My 25

My best girlfriend has issued a challenge on her blog. The challenge is to compile a list of 25 things (quirks, if you will) that make you uniquely you. Well, Mary Louise, here's my list:

1.) I've been in the US since I was 14 months old. I have no idea what "The Old Country" is like. I am beyond grateful to my mother for all the opportunities I've had just by being in America.

2.) I really did fall in love at first sight with my husband. I remember everything he was wearing, down to the shoes. I'll admit I didn't know it was love that night. I only knew he was going to be a very significant part of my life.

3.) I have an irrational fear of inanimate objects falling and breaking. I have a mini-panic attack when plates and bowls teeter at the edge of a table or counter. When I was a bartender, my regular customers used to precariously perch ashtrays on the bar, just to watch me freak out. Bastards.

4.) My husband's vacuum cost more than my engagement ring. Now, most women would be offended to learn something like that, but I LOVE my ring and it IS a pretty kick ass vacuum. It's a Rainbow. :)

5.) Sometimes I have entire conversations in my head. When I start to feel like I might be crazy, I tell myself it'll make the dialogue in my novels awesome! Which is good, because I'm in the middle of 4 books right now.

6.) I once bought a car with a manual transmission for the sole purpose of learning to drive a stick. I grew to love that car. I wish I still had her, Mia the Kia Sephia got 36mpg on the highway!

7.) I read, on average, 6 books a week. Yes, that is almost a book a day. I pretty much live in a fantasy world.

8.) For me, one of the best sensations in the world is freshly shaven legs on newly laundered sheets. It is pure sensuality.

9.) Poor pet parents are a major peeve of mine. Having an animal is a huge responsibility. From poor doggy manners to outright neglect, if you can't feed them or won't train them, you should not have a pet. Our animals are well behaved, well loved, & well fed. (Okay, stepping off my soapbox now.)

10.) I love to cook! I show my love through food. I would rather feed 20 people than make a meal just for myself. If I were on my own, I would probably live off ramen and frozen entrees.

11.) I am a pop princess. Give me a catchy song that gets stuck in your head any day. I use my children as an excuse to download bubble gum pop. Was it sung by a Disney star? It's probably on my iPhone.

12.) I love love LOVE karaoke. I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself. I really just love to sing, karaoke is a way to show off. I spent my 21st birthday at karaoke night at Malarky's.

13.) I have issues with pillows. I don't like to share, not even with my husband. It might have something to do with the fact that everyone in my family drools.

14.) I have wonderfully horrific allergies. I pop Benadryl like Tic Tacs. My eyes are always watery & itchy, & I produce more mucus than a pond full of frogs.

15.) I am a total grammar/spelling snob. Please, learn to spell people! I don't know if it's the reader or writer in me, but improper use of the various forms of your, there, and it's, drive me nuts!

16.) My mother has ruined Chinese restaurants for me (and others). She makes the BEST eggrolls ever. I Have her recipe, but she will always make them better. I can only claim to make the second best eggrolls in the world.

17.) My favorite place is curled up with my head on my husband's shoulder. I snuggle in, and I'm unconscious within seconds. If Jesse's not around, it will take me, literally, hours to fall asleep.

18.) If we didn't live in Iowa, we'd probably live in the South. I love Southern hospitality, the fact they actually dress up to leave the house, and I've even fallen in love with REAL Southern sweet tea.

19.) I have a real talent for sarcasm. If I had a middle name, it would probably be "Snark." Luckily, everyone close to me is also well versed in verbal irony. No hurt feelings here!

20.) If you looked up the word "klutz" in the dictionary, you would probably find a picture of me. I have been hit in the head with almost every type of ball imaginable. I've even lost consciousness. I've walked into countless doors & walls, and I'm constantly getting mystery bruises. My brightest moment? I sat on a bee once.

21.) I have a not so secret passion for design & decorating. Interiors, exteriors, landscapes, it doesn't matter. My husband is into real estate so I get to practice decorating & gardening often.

22.) I am a junkfoodaholic. I love it all; chocolate, candy, chips, pastries. I don't discriminate. Unless it's blue. For some reason I can't bring myself to eat blue candy. On the other hand, if you gave me gourmet chocolates, I could probably be talked into moving a dead body.

23.) I cannot wait until all my kids are in school next year. Is that bad? I will have all day to jam out to my music and concentrate on writing. Part of me feels guilty for not even considering going back to work, but the hubby says I don't have to. Who am I to argue?

24.) I met my best friend over the Internet. (That sounds like we met on something like findabff.com.) She posted the same question on 2 different military support sites. I answered on both of them, and we ended up exchanging e-mail addresses. The rest is history. It sucks that we live so far apart now, but we'll always have New Bern!

25.) I am very easily distracted. And random. I have a hard time sitting still. Case in point, this list took almost 2 days to compile. In the meanwhile, I have read 2 books, watched 2 NCIS mini marathons, read to my kids, eaten my weight in Lifesavers, ran through the sprinkler, and shot my dog with a Nerf toy. And, taken a couple naps because my allergy medicine knocks me the "F" out!

So there it is, folks. That's what makes me "Me." I'm a little neurotic, a little romantic, and a little fantastic. Now it's your turn. What are 25 of the things that make you special?