100th Post-almost

Here it is-100 things about me in honor of my 100th post!

1. I have always wanted to be a wife and mother.
2. I have 3 sons: Peter, 8, Drew, almost 5, and Michael, almost 3.
3. Andy and I will be married 12 years in December.
4. I am the youngest of 5 children.
5. There are 25 grandchildren on my side of the family.
6. When I was young, I wanted to be a doctor (until my brother, Sal, started telling stories from his anatomy classes).
7. I am a practicing Roman Catholic.
8. Although I am of Italian, Polish and German descent, I identify with the Italian culture the most.
9. I lived in Rome, Italy, for a semester of my sophomore year in college.
10. I am extremely conservative.
11. I was co-chair of my university’s chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas my senior year of college.
12. My favorite color is purple.
13. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
14. I have a master’s degree in special education.
15. I taught Deaf Ed for 5 years until I started my family.
16. I scored high enough on the Mensa practice test to qualify.
17. My love for my husband is beyond words, as is my love for my boys.
18. Family is everything to me-just ask. I can talk about them FOREVER, and will do anything for them as well!
19. I love to read, and was reading at age 4.
20. My siblings often call me, “Mom’s clone”.
21. My mother was truly one of my best friends.
22. I recently learned to crochet, and am totally addicted to it.
23. I work from home as an online teacher and an SAT essay scorer.
24. I have 4 godchildren.
25. In my free time, I love to read, crochet, and blog.
26. I went to Minneapolis for my honeymoon.
27. Andy proposed after dating 4 months, and we were married a year later.
28. I love going out for Mexican food!
29. I love to bake.
30. I have recently taken up cake decorating-and LOVE it!
31. I love watching Food Network.
32. I LOVE watching Guiding Light!
33. I get paid to write a weekly recap for Guiding Light.
34. I love being from a big, Italian family!
35. I love being the baby of the family.
36. My siblings mean the world to me.
37. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my parents.
38. Mommy wars drive me crazy. Women need to support each other, not tear each other down.
39. I was a part of my best friend from high school marrying my husband’s cousin.
40. I still love listening to Rick Springfield.
41. I had the lead in the play, “Damn Yankees” in high school.
42. I went to an all-girl Catholic high school which is now closed because the all-boy school near us went co-ed (and I am still bitter about it!).
43. I love watching the Green Bay Packers.
44. I hate watching the Chicago Bears-except when the Packers beat them (sorry, Syd!).
45. One of my favorite classes in college was Adolescent Psychology. Our teacher made us watch “Beverly Hills, 90210”.
46. I suffered from an eating disorder in high school and college.
47. The best musical I have ever seen was The Lion King.
48. I am addicted to Goodreads.
49. My first car was a 1981 Mercury Capri that my brother gave me when I graduated from college in 1992.
50. I am the proud owner of a Toyota Sienna. I love my mini-van (and the fact that I can separate my boys in it).
51. I was an RA in college.
52. Both of my parents died from cancer (or complications of it), and I really hate the disease.
53. My dad taught me how to swim. What this actually means is that I can’t swim.
54. I love Chinese food.
55. I hate spicy food.
56. When I lived in Rome, Pope John Paul II laid hands on me and blessed me.
57. I am not happy about either of the presidential candidates this year. I will still vote because it is my civic duty, but I won’t be thrilled about it.
58. I love listening to 80’s music.
59. I will have 2 sons playing soccer this fall. Couple that with my new mini-van (see #50), and I guess you can call me a soccer mom.
60. My Goodreads “to-read” list is out of control, and I have no intention of stopping how big it gets.
61. I want to be a supervisor at my current teaching job.
62. I toy with the idea of finishing my regular ed license and teaching at my sons’ school once they are all in school.
63. I used to be a high school Forensics coach.
64. This fall, I am starting up a middle school Forensics program at my sons’ school.
65. I love watching old movies.
66. I hardly ever go to movies. They have become too expensive, and if I have to choose between dinner and a movie with my husband, I will pick dinner.
67. I love watching reality TV. Amazing Race and American Idol are my favorites.
68. I love watching Ugly Betty.
69. I don’t like being put under general anesthesia. When I had knee surgery in 1998, I opted to have a spinal rather than be put under.
70. I don’t like excessive amounts of pain, and opted to have an epidural with all three of my sons.
71. I went to college in Texas. My siblings and I all attended the University of Dallas. I now have six nieces and nephews who have either graduated from there or are currently attending.
72. I am blessed with very generous, caring in-laws.
73. My first hobby was embroidery which eventually morphed into counted cross-stitch.
74. My husband is a great father!
75. My husband is also a great gardener and photographer.
76. I started to learn how to use sign language at age 8, and am still pretty good at it.
77. I taught my son, Drew, how to sign, and he communicated as a toddler very well with it.
78. Unfortunately, Michael didn’t want me to sign to him. He would slap my hands away and say, “No, Mama!”
79. My Dad was a permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church, and our son, Peter, was baptized by him.
80. I used to drive a Jetta (1995), and the body style looked just like a BMW. I was often asked if I was driving a BMW.
81. I have naturally curly hair that I hate to straighten myself, but love the way it looks when it is straight.
82. I have stood up in 3 weddings (4 if you count my own).
83. I love cooking-especially Italian food!
84. We thought Michael was a girl from the ultrasound until he was born (5 months).
85. When we told our OB we named him Michael John, he thought we named him after our OB, and we didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise. Our OB still asks about his namesake at my annual appointment.
86. Our son, Peter is named Peter James after my dad, Peter, and my father-in-law, James.
87. Our son, Drew is named after Andrew, my husband and Thomas, a priest who is very close to our family.
88. Michael’s name is the flip of our godson, John, who is John Michael.
89. I would love to name a daughter Alexandra, after my Mom, but Andy wants to use it for a middle name. I still say that is why I have all boys right now.
90. I have some really awesome friends who have supported me through some really difficult times (you know who you are).
91. I love going to waterparks! We are going to one this week!
92. My favorite vacation was to Mackinac Island with my husband before our boys were born.
93. Andy used this trip as a visual image with my labor for our son, Peter, and I had to tell him to stop.
94. My favorite drink is a margarita (half strawberry/half regular).
95. My favorite dessert is tiramisu.
96. I used to love Max and Ruby on Nick Jr. until Michael wanted to watch it all the time!
97. Peter used to ask me kiss his boo-boos, including one on his hienie! (And, no, I didn’t kiss that one-no butt kissing for me!)
98. The best pieces of advice I ever got were from my husband, “Communication is the key to any relationship,” and “Take the advice of those most important to you and ignore the rest.”
99. I believe my most important job in life is to raise my boys into strong, faith-filled men.
100. I am really glad I compiled this list (thanks, Sydney), but I am glad to be done!