100 Things About Me

Over the past couple of days, I've been trying to come up with 100 things about me to share. It was a little hard to come up with 100 things, so I almost gave up. I forged ahead to the end though, and include the list here. It turned out to be a combination of past, present, and future things about me. When I asked George what he thought about my list, his first two comments were that it's long, and that I seem to feel pretty good about myself! I'm hoping I don't come across as conceited or anything. My hope it that it will help visitors to my blog learn a bit more about me.

1. I have twin toes on both feet. The 2nd & 3rd toes only on each foot are webbed about halfway up. I think they're cute.
2. I taught elementary school for 6 years.
3. I worked at Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone National Park one summer. I started out doing dishes and pots, before being promoted to the Employee Dining Room.
4. I've had one broken bone, my nose, which was broken in a JV basketball game, in which I played center.
5. I graduated from Duke University with a double major in history and religion, and a certificate in Judaic Studies.
6. I returned to school for a degree in Elementary Education from UNC-Greensboro.
7. I got a perm with one of my first FT-job paychecks. Huge mistake.
8. I took whitewater canoeing as one of my PE classes in college.
9. I graduated from an all-girls Episcopal boarding high school called St. Mary's.
10. I have one sibling, Lisa, who is married with two daughters. They live in the San Francisco Bay area.
11. I love Halloween, good ghost stories, and houses that are rumored to be haunted.
12. I participated in a 5K road race in April 2006. It was my first in about 20 years, and I finished last.
13. I was on track and tennis teams in high school. In college, I ran on the club cross country team.
14. I want to run a marathon someday.
15. I took piano and violin lessons growing up. I'd like to learn another musical instrument.
16. I took French, German, and Hebrew classes in college.
17. I audited a Portuguese class as an Duke employee.
18. I'd like to learn a foreign language fluently.
19. I was born in Atlanta.
20. I grew up being a Duke football fan, because my dad played football for Duke.
21. I worked as a camp counselor for two summers at Keystone Camp, where I went as a child.
22. Once, I was the only passenger on an airplane, traveling from Asheville to Charlotte.
23. I've been to Europe once, in 1980. I'd love to go back.
24. I helped my sister drive cross-country from Connecticut to California, with our mom and my sister's daughters, plus two cars.
25. While working at Yellowstone, I learned how to crack two eggs simultaneously.
26. The farthest I've run competitively is 6.2 miles (10K).
27. I love to read, and often gravitate toward the mysteries section of bookstore.
28. I have books signed by Reynolds Price, Margaret Maron, and Steven Kellogg. Kellogg's autograph is the most creative.
29. My first year of teaching, I taught 1st and 2nd grades in the same (unairconditioned) classroom.
30. I played in a handbell choir when I lived in Greensboro, NC.
31. I've been a member of the Junior League for 5 years.
32. My family had two different Chinese Pugs (Rachel, then Duchess) when I was growing up.
33. Other childhood pets included cats, fish, a turtle, a rabbit, and a white mouse.
34. I was Little Bo Peep in a kindergarten performance.
35. I taught archery during one summer as a camp counselor.
36. Genealogy is one of my favorite hobbies.
37. One of my hobbies growing up was collecting Beatrix Potter books and figurines.
38. I took a Beatrix Potter laundry bag to college.
39. I went to Hawaii with my family in 2001 to watch Duke in the Maui Invitational Basketball Tournament.
40. I've seen one professional sports team in action, the Atlanta Braves.
41. I'm a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant.
42. Occupations I wanted to be when I grew up: ambassador, teacher, doctor, lawyer, minister, writer, National Geographic photographer.
43. I sang with the Durham Chorale when I first moved to Durham.
44. George and I love to travel to the mountains.
45. I was on the debate team in high school. When I moved to Durham, I joined Toastmasters.
46. I would like to visit all 100 counties in North Carolina.
47. I love breakfast food. I could have breakfast at any meal.
48. I enjoy playing backgammon.
49. I like exploring old cemeteries.
50. I've tried water skiing once, on the Alabama River.
51. I've been snow skiing several times, and would love to go again.
52. My favorite soft drink is Diet Dr. Pepper.
53. My first snow skiing experience was in Alabama, at a ski resort north of Birmingham.
54. My driver's license indicates that I'm an organ donor.
55. I failed my first test for my driver's license.
56. I took a photography class in the Physics Dept. at UNC-Chapel Hill one summer during college. It was both challenging and fascinating.
57. My first library job was during that summer session at UNC. I worked in the library science school's library.
58. My first full-time library job was at the Professional Center Library at Wake Forest University.
59. My favorite book is The Secret History, by Donna Tartt.
60. I lost my voice for 6 weeks straight is 2005.
61. When eating out, my beverage of choice is Diet Coke with a lemon wedge.
62. My most recent concert was the Rolling Stones. They played in Wallace Wade Stadium, the football stadium at Duke. It's the only time I've seen the Duke football stadium full.
63. I wore braces on my teeth twice as a child.
64. I still have my wisdom teeth.
65. I used to be really good at playing Pong.
66. I'm a neat freak wannabe.
67. My first rock concert was Huey Lewis and the News, in Columbia, SC.
68. I love getting pedicures, though it always tickles me (uncomfortably so) when the nail tech scrubs my feet with the pumice or brush.
69. I attended the Presidential Debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush in October 2000, when they came to Wake Forest University. I happened to be working there at the time, and got in through a staff lottery.
70. I want to learn how to knit. I've had one lesson so far.
71. I talk to myself a lot.
72. I won a certificate for best advertising slogan at tennis camp the summer I was 14.
73. I used to love to drive. After commuting to work for most of the 1990s, I don't care for it as much, though I often appreciate the downtime I get in the car.
74. I was excited to get an invitation for a gmail email account, but now I hardly ever use that email address.
75. I've been in the wedding party of five weddings.
76. In college, I tried out to be the preacher on Student Preacher Sunday at Duke Chapel. I didn't win, but it was neat to stand in the pulpit during my audition.
77. George is going to teach me how to play chess.
78. I worked as a waitress while attending UNC-Greensboro.
79. My maternal grandmother created a nickname for me that combined her name and my parternal grandmother's name. It's on my Christmas stocking.
80. I like pineapple on pizza. (Thanks to my sister for introducing me to this.)
81. I've never liked okra, in any of its forms.
82. Wendy's in my favorite of the major fast food chains.
83. Twilight is my favorite time of day, especially after an amazing sunset.
84. Fall is my favorite season of the year.
85. M*A*S*H is one of my all-time favorite TV shows.
86. In choirs, I sing alto, as do my mom and my sister.
87. In addition to Huey Lewis and the News and the Rolling Stones, other concerts I've been to are Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and James Taylor.
88. I'm a big "I Love Lucy" fan.
89. If I could have dinner with someone famous, three of my top choices would be Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, and Barbara Walters.
90. I would love to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show for doing something interesting or inspirational.
91. As much as I like to sing, I'm no soloist. I have a fantasy of singing the National Anthem courtside at a Duke basketball game.
92. My favorite color is usually blue, though I love to wear the color purple the most.
93. I've kept some form of diary or journal for over 30 years. I still have most of them.
94. I've visited 33 states and Washington, DC.
95. I've thought about joining the Peace Corps.
96. I would like to ride in a colorful hot air balloon someday.
97. On my drive to Yellowstone to work, Mom and I drove through the town of Lesley, Texas. It was a little out of the way, but fun to see.
98. I used to enjoy crosstiching, and would like to take it up again eventually.
99. My first college acceptance letter was from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta.
100. I've been whitewater rafting down the Snake, Eno, and French Broad Rivers.