100 Things About Me

Everyone else is doing it, so I guess I should, too.

1. I was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.
2. I have a pair of size 10 red glitter (a la Dorothy) shoes.
3. My first pet was a gerbil named Frisky. He had a brother (owned by my sister) named Midnight. One died (we don't know which) and the other ate it, so my mom let both the carcass and survivor go in the woods behind our house. We told my sister they ran away... and she didn't discover the truth until, like, eight years later.
4. I religiously use Degree deodorant.
5. My biggest vice is my nail biting. It's a bad habit I just can't shake.
6. I got my tongue pierced when I was a junior in college... and I put the stud back in once every month or so (the hole closes up a bit but I force the surgical steel back in and it's all good.)
7. Speaking of metal, I wore braces for 4 years. I had a snaggletooth, a major overbite and a nondescript chin, but my orthodontist slapped those brackets on me at age 11 and corrected the bite and wayward tooth, and even managed to pull my chin out of my neck quite nicely.
8. For some reason my butt is unusually muscle-y. It's always been that way even though I never do specific glutes exercises. Very weird.
9. My birthday is December First. I'm less than a month away to an age decidedly Late 20s.
10. I am the oldest of three girls.
11. At one time I considered majoring in Voice in college.
12. I am a registered Republican but refer to myself as a RINO (Republican In Name Only).
13. 13 is my lucky number.
14. Horseback riding used to be one of my favorite hobbies, but I've never ridden a horse in my current home state, Kentucky.
15. Woody Harrelson and I once did tequila shots together.
16. I didn't know how to drive stick shift when I bought my current car.
17. William Petersen of CSI is a distant cousin.
18. I am an extra (along with 4000 other people) in Seabiscuit. (Check out the pivotal scene at "Pimlico Parkway" (Lexington's Keeneland) between the Biscuit and War Admiral.
19. I am left-handed.
20. I grew up in Minneapolis, Cincinnati and Connecticut.
21. I wear glasses most of the time I read, do computer work or watch movies.
22. I smell the peanuts roasting at Lexington's Jif plant 3 or 4 times a week.
23. I am horrible when it comes to managing my finances and have extreme trouble disciplining myself to paying my bills on time.
24. Silver (or platinum) looks way better on me than gold does.
25. I rarely change my earrings from my favorite 10 mm. sterling balls.
26. My dad was married before he married my mom, and so they never had their marriage blessed by a priest. I am technically a bastard in the Catholic Church.
27. I got arrested the day before my 27th birthday.
28. I frequently facilitate the lessons at my Wednesday Night Bible Study.
29. I was driving near New York City on September 11th.
30. At one time or another, I have played tennis, soccer, competed in swimming, field hockey, took gymnastics lessons, and rode horses. I do not do any of these things as an adult (hence the spare tire around my waist).
31. I once won $130 dollars in a single bet at Keeneland Race Course.
32. My sister, Brigid and I used to have a horrible relationship. I once even smashed her little five-year-old hand into a bowl of steaming hot Chicken Noodle Soup (I was 7, people). Now we're the best of friends and I was the Maid of Honor at her wedding this past June.
33. I once toured overseas with my high school choir and even had a chance to perform inside Notre Dame in Paris.
34. I love to cook, and my favorite thing to make is banana bread. It's a recipe my grandmother got when she went on vacation with Bob Dylan's mom. Yes, THE Bob Dylan.
35. My middle name is Louise.
36. I am loyal to Proctor & Gamble products (remnants of a childhood spent in Cincinnati).
37. Sushi is probably one of my favorite things to eat, especially the eel, squid and octopus.
38. I wear a 38 DD bra.
39. My mom tells me I once got my head caught in the banister at the top of a staircase when I was 2. This was way before cordless phones... and my mom didn't want to leave me for fear I'd fall and strangle myself. Somehow she pulled the two balusters apart just enough so I could squeeze my little butterball noggin out safely.
40. Clinique's Amber Glass is my favorite lipstick ever.
41. I got an Honorable Mention in my 6th grade science fair. It was a project on soundwaves, and basically I used a coffee can, some plastic wrap and mirrors to use the movement of light to indicate how soundwaves move.
41. Speaking of plastic wrap, I have wrapped blue Saran Wrap around myself like a plastic tube top. It's the gettup I wear when I go to raves (these days, not as often as I used to) and the drag queens absolutely love it.
42. I once stuck my tongue to a stop sign pole. I think I was about 11 or 12 years old and I wanted to see if "what they say" was really true. Well, it is. Several months later, on a warm day in April I noticed my taste buds still on that poll at the corner where Applejack Court met Appleseed Drive. I picked them off and brought them home with me... saving them in one of those pre-ziploc plastic bags where you folded the top over.
43. Only two people in the whole wide world call me Kate.
44. As a kid, I went to a couple baseball games with former Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott. (Ain't nothin' to crow about).
45. I regularly take glucophage, an insulin managing medication for diabetics, even though I'm not diabetic.
46. I got my period when I was 15.
47. I aced my driving test (and the written part) the very first time.
48. Every new dentist I see tells me my teeth are beautiful and impeccably cared for. I owe all the credit to my mom, who used to yell at and chase me around the house at night to brush my teeth before bedtime.
49. After years of fighting with my mom to make my bed, I refuse to do it as a grown-up. No one sees my bedroom anyway, so it doesn't really matter these days.
50. I cringe at the sound of those styrofoam flip-flops scraping against the cement in the summer.
51. The veins in my right arm are far easier for nurses to find when donating blood.
52. Speaking of donating, I want to donate my organs when I die. I don't need 'em in heaven.
53. Out of habit, I say a Hail Mary and an Our Father before any plane I'm riding on takes off.
54. My grandfather gave my my own rosary beads for Christmas my senior year in high school. It was several days after my grandmother had passed away unexpectedly.
55. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.
56. My first job was as a bus girl at The Wharf Restaurant on the beautiful beaches of Madison, Connecticut. I rode to the "interview" on my Raleigh ten-speed and was hired on the spot.
57. I used to collect those Absolut vodka ads in college and used them to wallpaper my dorm room all through my four years at UK.
58. Trinkets on my desk at work include a slightly bent slinky, a figurine of Saint Clare (patron saint of television workers) a picture of my family, a little glass bowl full of shells from the beaches at home, a dictionary/thesaurus set I've had since 7th grade, a Page-A-Day calendar with pics from Italy, an empty bottle of Evian water, a hard hat, and a colorbars mouse pad from the Guggenheim Museum.
59. I camped out in the rain to get tickets to the Final Four in 1997. UK made it to the game but lost in triple overtime to those damn Arizona Wildcats.
60. I hate Mountain Dew.
61. I sometimes pee my pants when I laugh too hard. It's a problem that has struck at college parties, girl scout meetings, and a subway in Paris. Fortunately no such trouble at work, but then again stuff at work really isn't that funny.
62. I used to eat cupcakes with the wrappers still on as a kid, even probably in 8th grade.
63. Coca-Cola is my favorite brand of soda (or 'pop' as I called it when I lived in Cincinnati).
64. I have never bought whole, 2% or 1% milk in my life. Skim milk all the way, baby! Even as a toddler.
65. I had my first car accident at 26 while I was changing a cd (I still have a hard time listening to Sheryl Crow's You're An Original because that's the song I wanted to hear when it happened).
66. Sometimes, when I'm nervous, I bite the insides of my cheeks.
67. When I was five, I had an imaginary husband named Dumas (pronounced Doomes) and we lived in Japan and took trips to Hawaii.
68. I really want to get a boob lift someday.
69. I was 19 the first time I had sex.
70. It's been 14 months since I last had sex.
71. Barry Manilow was the first concert I ever went to. It wasn't my choice.
72. When I was 6 I used to eat the frozen carrots off my snowmen while living in Minneapolis.
73. Our family home in Connecticut is haunted by a nice ghost named Maureen who sometimes folds laundry, opens and closes doors and turns on lights.
74. I've never broken a bone.
75. I once stopped drinking for a year.
76. I am a stickler when it comes to saying please and thank you.
77. I'm one of "those" people who use my cell phone as my only line.
78. I was one of the top five finalists in our high school declamation contest, a competition that had been around for like a hundred and fifty years.
79. I want to honeymoon some day in Rome and Positano Italy.
80. My mom wouldn't let me get a perm because my hair growing up was already really kinky and frizzy, kind of like a white girl afro.
81. I hate it when people say "girl" in place of a female's name.
82. Baby Ruth is my favorite candy bar.
83. I get cold sores from time to time (maybe once or twice a year) on the vermilion border of my mouth (that thin line where your lips and skin meet).
84. I failed two courses (one in sociology, the other in poly sci) in college but still managed to graduate in four years.
85. I wrestled my youngest sister for our other sister's bouquet at her wedding this past June. I was 27... the baby was 17... and the bride was 24. I was obviously the deserving side on that wrestling match. It wasn't as much of a ruckus as it sounds, but it turned out to be far more a contest then I was anticipating. Mom specifically told Brig to throw it to me, but somehow Mickie thought she would take a stab at getting it (even though she's FAR TOO YOUNG to get married!). Good thing I won out on that one :)
86. I once lost 30 pounds on Weight Watchers and running. I gained it all back but am now only 10 pounds away from my record low. This time I'm adding some weight training.
87. I am allergic to penicillin and amoxocillin.
88. I have a pair of handcuffs leftover from when I went as a dominatrix one Halloween a couple years ago.
89. I once got caught stealing little toys from a friend when I was in second grade. My mom made me apologize to the girl's mother one rainy day (I was wearing my yellow slicker with the navy blue whale-print lining), and I've never stolen anything since.
90. I still don't own a computer.
91. Purses are my favorite accessory.
92. I used to be bullemic.
93. No one has ever sent me flowers. I keep thinking some day I'll send flowers to myself one of these birthdays, but I guess that's pretty silly.
94. I save fortune cookie fortunes. I have one on my desk beneath my family picture that says: Someone is looking up to you. Don't let that person down.
95. Red is my favorite color, with blue checking in as a close second.
96. I flicked off someone yesterday for the first time in years.
97. I only read the newspaper on the weekends.
98. I have six different email addresses.
99. I eat eggs way past their expiration date.
100. I lie about my weight, my SAT score and how tall I am.