100 Things About Me

...based on Karen Forest's post about her. I'm cheating and will be stealing many - if not most - of her topics.

1) Karen Forest had a dog with the same name as my oldest child.

2) In my lifetime, I have owned 9 dogs: Pepper (poodle), Daka (Great Dane), Shag (Old English Sheepdog), Brandy (Yorkshire Terrier), Coquette (Teacup Poodle), Toby (Old English Sheepdog), Deja (Great Dane/Irish Setter mix), Zoe (Lab), Scout (Lab); 2 cats, Cleo and Thai (Siamese); a dozen or more hamsters; a guinea pig (Ginger); 6 birds; a chameleon, (Shifty); and, weirdest of all, an alligator.

3) My parents, at my sisters request, visited Florida and brought home an alligator. (Sister really just wanted a toy alligator.)

4) I am the youngest of five girls. 4 sisters, no brothers.

5) My dad has five brothers, no sisters.

6) My mothers body chemistry stops watches.

7) Without being pregnant, I have been asked twice when my baby was due. I have a stick-out stomach - always have, always will.

8) I have received only one traffic ticket in my life.

9) I have a very strange habit of raising my arm in the air and tickling it gently with my fingers... while I'm asleep.

10) I have synesthesia

11) I have made-up conversations with people while I get myself ready each morning. Occasionally, The Swede will walk in on one of these. It makes me feel stupid. I think these conversations must be therapeutic because I am not crazy.

12) I was seriously shy as a child. I came out of it when I was somewhere in my thrities. Now I'm very talkative.

13) I fear spiders, heights and public speaking.

14) I once totaled my dad's company car.

15) If we ever had a baby girl, her name would've been Mia Kristine

16) I have pretty feet (or at least I did when I was younger.)

17) I draw very well. I hardly ever have time to do it anymore, but I'm very good at it.

18) I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. I majored in Illustration. I am currently a Graphic Designer.

19) I have premonitions. Stupid, pointless ones, nothing to do with the lottery which would make me rich.

20) My first kiss was at age 11. I now have a 10 year old and I can't believe I was kissed when I was just one year older than he is now. He kissed me, I didn't kiss back. Is that still considered a first kiss?

21) I am a cancer survivor.

22) My sister and I are so close, we are similar to those wierdly close kind of twins. (We are not twins.)

23) I once cut my butt sliding off of the trunk of a Cadillac. I cut it on the Cadillac emblem.

24) I used to be an incredibly fast runner and my biggest regret in high school is that I didn't join the track team.

25) I never went to prom.

26) I was never asked to a single dance in high school.

27) The Swede and I share the exact same birthday. I am 5 hours older.

28) My high school nickname was "Jacques" as in Cousteau.

29) I once won a trip to London on the radio.

30) I have 36 cousins on my father's side of the family.

31) My boys still call me "Mama". Not Mom, but Mama. I hope they never outgrow this.

32) My favorite food in all the world is Duncan Hines Milk Chocolate Chunk brownies.

33) My worst is celery.

34) My jaw clicks loudly when I open my mouth.

35) From my head to my toes, I have trouble with just about every body part.

36) I am not a hypochondriac.

37) I had braces as an adult, never as a child.

38) For the first time in my life, I live on a street with a pretty name.

39) I really like meeting funny women. I think it's rare to meet a truly funny woman.

40) I have always been more comfortable around men...with the exception of high school. I am always the woman hanging with the group of men at a get-together.

41) I always knew I would marry someone funny.

42) The Swede and I talk as our dogs. We have made-up voices and talk to each other as the dogs probably more than we do ourselves.

43) We used to have a ghost in our old house. I am convinced it was my father-in-law.

44) This is my current age. 44. I can't believe it.

45) I have worked in the fast food, retail, medical and graphic arts industries. My favorite was medical.

46) I am a very nervous person. It is my worst trait.

47) I accidentally stole milk today. When I noticed it in the bottom of my cart, I didn't go back inside to tell them. I justified it by thinking of the times when I was overcharged by the same grocery chain. My children were obviously not with me at the time or I'd be six dollars poorer right now.

48) My first year of freelancing, I made six figures. I have never again made that much money.

49) My favorite clothing color is Periwinkle Blue.

50) My worst clothing color is red. I own one red shirt and wear it once a year on Valentine's Day.

51) My favorite decorating color is mossy green.

51) I also love red around the house. We have a red dining room and red accents throughout the house. Olive green, brown and red are our interior colors.

52) I was an English wiz in school. It was the only subject that came easily to me.

53) My sister was married when she was 20 and her husband died in a car accident five weeks later. She used to be a practical joker and a free spirit. Since his death, she has become serious, withdrawn and quiet. This was 35 years ago. She has since remarried and raised 3 wonderful children. She once told me she still thinks of her first husband daily. I was nine at the time he died and I think it left me with lifelong issues about death. I do not deal with death well.

54) I cry very easily. I am crying now thinking of the pain my sister has been through. I can't fathom it.

55) I cry at parades and at the opening number of a Broadway show. Don't ask me why, I have no idea myself.

56) I once ordered a chicken dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken and the person at the drive-thru speaker told me they were out of chicken. I seriously thought I was on Candid Camera.

57) In high school, my shyness was mistaken as me being standoffish and snotty. I was so misunderstood that a girl lit my hair on fire in gym class.

58) I only swear for humorous purposes. (and when I'm very, very, very angry.)

59) I have self-diagnosed OCD.

60) I love the smell of coconut.

61) I am the biggest offender of loud belches in our family.

62) I fear I'm getting early Alzheimer's disease. I joke about this often, but my increasingly poor memory seriously concerns me.

63) I am missing a tooth. Right now there is an RV parked in our driveway and I'm missing a tooth. What will the Pleasantville neighbors think of me?

64) I can't whistle.

65) My dream job would be a forensic scentist, a police detective, or a special effects artist in Hollywood.

66) I have always been a morning person. My lifelong bedtime has been 9pm. I am usually up by 6:30 am. I would've made a good farmer. It is now almost midnight and I'm still awake.

67) I am a artsy person trapped in a preppy person's body.

68) I have an idea for a product that I would like to patent. I'm getting closer to making this idea a reality.

69) I would love to live in the country or in a quaint small town. I hate the congestion of the suburbs. At least the city has culture and is exciting. I would never live in Illinois if my family weren't here.

70) I can't sit cross-legged. As a child, I had hip subluxation and my hips don't rotate out like a normal persons hips.

71) I love to decorate theme rooms. I love to throw theme parties. I'm good at themes thanks to my OCD. Themes...definitely themes.

72) I love to watch nature shows and true life crime shows. I love comedies and my favorite show right now is Scrubs. I still mourn the loss of Friends.

73) I was just going to confess to something I experienced as a child, but decided it was too weird to explain. It had to do with the supernatural.

74) When speaking, I call the person I'm talking to by name ALL THE TIME. The TBF's used to make fun of me because of this.

75) I'm right now thanking God that this list is 3/4 of the way through.

76) I am a beer drinker and know nothing about wine (see item #63). I also love Malibu Rum.

77) At age 44, I am halfway through menopause. I know because I was tested for this. I have constant hot flashes.

78) I don't feel there is any subject off limits to discussion. I am a complete and total open book.

79) I am both a Christian and a liberal at the same time. I dislike the generalization that all believers are conservatives.

80) I think God would prefer all humans to be liberal Democrats.

81) The Swede and I have found a liberal Catholic church.

82) I am very low-maintenance. I dress for comfort over fashion on a daily basis. I am not a shoe-aholic. In the winter, I shower only every-other day. I do, however, love going out and the opportunity to get all "fancy".

83) My favorite song right now is "Valencia" by The Decemberists.

84) I hate my blogger name. It started as a joke with TBF and TMS.

85) If I could rename my blog I would call it "Totally Charlotte"

86) My name is not Charlotte. The new name would reference my friends' resounding response when we were picking out our alter-egos from Sex and the City. "You are totally Charlotte!"

87) I should have a second blog named "Totally Monica".

88) I am getting very tired.

89) My anal-retentiveness is making me finish this list.

90) The Swede and I bicker constantly but have a rock-solid foundation that I am proud of.

91) I feel I am the female version of Dr. Phil and could be a great marriage counselor.

92) I have very high self-esteem. I really like who I am and am proud of what I've accomplished in my life.

93) I am honest to a fault. The Swede reminds me often that a little bluffing here and there would do me some good.

94) The trait that I like least in a person is pretentiousness. It makes me crazy.

95) I have trouble looking people in the eye when I speak to them. It is the last lingering sign of my shyness as a child.

96) I love dressing up for Halloween.

97) My worst trait is that I like to gossip.

98) I have always chosen to be a bit of a loner. I love being out with people and socializing but I only consider a few people my very good friends.

99) I love to solve word puzzles and play board games.

100) I just took a sleep aid pill because it is amost 1am and I missed my window of opportunity to get to sleep. Tomorrow, I'm certain I'll be like, "Why didn't I write that???? Tonight, however, I just want to go to bed.