25 Things

This is copied from an item I posted on Facebook.  Worth sharing here I thought (and so did Mary :-) ).

1. My least favorite thing in the world is hair on stuff . . you know, on the soap, in the sink, on the floor, stuck to my clothes. HATE random hair everywhere.

2. I once had more speeding tickets than years old, including one for driving 120 in a 55. Pretty sure this is the first my mom has heard about that. Somehow I managed not to go to jail that night. 

3. My dad could have been a major league baseball player.

4. I'm on day 16 of wearing a beard, the longest I've ever done so. I believe it's here to stay.

5. In 8th and 9th grade my life's ambition was to be a rap music writer. Man, I wonder what ever happened to Mike Gilmer.

6. At one point, I thought Westbrook Teer's Geo Tracker was a cool car.

7. My favorite smells are basil, ozone (like you smell after it starts raining), and the smoke from a spinning tire.

8. My favorite band is Barenaked Ladies. A distant second is Rascal Flatts.

9. I love to cook, and that includes baking. 

10. My most embarrassing moment was in a 4th grade trivia contest at school. Before the emcee could finish his question about the vegetable company whose slogan included the phrase "Ho ho ho", I blurted out "Santa Claus!". The entire place laughed mercilessly at me for what seemed like an hour.

11. I missed out on a full scholarship to Vanderbilt by 0.04 grade points.

12. My favorite hobby is birding. I wish I could figure out a way to make it a job.

13. I regret telling Coach Springer "no" all those times she begged me to run cross-country in high school.

14. If I had to pick one place to live for the rest of my life, it would be Nashville.

15. My dream job would be some sort of Eco-tourism guide. Too bad I'm grossly under-qualified.

16. I enjoy vacuuming. More to the point, I love the look of "freshly mowed carpet", like the outfield of a well-kept baseball field.

17. My favorite vacation of all time was when Mandi and I went to Boston, Scranton, and Pittsburgh when we were dating. 

18. I broke my pinky toe while jousting in an inflatable "ring", and was off of my feet for 8 weeks. It required 2 screws to repair it surgically. 

19. I'm incredibly cheap, but an above-average tipper.

20. There's only one food I refuse to eat. Eggplant. 

21. I lived in Miami for 9 of the most forgettable months of my life.

22. My favorite TV show is 24. 

23. My freshman year in college I charged friends $1.00 per item to iron their clothes. Straight cash homey.

24. I don't get the obsession some people have with New York City. 

25. I love my kids in a way I never knew I could love anyone or anything. Their dad will never let them down.