more than you ever wanted to know

1. I'm Mom2Amara.
2. I'm married to a wonderful, smart man.
3. And at times, his intelligence intimidates me.
4. I have one dog - Lady (our Hurricane Katrina rescue). Lucida (our supposed puppy mill rescue) died when she was just 7.
5. I have a younger sister who lives hundreds of miles away.
6. My marriage is interracial.
7. I am a Filipino-American.
8. But I've only been to the Philippines once and that was when I was 3 years old.
9. And I can't speak Tagalog.
10. My birthday is March 9th.
11. I was named after my mom's first doll.
12. My middle name is Antoinette.
13. I grew up in Ohio but went to school in Chicago.
14. I started working at age 16.
15. I hated watching the news growing up. Ironic since that's what I did for many years.
16. I want to start my own business. I don't expect to make millions or even to quit my current job. But I want something to call my own and to prove to myself that I can do it.
17. I procrastinate. A lot. But I feel waiting until the last possible minute drives me to succeed even more.
18. I can't sit still - literally. I have a short attention span. And growing up, doctors suggested I go on medication because they thought I had ADD.
19. I have two favorite spots to unwind. One is Madonna della Strada on Lake Michigan.
20. The other is anywhere along the Jersey Shore.
21. But the most magical place on earth is still Walt Disney World. My parents took us there every other year growing up.
22. And now that I've visited Hawaii as an adult, I think it's made my list of fave places too.
23. #16, the whole own my own business bit...I'd love to own a bed and breakfast on the Shore.
24. I'm Catholic. Sometimes I hate my religion. Other days I go to it for guidance.
25. But every time I hear "Thou shall not covet your neighbor's ass," during a church reading, I laugh hysterically for the rest of the Mass.
26. I had to train myself as an adult to eat fruits and veggies. They were never a part of our diet growing up.
27. Rice is my favorite food.
28. But I have a weakness for french fries.
29. And Samoa Girl Scout cookies.
30. And Hawaii is great because I can order Spam at the mall food court.
31. I'm extremely fickle about diet and exercise. Some days I'm very disciplined: low carb foods and running every morning. Other days I indulge and become a couch potato.
32. I start my day off with three cups of coffee.
33. Mandarin and Seven is my drink of choice.
34. But I'll settle for beer if I'm short on cash. Alcohol is alcohol and some days, I'm just not picky.
35. I'm a Target addict. I love the big red box. I'll make up excuses just so I can go to my neighborhood's store.
36. I'm a label whore and wish I had the money to support that habit.
37. I regularly donate clothes to Goodwill to make room in my closets.
38. But that doesn't seem to work much because I have clothes in the closets in the master bedroom walk-in, the spare room, and Amara's bedroom. There are clothes in storage too.
39. I HATE the outdoors. The sun's pretty, from afar. Animals are cute, when there's glass between me and it. Flowers are nice, in a vase delivered to my door. I only go to parks and the likes because as Mom2Amara, it's the right thing to do.
40. But I love the autumn's cool, brisk breeze.
41. The zoo scares me. I think 'Animal Farm' and think the creatures are conspiring to get us.
42. I love holidays -- especially Christmas and Halloween. I enjoy searching for the best buys and getting gifts. And decorating is an art I'm working to perfect.
43. I want to learn how to cook and sew. Can you tell I didn't take HomeEc in high school?
44. I want to take up kayaking.
45. But if the ship sinks, I'm going down with it because I can't swim.
46. I listen to all genres of music. My all time favorite performers are U2 and Barenaked Ladies. But ask me trivia on them and I'd probably fail.
47. I hate movies. Remember #18?
48. In college, I appeared on an episode of Jenny Jones. Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla were her guests so the show told me in order to get tickets to the sold out show, I would have to ask them a question. Not only did I ask them a question about my then love interest and porn, but I also professed my love to Dr. Drew.
49. When he's toting the grey hair, I still think Dr. Drew is hot.
50. My first kiss was when I was in kindergarten. His name was Chris, and he kissed me in the back of the school bus.
51. I've had two body piercings (aside from my ears). My navel and my nose. Both are now out.
52. I wish I had a tattoo, but I'm afraid of the blood.
53. If I had the money, I think I'd have plastic surgery. But again, I'm afraid of the blood.
54. The only perfume I will wear is Lola by Marc Jacobs.
55. I have one near sighted eye and one far sighted eye.
56. I've worn glasses since I was 5.
57. I tried wearing contacts but kept dropping them down the bathroom sink's drain.
58. One of my favorite indulgences is getting a massage at the spa.
59. I hate being alone.
60. I hate being alone so much so that when I'm in a car, I have to be on my cell phone talking to someone.
61. And if no one will take my call, I'll toss talk radio on to give me the illusion of a real conversation.
62. Before becoming Mom2Amara, I used to speed...a lot. But I have never gotten a speeding ticket. But I'll cry to get out of a ticket. I have no shame.
63. I've gone to a psychic several times.
64. And I'll probably continue to see her.
65. I worry about Amara's future -- a lot. I worry that I am not giving her everything she deserves.
66. I love CLE. But I wish I could move my family to another state.
67. When I found out I was going to become Mom2Amara, I got the worse case of 'mommy brain.' I have been known to put the toaster in the fridge...purposefully.
68. My doctor once called my 'borderline obese.' I weighed what I do now. And I know I am far from obese.
69. But I am 20 pounds heavier than I'd like to be.
70. But I don't mind carrying the extra weight because it means I had the pleasure of carrying Amara for 8 months.
71. Why 8 and not 9 months? Because Amara and I became impatient and she came into the world 4 weeks early.
72. I had 425 guests at our wedding.
73. And while I'm grateful for that day, the wedding day was more about what our parents wanted and not what I wanted.
74. My nickname is Nikki. When I was 4, I came home and denounced my given first name. It was too Asian. It wasn't "normal." So I picked the name Nikki and to this day, my family still calls me by it.
75. I "ran" a half marathon in 2009.
76. I love my Dyson.
77. I like things to be tidy and clean. Everything should be put away.
78. And I use disinfecting wipes whenever I can.
79. I'm high maintenance.
80. So even to take out the garbage, I feel obligated to dry and style my hair.
81. My hair has never been longer than my shoulders.
82. I wish I knew how to properly put on makeup.
83. I'm allergic to morphine and erythromycin.
84. I love fresh flowers. Roses are OK but I'd rather have tulips or hydrangeas.
85. My favorite color is red.
86. On a plane, I like to sit in the aisle seat.
87. I'm a Cleveland Browns fan.
88. And we have seats in the Dawg Pound.
89. So when I go to a game and am unfortunate enough to sit by a really dumb girl trying to impress her boyfriend by going to the game, I bash her because I don't have the patience for stupid people in the Dawg Pound.
90. This always makes me laugh.
91. I'm a Girl Scout leader. I began even before Amara was old enough to join.
92. And I love these girls as if they were my own. It's like being mom2-8 other girls at every troop meeting.
93. I never thought I'd have a blog.
94. And I never thought I'd know even one command of HTML.
95. I treated myself to a laptop and thought I'd never use it. But I do. All the time.
96. And I finally gave in and bought an iPad. I'm now addicted.
97. Although I would have been happy to be a mom2-a little boy, I'm glad I'm mom2amara, because I grew up with a sister and lots of female cousins. I wouldn't know how to raise a son.
98. I wish I had another child.
99. But I Amara's going to be an only child.
100. Being Mom2Amara is the most rewarding gift I have been blessed with. And although some days I wish for my own identity, if when I die, all I am remembered for is being a good Mom2Amara, then I've accomplished all I wanted in life.