100 things you might not have known about me

I've been checking out other knitters' blog sites and have seen them post about 100 facts that are revealing of themselves, and thought, "Hey, why not. I can come up with 100 pieces of information that help make up the complexity I call myself." I don't know that it's an extensive listing. But I think it gives some sort of starting insight as to what makes me tick. (Which may be helpful to those einvolved in the exchanges.) So here goes...

100 things to know about me:

1. My birthday is in October, and I’m totally an October baby.
2. My favorite season is fall.
3. I love to visit a farm during the fall months for all the apples and pumpkins I can get my hands on.
4. I was born and raised in a small town in southwestern PA.
5. Most of my family lives within 20 miles of where they were born.
6. I have a large extended family, all who remain very closely connected.
7. There are only three members of my family who moved away from home – I am one of them.
8. I have two younger brothers.
9. The middle brother is married.
10. He’s given me my first nephew.
11. I am very sad to not be “around the corner” from my new nephew.
12. I have a dog named Buddy.
13. Buddy lives with my parents.
14. He sleeps with me and goes everywhere with me when I’m home on a visit.
15. He got the name Buddy because when we picked him out at the local humane society I over heard my dad tell the lady the story of my tumor (see #53) and said that I needed a buddy to keep me company while I was at home and on the mend.
16. I’ve lived in Northern VA ever since I graduated from college.
17. I attended Shippensburg University in PA for my undergraduate degree.
18. I majored in Elementary Education with a minor in Reading.
19. I worked as a waitress through college.
20. My first teaching job was teaching pre-school.
21. I soon found out that the little ankle biters were not for me.
22. When I moved to N. VA I lived in Tysons and commuted to Charles County (Waldorf) to work in a school that I wasn’t happy about being at.
23. I worked in Charles County teaching 2nd grade for three years.
24. I have been teaching in Alexandria City for the past 6 years – mostly teaching 3rd grade.
25. Last year I left the classroom to work more with teachers than with children.
26. I began knitting two years ago to relieve stress.
27. I love meeting at St. Elmo’s for some good knitting and great friendships.
28. I received my first Masters from George Mason University last summer.
29. I’m now enrolled in classes from UVA.
30. I think I’m addicted to taking courses.
31. VA requires teachers to complete 180 staff development hours within 5 years to renew your teaching license. When I renewed my license this past year, I had over 500 hours logged.
32. I’ve lived in Arlington, VA for 1 ½ years.
33. I live with my boyfriend.
34. He and I have been together for too many years to really count.
35. I’ve attempted to grow a garden in my backyard.
36. I hate the birds and squirrels that eat my tomatoes.
37. I enjoy spraying them with my hose when I can.
38. I have been more successful with the herbs on my deck than with the veggies in the yard.
39. My favorite tv shows are CSI and Grey’s Anatomy. (Which is a problem on Thursdays. Hmmmm….)
40. I recently designed a screened-in porch sanctuary at my home.
41. I love to sit there and drink tea and read or knit.
42. I spent my Spring Break in South Africa visiting Dave’s family.
43. It was my first international trip.
44. My first passport arrived just in time for Christmas.
45. I absolutely LOVED my experience in South Africa and can’t wait until I can go back… or travel elsewhere!
46. There are so many places that I would love to travel to, that I can’t make up my mind about where I want to go to next.
47. My mom is a baker.
48. I grew up a coal miner’s daughter.
49. I’ve decided that it’s time for me to let go of my dreams of keeping my 18 year old body and still be able to eat anything I want.
50. I’ve started walking in the mornings before work.
51. I love reading Jodi Picoult books.
52. I still belong to a book club that meets in Waldorf and I travel an hour every month (or every few months if I haven’t read the book) to meet with the group.
53. I look great in brown, orange, and earthy blues.
54. I love to go ice skating in the summertime.
55. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor in January of 1995.
56. I was told that I might only live two years.
57. I was one of the first patients to receive gamma knife radiation.
58. I still have the tumor, but it hasn’t grown. (12 ½ years and counting!) I get an MRI every two years to check in on it.
59. If you pull up to a red light, look over your shoulder and spy a burnette jiving along to her own beat of music, looking like she's having the time of her life, it's probably me.
60. My parents are the most fabulous people in my life.
61. They’ve always pushed me to do what makes me happy and to be the best I can be at what I do.
62. It was my dad’s encouragement that led me to become a teacher.
63. My mom is a great roll model – hard working, dedicated, empowering, looks for what makes you tick and feeds it.
64. I love drinking tea.
65. A work friend of mine and I trade tea on a regular basis.
66. My favorite tea to date is the roobois that I picked up while we were in South Africa.
67. My boyfriend got me a TomTom for Christmas to keep me from getting lost when going downtown.
68. I have John Cleese’s voice on my TomTom.
69. Like many young transports to the N.VA area, I lived in Foxchase in Alexandria for 7 years. (one step out of the dorms!)
70. I love a good shopping hunt.
71. My favorite place to spend money on clothing is Ann Taylor Loft.
72. I should buy stock in Target for how much time I spend there.
73. I listen mostly to country music.
74. Although the CD that finds it's self in my car the most is Van Morrison's "Days Like This."
75. I can easily get hooked on “So You Think You Can Dance” if I allowed myself to watch it.
76. I fall asleep during most movies that we watch at home.
77. My mother sends me shopping for fabric for her quilting addiction.
78. Apparently I’m good at picking out exciting fabric combinations for her quilts.
79. We watch a lot of “Scrubs” episodes in our household.
80. My “sister-in-law” is trying to get me into scrapbooking.
81. I’ve almost completed a scrapbook of our trip to South Africa.
82. It’s becoming painfully difficult to keep up the motivation to complete it.
83. I have several knit projects going at one time.
84. I love having lunch outside at great little neighborhood bistros.
85. A pet peeve of mine is people who drive forever with their turn signals on.
86. Another one is people who don’t use their turn signals at all and cut you off.
87. I can be an organizational freak. (Or so my unorganized friends will say.)
88. I don’t like smoky bars and restaurants.
89. I have the sinuses from hell.
90. “Become an after. Stay an after.” I’m in the process.
91. I’m allergic to just about anything that lives underwater. Strictly a turf and NO surf girl for me.
92. I love trying out new (to me) restaurants.
93. I’m addicted to buying yarn and dreaming about all the projects I want to knit.
94. I took bellydancing classes for 4 years and performed randomly.
95. I’m new to the on-line knitting community.
96. I collect children’s books. (If that’s what you call an addiction to buying from Scholastic book orders.)
97. I’m a non-practicing, guilt ridden Catholic.
98. For the past year I’ve been spending my weekends being part of the building crew for my boyfriend’s parent’s house that they are building in central VA.
99. The complexities of building a house is foreign to me, but I take direction well. LOTS of directions.
100. I think I’m going shopping for some new delicious yarn once I’m finished with this post! Yeah!