100 things about me

I've been working on this post for a week or so...Serenity's 100 gave me inspiration to finish it up...

1. I had a hard time thinking of a blog name.
2. I searched high and low for a wise quote for inspiration.
3. Instead of finding inspiration from a great philosopher or leader, I found inspiration in Robin Williams (yes, Mork/Mrs. Doubtfire)
4. But the quirkiness suits me.
5. I hate shopping - especially at the mall. Not that I don't enjoy spending money…
6. I have always felt more comfortable with guy friends instead of girl friends.
7. Even my best girl friends have had typical "guy" qualities (really enjoy being single & picking up guys at a bar, electronics guru, very bold, very successful in a male-dominated industry, etc.).
8. I never felt out of place as a female engineering student in college and grad school.
9. For some reason I liked the extra geeky classes, thermo & stats.
10. Even today, I get a thrill out of geeky things at work like Excel & Powerpoint.
11. I work for a large financial company now, but felt more at home working for a small internet startup.
12. I even played Age of Empires with the geeky startup engineers. And loved it. (how embarrassing)
13. I loved playing lacrosse back in HS and college more. I miss team sports.
14. And I still love skiing and sailing today.
15. I feel so alive with the wind in my hair.
16. And feel great peace with the sound of moving water (e.g. stream, filling bath, waves).
17. I take my dog for hikes off leash to a stream near our house. It is peaceful until you go under the GW Parkway. But it does have a nice view of the Potomac.
18. I love the smell of my dog. Even when she gets that doggy dog smell.
19. Dog hair doesn't bother me. On my clothes. On the floor. On the bed. Doesn’t matter.
20. But then again, I am a slob.
21. I occasionally do have freakishly OCD organizational spurts.
22. I joined a sorority to try to have more girl friends. It was not a typical catty sorority though.
23. My biological sister and I aren't very close. We have a difficult time relating to each other.
24. My parents were hippies when we were young.
25. If I was born a boy they would have named me Oblio, after the main character in the hippie movie The Point!
26. Then my parents were yuppies when we got older. They were much less interesting & much less happy then.
27. They divorced around 10 years ago after about 30 years of marriage.
28. Now they are getting back to their free-spirit ways and seem much much happier.
29. I am intrigued by the simple living concept (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_living), but I'm much too lazy to ever do it seriously.
30. We have 5 refrigerators and 7 TVs in our house right now. I don’t think we’re ready for Simple Living at the moment.
31. I try to eat organic food whenever possible.
32. My acupuncturist is also guiding me in choosing Eastern balanced foods (e.g., good mix of salty, sweet, hot, sour, etc.).
33. My downfall is that I really, really love Ben & Jerry's Mint Chocolate Cookie ice cream.
34. We visited the B&J Factory when we were in Vermont last year.
35. We rented a cabin in Stowe, VT for a dog-friendly vacation.
36. My simple living fantasy is based in Vermont. Or Italy.
37. Two years ago we rented a villa in Chianti/Tuscany and invited some friends & family.
38. I am extremely afraid of spiders. The biggest, fastest spider in the world lived in our villa.
39. I love a great Brunello. Or Super Tuscan.
40. After the startup company went under, I spent a couple months with friends in Europe.
41. We were on a ferry to Mallorca on 9/11 - we watched the tragic news in Spanish. I don't speak Spanish so it was very confusing.
42. I was with friends from Manhattan & LA and at that time it was publicized that there were attacks in NYC, DC, and LA – so we all thought our home towns were being attacked.
43. For the rest of the trip we pretended like we were Canadians. Eh?
44. I LOVE traveling.
45. I used to travel a lot for work as an IT consultant.
46. But traveling for work Monday through Friday to a boring town in the middle of nowhere is not so much fun.
47. So I quit that job about 5 years ago. And just finished up the last of my beloved frequent flyer miles for our trip to Seattle this summer.
48. My all-time favorite mountain for skiing is Alta. And Snowbird next door for snowboarding.
49. At my startup I was the PM for the SLC Winter Olympics website.
50. My husband and I went to The Winter Games and had a great time.
51. My husband even proposed on that trip.
52. We still have a brick with our names on it in SLC. "N & K, Vous et nul Autre"
53. Our wedding ceremony was on a rooftop overlooking the White House.
54. It was two days after Hurricane Isabel struck DC. Since the power was still out at home my husband got ready for our wedding by candlelight.
55. I am not religious and am shocked at the intolerance demonstrated by some religions.
56. I guess I don't really believe in religions because men created them all. Why is one person's interpretation of "the rules" any more correct than someone else's?
57. I do deeply believe in honesty and integrity and feel deeply offended when those values are broken.
58. I also believe in keep right, pass left and feel deeply offended when that rule is broken.
59. I grew up in New Jersey. Exit 4. Spent all of my summers on the beach.
60. I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school with Kelly Ripa (she was 1 year ahead of me).
61. I went to college in New York State in the Finger Lakes area.
62. I went sky diving in college.
63. I am vertically challenged.
64. I love Jane Austen - in particular Pride & Prejudice. I even took a literature class covering her books at Georgetown last year.
65. I am a pizza slut - I'll eat any kind, anywhere, any time. Cold NY style is the best.
66. My first concert was A-Ha in Philly.
67. I played many instruments in junior high & high school, including bass guitar.
68. I recently started to learn to play acoustic guitar...mostly to play our wedding processional Vivaldi's Guitar Concerto in D.
69. I love craft projects.
70. Currently I'm collecting knitting supplies. It's scary how many needles and yarns I have given that I haven't finished a project yet.
71. By nature I am an ESTP. But my job brings out the N and J in me by necessity.
72. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
73. I do want to open a wine / gelato bar. Maybe I'd serve paninis and wood-oven pizzas too.
74. Autumn is my favorite season (my birthday is the official start).
75. I love the crisp, aromatic air.
76. Most of the year I love lattes (sometimes iced), but in the fall I have to go for chai tea lattes.
77. I love playing hearts & spades.
78. I am VERY competitive, especially with games.
79. Not sure why but I am usually disgusted by weakness & neediness (one of my biggest faults).
80. Growing up I was fiercely independent (even as a toddler according to my parents).
81. I am also very impatient.
82. I broke my leg skiing in 2nd grade because I was trying too hard to cut across a trail.
83. I have been extremely healthy throughout most of my life.
84. Ironically I used to be very proud of my strong immune system.
85. Now I despise it (I have elevated natural killer cells that might be attacking our embryos).
86. My mom breastfed me until I was 18 months. And I wonder if that was why my immune system was so strong.
87. I have always owned a Honda/Acura (and so has my family). Now I want an impractical/unreliable/unsafe little roadster. Something likely to break down.
88. My husband and I built a home theater in our basement.
89. We are not really into movies.
90. But I love classic movies. And cheezy 80s movies.
91. I am very out of shape right now – too many “good excuses” at the moment to eat better and workout more.
92. Food is one of my key methods to deal with stress and depression right now.
93. I used to like my food baby – it was almost like having a PG belly. But now it just seems gross.
94. I really like Pilates once I start. The inertia is hard to overcome.
95. I am a night owl and have the most energy/focus between 12-3am.
96. But I can sleep like a log.
97. My drink of the summer was a gin & tonic - so refreshing!
98. I drank way too much in my mid-20s. I don’t think my liver has forgiven me yet.
99. My tolerance is so low these days I get drunk off of just one and end up with a horrible hangover.
100. I wish that I had a really great excuse to NOT drink right now.