Twenty-Seven

So, I'm almost 27. It's kind of a big deal. Well, it's kind of a big deal in my mind.

So today's post will be a collection of 27 things. Things about me. Things about the past 27 years. Things about food. Some general over-sharing. Enjoy....

1) 1985. I was born.
As soon as I typed this I immediately had an auditory memory of Olivia De Havilland reading the exact same thing (except for the 1985 part) from "David Copperfield" in "Gone with the Wind" during the scene where the ladies are waiting for Ashley to return.

2) I didn't like pie. And then I did.
I'm not sure what it was about pie when I was growing up, but I hated it. It just seemed like Cake's ugly step-sister.

3) I used to not be able to cook. And then I moved into my own place, and quickly learned that I LOVE cooking, and that I'm pretty good at it. I should clarify that I never feel more like a culinary genius than when I'm eating pasta noodles that I made from scratch, especially with nice olive oil, an olive puttanesca sauce, and some nice Parmesan.

4) If I have the option to wear a dress/skirt or pants/jeans/shorts, I will pick the dress/skirt option EVERY time. It's not so much that I'm a girly girl, it's just that dresses and skirts are SUPER comfortable. I don't think guys understand. I feel bad for them sometimes, especially when they're walking around the office wearing dockers and button up shirts with ties, and I'm sitting in my office wearing a cotton jersey dress that looks professional and cute, but basically feels like pajamas. Sorry guys.

5) Someday, I will own a 2012 Harley Davidson Softail Blackline. I will ride it around, and it will be awesome. Don't get me wrong, I'm a nice little girl who loves going to church, enjoys sewing, knitting, and crocheting. I listen to country music, top 40, opera, and alternative music equally, with relatively equal levels of enjoyment. I am an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, wrapped in a Pilsbury crescent roll.

6) Every once in a while I make baked maple beans with fried eggs for dinner. It reminds me of my mom.

7) I have a concerning amount of warm fuzzy childhood memories that have everything to do with food. I vividly remember the best part of Christmas dinner with my mom's side of the family: my grandma's mashed potatoes. Everyone will argue that my brother likes them more. He wrote a poem about them. My admiration was more silent and reverent. I was always careful not to eat too much, though, because regardless of what else was for dessert, my Auntie Sheryl's donuts were always tucked away in a little tupperware container, and I could hardly wait to sink my teeth into one (or four). I remember the hot dogs and rice that my mom used to make - a dish that consists of white rice, hotdogs, and a ketchup/onion sauce. It sounds way gross in the description, but I assure you, it's culinary gold. Most of all, I remember how she'd bake cookies, and I'd be in my bedroom (with the door closed, listening to 104.5FM....I was a teenager) and she'd show up with a tiny plate with three cookies - fresh from the oven. So fresh from the oven that the chocolate was the temperature of molten lava - delicious, delicious molten lava. Sometimes when I'm just sitting around the house, I fantasize that she'll just show up at the front door with a tiny plate with three warm cookies on it.

8) I was an awkward teenager with a huge guilt complex. This got me through my high school years without getting into too much trouble. Being heavily into concert band probably helped, too.

9) I was good at math until 2nd grade. I'm still waiting for it to come back....

10) I've always hated the feeling of un-painted fingernails.

11) I have always thoroughly enjoyed walking around outside barefoot, but I will always be 99% certain that an army of angry bees is waiting in the thick patches of grass, waiting to attack me.

12) I get irritated when I think back to my elementary and high school days. I have a huge amount of insight now on what made the 'popular kids' as popular as they were. When I'm thinking about this, I marvel at what amazing insider information I'll be able to pass along to my kids. Although they will probably just roll their eyes and assume that it's different than when I was a kid. Which is a lie. I'm pretty sure I would have been golden if I had listened to my mom's advice when I was in high school.

13) One time in fifth grade, we were lining up at the end of recess to go back inside. In front of me in line was Dean, a nice boy with a perpetually runny nose. I recall something mildly annoying happening, something that briefly delayed our walk back to our classroom, and I said "oh sh**". To this day I have no idea what came over me. I remember Dean turning around and looking at me with a horrified look on his face. I begged him not to tell, he shrugged and turned around. I spent the rest of the school day suffering from intense anxiety-related nausea, sure that I was just seconds away from being hauled down to the principal's office where I would serve detention for the rest of my life. Nothing happened. I think Dean was more interested in POGS to be worried about my potty-mouth.

14) I was a fat baby. I had big fat creases on my big fat legs. I refused to learn to crawl, and just rolled around like a fat little barrel for months. Then I got older and more-or-less resembled a flagpole. Tall, knobby knees, hopelessly pale skin. I had a steady rotation of multi-colored floral bicycle shorts that I considered the epoch of fashion until my best friend's smarty-pants neighbor observed that you could see my bright blue underwear right through my white bike shorts (White bike shorts? Really 11 year old Diana? Really?)

15) I loathe soggy bread UNLESS it's French Toast

16) My favorite ice cream is the Peanut Butter Chocolate from Easterbrooks in Burlington. Especially if it's eaten right after a footlong hot dog.

17) My sweet 16 birthday party was a Luau. We watched movies, and I wore a Lei. There was ice cream cake. I remember thinking "well, I guess this is what it's like to be an adult".

18) I take back all the times when I was little and I told my mom I didn't want her to french braid my hair.

19) Raspberries will always remind me of my Nana, and blueberries will always remind me of my Grandma.

20) I like to sing in my car when I'm alone. My car's name is Betty, and she's 9 years old.

21) My husband is pretty amazing. It's been scientifically proven that he's one of the smartest people in the world, and I think I'm starting to get some pretty deep laugh lines (he cracks me up regularly). I miss him every time I leave for work in the morning, and my drive home always seems IMPOSSIBLY long, especially when I know he's already home, sitting on the couch, lookin' all handsome and kissable.

22) I will never be able to say no to one of those chocolate covered cherries.

23) I love sitting outside on a sunny day eating peaches until the juice runs down my arm, and my hands are all sticky.

24) I'm a weird person. Sometimes I wonder if I'm abnormal. I mean, I'm a home-body. I like to chill at home. Sometimes I'm peeking through facebook, and see women I know going out on girls nights with their girlfriends, and I never really do that. I think I just over-analyze everything WAY too much, to the point that I feel like I'm bad at making friends. Maybe I should just start walking up to potential best-friends and propose the idea. "Excuse me, miss, you seem fun and jovial, and I believe we have the potential to be BFF's. Thoughts?". Not quite. The fact that I just thought that is an indicator that I'm weird.

25) I have a black thumb. We are trying to grow a garden right now, but I'm pretty sure Kevin is exerting as much effort to keep me from killing all our plants as I am trying to pretend I know how to garden.

26) Twenty-six. That's the age I am now. 6 more days left!

27) The age I'm about to be. I am legitimately curious to see what it will be like to be 27 for a year....I'm sure I'll get myself into plenty of scrapes and shenanigans. Here goes....