Well, actually Norm, it's a little-known fact . . .

I am bored. I'm at school for parent/teacher conferences, but I'm not getting any visitors. Nobody loves me. Nobody hates me. They're all indifferent. *sigh* So I'm bored. I don't really have anything to do except hang out on the internet. Well, the sites that aren't blocked by the school district's filter, that is.

In an attempt to be part of the "in" crowd I'm stealing a blogging idea from Tiffany, one of the coolest gals I know. I used to go to a writing group at Tiffany's house. I keep meaning to steal her writing group ideas and start one here. Check back with me in a couple of years on that one. Anyhow, the idea is to share one hundred tidbits of information about myself. Here is goes.

1. I'm breaking my zero-calorie soda rule today by drinking a Mountain Dew.
2. I usually drink Diet Coke.
3. I should drink water.
4. I have a small bladder.
5. I like to read books intended for adolescents. Especially Newbery Award winners.
6. Writing poetry is my greatest talent.
7. My hair is my best physical feature.
8. Or maybe my smile.
9. Or perhaps my eyes.
10. Definitely not my butt or breasts.
11. I love my second-hand store clothes. They help make my style unique.
12. I wonder if I'll ever grow up.
13. I worry that I'll never find complete peace.
14. I'm smarter than I give myself credit for being.
15. I'm not as smart as my students think I am.
16. I'm afraid of sleeping in my house all alone.
17. I hope my children will make it through their adolescence unscathed.
18. I'm sure they won't.
19. I'm worried that part of their scathing will come from me doing and saying the wrong things.
20. My marriage is really important to me.
21. I love my job.
22. I love my house.
23. I don't want to live there forever.
24. Unless we get a second bathroom.
25. And a better heating system.
26. I really like to eat.
27. I want to be a real runner again.
28. I miss having a best girlfriend living in the same town.
29. I have an incredible family (Mom, Dad and sibs).
30. I couldn't have hoped for better in-laws.
31. I think my piano is ruined, and it makes me sick to my stomach to think about it.
32. I don't mind driving if I have mood-appropriate cds to listen to.
33. My cd player in my car is broken.
34. I love to be in the mountains.
35. The mountains across the street from my house are just as beautiful as any I saw in Switzerland.
36. I hitch-hiked on the autobahn through East Germany (in December, 1989) because I wanted to go to Berlin and hack out a graffiti-covered piece of the Berlin Wall.
37. It was a lot harder to break than I thought it would be.
38. I got pretty fat during the three months I spent in London.
39. I love all the snow we're getting this winter.
40. One time I said a swear word in the temple. I didn't mean to. I felt really bad about it.
41. One time I said a swear word in class. I said it very quietly. I didn't feel bad about it at all.
42. My husband's looks make me swoon.
43. He might even be better looking with short hair than he was with long.
44. I still want him to grow his hair out again.
45. I liked riding on the coattails of his long-haired non-conformity.
46. I think the little girl who gets a wig made from his hair is very lucky.
47. I hope it sparks her spunk when she wears it.
48. This is kind of hard.
49. I adore my children.
50. I want to help them to become strong women.
51. I am saddened by the lack of positive strong female role models in our Utah society.
52. I'm a little intimidated by the English department chair in my school.
53. I don't read every word of every paper my students turn in.
54. I have occasionally thrown out entire assignments because I just don't have time to grade them.
55. Still, I am still a pretty darn good teacher.
56. One of my favorite students was in a lock-down school before he was enrolled here.
57. I was a little scared of him when I first heard about him.
58. I feel silly about it all now.
59. I get chapped lips in the winter.
60. My face turns red easily.
61. I am the third of four kids in my family.
62. I met my husband on the internet.
63. I dated far more as an adult than I dated as a teenager.
64. I was an awkward teenager.
65. I still feel awkward at times.
66. I'm a democrat.
67. I love the color red.
68. My mom is a very classy lady.
69. I have been a homebody since I married my husband.
70. I used to hate to be home.
71. I wish I had more friends.
72. I wish I had fewer enemies.
73. I rarely watch TV. I'm really proud of that.
74. I am transitioning from silly morning radio shows to NPR morning news.
75. It's about time!
76. I also like Prairie Home Companion, Wait, Wait . . . Don't Tell Me, and Cartalk. That NPR is good stuff.
77. I dream of publishing my poetry one day.
78. I'm not doing much to make that happen.
79. I love Billy Collins.
80. I love Crest White Strips.
81. I really need to get some . . .
82. I love dark chocolate.
83. I waste too much time on the internet.
84. But not as much as I used to.
85. I need more closet space.
86. I hope that some day I will be satisfied with my body the way it is.
87. I admire my husband's unique way of thinking.
88. I would like to express my gratitude to those I love more frequently.
89. I would like to compliment others more freely.
90. I would like to be less critical.
91. The New Era paid me $10 for one of my poems when I was 16.
92. I don't think they ever published it.
93. It was pretty stupid.
94. Sometimes I can act like a real know-it-all.
95. As a rule, know-it-all people really bug me.
96. I really like buttered movie popcorn.
97. I rarely shave my legs in the winter.
98. I wax my sideburns.
99. Once I plucked my sideburns to see if it hurt less than waxing.
100. It hurt more.

So there you have it. I don't think many of you, my meager following, are bloggers, so how about if you just leave me a comment with your top ten or twenty tidbits of information. Come on, crawl out of your shells. I know you want to. I might even have a little cookie for y'all once you come out. What do ya say?