100 Things

  1. My name is Denise Leigh and I think it fits me rather well.
  2. When I was born my parents didn’t know what to name me. My father didn’t want a girl and didn’t have a name picked out. My mother wanted to name me Cassandra. In the end they chose Denise because my father didn’t want me to be a Cassie.
  3. I don’t look like a Cassie, so it’s a good thing that my dad won out.
  4. I love my married name more than my maiden name because I was teased constantly while growing up about my maiden name.
  5. I am keeping my married name until I die or get married again.
  6. Lasting effect is that I chose names for my children that they shouldn’t get teased about.
  7. I do things out of order in my life. Usually it’s the incredibly important things that are out of order.
  8. I had my first child at 16. I graduated near the top of my class at 19. No, I don’t regret it.
  9. I married my high school sweetheart at 19. No, I don’t regret this either.
  10. I’m still friends with most about half of my exes.
  11. I’m not as observant as I thought I was. After 9 years of knowing my husband, I just found out that he doesn’t like tater tots.
  12. I love tater tots and french fries.
  13. There are few foods that I can’t stomach. Menudo and cooked spinach are is on that small list.
  14. My favorite fast food joint is Filibertos. I usually order chorizo dishes from there.
  15. My favorite restaurant is Applebee’s. I usually order too much when I’m there.
  16. I don’t smoke and I never have. I don’t even smoke when I drink.
  17. I didn’t start drinking til I was legal age.
  18. I tried beer once. I hated it. I haven’t drank any since.
  19. Since I don’t drink beer, I am an expensive drinker. I tend to stick to fruity drinks and margaritas.
  20. I have a weakness for Tequila Rose and Mike’s Hard Lemonades. (But not together.)
  21. I don’t like to drink alone. I also don’t like to drink at home. I tend to be a social drinker.
  22. I’ve never been so drunk that I couldn’t remember my actions later. I’ve also never had a hang over.
  23. I don’t drink & drive.
  24. I love to entertain my friends and have been known to invite everyone I know over for Thanksgiving. I am the only one who cooks and I make a lot of dishes.
  25. If I didn’t think I’d over eat, I’d be a chef.
  26. It seems that I haven’t had much time for anything recently and now I’m paying for it.
  27. Recently, I’ve been taking extra steps to bring balance to my world. That sometimes means giving up stuff and rating what’s left by importance.
  28. I restarted my website November 2002.
  29. My website has been online in various forms for since 1996. When I first started it, I was trying to put everything up. Now it’s much more streamlined.
  30. I used to have a purplish website because I loved purple. I still love purple, but I’ve been gravitating towards yellow much more recently.
  31. Purple will always be special though, because I’m a Diamondbacks fan.
  32. I was a D-backs fan before they won the World Series.
  33. I also follow the Suns on occasion. No one should follow the Cardinals because they perpetually suck.
  34. I never used to like sports until I got out of high school.
  35. In high school I was a band nerd. I played percussion. I never played snare because I really got sick of fighting the boys.
  36. I have played in concerts, sports games, and parades. I like marching in parades the most.
  37. I always wanted to be a baton twirler.
  38. I can pick out beats really easily but have a difficult time playing notes in tune. Hence percussion. ;)
  39. I also did theatre. I really can’t act that well. I could do better if I paid attention in theatre class.
  40. I took an improv class in college. I sucked. I will never do improv on stage ever again. Ever, ever.
  41. I had a lot of fun looking like a fool in band & theatre.
  42. I had this teacher in high school who I absolutely hated to disappoint. I therefore dreaded going to her class. She pushed me harder than any other person in my life.
  43. She’s the reason that I took AP English Lit. my senior year. She’s also the reason I took the AP English Lit. exam and scored a 5. (To clarify, you can’t score higher than a 5.)
  44. I hope that my children have a teacher like Mrs. Rinks. She’s the person I miss most since graduating.
  45. I am forever in the history of my high school as the first person to ever score a 5 on any AP exam. All students who have been through there since hate me for that.
  46. I hope that one day someone will say that I made them think. Granted they might think silly thoughts, but I want to be the reason they were thinking them. :)
  47. I relate to music a lot. I can’t sing, but I still sing along anyhow. Most of my friends actually think I can sing. I’m still waiting to take them to hearing tests.
  48. My friends tend to relate certain songs to me. They like to call me so that I can change my radio to the station they are listening to. I do the same thing to them. And the ones who have pagers or text messaging don’t get calls. They just get 107-9 or what have you and now just naturally respond by changing the radio. I like goofy things like that.
  49. My artist for all occasions is Shania Twain. It seems that no matter what mood I’m in, I can listen to her music.
  50. I love all sorts of music and know the lyrics for a random spattering of songs throughout pretty much any genre. And I can tell you the person or song that started me listening to certain genres.
  51. My brain is filled with useless information. Sadly, it doesn’t come in handy when I’m playing Trivial Pursuit.
  52. My ideal Sunday is playing board games with a group of friends. I particularly like Clue, Yahtzee, and Monopoly.
  53. My ideal game to play while drinking is Drunken Uno. Just be careful, people get real touchy when they’re playing Drunken Uno.
  54. My parents met, married, and moved all while in the Navy. Even when they got out, my father has been nomadic. Then the hubby was in the Coast Guard. Because of this, I have lived in Florida, Maine, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.
  55. When it was my turn to choose a place to live, I chose Phoenix, Arizona for the weather, friends, and variety of things to do.
  56. I love to go hiking by moonlight. I think it’s one of the most romantic things one can do on a date.
  57. Phoenix is perfect for night hiking as far as weather is concerned, but no one hardly lets me go by myself because of the crime levels here. They all seem to think I’ll get hurt or something.
  58. My favorite time of year is the summer monsoon season. I just love the storms! (Outside Arizona, my favorite time of year is fall.)
  59. Arizona would be better if it had more defined seasons.
  60. My favorite flower is the carnation. Did you know that they’re considered funeral flowers?
  61. Julia Stiles rocks my world. While there isn’t a movie she’s done that I haven’t adored, I especially loved her in Down to You and 10 Things I Hate About You.
  62. I enjoy watching movies, but I’m not a movie nut. So, yes, there are tons of movies I haven’t seen yet.
  63. One of my favorite writer/directors is Kevin Smith. I don’t think he gets nearly as much credit as he deserves. He’s also a wonderful comic. I suggest that people rent or buy “An Evening with Kevin Smith” to see him in action.
  64. I enjoy watching some TV, but I’m very picky. I do love watching Trading Spaces, While You Were Out, Monster Garage, American Chopper, Monster House, House, Gilmore Girls, Stargate: SG1, Stargate: Atlantis, and Battlestar Galactica
  65. My birthday is way too close to Christmas. I don’t suggest that people have children in late December or early January.
  66. I’ve always wanted a daughter. My second child was supposed to be a girl, but turned out to be a boy. I adore him anyway. :)
  67. If I do have a girl some day, her name will be Larissa Hope. Hope is there for my mother.
  68. I love chocolate. In fact, I plan on buying The Lover’s Paintbox which has 3 kinds of chocolate.
  69. I love to drink Dr. Pepper and agree that the diet version tastes almost as good as the original.
  70. If you could smell me, you’d either smell raspberries (Bath & Body Works variety) or my perfume (Dazzling Silver by Estee Lauder).
  71. I have long mousey brown hair. It’s rather boring. Most of the time, it’s in a ponytail.
  72. I like to take photos. I never claim they’re all good. Of course, I never claim they’re all bad, either.
  73. I’m addicted to linkage and love being linked to. If you could see my browser bookmarks before I started doing a website version, you’d go nuts.
  74. I have one tattoo. I want more.
  75. I have no piercings except the boring old earring kind. And only one in each ear. I’d do more, but I find them painful. :)
  76. I have beautiful eyes. They are, by far, my best feature.
  77. I am lazy. Consider yourself warned.
  78. I believe that schools do too much parenting and that most parents don’t do enough.
  79. I tend to be cynical when it comes to me and my life. But, when my friends and family are feeling down, I’m the first person to point out the good stuff. It’s a bit odd, I know.
  80. I hate doing the dishes. If I thought it was okay to use throw-away dishes all the time, I would.
  81. William is a cat. No, I have never called him Bill the Cat like the comics.
  82. I have a zoo at my house. Currently, we have 4 2 cats, 3 0 dogs, and 5 4 ferrets.
  83. I could live on Jelly Belly jelly beans. They are the absolute best candies!
  84. I am a hopeless romantic. I love all that gooey stuff that makes me cry when I read books and see movies.
  85. I believe that everyone should have someone to love and be loved by.
  86. I’ve made my share of mistakes in life, but you’ll never hear me say that I wish I could go back and change them. Every time someone wishes that, I want to strangle them because mistakes are part of what makes us who we are. Change a mistake and you might change yourself in a bad way without even knowing it.
  87. I’m outspoken and opinionated. This combination doesn’t always work in my favor. ;)
  88. I am horrible at multitasking.
  89. I type fast and loudly. When I’m writing an email or story, it’s usually heard in the other room, lol!
  90. I love to read. It doesn’t really matter what I’m reading, I could read for hours at a time.
  91. I am not crafty in the slightest, but I do love to do cross stitching and beading.
  92. I flirt with everyone. I definitely don’t mean any harm, so don’t think I’m out to steal your guy/gal. ;)
  93. It’s the simple things in life that make it all happen. Remember that when you’re worried about the world nuking itself.
  94. Most people meet me on the internet and assume I’m in my 30s. People who meet me in person usually assume I’m near 20.
  95. I laugh a lot. Sometimes with you. Sometimes at you. Just go with it. ;)
  96. I’m a sci-fi nut. Yes, this means that I will speak of characters as if they really exist.
  97. I believe that sometimes love is not enough.
  98. I don’t find typical taboo topics to be all that taboo. I’m more likely to clam up about my relationship than my sex life.
  99. I never believed that marriage was easy, but no one ever told me it would be so hard. But it’s definitely worth it. ;)
  100. There are a few things I find incredibly sexy on a man. Long hair, facial hair, and boxers are on that list. :)

Yeah, I know that my list stops at 56 72 83. Woot! They’re all rewritten! Finally!! Want to comment? Go ahead and do so on my 100 Things post. :)