100 Things

1 - 10 Random Facts

1. I have lived on 3 different continents

2. I have traveled to 2 other continents

3. I have lived in 5 of the 6 New England states

4. I like dogs AND cats. They both have their pluses and minuses - dogs take more work but want to please you. Cat are independent and can be left alone for a long weekend but don't give a crap if you want some love if they aren't interested at the time.

5. I will watch professional sports voluntarily and enjoy doing so. Mostly baseball and football, but I do enjoy watching soccer and of course the Olympics (although, technically that is amateur sports) every time they come around.

6. I like beer. I am a woman and I like beer. I like "real" beer, too, the kinds with flavor.

7. I like to cook, bake, and clean. The cleaning gets really intense if I am stressed out or need to procrastinate.

8. I loved Dawson's Creek, and I'm not afraid to admit it. I also have friends who loved Dawson's Creek and aren't afraid to admit it. I cried when I watch the final episode.

9. I am a middle child and an Aries. I can usually use these two facts to explain my personality - on one hand I like to please people and am the peace-maker that many middle children are; on the other hand, I am extremely independent and opinionated about some things as fiery-tempered Aries supposedly tend to be.

10. Even though I like being active and like watching sports, I do not consider myself very athletic. I was too awkward during those middle school years when people start really getting in to sports, so I tend towards the walking, sometimes jogging, swimming, gym-type things for exercise, rather than team sports.

11 - 20 Movies, Music, and TV

11. Whenever I was sick growing up, I would invariable watch The Sound of Music. Until my 6-year old nephew really described the scene to me, I could remember the one where the nuns take parts of the Nazi's cars our so the cars will not run so the family can escape. He thought that part was hilarious; I loved the "So long, farewell" song when all the kids are going to bed.

12. When I had surgery during the winter and started doing things to make myself happy, I stocked up on romantic comedies. I highly recommend Love Actually and 13 Going on 30.

13. Then I figured I should have a non-romantic comedy on hand if necessary and bought Casino Royale. If my relationship with my movie-star boyfriend Matt Damon fizzles, maybe I will just be with Daniel Craig.

14. I have tried to get in to NPR, but ultimately realized I go a little stir crazy when there is no music to which I can sing along while I drive!

15. I will basically listen to any music that is singable, but generally stay away from any country, rap, or hip-hop that is not otherwise played on pop stations. I suppose in a sense they are no longer "real" country, rap, or hip-hop at that point. Oh, well.

16. I can not watch too much reality TV. Some of the more "unique" ones in recent years, I usually enjoy the first season, watch the second season and think how you can never repeat the first season, and stop watching when the third season rolls around. This applies to The Apprentice and Biggest Loser so far. I will let you know if I make it through another season of Beauty and the Geek.

17. I can watch endless hours of one-hour dramas. 24 is getting a little old, but not ER nor Law and Order!

18. I miss a lot of shows that have ended over the past several years: Friends, Will and Grace, Gilmore Girls to name a few. I have been somewhat successful at avoiding getting in to new shows, aside from the fact that I rather enjoy Scrubs (not new-new, but relatively new) and How I Met Your Mother now.

19. I have been to very few big concerts. The majority of those I have been to were Dave Matthews Band.

20. Every year I try to see Dar Williams when she is in town. Talk about singable music! Plus I think she is so cute when she gets in to telling stories. It makes me like her music even more when I know the story behind the lyrics.

21 - 30 Childhood Memories

21. I still remember my blowing my first bubble gum bubble - I was probably about 4 or 5 and I was outside near our garden during the summer. I do not remember who I was with, but one of the Dads was coming on his tractor and I ran to show him because I was that excited about my first bubble!

22. We had an amazing sliding hill behind our house and my parents (i.e. the Dads of the neighborhood) installed a flood light for night sliding. We used to have sliding parties and the Dads (of course) would pull us back up the hill in big sleds attached to snow mobiles.

23. I call "sledding", "sliding". I have no idea why.

24. In addition to sliding parties, our neighbor tapped trees and we would have sugar-on-snow parties. SO GOOD. When they built the sugar shack in the woods, the whole neighborhood would go down. Boiling tree sap down until the maple syrup is really thick, pouring it in little dollops on snow, eating it with a fork along with homemade pickles and donuts. How much more New England can you get?

25. We went back one winter to visit after moving. There was a sliding party and I broke my arm...because one of the dad/son pairs on a sled slid right on to my arm. Unfortunately, I did get a cast because it was right near my elbow and did not go all the way through the bone.

26. I was petrified of the woods around the edge of the bottom of the sliding hill. I thought there were bear and evil things. Talking to my sister now, I think our Mom must have said things to scare us so we would not go past the tree line. Clever.

27. I have plucked the little feathers off chickens when it was the time of year to slaughter the chickens. Did I mention we lived next door to a farm?

28. I also used to collect eggs in the hen house with one of the boys on the farm.

29. Said boy on the farm was older than me and was great with kids! He used to tell me which earwig bugs were "good" and which were "bad" and I would only stomp on the bad ones.

30. I used to collect polliwogs in the pond in the summer with the other kids. They were the black ones that you can not see through. We would bring them home and watch them grow legs or start to lose their tails. We did not know how to feed them, so we always returned them after a couple of days.

31 - 40 Holidays

31. The Christmas CD I have listened to over and over and over again this year is Sarah McLaughlin's Wintersong. It has a lot of classics, a few new songs, and I like her voice.

32. When we moved to VT, the house's previous owners had planted about 20 Christmas trees in the backyard. After a couple of years, they were big enough that we would walk out in the backyard, pick one out, cut it down, and have it in water within 30 minutes. Talk about a fresh Christmas tree!

33. Growing up, my Mom always made homemade pizza the day we decorated the tree. The crust would rise while we decorated, all the toppings would be laid out, we'd top the pizzas, then we would get to eat in the living room and look at the tree.

34. For many years we had a routine during this holiday season. Thanksgiving was at our house and my Mom's parents (and grandmother for a long time) came. Christmas Eve my Dad's mom and her sister would come up, Christmas morning was quiet, and then the onslaught of relatives started around noon (in a good way). New Year's Eve, my parents would take us out to a nice dinner.

35. My sister and I got a new music box every year. It is the only present I remember being from my parents, and not Santa. When we turned 18, we got the last one and it was a Father Christmas.

36. My parents had their first date, dance, and kiss on New Year's Eve. They always got a little sappy and we pretended to be disgusted.

37. The first year my parents told us we could stay up until Midnight on New Year's, I totally fell asleep in a chair and they had to wake me up for the apple to drop.

38. On New Year's Eve, my family always played the new games we got at Christmas.

39. Even though my sister has been married for nearly 10 years, I was the first child in my family to miss a Christmas when I lived in China. Luckily, I got to spend it with two college friends (KHC & Molly).

40. In high school, I played in the bell choir and recorder ensemble at my church. The recorder ensemble had soprano, alto, tenor and bass recorders and played at a tree farm before Christmas. If the only recorder experience you have is from elementary school, you are really missing out. The sound of all those recorders was amazing (if I do say so myself).

41 - 50 The College Years

41. I'm still good friends with my freshman-year roommate.

42. Most, but certainly not all, of my best college friends lived in my hall freshman year.

43. I spent one wonderful semester in Australia: I dove on the Great Barrier Reef; I went abseiling in the Blue Mountains; I saw the Outback.

43. I think for pretty much all of college I had kissed more non-Americans than Americans. Australia bumped those numbers up.

44. Not including this whole online dating thing, the only blind date I have ever been on was in college.

45. I started pronouncing acronyms in college and love to to this day. For example, we called Au Bon Pain "A.B.P." and I say, "Uhbuhpuh."

46. My college friends are the ones who started calling me out on "Jen Stories." I maintain that if you really want to know how a Jen Story is tangentially related to the current conversation or situation, I'm happy to tell you, but it will only make the story longer.

47. I did a senior honors thesis on spiderling behavior. That's right, baby spiders. Boy, those things were adorable!

48. I helped start my university's campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity and still regret how little I managed to be involved.

49. I was an escort in college...As in the kind that drives a van around to bring students between their off campus housing and campus...Not the other kind...

50. I got my first cell phone senior year in college and probably used it a total of 5 times. People still had and used land lines, as well as turned their cell phones off when they entered the library, in those days.

51 - 57 My Boyfriends

51. My movie star boyfriend: Matt Damon. I've always been a Matt fan, not a Ben fan.

52. My (current) second movies star boyfriend: James Marsden. I'd totally do him after seeing 27 Dresses. (Pardon the expression.)

53. My baseball boyfriend: (was) Johnny Damon. Like back in the day before he became a Yankee, all the other women in the world, and he looked like a painting of Jesus.

54. My (American) football boyfriend: Tom Brady. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Much like Johnny, Tom and I go waaaay back to 2001, thank you very much. My Mom even had a dream for me in which Tom and I were together and met up with my parents for lunch.

55. My soccer (football) boyfriend: Landon Donovan, thanks to the 2002 World Cup.

56. My music boyfriend: Dave Matthews. I actually really disliked his music until I went to a concert in college. Those "I'll back you up" lyrics? That's about me.

57. My TV boyfriend: Used to be Pacey, now I don't know...I don't watch a lot of TV...I guess I'll stick with Pacey/Joshua Jackson.

58 - 70 Things I Like

58. Cold pillows. I will even flip my pillow over to refresh the coldness.

59. That dark chocolate and red wine are both good for your health. What a great way to end an evening!

60. Sandy chips at the beach.

61. Making big curly ribbons and bows on gifts I give.

62. Yoga. My new semi-obsession.

63. Facebook and facebook games. My second new semi-obsession (making one whole obsession I suppose). Facebook has actually proven to be a great way to find out all about high school classmates!

64. Walking barefoot.

65. The smell of fresh cut grass.

66. Thunderstorms.

67. Sleeping in on a rainy day with the window open so you can hear it.

68. An excuse to get dressed up.

69. Traveling. I don't do nearly enough of it now that I am in grad school and I still have two continents to get to!

70. Living with seasons - I love snow; I love the leaves changing colors; I love the flowers in the spring (and we had a real spring here for a change?!); and for a day or two, I can deal with the heat of summer...as long as I am at the beach. 

71 - 80 Everyday things I love to do

71. Making new recipes that end up being delicious.

72. Weeding. I even helped with weeding in the garden growing up. Maybe liking this has to do with #73.

73. Cleaning. Seriously.

74. Running errands and getting good deals on things I needed anyway.

75. Seeing plants I planted grow, flower, and/or produce something edible.

76. Hanging my clothes to dry instead of using the dryer.

77. Getting a hair cut.

78. Washing my car by hand, inside and out.

79. Going for a walk. Bonus if it is in the woods.

80. Watching a movie on the couch with popcorn.

81 - 90 Define this!

81. I support women's rights.

82. I support gay rights.

83. I believe in social safety nets to help people.

84. I do not believe a social safety net equals a free ride in life. You should not get public assistance if you are not helping yourself to earn money, be healthy, or otherwise contribute to society.

85. I love how diverse this country is and how non-U.S. citizens still want to be here even though many of us citizens think it is so awful. I do think you should be able to communicate in English to get a Green Card or citizenship. Especially citizenship.

86. I would probably be considered somewhat fiscally conservative, but see #83 above. I do think that paying taxes is crucial to the country's well-being. Also, I still don't understand quite the rationale behind tax breaks = increased jobs. Anyone have a good explanation?

87. I think our troops and the sacrifices they and their families make are incredible. We owe them a lot.

88. I think a lot about what I can do personally to make where I live better - plant flowers? do something for the schools? conserve energy and water?

89. I have no problem requiring people to have health insurance. My understanding is that one problem with the health care system is uninsured people being treated in ERs and hospitals trying to recover those costs, for example. In fact, if you are on unemployment, you should automatically be enrolled in an insurance plan that is deducted from your unemployment check. That is how it works when you have a job!

90. I do not understand how it is legal for new political leaders to finagle ways to break union contracts. I have a lot of issues with my perception of how unions actually run (not the early intents of why unions happened). But, dude. Aren't contracts legally binding? If not, what's the point of having contracts?!