43 Things on My Birthday

Running tip: Don’t stretch too deeply before you run, or you’ll risk pulling or overstraining a muscle (like I'm doing in this picture ->). Wait until you are about a mile into the run, and stop to stretch. You’ll be nice and warmed up by this time. And, as always, don’t forget to stretch when you’re done!

Guess what? Today is my 43rd birthday. At the risk of being overindulgent, here are 43 things you might not know about me (in no particular order):

1. One time in 8th grade I got so mad at a boy that I peed in a cup and threw it at him

2. I went to high school with Greg Kinnear and Edward Norton

3. I’ve had two miscarriages

4. I used to deal black jack

5. I had Toxic Shock Syndrome when I was 17

6. I went to high school in Athens, Greece

7. I nearly drowned when I was 23 while swimming in the ocean at the Outer Banks of North Carolina

8. I worked at 7-11 for one week (no, I was not fired)

9. I hate it when people recite quotes from Monty Python

10. My favorite TV show in the 90s was Beverly Hills 90210

11. I was a French major in college, and spent a semester living in Paris (1988)

12. I had two friends in high school who were sisters. Their names were Cheddar and Swiss

13. My favorite movie is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

14. I met my husband in the back seat of a 1959 Ford. No we weren’t doing the deed

15. I don’t eat ice cream

16. I didn’t start running until 2008

17. My dog has three legs

18. Ken and I moved out to Colorado on a whim in 1993 from VA. We never left

19. I once competed in a gymnastics meet in Cairo, Egypt

20. My real name is Elizabeth, but I go by Beth

21. I was named after Beth in Little Women

22. I used to be 28 pounds heavier

23. I am bow legged (guess it was that extra 28 pounds)

24. Ken and I got married in my parents’ backyard in Columbia, Maryland

25. Two people killed themselves with a shotgun on the path behind my house when I was ten (I didn’t know them)

26. I’ve never seen the Sound of Music

27. I was almost on the Dr. Oz Show in September

28. I’ve never been to California

29. Both of my babies weighed about 8 ½ lbs.

30. I have a vomit phobia. It’s called emetophobia. I went to therapy for it.

31. My grandfather is still alive. He’s 95.

32. I almost had a mountain lion encounter in 2001

33. I don’t have a favorite color

34. I was accepted into the Peace Corps in 1992, but didn’t go

35. My first car was a Fiat Strada

36. I’ve never liked Pink Floyd

37. I’ve lived in 9 different cities (Chicago, Columbia (MD), Athens, Harrisonburg (VA), Paris, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Denver, Longmont

38. My two dogs were poisoned to death by the Greek police when I was 15

39. I’ve been in two earthquakes

40. My great uncle (once removed or something) was the oldest person to fly into space. He did this in 1972 at the age of 51

41. I didn’t get my period until I was 16

42. You can’t imagine how much I love my kids and how proud of them I am

43. I don’t mind getting older

As your birthday gift to me, tell me one unique thing about you!

Drinking: Kirkland coffee roasted by Starbucks