Random Tuesday Thoughts

We're back! And very, very tired... so you're gonna get a theme meme about a theme park today.

We all got sucked into the world of Disney pin trading. I got some awesome ones, including a Toy Story Alien, the evil Malificent, and a "Do Not Disturb" door hanger for the Tower of Terror's "The Hollywood Hotel".

Here's the four girls in the theatre, waiting for the stage production of "Aladdin" to start. (And if you are ever in Disneyland/California Adventures, you HAVE to go see this...)


Overheard on the shuttle bus going to Disneyland:
Mom to 2-year old girl: Janie, would you like to come over here and sit by me?
Older sister to 2-year old girl: Don't fall for it!

Ron is 6'2", and still had to stretch to high five Sully. :)

I ran into an old friend from college while at Disneyland! We haven't seen each other in over 15 years. We found out we were both there at the same time because of our FaceBook updates. LOL!

Favorite rides at California Adventures: Tower of Terror and California Screamin'. The latter is probably the smoothest coaster I've ever ridden, and is just plain FUN to ride.

Favorite new ride: Toy Story Midway Mania! in California Adventures.

Favorite rides at Dizzyland: Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and The Haunted Mansion. I find it rather strange that Splash Mountain, one of the main ride attractions at Disney, is based off a movie you can't even get ("Song of the South"). Go figure.

We also went to the beach for an afternoon. It was Jak and Nikki's first time at the ocean! Doesn't Nikki look like she's having a blast in the waves? :)

A half hour into our long drive home, the check engine light came on. Thankfully, we were traveling back in the afternoon, and found a Jiffy Lube to diagnose the computer code for us. I googled the code on my Blackberry, and we figured out that we needed to tighten our gas cap. Yes, really. I guess if it's not on tight enough, something happens to the emission vacuum positron electron gasitron whoknowsitron thingamajig, causing an air leak. And causes you much stress until you figure out you don't need to worry about it.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I remember the first time my oldest daughter slept 6 hours at one shot during the night. I woke up in a panic, and had to check to see if she was still breathing.

Unpacking moving boxes is worse than packing them. When you unpack, you find things that make you say, "Why the heck did I pack this in the first place?!?" And you always find crap other than what you’re searching in all the boxes for, even if you do write on the outside of them what’s contained inside…

Yesterday morning, I watched a hot air balloon land in the employee parking lot at work.

I use my mom’s tactic whenever the kids say they’re bored… “Ok, if you’re bored, go clean your room.” “I have some weeding that needs done in the flower bed.” “How would you like to go mow the lawn?” They quickly learn not to whine to me about being bored.

I wish I was independently wealthy so I could travel anywhere in the world, whenever I wanted.

On Saturday, I attended a Utah Blogger Lunch hosted by Kristina. (Thanks, Kristina!) It was a lot of fun meeting new bloggers. I did get to see an old friend, Jen at Steenky Bee. Her hair preceded her up the stairs. It was awesomesauce!

And somewhere in the neighborhood of 3am tonight (tomorrow morning?), we're headed out to sunny southern California to get Disney-fied. See you next week!

Random Tuesday Thoughts

My kids used to love to eat broccoli when they were little-- it wasn't until they were older that they learned the true name of the veggie they loved... up until then, they only knew it as "baby trees".

The correct way to hang toilet paper on the roller is with the paper coming OVER the top.

My work wants to turn me into a popsicle. Why on earth do they need to run the air conditioning at 65 freaking degrees??? I’m colder in the summer than I am in the winter.

I lived in a small town in Nevada that had a yearly "Cantaloupe Festival", complete with cantaloupe ice cream and a cantaloupe eating contest. However, it seems that the economy has proven to be near fatal with the festival continuing this year: Festival in Limbo This is bad news, folks…if you’ve ever lived in a small town, you understand the implications of canceling a festival of this magnitude. It’s one of the highlights of the year out in the middle of Nevada! How will people go on?

As a child, I used to be so confused when my parents would talk about how fast time came and went. How fast we were growing up. From my perspective, it was taking FOREVER to get big. Now that I'm a parent, I understand all too well how quickly time flies by. And it seems to get faster every year!

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Once, in college, we got an obscene phone call at the house. So my roomie and I grabbed a copy of "The Purity Test" and started reading the questions to him one by one. When we reached the one that read 'Have you ever made an obscene phone call?', he couldn't keep up the heavy breathing anymore and just burst out laughing.

Growing up, the only sports I regularly participated in were clumsiness and sprains. And I was GOOD.

I’ve had the same stupid song stuck in my head for almost two months. I find myself whistling it when I get up in the morning, and catch myself humming it while I work. And even when I get up in the middle of the night to pee, it’s coursing through my brain. What song is it, you ask? It’s the theme song to the animated cartoon television show “Arthur” on PBS. Please, shoot me now.

Few things satisfy like a really good poop.

The Totally Awesome Bakery should NOT be on my way to and from work. It is far too tempting to stop and get a chocolate-chip shortbread cookie made with real butter. They melt in your mouth. And they won’t give me the recipe!

Costco is seriously deadly to my paycheck. It has been my favorite store since I was a kid (I grew up in Washington). I remember when things were packaged in clear plastic bags (no retail packaging) and stacked on folding leg style tables. And when you checked out, there was a “caller” and the cashier. The caller could tell you the inventory numbers of just about everything in the store, too, right off the top of their head. (Anyone else remember those days?)

Once when I was making breakfast, 5 out of 8 of the eggs I cracked had double-yolks. Is that freaky, or what? I should have taken a picture.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

It's Tuesday already? Where did the rest of the week go? Two posts ago, I was tossing out Random Thoughts... which means I either had a week of boringness, or a week of busyness.

One of the problems with having a Monday holiday is that you spend the rest of the week trying to figure out what day it is. Your week equilibrium gets knocked out of whack.

What is it in our minds that tells us that it is weird if "old people" have a dirty sense of humor? Is it that whole "my parents NEVER have sex" mentality? :)

The governor of Utah, John Huntsman, accepted an Obama-nomination (ha! I love how those sound together…) to be the new ambassador to China. Awesome pick, if you ask me, since Gov. Huntsman knows Mandarin already. And since he’s a savvy businessman, he’ll be very, very smart where business relations are concerned. (And then I fully expect him to run for President in 2016.)(You saw it here first!)

I want a live-in maid, like Alice on “The Brady Bunch”. She would be at home all the time, except one night a week when she would go bowling with Sam. All meals prepared, house kept spotless…

I won a lottery ticket over at Sprite’s Keeper. Since I live in a no-gambling state, I’ve never had a scratch ticket before. When the ticket arrived, I felt particularly sinful as I scratched the stuff off to see if I was a winner. And Utah influence ruled—I was not a winner. Sniff. (Now I know where the phrase “scratch and sniff” comes from.)

And now I have to get back to a workday I'd rather not have... Tuesdays after holiday weekends are always awful. Sigh.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I must be doing something right in the parenting department if my teenager says to me, “You’re looking particularly nerdy this morning.” My transgression? Wearing socks that cover my ankles. I’ve warned my daughter that someday she, too, will be Completely Uncool to her children. She doesn’t believe me. But then again, when I was 16, I vowed that my kids would never think I was out of style or old. Ha! Her turn is coming…

Middle School is hell on earth.

The older I’ve gotten, the more life has taught me. I think that’s called “wisdom”. Now I just need to put more of that hard-earned experience into action on a daily basis.

I wish I had some pics of some of the girls in my high school who had these most amazing bangs... they stood straight up from their foreheads. We used to call them "surf's up!" bangs. And it was just the bangs-- the rest of the top of the hair was flat. I thought it was weird even in the era of big hair.

When Ron and I announced to the kids that we had eloped, Violet (then 8) said, “But… you’re a beautiful swan! And he’s a hairy moose. Swans and moose don’t breed!”

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I love to respond personally to people’s comments, but so many of you haven’t set your account up properly so I can do that. Read my earlier post on how to fix this, please? I don’t want to seem like I’m ignoring you!

Once I got to ride on a plane that had capacity for 12 people. There was one seat on each side of the plane, with an aisle so little you had to sashay sideways down the teensy corridor to get to your seat. And then you spent the whole flight with your head sideways because the ceiling curved around your head starting just above shoulder level. The co-pilot handed out earplugs to the passengers, which did not block out anywhere near enough of the noise. I was deaf for 2 days after getting off that plane.

I’ve never diagrammed a sentence.

As a kid, I had a basement bedroom. I wanted a fireman’s pole from the family room to the basement SO BADLY.

I used to have really bad eyes, like legally blind bad eyes. I got Lasik a few years back, and now I get to participate in the daily miracle of waking up and being able to *see*.

I've been busy this weekend. My best friend delivered her sweet baby girl, and named me the godmother. Wow. And she sure is a cutie! I was honored to be her doula, and watch the miracle of birth once again.

My girls made me breakfast on Mother's Day... at 5:00pm. :)

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I always get a kick out of adults that feel the need to announce that they’re going to use the restroom. I think it’s a learned behavior from when they were little kids. It starts with the parent(s) repeatedly asking, “Do you need to use the potty?” and morphs into the kid doing his own announcing of, “I have to go potty!” I guess some people never outgrow certain things.

Learning not to give a flying rat's ass about what others think of you is VERY freeing.

Two days of banging my head against the desk talking to vendor tech support ended with ME fixing THEIR problem. So, so, so SO frustrating! It’s your product, folks, why don’t you know how to fix it?!?

Not too long ago, I made a trip to the local whack job survivalist bulk food store to buy a mondo bag of steel cut oats. While I was browsing around the shelves of #10 cans, filled with food supply goodness, I noticed one can emblazoned with the words, “Flavored Like Ham Chunks”. This sat right next door to its close cousin, “Flavored Like Chicken Chunks”. Gosh, that whetted the appetite right then and there!

I find it strange that when Influenza B ran rampant around here, nobody cared. Now, with a flu that’s not as virulent starting the rounds, people are FREAKED. OUT. They’ve closed down schools, people are wearing masks, and paranoia runs amok. Why didn’t they close down the schools when over half of the kids and teachers at my daughter’s high school were out sick with the seasonal flu? But they sure will now that ONE teen might have swine flu symptoms… Give me a break.

Life is made of moments. You have to treasure each one as you get it, and then put it gently down to move on to the next one.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I love it when toddlers think saying ‘please’ will get them anything they want... you know: “Please. Please. Pleeeeease. PLEASE. PLEEEEEASE! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSEEEEEEE!!!!!! I said PLEASE!!!”

I remember many a time putting on my glasses so I could see to find my glasses.

My childhood dog, Tasha, used to catch gophers. She'd patiently wait by a hole for HOURS, and when the thing would pop its head out, SNAP! No more gopher.

Took teenage daughter shopping for eyeglasses– 1 hour later, after she’s tried on every frame in the store, she finally chooses one. Took son-in-law shopping for a pair of eyeglasses. He picked out a frame in less than 3 minutes.

I remember riding my ‘Big Wheel’ all over the neighborhood. I also remember when the neighbor boy got a ‘Green Machine’ and made me all jealous.

Kayla: “Wait! I need to bite something before I go or my tummy is going to explode from hungriness!”

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Whenever I go barefoot in the house, my feet seem to be magically attracted to anything on the floor that shouldn’t be there, like needles, thorns, teeny pieces of glass, staples… If something little is lost, I know all I need to do is take off my shoes, and I’ll find it in no time. Who needs a metal detector when I have foot-radar?

I still know all the names of the Teletubbies, even though my youngest is 11.

My oldest daughter was about 7 1/2 pounds at birth. Two weeks later, she weighed 12 pounds. She was 28 pounds at age one. I begged her to learn to walk.

My childhood dentist was a demon in scrubs. He used to give 12,000 shots into your mouth, crank your jaw open with a jack (I have TMJ because of him!), and drill out your entire tooth even if the cavity was teensy tiny. He just put silver fillings in, all the way down to the root. Then your mouth would HURT whenever you ate something cold. Sadist.

Nature loathes straight lines.

On Friday night, Ron and I had a (miraculous) night free of children. So, of course, we went out to eat! We headed over to a place where my bloggy friend Amber works at. She happened to be waitressing that night, and it was fun to finally meet face to face!

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
A: Pilgrims.

So I’m at the Post Office this morning, and hear birds. Not just a couple, but a whole bunch of them. I can’t figure where the cheeping is coming from. Then a postal worker walks out from behind a door, and the cheeping intensifies. They’re actually in the building! I ask the worker, and he says they’re a bunch of chicks, waiting to be delivered to the local farming supply store. Totally weird to hear cheeping in the Post Office.

There is much truth to the flippant, "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger". Struggles and trials in our life help us to appreciate the good times all the more. And the older I get, the more I cherish the quiet moments that surface amidst the storms of life.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I love watching the show “Cash Cab”, even if I only can watch it on rare occasions. If I ever get to New York, and need a cab, I am SO going to look for Ben Bailey.

When I was newly divorced, and not dating at all, I had to have a series of procedures done at the hospital. They always made me take a pregnancy test. I told them over and over again that, unless biology had changed recently, one had to engage in sex to become pregnant. They still insisted on the pee test EVERY SINGLE TIME, even though it was generally only a few days between the procedures. After being asked for the umpteenth time if I could possibly be pregnant, I replied, "Only by immaculate conception."

Heard on the radio this morning:
“You know what it means when a woman has big feet, right?”
“No, what?”
“It means she has big socks.”

When I was a kid, I used to watch all the adults sit around and talk. They were BORING. Then I got older. When I was in my late teens, adult conversation became a little more interesting. Now my kids think I’m boring. And stupid.

I happen to live in the same state as Steenky Bee, just a short hour drive away from each other. So of course, we had to travel 4+ hours out of our way to finally meet in Moab, UT this past weekend. She’s awesomely nice, and not an internet axe murderer (as far as I could tell), and I’m pleased as punch to be her “first”.

Ron and I took all our kids (minus one who lives out of state) to go see "Wicked" on Easter. Even though we could only scrape enough money together to buy us seats in the nosebleed section, it was absolutely fantastic. The two leading ladies had the most amazing voices. I wish we could have sat closer to get the full effect of everything, but I'll take what we can get. I was glad to give the kids the experience of going to a Broadway show (without having to travel to New York)(although I'd like to do that, too).

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I had a friend in high school I sat with at lunch. She used to tear open all her sandwich baggies very carefully down the seams and set her food on top of the plastic before eating any of her lunch. It was strangely fascinating to watch.

I've never figured out why people like beer. It's vile. People tell me, "You have to develop a taste for it." Ummmm... okay. Why on earth would you want to develop a taste for something that smells like horse piss?

I've started making my own oatmeal from scratch, instead of those little instant packet thingies. They're not rolled oats, either, but the honest-to-goodness steel cut oats. Takes some cooking time, but holy smokes-- I actually LIKE oatmeal now. This morning, my oatmeal was made with raisins/dates/walnuts/cinnamon/nutmeg/vanilla with bananas sliced on top. Why didn't I do this years ago? I've missed out on so many fantastic breakfasts.

In our quarterly education we have to go through here at the hospital, this little nugget of wisdom was imparted: “If it’s wet and it’s not yours, don’t touch it unless you’re wearing your protective equipment.” I really am not liking the mental images I’m getting from this…

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I swore off french fries after seeing the movie "SuperSize Me". It was a long, long, LONG time before I could even walk into a fast food restaurant after that. I was traumatized.

People always told me that you'd get more sleep when your kids got older. Now I have teens, and all I have to say is... LIARS!!!

When the kids were little, they loved me to sing in the car. One of their favorites was the “Where is Thumbkin?” song. This created a problem when it came for “Tall Man’s” turn. I’d try to hide my hand into the steering wheel where other drivers couldn’t see it.

One of my fix-it tickets sent to me today had this in the notes: “paper tray will not go into the printer. like a baby which won't open his mouth for peas.” Who says geeks don’t have a sense of humor?

Becoming a mother is a life-altering experience. I never knew the depth of love I could have for another human being until I held my sweet daughter and looked into her eyes for the first time. The moment takes your breath away.

It’s a good thing teens are so darn cute when they’re little babies. Otherwise, I don’t think they’d live past age 15 or so.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Even though it snowed yesterday, and I had to scrape a nice layer of ice off the windshield this morning, I officially declare spring has arrived since allergies have come on full force.

My work has this weird tradition of handing out green bagels to all the employees every St. Patrick’s Day. Green bagels are not that appetizing.

Zits inside of your ears (and nose) really hurt.

So I was going to the bathroom, and happened to be in the back stall. Someone came in, and apparently thought the bathroom was empty, because she sat down on the toilet and started to pee... without closing her door. She started to giggle to herself and said, “I like to try stuff.” Then as I reached for the toilet paper, she realized she wasn’t alone. Her door slammed and locked. Then she hurriedly got up, flushed, and then walked out of the bathroom without washing her hands. This was a person in scrubs, most likely a nurse. Ewwww!!!!

I hate it when my teens text me AND WE'RE IN THE SAME ROOM. Or I run into them in the hallway in the mornings, and they say, "Did you read my text?" To which I reply, "Why don't you just TALK to me right now, while we're both standing here?!?"

Random Tuesday Thoughts

Today's Random Tuesday Thoughts are brought to you by Kayla, age 16. These are some quotes I've been quietly collecting over the past month or so.

• I think spiders try to torment me on purpose. Jumping spiders are the worst to try to kill-- it's like playing ‘Whack-a-Mole’.

• The heart is stronger than any one man's will.

• I'm just very talkative when I have a lot to talk about. Which is all the time.

• I love ponies! They're so cute and stubby. They are the midgets of horses.

• I frickin' LOVE that store! I want to marry it. Goodbye, paycheck!

• Life isn't about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself.

• I love strawberries. If Jesus was reincarnated into a fruit, it would be strawberries.

• Something is wrong with me. I think my whole body is dislocated.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

In a stunning display of my awesome klutziness, I managed to smash my head on the cupboards above a desk at work. And I mean smash, as in just-about-knocked-myself-out kind of smash. Now I have a dent in my skull.

Torture is coming home to a teenage daughter pulling freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies out of the oven....when you're on a %#@&*! diet.

Thank you so much, Mister, for carefully pushing phone buttons in the middle of the night, just so you could wake me up --and not believe me-- that you DIALED THE WRONG NUMBER.

I’m thinking of taking the LSAT cold, no prior studying. Is that stupid? I’m a really good test taker…

I’m still coughing from this stupid whateveritisihave. The doctor said, “It has all the symptoms of the flu but the high fever, so it’s not the flu. But I don’t know exactly what you have.” I had to pay a lot of money for the doctor to give me a prescription for cough syrup.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

I've been really sick since Friday. As in, I-swear-I've-only-got-half-a-lung-left-as-I've-coughed-up-the-rest-of-it kind of sick. So the only random thoughts I have today are sick ones. (No, not that sort of sick ones.)(Sicko.)

I don't know about you, but I really hate sick dreams. They're full of stupid weirdness that you have to endure when you finally fall asleep inbetween coughing fits.

At least I don't have a sinus infection with this, even though like Grant, my head has become a mucous factory. I credit the good fortune of no sinus infection to my loyal neti pot. I should write an "Ode to the Neti Pot" in another post. Love the thing.

I hate that my work lumps vacation time in with sick time, so all you have is "personal time off". I hate using sick leave when I could be off camping somewhere instead.

And for those still wondering, both my gelatin and ibuprofen allergy tests came back negative. So the other night, when I had such a horrible headache, I took two ibuprofen. The test LIED. Two swollen eyes this time. Ewww. No more ibuprofen for me!

Now I'm going to go back to sleep. I hate being sick.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

So I'm watching "How It's Made", and they're showing how they manufacture personal aircraft. Job I would not want: test pilot for aforementioned personal aircraft company. Let’s see… airplane parts get made, put together, instruments are tested, and then the final test? Take it in the air to see if it will actually fly. Um… I’ll pass, thanks.

The only good thing about snow is that it makes the mountains breathtakingly beautiful, especially during sunset. I just wish it would stay in the mountains, and not come visit me so regularly on the valley floor.

I’ve never been called to jury duty, even though I’ve been a registered voter since I was 18 years old. I wouldn’t necessarily mind it, but doubt I’d be chosen as a juror. My court experiences over the years have made me a bit more knowledgeable about law than the average juror. They don’t usually like people who are smart about the law.

I received a voice text message on my work phone. It said, “Hey girl, how’s everything going? Sorry it’s late. But I just want you to know that I was thinking of you and I love you. I might be going to jail tomorrow so just know I love you.” The return number was from a different state. I guess there’s no point in calling them… they’re gonna be in jail anyway.

Random Tuesday Thoughts

When I was a kid, my mom used to torture me by making me take all kinds of vitamins. I thought she was some kind of weird Health Nutjob. Then I grew up, and now I find myself taking vitamins and the like because it makes me feel better. Now my kids think I'm a weird Health Nutjob.

I really hate that manufacturers don’t have to disclose on the packaging that their product contains sucralose (Splenda). I guess since it’s “modified sugar”, the FDA thinks it’s fine to just list it quietly in the ingredients. I have to very carefully read labels so I can avoid it, since all artificial sweeteners taste horribly bitter to me (and give me headaches).

I had a weird dream that something was attacking me in my sleep, but I used Super Cool Ninja Moves on it, and killed the Mean Thing. But I woke up to smacking poor Ron in his sleep. I think I scared the crap out of him.

And then the next night, I dreamed that we had this sleep-over work party. One of my managers said, “I get to hold Suz tonight,” and proceeded to snuggle up to me when we were going to sleep. Weird.

Last night, we went to my parents’ house to pick up our new dishwasher (stupid old one died)(it was only 7 years old!), as my dad very nicely went and found us the Best Deal yesterday with all the sales (Ron and I both had to work). Ron and I were talking to my mom, and she mentioned that we probably wanted to get going. Ron replies TO MY MOM, and I quote: “Yeah, so Suz and I can get home and have some wild sex.” Are you supposed to say things like that in front of your mother-in-law?

Random Tuesday Thoughts

For those of you on FaceBook, you probably know about the current obsession going around-- "25 Random Things About Me". I'm posting mine here. :)



1. I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. Well, besides being a mom (which I always wanted to do). I've been a retail store assistant manager, a bookseller, a custom picture framer, salesperson, inventory specialist, entrepreneur, technical team manager, McDonald's peon... and am currently filling the role of Computer Geek. If I ever went back to school, I'd go to law school.

2. I love to do anything connected with art, and especially photography. But I never took photography in high school. Go figure.

3. I've never been drunk. Never had the desire to, especially after watching everyone else get hammered around me. They all looked idiotic.

4. I taught myself how to read at age 4 by watching "The Electric Company" and "Sesame Street".

5. I was nominated for Homecoming Queen my senior year. But it wasn't because I was popular.

6. I have 7 children: 4 of my own, 3 step. All girls. I had my first daughter when I was 19, and last daughter when I was 26.

7. My favorite foods are fruits and veggies. Really.

8. I want a tattooed ankle bracelet because I *always* break any ankle bracelet I wear. And I lovelovelove ankle bracelets. It's the only jewelry I truly adore wearing.

9. I've lived in 6 different states: Washington, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah. Least favorite: New Mexico and Nevada. Favorite: Arizona and Montana.

10. I am self-taught on computers. It was a hobby that developed into my current career. I pretty much slept through one of my Associate degrees (Networking Administration), and my Bachelor's Degree (Computer Science), but I figured I ought to get that All Important Piece Of Paper.

11. I am a terrible housekeeper. If I were rich enough to afford a maid, she'd be a live-in like Alice was on Brady Bunch.

12. And I hate deciding what to cook for dinner. We have a lot of "fend for yourself" meals at our house.

13. I am fluent in American Sign Language. I was an interpreter during college. Now, it's been so long since I really used it, I suck. Now I'm trying to learn Spanish.

14. I've had 4 surgeries, all done by a neurosurgeon. This means I no longer have the first rib on each side of my ribcage, and that my back is fused at L5-S1 (from which the hardware has now been removed).

15. My favorite vacation is going camping. Really. I love to be out in nature, breathing the fresh air, and enjoying the quiet beauty around me. Other vacations are fun, sure, but they don't give me the total relaxation that camping does.

16. I can cook in a dutch oven over a fire. And it tastes good, too. :)

17. I keep a small toy collection on my bookshelf at work. I have a Bumble, Yakko, Brain, Snoopy, Beaker, a Cootie, Bambi, the Peter Pan Crocodile, Marvin the Martian, Sebastian, Felix the Cat, and Astro Boy (among others).

18. I am a pile organizer. My stuff is always in piles. I know where everything is in my piles. If you move my piles, or if I actually clean and put things away, I can't find anything for days and days.

19. I have (mostly) straight teeth, no braces. People ask me all the time if I had braces as a teen. Nope, just good genetics. Only one of my daughters has inherited this.

20. When I was 15, I ate breakfast with George Takei (Mr. Sulu from Star Trek). He was so nice, and has the FUNNIEST laugh you've ever heard. I impressed my kids with this fact, but told in a different manner... "I ate breakfast with Hiro's father." (from "Heroes")

21. I can speed-read. I could read so fast in 6th grade that the teacher once told me that I was lying (when I reported words read in a timed read), and that I couldn't possibly have read that fast.

22. I could only type 35wpm in high school, but can type about 70wpm now. 10 years ago, I was typing 90+wpm. I give all the credit for my speed increase to AOL Chat Rooms.

23. I wrote my first computer program when I was 11. As a true measure of my geekiness, I taught myself to program from a book that came with my TI-99/4A. I was very bored one summer. And it was a "Star Trek" program. (I'm hopeless, I know.) (But I made it play the "Star Trek" theme!) But it never occurred to me that I could do computer stuff for a living back then.

24. I painted a mural in my high school cafeteria/commons area my senior year. I saw it again 11 years later when I visited the school. I haven't been back for 10 years, so I have no idea if it is still there or not.

25. I'm really good at tongue twisters. My kids are always trying to come up with something that will trip me up, but it's only happened rarely. The favorite one they like me to say? "Jacket Packet". (Say that one 10 times super fast!)