50 More Things About Me, for a Grand Total of 100*

You can read the first 50 things here.

*New! Now with all 50 items!

51. Except for the broken arm that once, I've been disease- and injury-free pretty much my whole life. Part of me wonders when my time will come.

52. Sometimes when I see a word, my mind automatically rearranges it into new words. I've been known to announce at a stop sign, "pots! tops! opts! spot!" much to the chagrin of my companions.

53. If I'm bored or really want to remember something, I'll start spelling the words out with the ASL manual alphabet. Often without even realizing I'm doing it.

54. On a related note, the most efficacious place for me to write notes to myself is on the back of my hand. I lose little scraps of paper.

55. I've found it really easy to make friends in almost every social situation I've been in. Except this one.

56. I find it far more exciting to start projects then to finish them, and have left dozens - maybe hundreds - of half-finished projects in my wake. This is true of work as well, but there I force myself to follow through when necessary.

57. When I am so sick of my limited wardrobe that I want to douse my closet with gasoline and throw in a flaming Molotov cocktail, I suddenly discover a new clothing combination and can stand to look in there again.

58. My oral language proficiency - in German and English - varies wildly in any given moment, according to my mood and intimidation level.

59. I'm very proud of the way I've managed my money. After just a couple of years on a missionary's salary (and a long time of putting nickels and dimes into my stocks and bonds), I've managed to pay off my student loan and save up enough to buy a car and put a down payment on a house when I get home. This is one advantage to having no social life.

60. I'm spoiled; I just know I'm going to be a total bread snob when I come home. Wonder Bread is the work of the devil.

61. Ideally I'd live in a place where I could get by without a car. But I don't really see that happening - I've become a fairly confident and functional bike rider, but I don't think I'd be willing to tackle Midwest snowdrifts in December. And the US just isn't structured so you can walk everywhere.

62. I love shipwreck movies. I adore the discovery of a new world with new dangers and new joys; pitting oneself against the elements; dealing with utter isolation. It's even better when there's a love story. Sort of dramatizes the "Not if you were the last man/woman on earth!" question.

63. The spicier, the better.

64. Something else that makes my heart do a flip-flop: the raising of one eyebrow. *shivers*

65. Instead of chafing, normally I eventually adapt to situations that are initially uncomfortable. If I'm just patient enough to ride out the storm, I can usually even find the good in it.

66. The glass? Half- full. In fact, if you put it up to the light and look at it just so, it's at least two-thirds full. And ooh! you know what we could use to fill it up all the way?...

67. I don't get the hype about always having to buy new stuff. Cars, clothes, houses - I'm all about the "gently used."

68. The smaller, the better, especially with cars or miniature anything. I love things in miniature.

69. I think the most adorable dog in the world must be Dooce's Chuck. Anyone know what kind of dog he is?

70. I usually sleep with earplugs to drown out the techno music from the bar across the street, an eyemask to block out the sunshine that my transparent cream-colored curtains don't even filter, and a bite guard to keep me from gnawing my teeth off in the night. With that body armor, I can sleep through anything.

71. When I was in Palestine the first time, I accidentally met Yassir Arafat. That photo ended up on the refrigerators of all my family members and in the advertising material of my college. He spoke excellent English, was extremely short and looked a lot like Yoda. So did my high school English teacher.

72. The first thing I remember wanting to be when I grew up was an astronaut, after repeated showings of "Space Camp." That also inspired me to learn Morse Code, because really, you never know.

73. Other (not-so-) great movies from my childhood: "Troop Beverly Hills," "Adventures in Babysitting," "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Coming to America." Luckily for us, my uncle owned a gas station that also rented videos, so we had our own private video library.

74. As much as I love music, I love NPR more. Plus, there's no radio station that plays the music I like anyway.

75. You probably couldn't tell by looking at my apartment or my desk, but I'm pretty organized. I almost always know where everything is (except my keys, which I lose with alarming frequency). I love making lists and categorizing things. Whoever invented alphabetizing - brilliant. Sometimes I think I should have been a librarian.

76. Other things I've considered becoming: a doctor, a professor, a social worker, a pastor, a linguist, a teacher of ESL.

77. The most agonizing decision I've ever had to make: my mom's baby sister died at 40 of cancer (breast, then lung, bone and lymph node) three days after I left for my semester abroad program in Palestine. We didn't have enough money to fly me home for the funeral and then back. I stayed, because at Christmas three weeks earlier, she'd told me that it was more important to keep on living my life as a tribute to her than to stop everything and come back. So I attended the funeral in the form of a poster that I had made for her as a Christmas gift. We buried her ashes when I came back, in the 12 hours between my plane landing in Minneapolis and me graduating from college in Iowa and driving to camp in Colorado.

78. Despite the fact that I've been living in Germany for going on four years, I dislike beer and wine gives me an instant headache.

79. Not so long ago, my sleep quotient was 8-1/2 hours. Now it's down to 7 - after 7 hours I wake up and can't get back to sleep, but yet I have constant purple bags under my eyes.

80. My favorite candy: Ritter Sport joghurt (with an "h")-flavored minis. Yum.

81. I'm the thirstiest person I know. I drink at least 4-8 liters of water a day.

82. It kind of looks like I'm going to be buying a house pretty soon. I always thought I would eventually, and have been saving up for a while, but I must say the timing surprises me. However, the circumstances are ideal and no time like the present!, I say.

83. I eat weird stuff. Sometimes my dinner consists of pancakes and brussels sprouts, or toast with pesto spread. I see nothing wrong with heating up soup or leftovers for breakfast. It took me a long time to get used to German breakfast - the same thing, every single morning. Bo-ring.

84. But I love to cook for other people. I cook by intuition more than by recipe - although a recipe is a great inspiraton.

85. I think I have the best brother-in-law in the world. He's an adorable stay-at-home-dad, he does amazing things to my computer, and best of all, he keeps my sister in check.

86. I would really like to run a marathon someday. But I know I won't be able to do it alone - I'm just not disciplined enough; I only run when I feel like it. When I get home, I'll join Team in Training or something - then I'll make it.

87. I think I look a lot better with long hair. I should remember that next time I get the urge to cut it off.

88. I'm good at learning languages. Really good. Grammar tends to organize itself inside my head without me having to do much. Vocabulary takes a while to get warmed up, but then it really takes off and I can memorize whole lists of words at a time.

89. However, it still took me months and months and months before I felt comfortable speaking German anywhere outside of my own head.

90. I don't like being a tourist. I'd far rather go somewhere, settle down, and take an active role in the daily life of the place. So... I have, pretty often. In Palestine, in Namibia, in Munich, and now here.

91. My mom did daycare when I was little, so I basically grew up as the oldest of 12.

92. I can't figure out how to go in the sauna at the gym. The nudity doesn't bother me - I just don't get the eyewear. If I wear my glasses, the metal will get really hot and the lenses will fog up, and if I wear my contacts I'm afraid they'll singe onto my eyeballs. And you don't even want to know how blind I am without lenses. Basically the only thing I'm good for is groping around to find my glasses on the nightstand.

93. And shaving my legs - I can do that with my eyes closed. Years of Very Extreme Nearsightedness will do that.

94. The most painful and most effective hair removal procedure I've experienced is the way Arabic women remove all (yes, all) of their body hair - sugaring. Ow. But man, are your legs (or whatever) smooth for weeks afterwards. We tried to get our guy friends to do their faces, but they couldn't stand the pain after one strip.

95. Before I figured out that I grind my teeth something awful, my doctor thought the constant headaches were coming from rheumatoid arthritis - an autoimmune disorder.

96. That freaked me out, not so much because of the consequences, but just the thought that my body could be turning against me. It was extremely uncomfortable.

97. I didn't used to be very patient. However, the combination of a boyfriend who was the slowest decision-maker in the known universe and dealing with the decision-making bodies associated with this job has taught me how to wait a long time for things without going mad. It's very, very useful.

98. Right now I can't wait to go home, and I feel like it's time to put down some roots. However, I wouldn't be totally surprised if I end up living abroad again sometime in my life.

99. If I have kids, and I hope I do, I will have two cardinal rules: 1.) Read to them all the freaking time, and 2.) Introduce them to a second language as soon and as thoroughly as possible.

100. My mom used to tell me when I was little that I could do anything I put my mind to. Now, after this job, I finally believe her.