Today is my birthday. I am 31-years-old. Do I feel old, you ask? No, I don’t, thankyouverymuch. But, considering that I feel a bit jet-lagged after going to bed too late for only 4 nights in a row, I don’t suppose I feel so very young either. Sigh.

In honor of this not-so-momentous-not-exactly-young-or-old birthday of mine, I thought I might share 31 things about me that you may or may not know (depending on how long you’ve been reading) and may or may not find interesting (depending on how entertaining your Sunday afternoon has been).

Sound good?

Here we go:

  1. My real name is Abigail. Both my middle and last name are 9 letters each. My name is literally too long to fit on my driver’s license, resulting in a “misspelling.” I always worry they’re not going to let me on a plane or allow me to use my credit card because of this.
  2. I only have one sibling—a brother, who is 3 and 3/4 years older than I am—named Isaiah (although we have only ever called him Shae).
  3. My personality is much closer to a firstborn than a secondborn…presumably because of the fact that I am a fair bit younger than my brother and the only girl. I tend to be a rule-follower, an authority-pleaser, competitive, and a bit of a perfectionist. Every one of these traits has mellowed considerably as I’ve gotten old(er). I cringe when I remember go-getter, high-strung, self-critical, 17-year-old me.
  4. Because of the above fact, you can imagine how horrified I was when I got sent to the principal’s office for the first and only time at the tiny middle school where my mother was my main teacher. The reason? I *unintentionally “pantsed” my friend, Beth.  During P.E. In a wide-open parking lot. With lots of boys around. *She had been tugging on my gym shorts to mess with me every chance she got, so I decided to give a taste of her own medicine but tugged a little harder than I meant to, which, when combined with her stick-straight 12-year-old hips, resulted in a lightning fast pantsing incident.
  5. I can wiggle my ears, but I cannot touch my nose with my tongue (my best friend growing up could, and it always made me feel inferior not to be able to).
  6. I am far from ambidextrous (I look like I’m throwing with a dislocated shoulder when I attempt it with my left hand), but I have trained myself to hold all my babies on my left hip (so my right hand can be free). Now, that I have twins and often find myself holding one on each hip, I have zero trouble handling the left side, but struggle mightily to keep right-hip-baby balanced.
  7. This whole baby-on-only-the-left-hip business might be part of the reason why I have developed a decent leg-length discrepancy.
  8. I’m a picker. I like to pop zits, pick stray eyebrows, etc. My poor husband bears the brunt of this. I practically can’t carry on a conversation with him if he has an errant eyebrow hair. He calls me a gorilla, and I can’t really argue.
  9. I’ve never broken a single bone, not even a fracture, even after 15 years of aggressive sports.
  10. I’ve only had stitches once (ahem, twice, but we won’t talk about that other time), and it was 5 stitches above my right lip—the result of a jagged piece of ice that my brother picked up during one of our rare winter freezes and threw at my face. I was 5. I can still remember begging my mom not to take me to the doctor and her yelling (she NEVER yelled): “Do you want to have a hole in your face forever??!” (I think I said yes). 
  11. Since we’re talking about my medical history, I don’t have much of one. As a child, I only ever went to the doctor once for an unfortunate out-of-town earache. As an adult, I have only been twice—once for strep throat and once for shingles (shudder).
  12. I only delivered 1 of my children (my firstborn) in the hospital. The other 4, including the twins, have been home-births assisted by my wonderful midwife, Thalia. 
  13. I am not naturally very flexible (at all), but that didn’t stop me from teaching yoga (although my version was more of a power pilates) for a year.
  14. I played the part of Gretel in our town’s community theater production of Sound of Music, beating out a large number of other kids with my sheer volume. At least that’s what I concluded from the way the director jumped in her chair, sat up, and stared at me when I sang my note (literally; one note).
  15. Before I started blogging, I hated having my picture taken. I don’t just love it now, but it’s kind of a necessary “evil,” and I don’t think much about it either way.
  16. I’ve only ever dated 2 men and am married to the second.
  17. My favorite treat dink is an Icee, but I’ve never had any flavors other than Coke, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi.
  18. Until recently, I have always been mistaken for being older than I am, starting at around age 10. Only recently has it started to even out, as people are surprised that I  look as young as I do and have 5 children. People’s tendency to do this might have something to do with the fact that:
  19. I went to college at 15 and…
  20. Graduated with a double-major in English and Spanish at 19…after which
  21. I started teaching high-school Spanish (also at 19).
  22. I speak fluent Spanish and have been to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Spain.
  23. Despite that whole “rule-following” thing, during the first two years that I taught, I got pulled over something like 11 times but only ever got ticketed once. I never lied, cried, or weaseled. But I did talk. I very quickly discovered that a policeman who is engaged in a conversation with you has a much harder time giving you a ticket (I have since gotten much better about driving the speed limit).
  24. Despite being an enthusiastic (and at least mildly coordinated) athlete since age 5, it took me 16 times to actually get up and stay up the first (and only) time I water-skiied.
  25. I have a very, very mild second-cousin-once-removed version of thalassophobia (I have trouble watching dark, open water on a movie, for example; I have to look away).
  26. I helped my husband build our current house entirely from scratch. And by “helped,” I mean took care of babies, painted (the walls, not the babies), caulked, and visited Lowes scrounging for good deals on a twice-daily basis.
  27. I have lived in East Texas my entire life, with the notable exception of 1 year in Israel from ages 3-4. Yeah. I go big or I go home. Literally.
  28. I can play a mean game of Nerts/Dutch Blitz. There are plenty of other things I’m not the fastest at, but for some reason, my brain/hands get into a kind of effortless groove with this game, and I’m actually pretty hard to beat.
  29. I love both ping pong and racquetball and am fairly decent at both, which, for some strange reason is pretty unusual for girls. I have only played 2-3 other girls at any competitive level in either at any point in my life.
  30. I never sucked any of my fingers, but I did “suck my tongue” as a child (don’t remember when I stopped), which I think is kind of genius since it doesn’t mess up your teeth and can’t be taken away (at least, I don’t remember my mom threatening to cut my tongue out).
  31. As a tween, I thought I wanted to be an architect. This might have had something to do with the fact that my grandmom bought us a subscription to Architectural Digest, and I loved looking at all the gorgeous houses. My dream met a sudden, painful demise when I discovered that advanced computer skills and lots of math were necessary.

So, that’s it. Have your eyes glazed over yet? I totally understand. If, for some crazy reason, you want more, though, you can read my  “getting to know you” posts in part 1, part 2, and part 3.  I’ve also been known to talk about my favorite books and my favorite movies (here and here).

17 Comments

  1. I burst out laughing at the “I’m a picker”, I’m sooo a picker. My 17 year old son arches away from me if I look at him too long.

  2. So fun to read some fun facts about you! I think we need to meet! We have a lot in common! #9 and 10 are true for me also. #19–I became a dual-enrolled student at age 16. #25–I have this same fear, although probably much worse than you. I won’t go in the ocean past my mid-shins and a swimming in a lake can only last 3 minutes before I start mentally freaking out. #28–I am a great Dutch Blitz player. My family hates playing with me because they always lose. I went back to read your other About Me posts. I also am a big singer and did a lot of musicals and theater as a kid. I was homeschooled from 2nd-12th grade. I also have a dream to be a writer someday. I would love to write children’s books. My husband and I didn’t kiss until our wedding day either! I love Jane Austen books, and You’ve Got Mail and While You Were Sleeping are on my top 10 movie lists! I love knowing more about you, reading your blog, and feeling like we are “friends” even though we’ve never met and probably never will. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Went and read the house-building project. It’s amazing that your computer geek husband is also a great DIYer! The house looks wonderful. And you never want to finish it completely w/ all the decorating, etc. When you do,you will have to build another and move. 🙂 Meanwhile hope your birthday was fabulous and the children gifted you w/ a little quiet time.

  4. Happy birthday!! I hope you are a fabulous day. I am a picker as well. My husband calls me “monkey”. No one in my family is safe if they have a spot.

  5. Happy Birthday to you! October 6th is my Birthday as well but I am just a bit older than you 😉 at 52. My husband and I are camping in our rv in the North Carolina mountains for my Birthday weekend. We were out sight seeing yesterday so I didn’t read this until this morning (Monday). I hope you had a wonderful and blessed day 🙂

  6. Thalia is the best. Period.
    I majored in Spanish and the taught in Spanish in Texas and in English in Guatemala… which was sort of weird.
    I hope you had a happy birthday!

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