50 Things You Have Probably Not Been Dying To Know

So, I'm assuming you've seen all the "Things you might not know about me" posts floating around on Facebook. You've probably even seen my own 10 things I shared a little while ago. But I was challenged by another blogger to try to share 50 things, and since I tend to keep myself pretty closed off but feel that I should open up more, I thought it sounded like a good personal exercise. So, here we go, in no particular order:

1. I rarely find profanity useful or appropriate, but when faced with the necessity of having to use a roll of plastic wrap (which I rarely do willingly), I notice obscenities bubbling up to the tip of my tongue repeatedly.
2. I would not be opposed to dying of raw cookie dough consumption, but I don't believe I'll go that way or I probably already would have.
3. Speaking of death, my first choice for what should be done with my body when I die is that all the useful parts would be donated and my skeleton set up in a classroom on some college campus. My last choice is to have it put in a box and then buried in the ground.
4. I have a fake front tooth due to being thrown out of a speeding golf cart when I was about 10.
5. I do not like for my head to get wet, unless I am in my necessary, scalding morning shower. 
6. The first time I found out I was pregnant with a boy, I cried. A lot. And, not tears of joy.
7. When I was a kid (and my last name was Pope), I petitioned my mom to change my name to Hope, because I thought it would be super cool if my first and last names rhymed. 
8. I'm the only girl over the age of nine who struggles to use bobby pins. 
9. So far, I have not ever had any broken bones. But when I was a kid, I used to wish so much that I could break something so I could get a cast.
10. I fantasize about having "girls" I could have a Girls' Weekend with but have never had super close girlfriends. 
11. I have a short, stubby tongue and short, stubby toes. 
12. I don't believe in umbrellas and have not used one since college, when a high wind turned my umbrella inside out and the shaft broke in half as I tried to wrestle it into submission and sliced my hand open. I ended up soaked and bloody and swore I would not be lured by the false claims the umbrella offers for keeping one's head dry ever again. 
13. I have only purchased a few birthday cakes for my kids. All the rest I have put together myself. Some of my cakes have included the UT stadium, the Millennium Falcon (from Star Wars), a robot, maracas, a turkey, a firetruck, a scene from Angry Birds, a hunting scene, a cowboy boot, a train (with several cars), and Tow Mater (from Cars).
14. I love to attend and watch live sporting events of any kind, but, with the exception of Aggie football, I tend to watch televised sports "in my own way." (That is, with my laptop open and only half my attention or less given to the television).
15. I have exceptionally wide hands (around my knuckles) and cannot wear slide on bracelets. 
16. I love to shop but am sort of obsessed with thriftiness. Jeff is often impressed with the good deals I find. 
17. I have visited Mexico, Canada, England, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Belize, Brazil, and Dominican Republic. Pretty much everywhere else is on my list. 
18. I have visited all but seven of the states in the U.S. The rest are on my list.
19. About two weeks after Jeff and I got married, he snuck up behind me and goosed my ribs. My reaction was to spin around and elbow him in the nose, sending him in the floor in a bloody heap.
20. I am allergic to metal and can only wear 14K (or better) jewelry. Early in our relationship, I think Jeff thought this was a ploy, but my skin turns green and I break out in a rash, so I think I convinced him pretty quickly.
21. I am super sensitive to onions and cry much more than the average person when I cut them up.
22. I am addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper, particularly the Route 44 from Sonic, with a splash of vanilla and easy ice. My second choice is Diet DP in a can.
23. I enjoy working crossword puzzles but only ever do the ones in in-flight magazines on planes. 
24. I have reptile dry skin, which is worse in the winter or when I venture west of Llano, TX.
25. I consider "winter" to be any temperature below about 70 degrees.
26. One of my least favorite parenting chores is giving the kids a bath. 
27. I'm a huge fan of sending and receiving snail mail. 
28. As a senior in high school, I was allowed to scrub in with a surgeon and participate in a circumcision on a grown man. 
29. I attempted to dissect a living frog in my driveway when I was in Jr. High. It didn't occur to me how inhumane it was because I was so fascinated that I could see its heart beating. 
30. My home has no carpet and no wallpaper. (If you want to know the truth, I think wallpaper is a tool of the devil, both in hanging and removing.)
31. I can quote the entire script of The Princess Bride and consider it to be the most perfect movie of all time. 
32. I got food poisoning on my honeymoon and puked my way through a helicopter tour of Kauai.
33. I have never worn glasses or braces. 
34. Jeff and I were pen pals (in the days before email or texting) for about nine months before we ever had a face to face conversation. 
35. I believe in orange juice and home remedies.
36. I have an incredibly high pain tolerance, which helped me have all my babies completely naturally.
37. All my babies were delivered by a different person.
38. I made amazing first-year scrapbooks for my first two kids, the likes of which my second two kids will never know. 
39. If you want me to think you are a good cook, just use garlic. My mouth will water as soon as I smell it. 
40. I do not like to eavesdrop but sometimes find that my attention is inadvertently drawn to other peoples' conversations, especially in restaurants. 
41. Jeff and I have planned, but not taken, trips to New Zealand and the Maldives. 
42. I once took a time-release Actifed that released all its stuff at the same time, which made my entire body go completely numb. 
43. I have been up close and personal with several tornadoes and so felt quite happy when Jeff suggested we a build a safe room into our current house.
44. Some things I have wanted to be when I grow up have included the following: the Easter Bunny, a stewardess, a doctor, a flower delivery person, a writer, and a photographer for National Geographic.
45. Ironically, I didn't ever think I wanted to be a teacher or a stay-at-home mom.
46. I have hosted many themed Thanksgiving parties including a luau, a fiesta, a Brazilian feast, "Bacon, Not Bird" (with a potato martini bar and ham, instead of turkey) and "Baby's Thanksgiving," which we had at Luby's since I was expecting to give birth to my first son any minute.
47. My movie theater snack of choice is either Reece's Pieces or giant soft pretzels, with a Diet Dr. Pepper, of course.
48. I love thinking of the perfect gift for someone and then seeing their face when they open it.
49. I'm a fierce believer in doing everything myself and struggle with asking for help, even when I really need it. 
50. I love improv comedy shows. 

Whew! That's a lot of things. And, as a bonus, I'm going to throw in my original list from my Facebook post:

1. I sleep on my back 90% of the time or more. I even did so throughout all of my pregnancies.

2. I have a pre-med degree, but I think I might like to be a writer or photographer when I grow up.

3. I am unreasonably afraid of/disgusted by cockroaches. I am also terribly afraid of tornadoes.

4. I had very straight hair and very clear skin before I had kids. Now my hair is curly and my skin acne prone.

5. Unless I am in bed or walking in the surf, I have shoes on my feet. I do not go around barefooted or sock-footed, if I can help it.

6. I went to Zambia and Zimbabwe without my parents or anyone I even knew, for three weeks, when I was 17. My love of travel began then and has only deepened since.

7. I really love to have things organized, but have sort of suspended that part of my personality during this stage of my life to preserve some of my sanity.

8. I am reluctant to embrace change but love to try new things.

9. I love word games like Scrabble and Boggle. I get a kick out of Mab Libs. And, I enjoy the challenge of diagramming complicated sentences.

10. I have only learned to like coffee, wine and bananas (but not together) in the last five years.

I would also love to hear some of the little known things about you, if you'd like to share, either in the comments or in a blog or Facebook post of your own.