Twenty-Five Things

1. I think some things taste the way other things smell. For instance, milk tastes the way Band-Aids smell and star fruit tastes the way hotels smell.
2. I have a tattoo of a seahorse that I named Lou after the artist who inked him.
3. I love coffee yogurt, but dislike coffee.
4. I’ve had six concussions (four of them horse-related). Twice I was unconscious for more than thirty minutes.
5. The second time I was unconscious, I saw myself lying on the stretcher in the ambulance and thought I was dead. I wasn’t scared at all, but I did feel sad for my parents.
6. I’m afraid of the dark. I mean, would leave every light on in the house all the time if I could, afraid.
7. I once talked to Alan Shepherd (the astronaut) on the phone.
8. The one and only time I played racquetball, I gave a famous NASCAR driver a bloody nose. And he wasn’t even in the game.
9. The very first words my husband spoke to me the night we met were, “Will you marry me?”
10. Kurt and I got married at a horse farm. My bridesmaids and I had to leave the reception to feed the horses.
11. My kids have a cat named Terrible Cat. If you met her, you’d know why.
12. My best friend and I have been best friends since we were nine years old. We’ve lived across the street from each other since 2009.
13. I have a freakishly good memory for numbers, facts, dates, and useless trivia.
14. Despite number 13, I have a terrible time recognizing faces and I have a tendency to think everyone is the same person.
15. Because of number 14, I wish the whole world would wear nametags.
16. If I could have any job, I’d be a profiler.
17. I have never smoked a cigarette.
18. The producers of Wife Swap contacted me about appearing on the show. I politely declined.
19. The moment my dad died, all the lights on the highway went out in front of his business.
20. My favorite quote, by Vince Lombardi, is “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.”
21. I owned and operated a multi-venue motorsports facility for ten years.
22. When Jeff Gordon’s Busch car was sponsored by Baby Ruth, I used to hang out in his transporter for the free candy.
23. I have never owned a car with an automatic transmission.
24. I once broke three ribs because I fell off a horse while she was walking.
25. I promised myself that if I ever meet Pat Conroy, I will lick him. Mr. Conroy- consider yourself warned.