The NEW 100 Things About Me

As I read through my old 100 Things About Me, I realised I've changed a lot since writing them!  So I now present to you...

The NEW 100 Things About Me:

1. I was born and raised in Arkansas, USA.
2. I went to the University of Arkansas and got my degree in English, with emphasis in Creative Writing.
3. I went on several mission trips growing up, and ended up travelling all over the world. These trips took me to Mexico, Canada, Venezuela, Pakistan, Israel, Jordan and Scotland.
4. In Scotland I met my future husband (though unbeknownst to us at the time).
5. I dated several guys who I thought was 'The One' but was wrong.
6. Then a series of events lead me back to Scotland and therefore Scott.  A year later we were married, and I moved to Greenock, Scotland.
7. Together we have three magnificent but insane children, Fifi, Lolly and Jaguar (all Scottish names).
8. I love languages and have studied French, Arabic, Scots Gaelic and British Sign Language, but I don't speak any of these fluently.  At all.
9. I won first place in the annual Arabic Speech Contest at University by playing an original song in Arabic on the guitar.  The best part is, I don't play the guitar.  At all.
10. Aside from the countries visited on mission trips, I have also been to France.  And England and Wales, which are indeed different countries, even if they are a part of the United Kingdom.
11.  I am terrible at math.  I self-diagnosed myself as dyscalculiac, but this makes Scott roll his eyes.  But for real, I think I am.
12. My husband calls me a hippy.  I prefer to call myself a natural mama. Though the only washing my hair once a week thing might tip me over the edge. (But I draw the line at tie-dye!)
13. Effectively this just means I believe in natural birth, extended breastfeeding, baby-wearing, co-sleeping, natural foods and natural remedies.  I do not like using medicines, am thoroughly against circumcision, and, well, only wash my hair once a week (if that).
14. But I bet you anything my hair is healthier and shinier than yours!
15. Speaking of hair, I dye it a lot.  Currently I am platinum blonde, but in the past I've been every colour between platinum and midnight black.  With some blues, pinks and purples mixed in as required.
16. I love resistance/ strength training classes like BodyPump.
17. I hate dieting though.
18. I freaking love me some chocolate fudge cake.
19. I also love crisps.  ('Chips' if you are American.)
20. I love the Scots dialect.  Words like crabbit, drookit, steamin' and eejit are just too good to be true.
21. I used to write a lot of poetry, but sadly, I don't write as much anymore.
22. I was raised in The Most Republican household, but somewhere down the line I rebelled and am totally a liberal.
23. But 'liberal' does not necessarily mean 'Democrat'.  Nor does it mean I am 'Labour'.  If I were able to vote in the UK, I'd probably vote Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP).
24. This is not because I necessarily want to see Scotland independent but because I like a lot of what the SNP have done for Scotland.  The independence thing could go either way, and I'd be fine with it.
25. But I'm not a UK citizen, so I cannot vote.
26. I'm still a US citizen, and I could vote if I ever remembered to order a ballot in time, but I never remember.  You have to order your ballot, like, decades or something before the next election.
27. I have an indoor pet rabbit named Chewbacca.
28. I always think - when I don't have a pet - that I am a pet person, but then when I get a pet, I realise I am not a very good pet person. 
29. We used to have another rabbit named Zelda, but she died.  We also had fish, but they died.  We used to have two cats, Remedios the Beauty and Clementine, but we gave them to my sister-in-law when I got pregnant with my first child, because I couldn't cope with the smell and the morning sickness.
30. My favourite food is Thai food.
31. My husband and I have a ritual of always going to the same Thai restaurant for our anniversaries.  We always toy with the idea of trying out one of the other restaurants along the same street, but always end up at Thai Siam.  It's just that good.
32. My second favourite food is pizza.
33. My favourite 'date night' activity is Pizza Hut and a movie at the cinema.
34. I have two brothers.
35. I am the middle child.
36. I have serious middle child syndrome.
37. I have three sisters-in-law and two brothers-in-law.  I have two nephews and three nieces.
38. I have a step-mom and a step-dad and numerous step-siblings, most of whom I've not met.  And don't even ask how many step-nieces and nephews there are, I don't even know.
39. My children attend a Gaelic medium school.  This means their entire classroom experience is all in Gaelic, no English.  They will learn to read, write and speak Gaelic before learning to read and write in English.
40. I am very proud of their bilingual education, and proud they are learning their country's native language.
41. My husband is my best friend.  I have other friends (females) who I consider my 'best friends', but I'm too shy about the title 'best friend' to ever actually call any of them my 'best friend' in case they don't feel the same way.  I blame that on fifth grade.  Kids are so cruel.
42. I suppose I hated elementary school.  I still kinda hate some of those kids.
43. Facebook has softened some of my hateful feelings towards my fellow elementary schoolmates.  Not all of them ended up as jerks. (Some did though.)
44. My hobbies change all the time.  But in general I enjoy arts and crafts (cardmaking, sewing, painting), reading, writing (when I find the time) and acting.
45. I did acting in high school.  It was called 'forensics' which isn't the same thing as CSI or Dexter forensics.
46. Speaking of Dexter, it's one of my favourite TV shows.  Along with Scrubs, Glee, How I Met Your Mother and Community.
47. I enjoy amateur dramatics and love being on stage.
48. I can act, and I can sing, but for the life of me, I can't dance.
49. I also can't swim very well.
50. My favourite alcoholic beverage is gin.  Bombay Sapphire especially.  My favourite mixers are fresh cranberry, fresh orange and diet tonic or lemonade.
51. My favourite board games are Scattergories and True Colors.  That is, if those are considered 'board games'.  Neither actually use a board.
52. I believe in gentle parenting and no spanking, but unfortunately I have a quick temper and often fail on both accounts.  But I keep trying.
53. I have a realistic view of myself and am able to forgive myself when I screw up.  But I am still very hard on myself; I want to be the best person I can be, but I accept the fact that I am not she yet.
54. Did you think that last sentence was improper grammar?  It's not.  I am a grammar lover.
55. I adopted British grammar and spelling rules when I moved to Scotland as quickly as I could learn them.
56. My first job was in Little Caesar's Pizza.  I also worked in Pizza Hut.
57. I used to work in a bar while at University, (wo)manning the door.
58. I am now a childminder and a baby signing teacher.
59. I used to be a desktop publisher and graphic designer, but I quit that job when I had Fifi. 
60. All of our children's middle names are named after family members.
61. I used to DJ a couple of radio shows on the University radio station, KXUA 88.3.  I called myself Xia.
62. In high school, I joined as many clubs as possible so I could be in as many club photos in the yearbook as possible.
63. This included math club - even though I was terrible at and hated math - and Japanese club, because it meant I got to go on the annual Japanese club field trip to the Japanese restaurant.
64. I love sock monkeys.
65. I love monkeys in general.
66. I once had a pet pig for all of three hours.  I spent an ungodly amount of money at the town fair trying to win it, but as soon as I brought him home, my mom made me take him back.  Poor Wilbur.
67. I had a pet rat in high school named Squirt.
68. I pet-sat a turtle named Speedy for a couple of years while at University.
69. My roommate at the time did not like when I put Speedy in the bath tub to swim while I cleaned out his tank.  But I didn't like when she left her hair in the bath tub, so it was kind of even.
70. I attend a 'Craft Night' every Tuesday night but most weeks don't do any crafting.  I do a lot of gossiping though.
71. I go to church.
72. I am a Christian who really struggles deeply with being  a Christian.
73. I am of the reformed persuasion when it comes to theology.  It's the only way Christianity can make any sense, even if I don't like it sometimes.
74. I believe in infant baptism (non-salvic) but my husband does not, so we do not baptise our babies.
75. My husband and I are two total opposites, but we agree on almost all of the Big Things, which must be what makes us work so well.
76. I am an extrovert.
77. I like attention.
78. I used to think it was funny to 'moon' anybody and everybody.  Including security cameras.  I was a bit immature back in the day.
79. I still giggle at the word 'sex', so maybe I'm still immature.
80. I do not discount the possibility of ghosts or aliens.
81. I believe in some conspiracy theories.  This is one of those areas in which Scott and I are opposites, and he thinks I'm a hippy.
82. My ideal job would be an editor in a publishing company, or a proof-texter.
83. I use cloth nappies (most of the time).
84. My 'sentimental' favourite band is Tripping Daisy.  My current favourite band is The Decemberists.
85. I used to be in a band called Sharkie.  I think I played about three or four gigs with them before it ended.
86. I was in a fake band called Heart Union, and it was awesome.  We sold merchandise and everything.
87. My favourite colours are green, orange and purple.
88. My favourite colour for decorating the house, however, is red.
89. My favourite colours to wear are black, brown and green.
90. I like football (aka, soccer).
91. I hate American football.
92. I played basketball in elementary school and was simply awful.  But I did win the 'Most Team Spirit Award', which I knew, even then, meant 'Not Eligible for a Real Award'.
93. I love watching and playing tennis.
94. We do not have TV in our house.  We have a TV but no channels.  We only use it for DVDs.
95. I enjoy baking.  Cooking, however, takes some effort.
96. I am not a jealous wife.
97. I used to work in Hot Topic but ended up quitting because my manager thought I wasn't 'punk enough'.  Newsflash, idiot: You work in Hot Topic, so neither are you.
98. I was never into punk.  But I went through a techno/rave phase and an indie phase.
99. I still liked the Spice Girls though, and I was not ashamed to admit it.
100. It is my impossible dream to one day visit the moon.