25

1. I love thunderstorms. I can't get enough of them. I wish there were thunderstorms everyday.

2. When I put my socks on, I pull them all the way on and then I pull them about 2 inches off and fold the excess sock over the top of my toe and hold it there as I put my shoe on. I'm pretty sure I do this because I hate that seam at the end of socks.

3. I never use text messages and I almost never use my cell phone.

4. I don't have cable television (or satellite). I use this fact to rationalize purchasing Television seasons of shows I love and then I watch those instead of live TV. I'm currently re-watching The Office.

5. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and chocolate chip pancakes are my favorite food.

6. I somewhat proudly consider myself a geek in that I love the following: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Webcomics (i.e. Weregeek, Questionable Content, XKCD and PhDcomics), Dune, Ender's Game, LoTR, the Foundation Series,

7. I thought I hated photography before I got my new camera and now I think I love it. I love the feeling of snapping photos, and I love the way the photos turn out.

8. When I was in 6th grade, 8 of my friends got together and decided that I was too perfect and it was my worst quality. They told me to cut it out. Less than a year later, they directly told me they didn't want to be friends with me anymore and all of them stopped acknowledging my existence. I cried myself to sleep for two years while (for the most part) maintaining my high grades and reading books alone at lunch. In 10th grade I decided enough was enough and started to push myself to socialize. I crawled out of the hole I'd put myself in, and by the time I got to college I was self-assured and confident.

9. I had a crush on my now-husband for a year before we started dating, and he knew because I told him.

10. I feel guilty or embarrassed about certain events in my past and I will probably continue to feel this way for the rest of my life. Like in second grade, I had received a note that said "I like you" in big round neat writing, just like this one boy's handwriting. I had a crush on him, so I demanded (very bossily) - several times - to know if he'd written it, even after he denied the fact. It turned out it was my best (girl) friend at the time just teasing me. Yea. Can you spell M-o-r-t-i-f-i-e-d?

11. My favorite number is 3. It began with my Uncle Kevin (also my Godfather), who was #33 on his basketball team in college. Then I won a vanilla milkshake in school during lunch by picking the number 3. The rest is history. The number 3 has been very good to me.

12. I'm in almost constant pain, and I don't talk about it or think about it. Marriage has given me an incredibly understanding man who also happens to be a talented masseur - but even though I've been blessed in that way, my body keeps throwing me curve balls that absolutely no one can predict.

13. I have extremely real-seeming dreams that lead me through major life events (like giving birth), adventures (being a russian spy), battles (zombies), journeys (while flying), rescues (for example: tiger lily), and building cities.

14. I don't like driving, which bothers me a lot.

15. I take enormous pleasure in looking forward to things - anything from a specific meal to vacation. The problem is that I typically take much greater pleasure in the anticipation than I ever do in the actual event.

16. The night before I left for College, I found a praying mantis on the roof of my car.

17. I'm constantly on the lookout for kittens or puppies that need rescuing - whenever I'm walking somewhere I strain to hear quiet mewing or barking. I even helped to rescue a newborn ground hog once.

18. My favorite animal is the Octopus.

19. I have a particular kind of shopping problem. I decide I want something and I start to shop for it. I'll look high and lo, online and off, for whatever particular item it is. I'll wait weeks or even months, searching for a good deal. It is always difficult for me to find whatever it is I'm looking for to purchase, even though I pride myself on my internet searching skillz. The next step is I break down and purchase the thing I've wanted - I'm out of patience and therefore purchase the best version I've found. 1-2 months later, whatever it is that I purchased is now available in every store on the planet AND at half the price I paid for it when I bought it. This does not make me feel trendy. It makes me feel stupid, impatient, and incredibly frustrated.

20. Whenever I go to a public bathroom with a paper towel dispenser (namely my office's bathroom) after I wash and dry my hands I always pump out another towel section so that all the next person has to do is rip it off.

21. I've paid tolls for complete strangers before. It feels simultaneously naughty and great.

22. When I'm in the bathroom, I often sing to myself - even in public restrooms. Sometimes - not often but occasionally -I talk/sing to myself and I don't realize I'm doing it out loud until I remember there's some one else in the room, at which point I always hope it was nonsensical enough to be taken as me clearing my throat or something.

23. I hate Ice cream cake.

24. I have an extremely active imagination. Greg and I were on vacation with my parents at the Jersey shore one summer and we decided to go, on our own, to the beach at night. I thought it was going to be romantic, but when we got there the beach was so big and so deserted, and the water was so black that I completely freaked out that giant Lizard men (men with heads of lizards) were going to crawl out of the ocean waves and come up onto the beach. No I'm not kidding. We stayed for maybe 2 minutes, and then went home to prevent any more hysterics on my part.

25. I really enjoy being the girl who likes the stuff guys like. Don't get me wrong - I like nail polish, and Gilmore girls, and I'll tolerate a discussion about Brangelina... but I like being the girl who can make a cogent joke about the Matrix. I can quote Star wars, argue about Star Trek, I love Guinness, I can kick anyone's butt at Mario Kart or Tetris, I know all the rules of Hockey, Football, Soccer, and I used to be pretty good at basketball. I like being that girl.