aaah, the dreaded 25...

Honestly, we only have like ONE blog reader (RA, ahem, ahem) who doesn't have facebook (that I know of, well, excluding family)...

...but this "25 random things" thing has been spreading around my friends on facebook like wildfire. You've seen these before, I'm sure...where you get 'tagged' and are required to share some number of random things about yourself and then 'tag' other people, or forward it on, or whatnot. It's all just a time-waster really...but since I wasted so much time writing one I thought I'd at least get two posts out of it, and put it up here too. Hey - maybe you'll learn something about me you didn't already know. Chance did! (:

So, here it is:

Since I've been tagged by 9 people, I figure it's time to give this a go. I thought about waiting 'til that number hit 10, but I'm in procrastination mode and figured..might as well.

1. I love food, so what better way to start this? - Donuts and Ice Cream are probably my two favorite edible things in the entire world. If only one could exist, and I were forced to choose, I might throw myself from a building.

2. Toffee is my favorite candy-type substance. Tied for second: Cadburry Eggs and Brach's Mellowcreme Pumpkins. Mmm, seasonal candy. (Okay. Enough about food for now).

3. When my house is clean and things are organized, I feel like a completely different person than dirty-house-Claire.

4. I love lists. To-do lists, wish lists, lists of restaurants I want to try, lists - lists - lists! But sometimes I get irritated when I can't get through them. Once I set my mind to doing something, I have to finish before I can really rest.

5. I often daydream of having a 'real job' where I get to go to happy hour with my coworkers, instead of sitting around the house smelling dog farts all day. But if I had a real job, I'd miss those farts, I think.

6. I almost always refuse to spend more than $20 on a piece of clothing, yet I'll spend much more than that on things for my home. Guess I'm only half-cheap.

7. I have a difficult time listening to music while I'm working - I start listening too hard and forget to work.

8. I really can't multitask at all, although I've been told that no one can ACTUALLY multitask - but I feel I'm worse than others at faking it.

9. I herniated a disc in my back about 4 years ago. It was a 3 step process that involved trying to learn to booty dance, a major tumble on snowskiis, and rearranging the furniture in my room single-handedly. Lately, it's been hurting again.

10. I was tall for my age, until 6th grade when I stopped growing and everyone else shot above my measly 5'2".

11. Ross Sudderth called me fat in first grade...but I didn't get fat until 3rd or 4th grade (and then I was a REAL tubbo). Maybe he was a psychic, but that scarred me for a long time. He also sang Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire accompanied by vulgar movements at Christmastime that year. Perhaps I shouldn't have taken him seriously.

12. I used to have imaginary friends that were mice named Michael and Jennifer. I think they were somehow inspired by David the Gnome. They kept me company when I got in trouble and had to go to time out.

13. Speaking of time out, for quite some time when I was little, I had to sit in the time out chair in the hallway EVERY Sunday. I'm not sure why I misbehaved every Sunday, but I did. At least I had company...

14. I dream a LOT, but my dreams are rarely good. I only remember ONE good dream, and I had it when I was probably 5. Batman (Adam West) and Robin came to my grandparents' house and they were sick and I had to nurse them back to health. I loved that dream. Most of my dreams are fairly pertinent and realistic, and I have a hard time not getting them mixed up with my real life and letting them affect my mood.

15. I have kids' names picked out even though I'm not even sure I want them. In fact, at this stage in life I'm 80% sure I don't. But I do love the names. Maybe we'll use them for future pets.

16. I've only walked out of a movie theater once that I recall. If I remember correctly, my dad had taken me to see the animated movie Cool World when I was 8, and it ended up being WAY too 'grown up' for me to watch, so we walked out. I still haven't seen the movie.

17. I have hundreds of stuffed animals that I've collected over the years. They're currently in my garage and I'm giving 3/4 of them (at least) away. It's heartbreaking to let go of them - they all have names and memories. Luckily (in this instance), in the past two years my memory has gotten bad, which makes this process slightly easier.

18. I HATE the movie Home Alone, and I'm just now getting over my hatred of Macaulay Culkin. I watched that movie the night my parents told me they were getting separated...and have hated it/him ever since. He was pretty funny in Saved though, and that redeemed him a little.

19. I think some numbers are just UGLY. Like 19, which also happens to be my birthday. Appropriate?

20. Last month, I got homesick for what was possibly the first time EVER, and I actually entertained the idea of eventually moving back to Tyler. Yikes. I honestly can't see myself ever leaving Austin. Love this town.

21. I'm passionate about music, houses/architecture, and interior design. I'm hoping to eventually develop at least one of these into a career.

22. I've always been one of those people who was well-rounded, GOOD at a lot of things, but not exceptionally great at any one particular thing. I've always been jealous of people who are just 'gifted' and 'know' their calling because it's so obvious. I shouldn't complain, but I've always wanted to be exceptionally great at ONE thing, rather than good at several.

23. I love my close friends so passionately that my friendships often feel like 'relationships', and if one ends, it hurts like a breakup.

24. I think some numbers are just beautiful, and this is my favorite. I really SHOULD just stop here...

25. 99.9% of the time I get in bed at least 10 minutes after Chance at night - and I always warm my freezing appendages with his body. He doesn't appreciate it, and he always squirms. I'm not sure if I do it more for warmth or for the pleasure of watching him wiggle and protest.