1. My middle name is Louise. As was my paternal grandmother’s and her adoptive mother’s.
2. I own more non-fiction books than any other genre. Almost twice as much.
3. I have a cat named Princess Kitty. She was the ugliest of ugly kittens - seriously people said, “I didn’t know they made ugly kittens” - who has grown into The Most Beautiful Kitty in All the World.
4. My mother told me to “Get the fuck out of my house.” That was over twenty years ago and I haven’t spoken to her since.
5. My favorite author is John Irving. Dickens is a close second.
6. My favorite sound is the sound of David’s voice.
7. My first car was a red 1975 Porsche 914. I sold it after several years of its requiring daily maintenance. But not before the trash truck impaled it and sent it barreling onto the lawn as I stood in my pajamas and watched in horror. The city paid $11k in repairs and I sold it two weeks later.
8. The one time I tried to have a one-night stand it lasted six months.
9. I carry my passport in my purse - who knows when someone will whisk me away to somewhere foreign and exotic.
10. I have never done illegal drugs.
11. The first concert I saw was Bruce Springsteen and I went with my Dad. My Dad let me stay almost all night in line for tickets at the mall - although unbeknownst to me he stayed in his car across the parking lot.
12. If I could live anywhere in the world it would be Paris - with the caveat that I could come “home” whenever I wanted.
13. I have a zero balance on my credit card.
14. My favorite word is ensconced.
15. I like to think of myself as a truly independent woman, but I think I could be fooling myself.
16. Nestle’s Quik sprinkled over vanilla ice cream is my secret comfort food.
17. Kraft Macaroni and Cheese - the powdery kind in the blue box - is the comfort food I tell people about.
18. When I went skiing for the first time, between age four and five, my parents were paged off the mountain to come fetch me. I had no desire to learn how to fall or stop so, much to my instructor’s dismay, I pointed myself down the mountain. I fell at the bottom, but they kicked me out of ski school.
19. A lot of people think I’m a girlie-girl, but I really don’t like having to put on make up and “do” my hair.
20. That said, I do take a bubble bath and paint my toenails every Sunday night.
21. I believe that people like me more than they probably really do.
22. I want to go back to school and get a degree in Graphic Design, but am waiting until I can do it without the use of student loans. EDIT: Or until the baby goes to school, whichever comes later.
23. I am in love.
24. If I could take light rail to work every day I would. EDIT: That would have been when I worked for someone other than me.
25. I’m pretty sure I lived in Paris in another life.
26. Saturday mornings are for sleeping in, I hold firmly to that belief. ETA: Yeah. Right. Like Nathan ever sleeps.
27. I am a Christian. Although I didn’t become one until I was 22.
28. My favorite movie is When Harry Met Sally. Even if Nora Ephram took bits and pieces from Heartburn to write it.
29. I’m toying with the idea of ordering checks with hockey players on them.
30. If I think I’m acting irrationally I call Jessika to find out for sure.
31. When I was six, I cut my baby toe on my left foot in half on the slide in my backyard. I still have two toenails on it today.
32. I have broken my wrist, twice, and both baby toes. The baby toes happened at the same time and I have no idea how it happened.
33. I’m a closet Barry Manillow freak. Freak I tell you. The slow version of “Could It Be Magic” makes me cry.
34. I have a tattoo.
35. I have two hundred and thirteen telephone numbers in my cell phone of those I probably only use a dozen on an everyday basis.
36. Meatloaf’s “You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth” makes me horny.
37. The first time I got drunk I was 14 and drinking lemon slushes that I didn’t know were spiked with vodka. I was at a graduation party for my Dad’s girlfriend’s son. I threw up all over the girlfriend’s bedroom. I’ve always hated her.
38. I am fascinated by all things Kennedy.
39. Only if the jackpot is over $100 million do I play the lottery.
40. Someday I want to stay in a castle. A real one.
41. When a romantic relationship falls apart I’m not able to stay friends with the man. No matter how hard I try.
42. I sang Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” solo in the ninth grade. My Dad gave me a standing ovation when I was finished and it made me cry. It still makes me weepy to think of it.
43. I threw an engagement ring over the pier in Santa Cruz. I thought of it while sitting on a pier in Cambria.
44. The worst thing I ever said to a stranger was when I was five and swinging from the tree in our front yard of our all white neighborhood. An African American little girl walked by and I pointed and called to my friend “Hey, look! It’s a brown girl.” She flipped me off. She was the first black person I had ever seen in person. It makes the pit of my stomach turn to think about it.
45. The worst thing I’ve ever said to someone I loved was “You were the biggest mistake of my life and I regret ever meeting you.” While it is true, I regret saying the words aloud.
46. Most of my junior year in high school was spent with a cast on my right leg. At cheerleader camp I was standing on the top of the pyramid when someone down below thought it was time to dismantle. I fell and pulled the muscle off the bottom of my foot. It still hurts when it’s cold and damp outside.
47. I have a hard time not pronouncing “pumpkin” as “punkin.” I have to make a special effort every time. People think I’m doing it to be cute, but I’m not.
48. Tall men make me swoon.
49. When someone gets too close emotionally I tend to push them away.
50. I always try to do the right thing and it disappoints me when I don’t.
51. Someone once called me high maintenance because I had eleven different types of cheese in my refrigerator. My reply was that I was only high maintenance if I required someone else to furnish the cheese. He didn’t buy my logic.
52. The smell of Irish Spring soap makes me think of David. If he’s on travel I will use it when I shower even though it makes my skin all dry and itchy.
53. I am the shortest person in my family by almost four inches.
54. If there is a kitty cat around I will try to coax it to me so I can pet it.
55. There are only four books that I have started and not finished. A recent attempt at a James Joyce is one of them.
56. I’m much more insecure than people think I am. At least I think I hide it well.
57. Even though I have owned a Porsche, and a Lexus SC something is my dream car, I hate to drive.
58. I may be the only woman alive who is truly happy with her breasts. And they’re real.
59. I have been to six proms in my life. I wore a different dress each time.
60. My I.Q. is 163
61. My grades have never reflected that.
62. I have been online since 1992.
63. When I was in Kindergarten we were split up in to our work groups. I sat with a bunch of Michelles - six to be exact. We were the Michelle group. One day we each had to count to 100 by fives for the teacher. Seeing that my other Michelles could not complete the task I bombed out on purpose at 85. I don’t think the teacher believed me.
64. I firmly believe that white is the color of primer, not an actual wall color.
65. I have named my car. It is always referred to as “Jeffie.” There is a long, boring story involving air conditioning and a hockey player which resulted in the car’s name. I name a lot of stuff in my life. And in other people’s lives.
66. “Shell” is the only nickname I’ve ever had and I didn’t get it until the mid 90’s. And it was with kicking and screaming. Now I adore it.
67. I am far to selfish to have children. And I’m okay with that. EDIT: Ha! And here I am head over heels in love with the short little guy who sleeps in the crib down the hall.
68. The San Jose Sharks are my favorite hockey team. I like the Sharks, then I like hockey.
69. I have to correct “own” from “Owen” almost every time I type it. It stems from an Owen Nolan obsession I had for awhile.
70. I don’t watch nearly as much television as I thought I did.
71. I once spent seven hours at the Tattered Cover bookstore. I bought nothing. I sat down on a comfy couch to read a few pages of a book I was considering purchasing. I finished it. I still feel a little guilty about not buying it.
72. Moving to Colorado was the hardest thing I’ve ever done alone.
73. I truly believe that everyone has one, perfect soul mate. Also believe that everyone might not find that person, but it’s okay because there are a lot of people with whom we can be perfectly happy.
74. Ghosts, and all things related, scare me more than is rational.
75. Most of the time I don’t think I’m very pretty.
76. I kill my own spiders instead of asking someone to do it. EDIT: That was back before I had a 6′3″ manly man to do it for me.
77. I give Princess Kitty a wee bit of ice cream every day so she’ll always love me.
78. I know all the words to “I wanna drive the zamboni” and “So you’re from Canada? Do you play hockey?” and I sing them aloud at games. I also know all the words to the Canadian National Anthem which has prompted people to tell me I attend far too many hockey games.
79. I miss the ocean mountains. A lot. EDIT: When I’m in Colorado I miss the ocean. In California, the mountains.
80. Unless I really set my mind to it, I have a hard time finishing something I’ve started, but I don’t want to be doing.
81. I know that Mt. Logan is the tallest peak in Canada.
82. I have a thing that makes me take dopamine a couple times a day so that my legs don’t hurt and I don’t tremor. I hate it with every fiber of my being.
83. I try to be a good friend, but I know I fail more often than is acceptable.
84. I started getting grey hair at 23. I became a red head at 23. Coincidence?
85. As much as I despise SUVs and all those other gas-guzzlers, I secretly covet we have a Nissan Murano.
86. I sleep naked.
87. If I could get away with wearing a tiara all the time, I would.
88. I don’t care what anyone says, size matters.
89. Dennis Miller once dressed me down verbally while I was working at one of his concerts. My walkie-talkie was on so my co-workers heard the whole thing. He then proceeded to tell the audience that I am “visibly a product of the California Public School System.”
90. A boy in the third grade used to chase the Michelles around and kiss us when he caught us. Where ever he could. We would then go back in from recess and the Michelles would gather around Michelle Falloon’s desk and put an “X” on a diagram of a stick figure showing where he had kissed us. He also let go of my hand when we were playing crack the whip and that’s how I got the scar on my left elbow.
91. I just had to lift the sleeves of my sweater to see which elbow had the scar.
92. I use the word “like” far too often when speaking.
93. Unless you are someone that I love I would rather email you than talk to you on the telephone.
94. I love to camp as long as there is a car, a tent, an inflatable mattress, a feather bed, a down comforter, and a creek involved. There should also be a cheese course before supper cooked on the camp stove. Oh, and chilled martinis with three olives.
95. I’m allergic to bees and penicillin.
96. The theater plays movies too loud so I have earplugs in my purse in case I decide to go to a movie.
97. I’m a sucker for a boy wearing glasses.
98. I’ve always wanted a sprinkling of freckles over the bridge of my nose.
99. I wear glasses, but I’m also terribly vain so I don’t wear them around people very much. I bought prescription sunglasses shortly after moving to Colorado so I could see and still think myself cute.
100. I’m a little afraid of being alone in the dark.