Day 1 - Recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

How's this for recent? I just took it. Yes. This is me. Like three minutes ago.

Interesting facts about me ...

Well, I guess that depends on your definition of "interesting," now, wouldn't it?
Since I don't know YOUR personal definition, I really don't know what exactly you'd find particularly interesting ...

So, yeah, here goes nothing ...

1. I majored in Early Childhood/Elementary Education. With emphasis areas in Theater and Asian History.
   I have not used my degree in any professional way. That last term burned me out so badly ... which led me to start volunteering at the local library. ... If I knew then what I know now, I'd have just gotten my degree in Library Science.
   But then I probably wouldn't have met Michael. And that'd really, really suck.
2. I don't really ever think of myself as the smartest, most gorgeous, most talented person.
   Since I know people that are better than I am at, oh, EVERYTHING.
   And I can get really intimidated by totally talented/uber-responsible-type people.
   However, I've managed to get more comfortable, bit by minuscule bit in my own skin.
3. Regardless of my clothing size, I've always thought of myself as a "bigger girl." Even when I was a size 7/8 in high school. (I'm not that small anymore. Even when I'm not 8 months along into a pregnancy. :P) ... It could be because I'm a bursty gal. I have big bursts. Which makes bra shopping an often hideous adventure (until I learned about shops that actually cater to gals with smaller ribs and bigger bursts. And, really, once you get a bra that actually FITS right? It's a nice thing. A VERY nice thing. Buh-bye back-flaps!!! Don't miss you at all!!)
4. As you can tell, I'm really quite candid. I call things like I see it. I try not to engage in bouts of self-pity. ... Which is why I generally respond to life (most times) with a healthy dose of amusement and snark. I'd rather laugh than cry. Because crying makes me all blotchy and snotty and gross.
   Sometimes, though, I get really embarrassed about dumb things. Like how my underthings fit (After having twins? I'm never going to be requested as a bikini model. Just sayin'.) or ... farting. Yeah, those are silly things ... but ... well, everyone has issues. And I'm doing my best to deal with mine.
   By mocking them. Because that's how I roll, homeskillet.
5. I find it amusing that our kids share Chinese zodiac signs with Michael and me. Bruise and Buckets are Roosters like me. BabyGirl (whatever her nickname will be, I haven't figured out yet. Sorry!) will be a dragon like their daddy. (I find it funny that I'm a metal rooster. It makes me think of this [profanity-laced, yet still quite hilarious] post.)
6. I have to have a cat in my house. I'm not happy otherwise. This is why I couldn't ever marry a man with allergies. (Michael has SENSITIVITIES. That's DIFFERENT. And, also, proof of how much my man loves me.) I like how Freyja-cat sleeps next to me and purrs. Or will lick my cheek when I'm sad. Or tries to dig through my chest/stomach (Maybe just REALLY kneading a LOT?). 
7. I don't really follow/put much belief in Astology. I believe that we all make our own destiny. ... And I also believe that our personalities are a huge mix of Nature AND Nurture. (I tried not to push anything on Bucket ... and yet she STILL is a huge Hello Kitty fan.)
8. I don't put the kibosh on a lot of toys in our household ... but here's a small list of verboten things in our home -- Barney (the purple dinosaur), Power Rangers (since I'm STILL bitter that they took the time slot for Sailor Moon when I was in Jr. High.), Bratz (since they look like child prostitutes).
   I'm sure there are a few others ... but, yeah, nothing else is really standing out.
9. I'm a good patient at the dentist. Last time I was in, I requested to get all possible work that insurance covered done in one fell swoop. Dr. K gave me two shots of Novocaine, since we were working on both sides of my face. He kept asking me if anything hurt. Nope! I barely even felt the shots he gave me. Yes, he was THAT good. And I left feeling like my mouth was as puffy as Angelina Jolie's (it wasn't. But I was quite a bit droolier. Ew.)
10. I'm a bit of a lactivist. But I totally respect people's decisions to bottlefeed. And I think that people should be able to nurse or bottlefeed wherever without getting any flack from anyone. It's FEEDING A BABY. It's a good thing. ... And when people act like I did something amazing by nursing Bruise and Bucket for a couple years (yes, tandem, mostly. Since I had to have SOME way to save a little time to get a shower during those early years), I'm a little boggled at that. I was just doing what was easy for me. And I got bonding time with my munchkins. And I didn't have to prep bottles or formula.
    Still, you wanna know who gets MY total props? My friend Kari. She exclusively pumped, even while WORKING FULL-TIME, for a YEAR. She had all the work of preparing bottles AND pumping every few hours. She's a ROCK STAR.
11. My litmus test to make sure I'm not depressed or mentally unfit ... If I can quote a fitting line from Firefly/Serenity or The Princess Bride? I'm okay.
    Because, really, there's ALWAYS something applicable (if not appropriate) from those shows for ANY situation.
12. If I don't understand some people, I often wonder if it's because I don't have siblings. And, if I had had any siblings, maybe certain behaviors would make sense. ... Even though, really, I adopted myself into some families (I was over at the BrinkerDinks often enough as a kid ... and they have a large family ... And then I was over at my friend T's a LOT, too.) ... But, really, maybe if I had at least ONE sibling, some folks' behavior would make more sense to me.
13. I prefer email/chatting to talking on the phone for most things. Does that make me antisocial?
14. I enjoy reading aloud. It's almost like being in Drama again. So I read the kids (at least) a bedtime story. And I often, when alone, find myself reading dialogue in books out loud. Which can be embarrassing if I do it when other people are around to catch me at it. :S
15. Sometimes I lie to telemarketers ... Especially if I KNOW it's a scam.
    (Last time, I told the guy who was trying to scam me that we didn't have a computer. And that our phone had a DIAL, since we were Luddites. I know that I'm going to Hell. JOKING!!
    I might not be proud of what I did ... but it REALLY IRKS ME when scammers think that I'm THAT DUMB. Especially when they're located outside the country so I can't legally prosecute their sorry butts. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.)

So ... yeah ... hopefully those were interesting facts.
Or at least amusing truths.

They're not lies, anyways.  And I'd hope that they're not boring ... So ... yeah.