16 things you probably didn't know about me

In honor of the fact that I turn 31 today, I thought I would share 16 things you don't know about me. Unless you're a close family member, then you probably do. This wouldn't be a hard list to make except for the fact that I'm pretty much an open book, so if I haven't shared something, it's because I'm not going to. As the old woman on "Titanic" said, "A woman's heart is as deep as the ocean..." And that's all I can remember of her remark, but she was basically saying that there's always things you don't tell anyone. Not necessarily advocating that philosophy, but I think most of us have one thing or another that no one will ever know about us.
So the first thing you probably didn't know about me is that I tend to get sidetracked. Or you probably did know that.

1. My sister, Grace, and I used to play house when we were little. We both had 14 kids and each child had a first and middle name. I actually had those names written down and kept them under the top bunk of our bunkbeds. Becase all good mothers do this. I keep Garrett and Cooper's names on the back of my hand, just in case. Our stuffed raccoons were our husbands. And I didn't use one single name off that list to name our boys. The only names I actually remember were an imaginary son named Nathan and an imaginary daughter named Belinda. And did I mention that I was around the age of 12 when we played this?

2. Anytime my parents left me in charge while they went out, I always made my siblings clean the house. I helped too, but I wanted to keep everyone busy doing something so they were all assigned different chores and had to do them before our parents got home. And they truly loved me for that.

3. When I was 8 months pregnant with Cooper, I mentioned going to the doctor for something on my leg. What I didn't tell you was that it was a staph infection. People tend to freak out when they hear that, so I kept that information to myself. It's healed, but I can still see where it was. My doctor said it will leave a scar or will atleast be noticeable for a long time. This is why I did not get my tubes tied right after delivery.

4. I'm a huge fan of David Cook, the winner of season 7's American Idol. I love his music and his voice. I haven't been this big of a fan of anyone since New Kids on the Block. And no, I'm not a groupie. I've only seen him in concert twice, have never met him, never tried to meet him, and don't care about meeting him. I just love his singing and song-writing abilities.

5. In highschool, I babysat once for a family that could have qualified to be on that show "Hoarders". I was so grossed out about their living conditions, that I called them halfway through the evening at the restaurant (pre-cell phone days) and said I wasn't feeling well. They paid me $5 for my time. And I watched a 6 month old baby and a 2 year old who kept trying to eat dog food all night. Not to mention the thousands of animals living in the house. Needless to say, they never asked me to sit for them again and I would have said no anyway.

6. I don't really like Mexican food much. I'll eat it and have some dishes that I like, and even make it occasionally, but if given the choice I will choose something different.

7. There are some days that I don't think I can be a stay at home mom for another minute and would happily return to work if I found a job somewhere. But I won't. Some days are just really really hard.

8. I am very grossed out when people trash the inside of their cars. It's hard for me to even sit in the seat when someone's vehicle is dirty on the inside because I don't know what I may be sitting on. I'm not talking about a pile of clothes or toys, I'm talking about actual trash everywhere. My SUV is cluttered with toys, jackets, a stroller, diaper bag, etc. But if we eat in the car, I always pull out our trash and throw it away when we get home.

9. I am very critical of myself.

10. I don't keep an immaculate house. If you showed up at my home right now, you would see dirty dishes from yesterday on the kitchen counter, unswept floors, toys all over the living room, and a pile of laundry on the couch that needs to be folded. Not to mention unmade beds and clutter in the bedrooms. I don't like it that way, but some days I get absolutely nothing done because of a certain baby. And I RARELY dust.

11. I am extremely competitive when it comes to basketball. One time, I was at my sister's highschool b'ball game and I gave one of the refs a terrible time because he was doing a horrible job. After the game, I was making comments when he was in earshot and he said that it was basketball rules in Texas. (I may have said something like he wouldn't ever make it as a ref for b'ball up north...) One comment led to another and I discovered he was good friends with my former b'ball coach in Illinois. And he was reffing in southeast Texas. I'm sure Mr. Berg was really proud of me when this guy called him up and told him I was being mouthy throughout the game. This is why I have promised myself that I will NEVER coach my kids in any sort of basketball. Actually I won't ever coach or help with any basketball. I'll sit on the sidelines with a muzzle and just clap.

12. One time I accidentally body slammed a girl during a basketball game. We were lined up for free throws and she kept linking her arm into mine as if to keep me from getting the rebound, so when the ball came up, I shook her off, which resulted in her kind of flipping to the ground. Nothing was called on me, but Mr Berg thought it was pretty funny. My dad too. He was the head coach at the time.

13. When we lived in Illinois, our church had a softball team and they were pretty good. I'm NOT a softball player, but I did keep the book for them sometimes. For some of the games, they would have me and another girl or two, video the game from the score booth. I'm sure they asked us for the additional entertainment factor because I always forgot about that stinking video camera and would divulge ridiculous, high school girl information. One time I said, while the camera was rolling, that I really liked one guy on the team (who did not go to our church, but of course watched the video later on) and I really disliked another guy on the team. I think my exact words about him were "I don't like him and he doesn't like me and that's the way it's going to be." I'm sure he loved hearing that conversation. Later on, when he joined the church (because all PK's insult potential church-members...) I shook his hand and apologized for my comments. Thankfully my mouth didn't keep him from joining the church.

14. For my very first basketball game that I ever played, I was picked to be the first sub to go into the game for one of the starters. Of course our coach had never gone over the "subbing in" routine. So as soon as he told me who I was supposed to sub in for, I ran out on the court to tell her. Apparently you're supposed to go to the book keeper, tell them, and then wait for the refs to signal you in.

15. In that same game, the first time someone threw the ball to me, I immediately went to make a basket. And I missed. Which was a good thing because it was the other team's basket.

16. Starting next month, I will be dieting and exercising, hopefully with more will power and determination than I've had in the past. My initial, tentative goal is to lose 30 pounds by June. So that's only 5 pounds a month. If I was competing on Biggest Loser, I would go home right away. But hopefully doing it like this will make it really work this time.
I still can't believe that I'm now "in my 30's". Where the heck did my 20's go? If you find them, will you let me know?