no need to repeat yourself.
99. I ran my own direct sales business for 3 years and loved every minute of it.
100. I believe that Sheldon's cherry brownies are the secret to world peace, but I might be wrong, it could be the glazen raisen pretzels from Auntie Anne's.