50 things about Amy

Fifty things about me. Took a day or so to come up with the list. I hope you learn something new about me.

1. I am lactose intolerant

2. I love cheese (not a good combination but I will suffer for a good brie or runny cheese)

3. I have reinvented myself 3 times – after leaving my private school, after high school, and towards the end of grad school

4. I love to cook and bake for others

5. I went 7 years without seeing my best friend but we talked pretty much every day with multiple emails. And for the last few years I've seen her once a year. We better keep this up!

6. I’ve played the violin since I was 7 . I have recently started teaching violin and I love it.

7. When I was 7 my kilt fell off during a violin recital at the big theatre in my home town. I was standing in one of the first few rows.

8. I broke necks for my master’s thesis

9. I didn’t believe in the “when you know, you know” until I met Brian – the same with love at first sight

10. My favorite type of cookie is oatmeal chocolate chip

11. My favorite muffin is also oatmeal with pretty much anything but raisins

12. I don’t like raisins in food but I love them on their own

13. I don’t like pork for the most part but would do almost anything for crispy bacon

14. My least favorite type of pork is soggy bacon

15. My favorite animals are goats

16. I won the religious education award in middle school even though I wasn’t religious

17. I like to knit

18. I do cryptic crosswords.

19. I like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. One of my favorite things is to get Malaysian take away and play TP with a bunch of friends.

20. My most favorite thing to do with friends is to hang out and have a BBQ at the beach or my place.

21. I didn’t have a TV until I was in university

22. I never had a pet

23. My mother calls me Chicken - which I like because I identify with Chicken Little

24. My friend Chad calls me Goat because of a road trip we took through the Rockies and my obsession with finding a mountain goat

25. I worry. A lot. About everything.

26. I used to worry that I left something outside when it rained when I was little. I couldn’t sleep I’d be so worried

27. I don’t have a middle name

28. My married name will be double barreled and is Finnish (mine) and German/Jewish (his). I am neither but I love how unique it will be

29. I always felt my name wasn’t strong enough

30. My favorite smell is vanilla

31. My favorite candy is stale licorice

32. My favorite meal is lamb, asparagus and mashed potatoes from Urban Fare – which I eat almost every week

33. Earl Gray tea reminds me of my good friend Sa. When I drink it I miss her.

34. I like silly kids cartoons

35. Scooby Doo (the old school version) is my favorite.

36. I can’t watch horror movies because they stress me out

37. I love James Bond movies

38. My lowest marks in school were always in spelling

39. I put parmesan cheese on my popcorn

40. If I could change something physical about me I’d change my arms. Specifically the skin

41. As if I need to tell you my favorite colour.

42. I'm a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter in combination

43. My favorite comic is Pearls Before Swine

44. I arrange coloured things like Smarties into patterns before I eat them

45. I worked at a Women in Crisis centre after I finished my engineering degree. In part because I didn’t want to have anything to do with engineering for a while and in part because I needed to relearn what it meant to be a woman. I spent the summer documenting their video library. The movies ranged from The Vagina Monologues to stories of child abuse, assault, and violence against women. I had nightmares all summer from it. But I came out a stronger person and a woman who is not afraid to call herself a feminist

46. I think the word feminist has a bad rap. I am not a man hater. I am part of the school of thought that is reclaiming traditionally defined woman’s work such as knitting and is fighting for the right over our bodies in terms stopping violence and the right to choose. I am thankful for the women who have come before me who strove for our rights and freedoms that we now enjoy.

47. I tend to stand on a soapbox once in a while.

48. I don’t do winter sports.

49. I don’t do winter.

50. I like making lists, especially to do lists. I make to do lists of lists I need to write.