I don’t feel like I have anything to tell you that’s new or interesting.  I am tired of hearing the same old stuff about babies’ sleeping patterns and what I did all day (mostly nothing except feeding babies).  So you probably are, too.

But what else is there to say?  So, I guess I will do the 25 random things list…because at least it’s a blog of a different topic…

1. What I really want for my birthday this year (Feb. 16) is some address labels for myself so I can stop writing my name and address for all the thank-you notes I keep having to write.

2. I cannot do math in my head.  I can’t subtract from 100 without pen and paper.  I still don’t know the 11 and 12 times tables.  And I still count on my fingers regularly, especially when I’m trying to figure out how much time has elapsed between one time and another on an analog clock (this is particularly true at night for feeding babies).

3. Five foods I hate: bananas, oatmeal, coffee, sauerkraut, and bread & butter pickles.

4. Christmas is my favorite holiday.

5. I am a much better driver when I’m driving our Jeep.  It feels like a tank, and I can see everything (my Corolla does not give very good lines of sight!) so I drive much more calmly than when I’m in my Corolla.

6. The first movie I ever saw in a theater was Batman Forever (Jim Carrey as the Riddler).  My brother took me, and we had Rally’s for dinner before the show. 

7. In the year 2000 (on Christmas day), my siblings and I took my parents to see Miss Congeniality in the theater.  It was the first movie they’d seen in a theater since 1975 when my dad took my mom to see The Apple Dumpling Gang (I think) to get her mind off the fact that my newborn brother had to be readmitted to the hospital for a staph infection. 

8. Jumping balls were one of my favorite toys as a little kid.  A lady who babysat us had one.  Good times!

9. I still love to swing.  Especially on black rubber playground swings with the big thick chains.  Or the swing ride at amusement parks. 

10. I would love to take a vacation to Western Europe.  I want to see England, France, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Italy.  I’d like to see some of the other countries, too, but those are the important ones to start with.

11. I prefer mountains to beaches. 

12. My husband won’t let us get a pet.  I doubt I’ll ever talk him into it.  *sigh*

13. I once read the unabridged Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I’d recommend an abridged version. 

14. I get bored at music concerts.

15. My favorite animals to see at the zoo are the penguins. 

16. I have two scars I got as a kid.  One is a scar just below my lower lip.  I got it while reading a book.  Apparently, propping a book on a stool to read it can be hazardous to one’s health, as the stool somehow slipped and cut my mouth open.  The other is just above my wrist where a mirror fell and shattered on my arm.

17. The other major scars that I have came from falling down as an adult.  My elbows are scarred from where I tripped while running (more than once…but it was my shoes’ fault), and my hands are all scarred from the time I took a big dive while rollerblading a few years ago.

18. My favorite sport to play is soccer.

19. I have been to art museums in Dayton, Chicago, and Denver.  I have not been to the one in Columbus.  Apparently, I need to work on getting more culture into my life!

20. I am the kind of person who can get great feedback on a presentation from all but one person and will consider myself unsuccessful because that one person wasn’t satisfied. 

21. My two front teeth are crooked.  It bothers me sometimes, but not enough to get braces.

22. I had a solo in the school Christmas program in 3rd grade. 

23. I quit the volleyball team in junior high because two of the girls on the team talked about how bad I was, in my hearing and to hurt my feelings, during Home Ec. class.  I figured if I was that bad and they were going to be that mean, I didn’t need to be on the team anyway.  It was the only thing I’ve ever quit like that…now I know I should’ve finished the season.  Lessons learned.

24. Also in junior high, I successfully completed a 100 mile bike trip with my youth group.  The worst part was the major sunburn I got on my ears (I’d worn a ball cap and hadn’t thought to put sunblock on my ears).

25. My second toe is not longer than my big toe.  Most people’s are.