100 Things About Annie

1. I just celebrated my 31st birthday in early March.
2. I got married at the ripe old age of 30.
3. I have no children.
4. I plan to have at least one.
5. My parents named me after my paternal grandmother.
6. I'm told it was because of a guilt trip on my grandmother's part.
7. But my mom got the last laugh - she gave me the Americanized version of the name.
8. I never met my grandmother. Or the other one, for that matter.
9. I am a first generation American.
10. My father is a first generation Cuban.
11. I have always hoped my child(ren) would be a first generation "something else."
12. I don't think that will happen, since my husband is extremely patriotic.
13. I was born and grew up in Northern New Jersey, home of toxic waste and birthplace of Frank Sinatra.
14. I was in kindergarten when Reagan was shot; my class sent him a card and a jar of jelly beans.
15. I didn't learn to speak English until I was five years old.
16. I still speak Spanish to my parents.
17. I do it for three reasons - out of respect for them, because their English is still very poor, and because I want to make sure I never forget it.
18. My mother used to take my sister and I to a park along the Hudson River so she could talk pictures of us with the NYC view in the background.
19. It was in New Jerey that my parents introduced me to Tom Jones and their Live in Las Vegas record.
20. I also used to listen to records by Olivia Newton-John, Gloria Gaynor, The Bee Gees, Christopher Cross, Barry Manilow and Donna Summer.
21. When I was a young teenager, my parents decided to move to Miami.
22. I went to high school in Miami. Specifically, Kendall.
23. I didn't have a date to my senior prom.
24. I graduated 8th in my class of over 1000 students.
25. I was a nerd. But a cool one at that.
26. My favorite subject in high school was physics.
27. I was (and still am) pretty good at math.
28. I was accepted to all the colleges I applied to and was offered scholarships to more than half of those.
29. I ultimately enrolled at the University of Florida - home of the Gators!
30. It was while I was a student there that I discovered who I really am.
31. I also discovered my best friend, Little Owen's Mama - we also went to high school together, but didn't really know eachother.
32. When I was a freshman in college, I didn't own a computer. I used to type my papers on my old Brother typewriter.
33. I changed my major five times (I think it was five, it might have been six!)
34. When I graduated, I didn't have a job, so I went to graduate school at Florida International University.
35. Coincidentally, I got a job right after my first semester started, so I wound up working full time throughout graduate school.
36. When I graduated with my Master's degree, I took a job at a children's hospital managing volunteers.
37. I worked there for a year, then moved back to New jersey for a job in NYC.
38. My second week at that job, I met my husband.
39. We didn't work in the same office, just at the same company.
40. I didn't think meeting him would amount to much more than a lunch or two.
41. According to him, I played "hard to want" for a few years before I realized I was in love with him.
42. I was engaged to him three years later. I thought he was going to break up with me when he proposed.
43. I was working in NYC on September 11th. It was a petrifying experience.
44. I later took a job at a hospital in one of New Jersey's inner-cities.
45. I learned a lot about my field of work while working there; I had very good mentors.
46. I no longer work there - my last day was more than a month ago.
47. I like working. I would be bored if I was home all day.
48. My parents always told me that I needed to make my own living and not depend on a man.
49. I suspect they didn't think I would ever get married. :)
50. I love my husband. I adore my husband. I even like my husband.
51. I am trying to teach my husband Spanish vocabulary - so far, he knows telefono, la cocina, pollo, el bano, la casa, langosta, and huevos.
52. I have a nephew by marriage who is three years older than I am; he has two kids, which makes them my great-nephews.
53. I have five godchildren and only one of them is a girl.
54. I am a Catholic by birth, but rarely attend Mass. I consider myself more spiritual than I am religious.
55. However, I got married in the Catholic church so I could baptize my child(ren).
56. I think what the church makes you do these days to get married, baptize children, etc. is a bunch of crock.
57. I believe in God.
58. I have friends of all ages, all walks of life, all over the world.
59. My first concert was Duran Duran.
60. The last concert I attended was Tom Jones in Las Vegas.
61. I have a strange crush on Tom Jones.
62. My husband reintroduced me to hiim a few years ago.
63. At my first concert Tom Jones concert, I threw a pair of panties on the stage.
64. I own my home (well, me and the bank!).
65. I can see the lights of the Empire State Building from my bedroom window.
66. I've never broken a bone in my body.
67. When I was seven, I had my tonsils removed.
68. I had the chicken pox, too, passed them on to my sister; they nearly killed her.
69. Over the years, I've developed long-lasting friendships with three girls, now turned women (and one a mother). One of them I have known since I was five years old.
70. Two of these girls are Indians.
71. The other one is Cuban, but doesn't appear to be.
72. I have ten cousins from my mother's side of the family and three from my father's side.
73. I am not particularly close to any of my cousins.
74. My sister died when I was 19 - she was 3 days away from her 22nd birthday.
75. She was born with cerebral palsy.
76. My parents had the option of suing the doctor who delivered her, but didn't.
77. I'm glad they didn't. I think we all would have been very different (and not in a good way) had that happened.
78. I used to bit my nails when I was a little girl. It was (is) a terrible habit.
79. Now, I pick around my cuticles. It's a nervous habit and even more disgusting than biting my nails. I'm trying to quit.
80. I admire my parents for coming to this country and attaining the "American Dream". They are my heroes.
81. I have been told that I dispense my laughter with ease.
82. Once, an ex-boss told me she hated me because I laughed easily and got along well with people.
83. I chew lots of gum.
84. I brush my teeth at least three times a day.
85. I don't mind housework, but I really hate vacuuming and mopping.
86. I spend a lot of time cleaning up after my husband.
87. I love the smell of clean towels after they come out of the dryer.
88. I fold clothes with care and precision. The shirts in my dresser drawers look like clothes displayed at the Gap.
89. I own many pairs of shoes.
90. I wear a size 6.5 in shoes; sometimes a 6 and other times a 7. It depends on the style.
91. I am a Pisces.
92. I am a big fan of mechanical pencils and Sharpie markers. I rarely use anything else to write things down.
93. I live with my Palm pilot at my side. It literally has my entire life in it.
94. I have an aunt that cuts, styles, and sometimes colors my hair for free.
95. When I met my husband, I had blond highlights in my hair.
96. I don't like the way makeup feels on my face. I do, however, wear minimal makeup for work.
97. I moisturize twice a day.
98. I rarely tan and almost always burn, even when it's overcast.
99. The first time I flew in an airplane, I was 2 years old and on my way to Miami for a vacation.
100. According to my parents, I misbehaved on the plane the entire trip and peed on the purse of the woman sitting in front of me.