1. I import my blog from MySpace to Facebook but if you are on Facebook and want to read all of this post, you have to click on "view original post" which is linked to my blog on MySpace. This isn't difficult, but I worry this extra step keeps people on Facebook from reading my blog, resulting in fewer blog views and making it more likely Kai will win our competition.

2. I am competing with Kai for the highest number of blog views even though we're both blogging a lot less, and we haven't shared out counts with each other in a very long time. I am secretly hoping this single post will put me in the lead. You can help by clicking on links within this post and looking at older blog entries. Come on. Don't you want to know more than 25 random things about me?

3. On the other hand, if you're someone who already reads my blog, you might know most of the items on this list. I'll try to throw in a few surprises so I definitely think you should keep reading.

4. I like to play games that my friends and I make up, but most other games don't interest me.

5. Settlers of Catan is one exception to that rule. When you play Settlers of Catan with me, I'll cooperate with you as long as you don't keep me from exploring unchartered territory. I'm less interested in winning than I am in turning over undiscovered land tiles.

6. I love pockets, but if you read my blog, you know that already.

7. I can touch my nose with my tongue. Sadly, I'm kind of proud of this so if you ask me, I'll show you.

8. My grandmother once told me that when she was 13 or 14 years old, she made up her mind that she would never let herself cry again. For the most part, she kept this promise. I loved my grandmother, and I think she found some moments in her life to be happy. But I also think that deciding to never risk enough to cry again means never risking enough to experience great joy. I cry a lot. But I'm also very, very happy.

9. I asked Saul to marry me four months after he moved 1800 miles away from Kansas, where I was living at the time. I proposed at a Kinko's in Redmond, Washington. He was working. Several of his co-workers stayed late to watch. A few of them took pictures. I cried. But I was very, very happy.

10. I have three freckles on my right arm, near my wrist, that form an isosceles triangle. Yep. My brother Scott once measured each side of the triangle with a plastic ruler.

11. I am only a little bit jealous of Saul's incredible popularity.

12. My earliest memory is being smothered by a hug from my brother's Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Hall. It freaked me out. I was probably three years old at the time, but just barely. Later, she was my Kindergarten teacher. I never forgave her for that hug. Also, I remember she told everyone in the class that I was a baby when I cried about an assignment I didn't do correctly. Everybody loved Mrs. Hall. Everybody but me.

13. If I had to choose one word that would represent the very antithesis of me, I'd choose perky. But you know that already if you read my blog.

14. I don't believe in God. But I do believe in Eunice. In the Unitarian-Universalist Church, I am not only free to believe in Eunice but encouraged to preach about her. I like Sunday services at the UU Church, but getting up on Sunday mornings is very hard, even for the late service. More often than not, I don't make it. I'm trying to work on that because I think Eunice could benefit from some attention.

15. I hate wearing socks. I think my feet are claustrophobic. But that doesn't really explain why I hate socks on other people. Maybe my feet are also empathetic. My feet feel bad for other feet trapped in socks. On the other hand, I really like sock puppets.

16. Tomorrow night, I plan to talk to eleven middle schoolers about masturbation. I think people who are afraid of masturbation aren't doing it right.

17. I once asked Saul to dress up like a space pirate, kidnap me, and tie me up. Luckily, a band of space rangers showed up, followed a trail of gold coins to the pirate's lair, and rescued me in the nick of time. I was teaching in a summer program for school age kids, and all summer long, we were doing a lot of pretend play around space exploration. Saul made a good space pirate.

18. If you read my blog, you know I love to read. And you probably know that one of my favorite fictional characters is Trixie Belden. Trixie is a girl detective, kind of like Nancy Drew, only better. She is "sturdy" with unruly curls, annoying brothers, a best friend named Honey, and too many chores. She's also very, very curious. Trixie is the inspiration for my next Sunday service. Fortunately, there's at least one member of the Sunday Program committee on Facebook. Maybe she's reading this right now.

19. My best friend Julie died when we were both 31 years old. She died climbing down a mountain. I thought we would grow into little old ladies and wreak havoc in our nursing home together. I miss her.

20. Another dear friend of mine, Lorraine, is already in a nursing home, struggling to recover from a traumatic head injury resulting from a terrible car accident. I miss her too.

21. Kai thinks signing up to be my best friend should come with a surgeon general's warning, but Saul says that my next best friend might just lose a limb or two and that I'm definitely worth the risk.

22. I have a pretty dark sense of humor at times. So do my closest friends. Fortunately, if Julie and Lorraine could read this list, they'd probably be laughing right now.

23. I try to walk 2.5 miles each day on the treadmill. I've been doing this for over two years as a way to track our long wait to adopt from China. I'm not always consistent with this daily walk, but I try. I find it helps when I have something to watch as I walk. Right now, I'm making my way through the first season of NYPD Blue. There are a lot of naked butts on NYPD Blue. It's like the naked butt capital of television.

24. I am the luckiest person in the world to know and love the man I married. He is a brilliant, creative, funny, and gentle soul who makes me a better person than I would be without him. Plus, I like his naked butt. You can find 25 more reasons why I love him here.

25. My plan was to wait to post this list until after I had gotten tagged 25 times, but then Saul posted his list and my brother Scott posted his list and well, I just couldn't resist any longer. Thanks for indulging me. Please read my blog. Seriously. I need those blog views.