Scoop

25 Things You Might Not Know About Michelle Obama

The Brady Bunch, Barack's nose and her Easy Bake Oven

-Elizabeth Lightfoot, author of Michelle Obama: First Lady of Hope / The Lyons Press, $14.95

1. She was born January 17, 1964, meaning she will turn 45 three days before she becomes the First Lady of the United States.

2. Her father worked the swing shift in the boiler room at Chicago's water purification plant; her mother was a stay-at-home mom until her two children were grown.

3. Within the family, her nickname is "Miche" (pronounced "Meesh").

4. Her husband calls her "My Rock".

5. She grew up with her older brother, Craig, and parents in a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment; she and Craig shared the living room, which had been separated by dividers.

6. As a child, she loved her Easy-Bake Oven.

7. Even though they were only allowed one hour of television per night, she committed each episode of The Brady Bunch to memory.

8. As a young girl, she practiced playing the piano so much that she had to be told to stop.

9. She and her brother both skipped second grade.

10. Although a great athlete, she shied away from competitive sports because, her big brother says, she hated to lose.

11. She has always been outspoken; in addition to some of the memorable things she said on the campaign trail, she told her teachers when she got to Princeton that they weren't teaching French correctly.

12. She was a young lawyer and assigned to be Barack's mentor when her future husband came to her Chicago firm for a summer job.

13. Her first impression of Barack wasn't great; she'd seen his photo in the law firm directory and thought he had a big nose.

14. She declined Barack's initial attempts to ask her out, saying it would be inappropriate.

15. Before seriously agreeing to date Barack, she asked her brother to take on her suitor on the basketball court (her father and brother had always said you could tell a lot about someone's character on the court).

16. Her father died of complications from Multiple Sclerosis when she was in her 20s.

17. Barack proposed at a fancy Chicago restaurant; the ring came on a tray with the dessert.

18. At their wedding, they danced their first dance to "Unforgettable".

19. Santita Jackson, Jesse Jackson's daughter, sang at the wedding.

20. She works out "like a gladiator," according to friends.

21. She hates panty hose - too "painful."

22. At the Democratic National Convention in 2004, moments before her husband was about to go on stage to give his speech she decided to break the tension: "Just don't screw it up, buddy!" she memorably said.

23. She unwinds by watching reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

24. For breakfast, she likes fruit, eggs and bacon. "We're bacon people" she said on The View.

25. About her husband, she once said, "Barack didn't pledge riches, only that life would be interesting. On that promise he's delivered."

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