Last of the 100…

The Final Stretch...but if there are tons of grammar/spelling/weirdness errors, forgive, long day.

76. Badtz Maru is my favorite Sanrio (Hello Kitty) character.
77. Both my phone and iPod “carriers” are “Hello Kitty;” as Badtz has a very limited collection to choose from, and no carriers at all, at the time of purchase.
78. When my students (7th graders) heard that I was “into” Sanrio, their disbelief was unnerving. Until I remembered I’m now old enough to be their parent, and “mom” is NOT into what THEY are into, how uncool.
79. Happy Bunny? Oh yeah, I like. My favorite being, “I’m not mean, you’re just a sissy,” that I have as a bumper sticker, but use as a bookmark as I don’t own a car to stick it on.
80. My 14 yr old brother also likes Happy Bunny and he got that same, “you can’t be into that!” reaction…so I gave him my “Skool makes you sooper smartt” button that I’d gotten for myself...sigh, the things older sisters have to do to placate their siblings.
81. I love to cook. My favorite thing to make used to be anything Mexican that my mom taught me. I shocked an old housemate the other night when I said I rarely cook Mexican food anymore.
82. I still love eating Mexican food, but I’m taking a break from daily ingestion…maybe like that teaching thing too. I spent two years in Mexico eating nothing but Mexican food…but I don’t think that’s what put me off of it.
83. Maybe it’s cuz my favorite Mexican rice (aside from my Mom’s; Mom’s will always be my absolute favorite,) was made by my X. I taught him how to make it, as, no, he is NOT Mexican. Were he, um, he probably would never have gone into the kitchen.
84. We cooked a lot of food together, including my favorite Mexican meals: enchiladas and chiles rellenos. So if we all put on our Pop-Psycho hats, we can see that I’m not quite ready to embark on stuff that still hurts.
85. So I’ve been scouring through recipes and cookbooks looking for new and fun things to make instead! My guinea pigs, I mean housemates, don’t seem to mind one bit. One thing I’ve never been very good at is how to cook for less than four people, so I cook for everyone. That is, when I’m not dog tired from working…
86. As we’re breaking out all the domestic secrets: I sew too.
87. A couple weeks ago, while visiting with my mom, I decided to bring my sewing machine out of storage and up to Lake Tahoe on my return trip. I wasn’t sure if it’d pass inspection (I flew) so I asked my parents to stick around in case it had to be taken out of my checked-in bags.
88. I was horrified. The TSA X-ray machine SHOT my bag out of the exit and it SLAMMED down HARD on the floor. The fellow looked up and smiled saying the bag had passed…but my machine?! It’s a Jenome Jem Gold quilter’s machine from 2001 (no, I don’t quilt, but it was small enough to fit on the boat). Up until last night it was sitting at the foot of my bed in it’s own soft carrying case, wrapped in my 5 mm wetsuit and inside a sturdy little canvas bag my mom donated. I didn’t didn’t didn’t want to look to see if it’d survived the trip.
89. I hate disappointments and so I put them off as long as possible, you see, maybe that’s why I never go to the dentist :).
90. I got my dad’s teeth, well, his families’ teeth really. Deep grooves and crooked teeth galore in my permanent set. So EVERY time I go to the dentist, no matter how much ACT, Listerine, brushing, flossing, I still get the same news,: another groove is ready for a filling.
91. I got to deal with the crooked teeth long ago: braces, retainers, the whole 9 yards. I’m supposed to still wear the retainer, or so I found out a few years ago…ummm, see, I had these fillings done and, um, yeah, it doesn’t fit anymore. I’d feel guilty, but I dunno, I don’t.
92. Ah guilt. I was raised Catholic. Mexican Catholic. Those of you in the know, yeah, pretty bad, huh? All that religion mixed with all that cultural baggage... Cuz, um, yeah, the culture and the religion well, they’re pretty much an all-in-one deal. It’s a lot like being Jewish that way.
93. I like to consider myself a recovering Mexican Catholic.
94. When I go to my dad’s hometown and a church outing is involved, I use the same line my dad use to, “Can’t, bad for my health.” My family laughs it off and lets me get away with it. Which is weird since, well, my dad actually goes to church now... and his family, yeah, they ask me what’s up with him.
95. Running on empty here….ah music…yes, I listen to a lot of it. But very little “modern” stuff. I’m still stuck on a 80s kick. I venture forth into the 90s and 00s rarely. I have taken a big liking to Arcade Fire and Coldplay.
96. Some day I will do the iTunes meme, but right now it’d be a bit skewed, as I’ve been doing nothing but uploading books on CD. I love listening to books on CD. Not just for knitting either, for sewing, cooking, vegging, it’s very therapeutic.
97. I mentioned it’s probably because I like being read to. I didn’t know this until recently as, well, I’ve never been read to. As a teacher I read to my students, but my teachers weren’t into that, neither were my parents. The first time I was actually read to was in college when professors would point out a passage of their liking.
98. While everyone scrambled to find and underline it, I noted the page and the first few and last few words the professor read, focusing on the reading. The lecture made much more sense to me that way.
99. I loved reading to middle schoolers. I’d “perform” while I read. With voices and everything. It was quite a kick for everyone for me to read Zeus and Prometheus. It prompted my more “rascally” students to mimic me, and that made the most boring of stories far more entertaining for everyone.
100. I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve when I really believe in something/someone. So I get hurt easily, as well as angry, sad, excited, etc. You’d think that’d make me keep my mouth shut, HA!

There you go, the last batch for 100 things about me.