sUsAn

Birkenstock-wearing momma to 4 who wishes she could get by on less sleep...

I'm working on my "100 things"...only up to 57 so far!
(update: January 2005-I finished!)
(further updated: November 2006)
(and again: March 2009!)

1) I am a reader.
2) I finally started keeping track of the books I read for pleasure this year (2004). (2009- I'm on goodreads.)
3) I like both fiction and nonfiction.
4) I love travel narratives.
5) I’ve never traveled outside the United States except through books.
6) I am a knitter.
7) I started knitting the summer of 2002.
8) I’m trying to control my yarn stash. (2009-LOL! I give up!)
9) I like small knitting projects the best. (2009- especially socks!)
10) I look forward to teaching my children to knit one day. (update 11/06: Lydia can knit!)
11) I used to cross stitch but it gave me headaches. (update 11/06: back into this a bit with some hand embroidering)
12) I wear disposable contacts. (update 11/06: now back to wearing glasses)
13) I dislike housekeeping. ( this will *never* change)
14) I’m a recovering packrat.
15) I get migraines and am thankful for Imitrex.
16) I’ve been trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
17) I need to lose lots of baby weight still. (update 11/06: now even more baby weight after baby #4! 3/09 -ya, still working on this one!)
18) I hate exercising.
19) I enjoy taking walks ALONE.
20) I would like to take a vacation ALONE.
21) I’m married and have 3 children. (update 11/06: #4 came July 2006)
22) Some days I wish I was single again.
23) My kids drive me batty, but I love them.
24) The third one (kid) almost did me in.
25) My sanity is coming back slowly now. (update 11/06: still working on that sanity thing~)
26) Two cats allow us to live with them. (3/09 - now we have a dog too!)
27) My husband hates the cats.
28) I love Caesar salads with grilled chicken.
29) Okay, I just love to eat.
30) Vermont cheeses are my favorite.
31) I love fondue!
32) Mmm…cheese fondue is the best!
33) I love to drink beer too!
34) I hate cheap beer.
35) I really like Guinness but it give me a tummyache if I drink more than one.
36) I live in Pennsylvania and hate having to buy beer by the case.
37) I lived in Virginia for most of my life.
38) I was born in PA but moved away when I was 6 months old.
39) I’ve been living in PA again for the past few years.
40) I am intrigued be the concept of time travel.
41) I adored The Time Traveler’s Wife.
42) I like old movies.
43) I’ve seen Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” many many times.
44) My hubby joined Netflix recently and I am indebted to him for life now! (3/09 - love their instant download feature!)
45) I have a bazillion movies in my Netflix cue.
46) I’m addicted to Chinese takeout & meatball subs. (3/09 still love the chinese but am over the meatballs. My main Chinese takeout fave is Singapore noodles, the spicier the better!)
47) I think white rice should have more fiber.
48) Someday I will have a garden. (3/09 - Finally did this summer 2008 and will continue. Our garden did amazingly well!)
49) I might have a cottage garden.
50) My favorite grocery store is Wegman’s.
51) Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are tied for second.
52) When I grocery shop, I like to go up and down every aisle if there’s time.
53) I used to teach elementary school in my pre-kid days.
54) Went to my first sheep and wool festival in 2004!
55) I use too many exclamation points!!!
56) I started blogging in November 2003.
57) Not many people know I blog.

* #1-57 were written sometime in early 2004 (I think!); #58- were added 1/2005

58) I love Matchbox cars and use my children as an excuse for buying them.
59) My favorite cars are a set of 6 that feature the characters from The Jetsons.
60) I go through color phases, and right now I'm in a red phase. (update 11/06: now into a brown and olive green phase; 3/09 hmm...turquoise is really catching my eye right now.)
61) I wear Birkenstocks: Floridas in the spring/summer & Bostons in the fall/winter. (3/09- last summer I went back to the regular Birkenstocks with 2 straps)
62) I also have a pair of brown Dankso clogs that I love.
63) I'm very much a clog girl.
64) I want a Zojirushi Fuzzy Logic Rice cooker (see #46 & 47). (update 11/06: got it sometime in early 2005, I think! We use it several times a week-GREAT purchase! 3/09 - dh got me a Zojirushi bread machine for my b-day and it's amazing too! Like the rice cooker, I use the bread machine several times a week.)
65) I learned to play the piano, viola, & bassoon when I was a child. (3/09 - my Lydia started playing the viola last year in 3rd grade.)
66) I wish I had continued playing at least one of those instruments after high school.
67) I often think about picking up an instrument again.
68) I love classical music, especially anything played by chellist Yo-Yo Ma.
69) George Winston is my favorite pianist.
70) I love his Autumn CD the best with Winter a close second.
71) I heard him in concert when I was pregnant with Lydia.
72) I want to attend another one of his concert’s again someday.
73) I love Celtic music, and Altan is my favorite Irish group.
74) I collect Fiestaware.
75) I got a ton of Fiestaware for my wedding.
76) I’ve visited the factory where Fiestaware is produced.
77) I used to collect Pex dispensers when I was teaching.
78) I have a BSEd in Early Childhood Education.
79) I taught preschool for 6 months after I graduated until fall 1990.
80) I taught elementary school from 1990-1999.
81) I was very involved with the teachers’ association (union) and learned a lot about politics.
82) I taught K-5.
83) My favorite grade to teach was second grade.
84) Kindergarten was fun but exhausting!
85) The last year I taught I was a Computer Resource Teacher and ran my school’s Technology Lab.
86) I stopped teaching when Lydia arrived in 1999.
87) I’m not sure if I’ll go back to teaching. (update 11/06: uh...no! 3/09-I volunteer at my kiddos' school in the library once a week. The librarian is trying to lure me back into teaching.)
88) I might pursue another field.
89) I often wonder if any of the students I taught will become famous (or infamous!).
90) My dad wanted me to be a lawyer and was disappointed that I chose teaching.
91) I’m relearning Spanish this year (2005). (update 11/06: still working on this. 3/09 - on hiatus)
92) I lived most my life in Virginia.
93) I lived in Georgia for my last two years of high school.
94) I’ve lived in Pennsylvania since January 2001.
95) I would like to move further north, & my dh wants to move further south.
96) My heritage is German, English, Irish, and Scandinavian.
97) My husband’s heritage is primarily Scandinavian.
98) I have blond hair and blue eyes and so does my husband.
99) I like cold weather and hate hot weather.
100) I love the shore but not during the heat of the summer.