100 Things

This is the obligatory “100 Things about Me” post. I personally love to read these lists, so that’s why I’m finally doing one.

1. I’ve know my husband since 4th grade.
2. No, I have not dated him since then.
3. But, yes.  I did have a crush on him then.
4. If you asked the Hubster, though, he would say he met me in high school, because he doesn’t remember me from elementary school.
5. I was over him by then anyway.
6. Obviously.
7. The part about not remembering me from elementary didn’t win him any points with me when he did finally ask me out, as you can imagine.
8. Not that I hold it over his head.
9. Very often.
10. In high school, during my senior year, I skipped so many days of school that my high school created an attendance policy the next year because of me.
11. Yes, I eventually got caught for skipping.  But it’s actually a boring story.  And the repercussions were not severe.
12. So, essentially I’d say didn’t “learn my lesson” from the experience.  Whatever that means. (Although, in college, I almost never skipped class.)
13. One year, when I was first teaching, I earned the $500 bonus for not missing a single day of work.
14. I know.  Ironic, huh?
15. Even more ironic, I think, is the fact that I am a high school teacher.
16. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was almost 21.
17. I finally got one then because, well, you know… I needed a photo I.D. to get into bars.
18. My favorite alcoholic beverage is beer.
19. No… tequila.
20. No… beer.
21. No…
22. My favorite tequila drink is the Paloma.  But almost no bartenders know how to make .
23. And those that do often want to put club soda in it.  No.  Just… no.
24. Additionally, few bars carry good tequila.
25. I am not a “naked” blogger by any stretch. There are a lot of personal things I never blog about.
26. However, I did once have nude photos taken.
27. When I was 8 months pregnant.
28. Which I did not blog about.
29. Until now.
30. I took Clomid to get pregnant with each of my sons.  It took a total of five years, but only actively being treated for infertility for 16 cycles and 5 cycles respectively, to have them.
31. While I was suffering from infertility I told almost no one, because I am a very private person who does not readily share things about my personal life.
32. I know.  Ironic, huh?
33. I now am overly open about my infertility because I feel there should be no stigma. I want any woman who is suffering infertility privately to feel comfortable talking to someone about it.
34. I have the utmost respect for anyone who suffers infertility, because it was the thing that came as close to driving me off the deep end as anything ever did.
35. And there’s been some stuff that’s been damn close to driving me off the edge in my time.
36. I’ve both taken antidepressants and gone through therapy to stay sane.
37. Well, sane-ish.
38. When my therapist told me I didn’t need to see her any more and released me from her care, I really, really wanted to ask for one of those “sane” certificates they give Homer Simpson when he’s released from the insane asylum where he was falsely committed.
39. But I didn’t, because people who don’t watch the Simpsons really don’t think Simpsons references are funny.
40. They actually kind of look at you like you’re crazy.
41. Which would totally have defeated the purpose.
42. The Hubster and I have been married longer than all of our friends (16 years).
43. I like to say that we “got married about fifteen minutes after graduating from college.”  It was actually about two months.
44. When, after 12 years of marriage, we announced we were (finally) pregnant, most people said,” Oh, I didn’t think you wanted to have kids.”
45. Gah.
46. We are a religion-free household.
47. But not spirituality-free.
48. I use the term non-theistic to describe my beliefs.  I like it better than the term “atheist” because it doesn’t come with a lot of preconceptions attached. (To most people “atheist” means lacking in morals and any sense of spirituality. Literally, though it means simply godless.)
49. What non-theistic means to me, basically, is that although I recognize there to be a sort of connecting energy in the universe (call it Chi, Spirit, whatever), I do not believe it was caused or created by a sentient being(s) of any kind.
50. My non-theism is not anti-religious in nature.  I merely don’t believe.
51. My very best friends, in chronological order, are a devout Jew, a devout Evangelic Christian and a devout Catholic.
52. I know.  Ironic, huh?
53. If I had to choose a religion, I think I would be Quaker.  Or possibly Reformed Jew. Maybe a casual branch of Neopaganism.
54. We do celebrate Christmas, though, and with a fervor.
55. And I’d like a really nice Nativity set some day.
56. I know.  Ironic, huh?
57. And I don’t see it as hypocritical. Go figure.  I’m complex that way.
58. Growing up, I was painfully shy around new people.
59. People who know me can’t believe that, because once you get to know me I’m an obnoxious, loud-mouthed, know-it-all bitch.
60. I think that’s why I’m still kind of shy around new people.
61. In fact, one of my best friends has said about me, “Jen: you either love her or hate her.  No in-between.”
62. So, um… yeah.  That’s my issue.
63. I love to read, more than any other hobby I have.
64. My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird.
65. I currently have no less than three cats named after characters in that book.
66. Not the characters you are thinking of, either.
67. Although… shit. Now I have to go change a bunch of passwords.
68. And speaking of cats, at one point, before we had kids, the Hubster and I had three dogs and four cats.  At once.
69. Can you say, “sublimating motherhood?”
70. It was the equivalent of 300 pounds of dog and 55 pounds of cat.
71. You do the math.
72. (I hate math.)
73. The best advice I ever got about cats was “orange cats are bad.”
74. Two of our four cats are orange tabbies.
75. Oops.
76. My parents divorced when I was in 8th grade and I think I’ve gotten to know them each better because of it.  I know them as people, as opposed to only as “my parents.”
77. I mean that in a good way.
78. When my parents divorced, my sisters and I stayed in the house we grew up in, with our dad as our custodial parent.  My mom is the one who moved out.  It sounds like the premise for a sitcom. It sort of was.
79. I have never had a speeding ticket.
80. But not because I don’t speed.
81. And not because I’ve never been pulled over.  I have.
82. Many times.
83. I don’t have any tattoos, but I do have several (8) piercings.
84. Not to sound boring, but most of them are in my earlobes like everyone else.
85. But two of them aren’t.
86. Okay, not to sound boring again, but the other two are the next two most common piercings most people get after ear lobes.
87. I have a severe and unrepentant caffeine addiction.
88. I am also addicted to television.
89. My favorite television show of all time is Northern Exposure.
90. My second favorite show(s) tie as “anything by Joss Whedon.”
91. The third favorite shows could be anything Star Trek, the recent franchises.
92. Yes, I am a nerd.
93. If I didn’t color my hair, I would have a Bride-of-Frankenstein streak going down one temple.  Really.  No joke.
94. I can sew.  Very well.  For example, I made my sisters’ prom dresses and the bridesmaids’ dresses for my wedding.
95. I also made money on the side while I was in college by running a little sewing business for other students.
96. That’s just about the only domestic skill I have.
97. Okay, not true.  I actually can cook. Pretty well.  I just usually choose not to.  It’s the whole set up/clean up issue.
98. As a child, I was the neighborhood pogo stick champ.
99. My motto: I’ll try anything twice.
100. Even though I hardly mentioned them in this list, my kids are my real passion.
101. I thought coming up with 100 things was going to be really hard, but here we are.
102. And I’m not done yet.
103. I know… ironic, huh?
104. I love music.
105. Listening, not playing.
106. I can play the piano, though.
107. My favorite musical genre: eclectically-almost-everything.
108. My politics run to the bleeding heart, but merely out of necessity.  My dad always says that he thinks if I could be the one in charge, then I’d be a fascist.  However, since we live in a world where I am not Queen-Empress of the Universe, I’ll take my leaders liberal, thankyouverymuch.