100 Things About Me

I know this is sort of a bygone trend in blogging, but I recently read some interesting "100 things" and decided to give it a whirl myself. Without further ado, here are 100 things about me that you may or may not have known:

1. I used to rock climb.
2. I grew up on a farm. When I was little I used to love to feed the cows apples.
3. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't make lace. It is my meditative escape.
4. I catch myself being way too overprotective of my kids.
5. I was once part of a "Sustainable Agricultural Community".
6. I adore wine but it gives me wicked heart burn every time.
7. I do not own a watch that works.
8. I live for fall.
9. I love thunderstorms.
10. I'm a sucker for windchimes.
11. I often won't finish a book because I love it so much.
12. I love drinking coffee in my new kitchen. I love to listen to the purple martins chat, I love to smell the dew and grass and mountain air.
13. I can't remember the last time I dried my hair with a hair dryer.
14. I'm still not sure about how I feel about being a stay-at-home-mom.
15. I love to walk to take early morning walks, even though I am not necessarily a morning person. I love the quiet that comes with walking and thinking. I take it with me the entire day.
16. I very much want to podcast, and have even recorded a couple of episodes just to test the waters.
17. When I'm in "dyeing mode' the only thing I can think about is color. I enjoy using color schemes from my surroundings. And I love Violas:


18. I used to work at a 5 star resort as a horticulturalist. I loved it.
19. I once spent 2 weeks hiking the Appalachian Trail with my college roommate.
20. I can't stand romance movies, but I LOVE sci-fi. I'm also a total sucker for zombie movies.
21. I love Hitchcock. Rear Window is one of my favorite movies.
22. An Instance of the Fingerpost is one of my favorite novels. Admittedly it isn't for everybody. I rarely recommend it because the few times I have the reader didn't even want to finish it. I do always recommend The Life of Pi. It nearly always results in great conversation.
23. I'm a gadget freak. I love electronics.
24. My second child (The Girl) was the first baby born in our area in 2006. She was born just 28 minutes into the New Year. She was breech and was born via c-section. They nearly had to crack my ribs to get her out. For weeks I had a huge bruise on my ribcage. My first was born via emergency C section after hours of pushing.
25. I rarely use my cell phone and am always shocked when it rings.
26. Even though they are completely harmless Walking Sticks really freak me out.
27. I have been forever resisting the urge to do a "100 things about me".
28. I am adopted and have no idea who my birthparents are.
29. I'm not crazy about Facebook, but use it because pretty much everyone I know does.
30. I have the coolest cat on earth. I suspect he thinks he's a dog.
31. I don't really have a favorite color.
32. I love The Grateful Dead, and saw them in DC with Bob Dylan in 1995. Best. Concert. Ever.
33. I was dubbed Betzi by some friends in Germany who had a difficult time pronouncing my real name, which is similar. I think that was over 10 years ago.
32. Oh, and I lived off and on in Germany in the past 10-12 or so years. Cities I have lived in: Bremen and Berlin.
34. I am a freak for handbags, but I am usually only loyal to one. Current handbag: a Namaste Laguna. It is seriously ginormous.
35. I honeymooned on the island of Crete. It was incredible.
36. I love the island of Burano. I photographed countless rows of colorful little houses. I think that perhaps it was there that the lace-making seed was planted, even though I hadn't yet knit a stitch.
Burano (this is a stock photo. my own are not yet digitized):

37. Murano was memorable too. I collected some millifiori workshop cast-off beads by the shore. They are quite stunning--you definitely can't find that kind of beach glass anywhere else in the world.
38. I get a little preachy when I talk about knitting and spinning, but especially about knitting and spinning in public. I can't seem to stop myself.
39. I have had laser eye surgery. I had horrible vision: nearsightedness 20/1000
and astigmatism to boot. Now I see better than perfect, 20/10 as a matter of fact.
40. But I have terrible hearing.
41. Despite living on a farm and traipsing through miles of poison ivy, i have never actually gotten hives from it.
42. It bothers me when people say "bug" for any and all insects, even if I know they don't know any better. Yes, my entomology prof was a drill sargent.
43. I once built 11 bee hive frames for an apiculture class. And I let myself get stung every week in lab in order to build up an immunity to bee venom. It worked.
44. I actually hate insects. I just love the taxonomic challenge they offer. Most recently I have been stumped by the whole winged ants vs. winged termites issue. Yes, I am rusty.
45. I consider it a high compliment when someone asks me to knit something for them.
46. When I knit something for someone I know (by request or not), I usually am only thinking about that person while I am doing it. Much thought and attention goes into these pieces, even if its "just" a hat.
47. I really love to give my kids hand knit things. They are always so excited!
48. I wish I was far more social than I am. I would rather get to know one person really well than 20 people just a little. In other words, I'm terrible at parties!
49. That said, one of the things that bugs me about being a stay at home mom is not having "real" conversations with adults.
50. I make a pretty good cup of coffee.
51. I love to watch birds.
52. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I love playing video games. So much so that I even worked at a video game store, and knew more about gaming trends than anyone else at the store.
53. I have a very eclectic music library.
54. I abhor pictures of myself but love taking pictures of others.
55. This is my favorite painting:

Its Edward Hopper's "New York Movie".
56. I am terribly uncoordinated.
57. Which means I can't dance to save my life.
58. I think graveyards are fascinating, particularly old ones.
59. But I can't stand clowns.
60. I have a hand-sized tattoo of a dragonfly on my leg. I would love to add to it. 61. Oh, and I really want a bee tattoo.
62. I am extremely prone to migraines. The debilitating kind, where can't stand even the slightest sliver of light or teensiest sound.
63. I have been known to go through bouts of both embroidery and sewing. I'm not really passionate about either (not like knitting), but I do find them to be useful skills.
64. If I had to choose only eat one type of food for an entire month, it would be strawberries.
65. I go barefoot whenever I can.
66. I love NPR
67. Fox News news can suck it.
68. Yep, I'm pretty liberal.
69. I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant (both times), and I'm supposed to check my blood sugar randomly.
70. But I don't. In fact, I'm terrible at taking medications on a regular basis.
71. I played both the piano and the saxophone for years.
72. I used to collect comics, especially Marvel comics. I have sold many, but still have several first issues, all in near mint condition.
73. Even though I hate everything walmart stands for, I still shop there.
74. I love the Wii Game Animal Crossing. Its oddly relaxing to plant virtual flowers, and I love blabbing with my ravelry buds.
75. In fact, I really love my Wii. I got it within the first 2 weeks it was out. And yes, I had wait in line forever for it.
76. I love board games but rarely play them. Settlers of Catan is hands down my favorite.
77. I met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee *twice* but was far too star struck both times to say anything. Yes, I regret it.
78. I have a great memory for faces and voices, but I'm terrible with names.
79. I am claustrophobic, but didn't find out until I had to have an MRI (for the migraines). I genuinely freaked out.
80. I don't believe in astrology, but I am a Libra if there ever was one.
81. I really can't stand wearing makeup.
82. I am an insomniac. I really only sleep about 5 hours a night on a good night.
83. But when I get a good nights sleep I'm a very vivid dreamer. A lucid dreamer in fact.
84. Halloween is probably my favorite holiday.
85. I have an overactive imagination.
86. I frequently worry what others think of me, even though I try very hard not to.
87. I love making up stories for people if I'm waiting somewhere, or just people-watching. Sometimes they are quite good.
88. I LOVE going to the movie by myself. Even more so if its an almost empty (but not quite) theater.
89. I have always wanted an Old English Sheepdog.
90. My husband is German and doesn't like dogs.
91. I hate math with a burning passion.
92. I could listen to "This American Life" for hours.
93. Guilty TV pleasures: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Star Trek Voyager.
94. TV show that I am a shameless, die hard fan of: Battlestar Galactica (the new one of course)
95. I am starting to see grey in my hair, but it doesn't bother me. I have black hair.
96. If I could pick a career right now that I could have for the rest of my life, it would have to be fiber arts shop owner.
97. And that has nothing whatsoever to do with my horticulture degree.
98. When I was pregnant with my first child, I had PUPPPS at 22 weeks, until 2 weeks after birth. It was torture. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. No amount of benedryl or perscription creams would help. Apparently it is very rare. I had it again with my second child, more severely. Apparently this is never supposed to happen. It is probably the first and only time I will ever be called a statistical anomaly.
99. If I lose something, I'm always afraid I have accidentally thrown it away. Once, during a move, I threw all of our shoes into a garbage bag. I accidentally threw that bag in a trash compactor and didn't realize it until it was far too late. I'm pretty sure thats where that fear came from.
100. I have a nagging feeling that I will be able to think of other, far more interesting facts about myself as soon as I click the button "publish post".

Well, there it is! I couldn't believe it took me so long to do. You would be surprised how difficult it is to come up with 100 things about yourself. And what a learning experience it can be. Now its your turn! Leave me a comment with a link to your post when you are finished and I'll compile them in the sidebar.