Laura's 25

Yeah, right! I'M not 25, but I have been tagged through facebook to do a 25 Random Things List about myself. I begin to think to myself, "I like lists!" "I can do this on my blog and facebook and cover 2 bases for the price of one!"

Even better, my Dear Readers, you are getting a list of 25 not only about me BUT! Elaina, Lincoln and Eric! Yes! This is a family style blog and since I write this mostly for the sake of posterity, I'm pinning the whole family into this little exercise.

I'm choosing to let myself go first since I've known myself the longest.
Without further ado:

25 Things!

1. I consider myself to have thin blood. I don't specifically know if that is actually a term, but it seems to make sense because I am desperately cold in the winter and I absolutely can't take the heat more than 85 degrees in the summer.

2. While I'm trying to curb my "neat-freak-germaphobe-hypochondriac" tendencies, I still get very much bothered by things being out of place and I don't touch handles when I'm out in public.

3. I really like to shop but I never pay full price. Getting a good deal on something makes me very happy. Even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would probably still use coupons at the grocery store.

4. I've always wanted to be a mom. Growing up, I never really had any career aspirations, but I've always wanted a family. I knew I would always have a job, but I would be a mom first and foremost.

5. I'm pretty much late, pretty much always.

6. I'm not very coordinated. I don't have any specific talent. But I have pretty decent handwriting.

7. Although I can eat a lot, I'm a pretty slow eater. When I go to lunch with friends, they make me order first and ask the waiter to bring my food first.

8. I don't consider myself to be too fat nor too thin. I'm fortunate that my weight has never really been an issue (cause I have plenty of others!) but I can pretty much eat anything I want without much worry. With that said, I'd probably look really good if I actually made an effort to drop about 15 pounds. Meh, who cares though?

9. I knew I was going to marry Eric even before we went on our first date. It was only the second time I had talked to him at a party and I told my then-roommate that I didn't even need to date him, I was going to marry him.

10. Early this winter season, I've discovered that I've developed severe ice-anxiety. I just about tremble when the temperature drops below 32 and there is precipitation on the ground. I would rather eat dirt (remember: germaphobe!) than be in a car on the icy roads.

11. My parents named me Laura but had always called me Laurie when I was younger. It was my 4th grade teacher who determined that 2 Lori's in my class would be better balanced with 2 Laura's, (imagine 4 Lori/ Laura's out of a class of 40 kids!) and would only refer to me as my formal name. To this day, I really can't think of myself as "Laurie."

12. I really like to cook and bake. I wish that I had a bigger kitchen with more counter space to take on some more complicated recipes.

13. I am really good at remembering names. I don't even need a class list of people that I went to grade school with to recall their names. Even the kids who only attended a single year in another class, I know their names.

14. I fake interest in sports. I'm a Steelers fan and a Buckeyes fan by default. I'm just happy that I like the team colors and they are both pretty successful teams so I can trash talk their rivals!

15. I'm not afraid of death. I think that I may be jaded by dealing with the passing of people I loved more than life itself. For this reason, I feel that death is a natural step which leads to ultimate peace and comfort. Life is hard. Eternity is a blessing.

16. I'm not very technically-inclined. I'm a novice on computer functions and intimidated by my own cell phone.

17. I take things way too personally. I analyze people, situations and things that cause me stress over and over until they consume me and make me feel all crazy inside. And since I don't like confronting my problems, I let them just eat away at me.

18. I don't like pie. I may choke down a piece of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving just to appease my Mom, but I'm not a fan.

19. My body is pretty much in pain all day, every day. I neglected a sprain in my back a few years ago which has led to my back muscles being tight, my leg muscles being short and arthritis surely to make a debut before I'm 40. If not already. I broke up with my chiropractor after 3 years of him being unable to provide any long term relief.

20. I really should start doing yoga and stretching but I always come up with too many reasons to postpone it until tomorrow.

21. Genuine people are like treasures to me. If a circumstance should arise which would raise question to a person's credibility, it takes me a long time to put back the trust, faith and respect I once had in them.

22. I'm not very good about e-mailing. (Yes, didn't I just say how much I love my friends?) It has a little something to do with me trying to be a perfectionist. If I don't have time to make it "perfect," I don't do it at all. I know, it doesn't make sense does it?

23. My graduating class consisted of about 52 students.

24. I feel that I am the luckiest mom in the whole world to have such awesome kids to call my own.

25. I still get a lump in the back of my throat when I think of what incredible miracles my kids are.