Thursday, April 17, 2008

107 Things About Me

As promised on one blog, I am a non-conformist, and therefore I preferred not to write "100 things about me" for my 100th post, but instead "107 things about me" since my birthday is 10/7. Oops, that has to be part one.



  1. My birthday is 10/7

  2. I have always considered seven my favorite number

  3. And my lucky number

  4. But I also like tens

  5. Especially since my son was born on 10/10

  6. My family has a weird habit of being born around holidays:

  7. My daughter was born 7/5 - day after Independence Day

  8. My son's fell a day after Columbus Day

  9. My niece was born on D Day, 6/6

  10. While we're at it, my wife and I were married 7/25, a day after Pioneer Day

  11. My Mom was married 7/11 a day before her birthday, 7/12

  12. She and her twin brother were born on their sister's birthday

  13. This post is supposed to be about me, though, huh?

  14. I am 5'10"

  15. I always said growing up I wanted to be 5'10" or 6' because 5'11" men have a complex (ask one some time, and they'll explain they are 5'11" AND some fraction that reaches towards 6' because they know any six-footer will call them a liar if they claim to be 6')

  16. I had horrible eyesight from a very young age

  17. I used to have 20/400 vission in one eye, 20/250 in the other

  18. and horrible astigmatism in both

  19. I got LASIK in 2000

  20. I sat up seeing at least 20/15 in both eyes

  21. I could read 20/12 (the lowest reading they had on the chart) the next day

  22. I read so much over the next several years, I think it strained my eyes a bit

  23. So I wear glasses now to read my computer at work

  24. And to drive at night

  25. And because I need them that much of the day, I just wear them all the time now

  26. But I can still see 20/25, eight years later

  27. I have been going bald since I was fourteen

  28. When I was twelve I was mistaken for eighteen (story is too long to share here)

  29. When I was sixteen I was mistaken for thirty-five (again, another classic too long to share)

  30. At eighteen I was mistaken for my best friend's father and pegged for forty

  31. In college, most of my friends admitted to me later that they wondered why the professor was sitting in the middle of the class when they first saw me

  32. I was first called a Little Old Man at ten, but I am still not "little" or "old"

  33. I think I have actually de-matured since having kids, since I am more light-hearted now

  34. Everyone says my children look like me

  35. Actually they say my daughter looks like me

  36. And her brother looks like her

  37. But I think my son definitely favors my wife's nephews

  38. On my side, I have two nieces

  39. On my wife's side, we have twenty-three

  40. I love all my in-laws, and I get along great with them

  41. Even my sister's husband

  42. He and I work together

  43. We actually get along better now that we work together

  44. We co-own a family business

  45. We are middle men in the trucking business

  46. We bought our first three trucks last year

  47. Our timing was either great, or really bad

  48. We're not sure which it is yet

  49. I got my undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia

  50. I majored in Accounting

  51. I was probably the tenth person in my Dad's family to major in it

  52. He was the first, and he claims it was because he saw a flyer that said "Careers with a future" and accounting was listed first

  53. I got my degree so I could understand how to run a business and track its finances

  54. I went back for my MBA, which I explained in this post last week

  55. I focused my MBA in small business, finance, and consulting

  56. My five-year reunion for that program is this weekend

  57. While I was at UGA the second time, I joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which I also explained in the post on 54

  58. I met my wife in 2001

  59. We met in person in 2002

  60. We married in 2003

  61. We had our first child in 2004

  62. We had our second child in 2006

  63. I love my family very much, and I am very lucky to have them in my life

  64. I am the youngest of three myself

  65. My brother died twenty-two years ago

  66. My surviving sister lives in Virginia

  67. I live in my birth state, Georgia, and live about a quarter mile from my two parents

  68. I am thankful for the close relationship they have with my children

  69. I do not live in my hometown, though, but instead live six miles from my father's hometown

  70. He moved here to start this business for a childhood friend who needed a job

  71. I probably would not pick this place to live if not for my business and family connections

  72. But I have come to enjoy the slower pace most of the time

  73. My wife and I do visit Atlanta and Orlando (each about four hours away) fairly regularly to get a change of pace

  74. We mainly go to those cities for the temples in them, though

  75. We were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple in 2004

  76. I moved across the country twice since I married

  77. I was born in '77

  78. Which is another reason I love sevens so much

  79. My best friend helped me move to Idaho

  80. Then he came to my wedding in Southern Utah

  81. He was my best man

  82. In a few weeks, he's getting married in California

  83. And I get the privilege of being his best man

  84. He's my co-blogger on here, if anyone is wondering

  85. We met on a football field seventeen years ago

  86. We were on the same team

  87. We then were on Academic team together through four years of high school

  88. We never did much winning with either team

  89. We had a lot of fun with both, though

  90. I went to Georgia Tech first, but when I transferred to UGA, we became roommates

  91. We've been like brothers for a long time

  92. He lives in Arizona now, though

  93. So we only see each other once or twice a year

  94. It may seem to that I digressed a lot from talking about me in this list

  95. But I had to include Todd, since he's my co-blogger

  96. I wrote and self-published a novella in high school

  97. I wrote and self-published my first 100 poems my second year of college

  98. The novella stunk badly, and only a few of the poems were terribly good

  99. I do know one of them has been used to propose marriage at least twice (neither time by me)

  100. My proposal would be in the top ten of "worst proposals ever"

  101. It would probably be prominently featured of my wife and I ever did write a book about our courtship, though

  102. I'd like to develop some of the characters from a short story collection I wrote at the end of college into a novel or even a series

  103. I haven't written anything long or complex in about seven years, though.

  104. I have a medieval and oriental weapons collection, the beginnings of which I inherited from my brother (it stays at my mother's house by her request).

  105. I love to read a large variety of books.

  106. Most people would probably consider me a nerd, geek, or dork (including my wife).

  107. Anyone still reading at this point probably agrees with that sentiment.

5 comments:

le35 said...

Nerd, Geek, or Dork. Some of the highest compliments available. Look at Bill Gates! He's a nerd, and a geek, and he makes millions. Most jocks never graduate college and if they do, it's only because playing ball payed for it. What are they going to do with their lives for the last 35 years after their bodies wear out playing sports? I'd rather have a dork any day.

Robert said...

Well you got one, baby! (See how lucky I am, anyone reading this?)

Thank you for marrying me. Enjoy Boston.

Julie Pippert said...

Wow, I am always amazed by these lists. The birthday thing is very interesting. I have to say it: coincidence?

LOL

Melissa said...

Great list.

And there's nothing wrong with being a dork. Just tell me you don't wear Star Trek uniforms. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

Robert said...

I just tell people that children in my family must enjoy partying, Julie.

Melissa, I have never worn a Star Trek uniform. I did know a guy who had a cutout of the red-headed doctor from SNG, which was a tad much, and I've met a guy who is considered the foremost expert in speaking Klingon in the world. So I know "too dork" and I'm a long way off. Even though I might've been thought of as the king of the dorks in high school, most people thought of me as un-dorky enough that I was rarely called one by anyone. I am proud to be a dork, nerd, geek, whatever. It doesn't phase me. The nerdiest thing I've done is probably sit and pass my time figuring out the prime factorization of big numbers I see on things (like license plates, billboards, whatever) or once in high school I sat and rattled off a list of pythagorean triples that all shared the same quality for an hour (not out loud, but just in my head) or so while I was waiting for my Mom to be done with something at school. I like to keep my mind active most of the time. Sometimes it makes it harder to sleep, though. :)