{eleven}

I was tagged by Bari for the eleven random things meme. Sidenote: I miss memes. Remember when those were all the rage? I think they're fun. I hope 2012 is the year of the meme.

Rules:
1. Post these rules.
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post.
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them.
6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.

My eleven random things...
1. My thumbs are double jointed. This means that I can bend them behind my hand like this.
I can also bend them back at weird angles toward my wrist, but it was difficult to take a photo of that.

And also, I was afraid that it would really gross out all of my readers.
2. When there's a food that I really love (and I really love a LOT of foods), I envision either swimming in a giant vat of it or eating my way out of a room made out of it. For example, diving head first into a vat of whipped cream? Yes, please. Eating my way out of a room made of french fries? I'm in.
3. From sixth grade through my sophomore year, I played the trumpet. I miss it. I didn't really want to quit band, but it got to a point where balancing honors classes with band wasn't working for me. I still remember the fingering, but I doubt that I could get my lips to do anything with a trumpet again!
4. I really, really do not like the dark and I'm a big chicken about it. Once I was housesitting for someone and the lights went off at 11pm. It wasn't during a thunderstorm and I could see the lights from the house across the street, so in that split second, I convinced myself that a serial killer cut the lights and was waiting to kill me. Because it wasn't my house and I wasn't comfortable with the layout, I opted to crawl to the front door (note: this was before the time of big, giant smart phones that could be used as a light). With each movement forward, I convinced myself that I was going to put my hand down on someone's shoe. When I finally crawled to the front door, I saw that all the lights on my side of the street were also out so it likely wasn't a serial killer. Still, I was too freaked to go back inside until the lights went on, so I ended up driving around for two hours!
5. I write with a combination of cursive and print.

6. My ears are double pierced. I rarely ever wear earrings. I can still painfully push earrings through the first piercing, but I'm not sure I could do the second row.
7. I haven't had a whole lot of embarrassing teaching moments (knock on wood), but once in my first year of teaching, my bellybutton ring somehow came loose and fell out on the floor. I didn't notice it and a boy said, "Here, you dropped your earring!" As he handed it to me, he realized it wasn't an earring and turned eight shades of red. Suffice to say, I stopped wearing jewelry in my bellybutton shortly after that!
8. I really, really strongly dislike winter. I am so thankful that we've had a mild winter this year (PLEASE STAY THAT WAY) because cold, ice, and snow are not my thing. Maybe someday I'll move to a warmer climate.
9. I have no interest in going on a cruise, ever. None. Give me land beneath my feet at all times, thank you.
10. I don't really think I'll ever run a marathon, but if the opportunity to run the Big Five Marathon presented itself, I'd start training tomorrow.
11. If I could afford any sort of regular pampering, it'd be massages. I love massages!

My answers to Bari's questions...
1. What's your go-to, pumps you up every time, workout song?
Oh, this is embarrassing. My running playlist is so lame. I love it when Obadiah Parker's version of "Hey Ya" comes on. Totally gets me moving.
2. Cat or dog?
Dog! Not to say that I don't like cats, but I love big sloppy smelly dogs.
3. Team Jacob or Team Edward?
Jacob, all the way. Edward makes Bella so whiny and gross. I'm actually not a huge fan of the Twilight novels because I think they send mixed messages about appropriate relationshpis and co-dependency, but I did read them all.
4. Beer, wine or mixed drink, and what's your favorite?
I'll take one of each. Okay, funny story. I never drank beer at all until I started running, then I craved it. Now I love Goose Island 312. But I also love sweet wines, like moscato and riesling. And I will never, ever turn down a delicious martini or frozen margarita.
5. Do you have a "good luck" charm of some kind when you race? (a hat you always wear, hair always in the same style, lucky undies, etc)
I don't! I'm pretty random and will just throw on whatever is comfy.
6. What's your favorite iPhone or Android app and why should I download it (if it's iPhone)?
I love instagram for photo sharing. I love Hanging with Friends and Scramble with Friends, but I wish Zynga apps weren't so buggy.
7. Have you always had the same career and was it what you originally studied?
Yes! I declared my major freshman year of college. I knew I wanted to be a teacher. There are times when I wonder if I'd do it over again, though.
8. Have you ever run in a costume and what was it?
Nope, but I did wear a Team Sparkle skirt in the last mud run I did and plan on wearing it in the next mud run I do.
9. Who would play you in a movie about your life, and who would play your significant other?
I've always heard that I look like Winona Ryder, even as a kid people called me Lydia after her character in Beetlejuice. Sometimes my students say I look like Drew Barrymore, but I don't really see that one. I think Tobey Maguire could play Shane, maybe? I don't know!
10. Do you have a nickname, and if yes, what is it?
I do. I never had a nickname until I was married. My first year of teaching, a lot of coworkers shortened my last name and called me Charpie. It stuck!
11. If you could eat only one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
This is hard, because I generally love all of the foods, but I'm going to go with french fries. Big piles of french fries.

I'm cheating and not tagging people! Sorry! I have such a hard time keeping up with who has done this and who hasn't. If you want to participate, I will ask 11 questions and I'd love to see the answers of anyone who is reading.
1. What is your greatest accomplishment?
2. If you had to wear just one color for the rest of your life, what color would it be?
3. What is something you've never done that you wish you could do?
4. If you were on death row and had to choose a last meal, what would that meal be?
5. What was your favorite childhood toy?
6. Is there an item that you wish existed, that you'd invent if you only knew how?
7. If you could enter any TV show, movie or book, what would it be?
8. What's your biggest pet peeve?
9. Do you have any hueg fears (like my fear of the dark!)? What are they and how do they affect you?
10. Do you have a nickname? What is it? (I really like this question!)
11. Tell me about a defining moment in your life.