The Truth about Me

My friends must be the most patient, loving and non-judgmental people on Earth because, let's face it, I'm not always the most normal girl. But what's normal anyway - and how fun is it to be just like everyone else?

• I can count on one hand the number of times I've played a video game in my life. Just not my thing! I used to be super judgy (I just like saying that) of people who spend hours upon hours in virtual life and video game stupors, but then I realized they probably don't nap, gab or online shop the way I do. So to each his own, hmm?
  
  
  
• I can no longer wear my wedding rings. This makes me very sad!
  
  
  
• I love looking at people's pictures on Facebook. I get extremely disappointed when it's been a relatively slow day online and no one has added anything "good."
  


• I am a passionate list maker. Lists got me through high school, college, grad school and the crazy months after marriage (thank you notes to write, errands to run). This pregnancy, however? List free. Amazing! And it can only be attributed to God lifting the huge burden of worry that tends to follow my crazy list-making habits. Such a gift!
  
  It'd be stretching the truth to say I don't have a very easy, flexible, low-key list running in my head. (Classes to take, necessary nursery items, thank you notes, etc.) But I haven't put pen to paper yet - and it isn't keeping me up at night.
  
  (Well, I don't think it is. Something is, but I think it's more about my achy old lady body than my desire to create lists of lists to check off before our boy arrives.)
  
  
  
• I'm obsessed with "deals" and online shopping sites like RueLaLa. (If you haven't joined, you need to! It's invite only, but you can join by going to http://www.ruelala.com/invite/annesmithsc.) Seeing something marked down makes it ten times more desirable in my eyes - so much so that it's hard to determine if I'd have bought it at that price originally. Who cares, though? It's a deal!
  
  
• I'm addicted to etiquette and advice columns.
  
  
• I have consumed more water in 2009 than I did in 2006 through 2008 combined. I'm guessing, of course, but you can thank my pretty orange water bottle for my miraculous hydration turn-around.
  
  
• On a related note, the receptionist and I have become particularly good friends lately, seeing that I pass her each of the 10,000 times I head to the ladies' room. Between baby Smith and my hydration habit, I'm spending far more time waddling to the lobby than I'd care to admit!
  
  
• I regularly purchase stationery, shoes and dresses for occasions that haven't happened yet.
  
  
• I could live inside a Pottery Barn catalog.
  
  
• I am well past my teenage years but I still don't miss an episode of Gossip Girl, 90210 or So You Think You Can Dance.
  
  
• I've never watched Dancing with the Stars or American Idol.
  
  
• I'd probably own a cardigan in every color under the sun if J. Crew made it.
  
  
• I was born in England, lived there for half a second and feel total British envy when the Boden catalogs arrive.
  
  
• With a baby on the way, I'm clearly not planning any around-the-world voyages...but I am on the hunt for cute luggage. The key is to find something I love that Bradley will still agree to haul around an airport.
  
  
• I also need boots!! Not ankle boots, as we've already discussed, but some cute, classic, wear with everything fall boots. I try to avoid my favorite stores these days because the temptation to shop is too high (and the likelihood of my wearing these clothes in the next few months is too low) so I'm counting on my most stylish friends and favorite bloggers for pointers!
  
  
• I still can't say "rural" so I avoid it like the plague. You'd be amazed how many synonyms there are!
  
  
• I hate cheese. Yep, that's right. I'll eat a cheese pizza but that's all she wrote. Walking through the cheese section in Whole Foods the other week nearly made me fall over. Yuck. I'd rather get my calcium from ice cream. Totally the same, right?
  
  
• I also avoid salad dressing like the plague, which prevents me from ordering salad in public. You try ordering salad with out cheese or dressing and still looking like a normal person. I'll just have a sandwich, thanks.
  
  
• I haven't worn in heels in months. (Minus a two-hour stint at a wedding last month that I ended up regretting...) I'm looking forward to putting aside my Jack Rogers, wedges and comfy flats and pulling out my heels once cooler weather (and post-baby limbs) reappears.
  
  
• If I had to list my top ten hobbies these days, would reading, napping, sitting, strolling, chatting, online shopping, hanging out, relaxing, patting my belly and looking at fabric swatches even count as actual hobbies? Because I always think they're looking for something more like sky-diving, kayaking, documentary-making or haute cuisine.
  
  
• I'm such a snacker that I keep the equivalent of a mini grocery store at work. Currently I have granola bars, applesauce, a banana, some peanut butter, yogurt, an apple and single servings of frozen peas. Yes, I'm totally serious.
  
  
• I watch reruns of The Office like it's my actual job. And Mad Men. I also love LOST but hate anything else that could be remotely considered sci-fi.
  
  
• I adore Febreze. A clean-smelling house is just as important to me as an actually clean house.
  
  
• If I catch Pride and Prejudice, Steel Magnolias, The Notebook or any other favorite movie on TV, I will watch it for hours - as the DVD sits (nice and commercial-free) just feet away from me. Odd.
  
  
• I have about six books (Pride and Prejudice and Eat, Pray, Love among them) that I reread and underline and sigh over at least annually. If I took that time to dig into new books, though, I think I'd make a serious dent in the stack waiting to be read. (Why do I keep buying books when I've got these stacks waiting for me, btw?)
  
  
• I don't miss Diet Coke nearly as much as I thought I would when we found out we were expecting. I do, however, think I'll really enjoy some champagne and turkey sandwiches (not together, obviously) after October.
  
  
• We're under 60 days away from meeting the newest addition to our crazy little household... Have I told you his name yet? Story to come, I promise!
  
  
• Tonight we're headed to an OB tour at the hospital to learn all about, well, where babies are born. Crossing my fingers it makes me more excited than nervous...