10 Weird Things About Me

Tagged by Lori and Anne...

1. I have to daydream myself to sleep. Can’t just close my eyes and drift off. Can’t wind down by reviewing the day’s events or tomorrow’s to do list.

2. I absolutely cannot tolerate stuff on my kitchen counters. They must be clear every minute I’m not cooking. The one counter along the wall, holding the toaster oven, microwave, coffee pot, etc. is exempt. Or at least there are “allowed” items for that space. My Mom visits, the first thing she does is pull out her puzzle books and set them at the end of the counter. Drives me. I have to move them to the dining room table—where they don’t bother me in the least.

3. I talk very little. Very little. I know how. I do have stuff to say. But generally I let it all slide and enjoy my own quiet. Makes me appear rude and sometimes tongue-tied.

4. I’m not the least bit girly. At nearly 40, I’m just now appreciating a pretty nail polish, the luxuriant feel of those fragrant, silky anti-wrinkle creams and sassy hair.

The day I moved on from a corporate existence in those snappy business suits of the 90’s was a happy day indeed. The following years found me in jeans, sweatshirt and sneaks in the happy land of software moguls. Still have those suits somewhere. At the rate folks are retro’ing today, I figure they’ll be the height of fashion again in another year or so. Then I’ll sell them.

5. The way I met my best friend from grad school is weird or pathetic. It was the day of one of my finals and moments before I left for campus, my roommate and closest friend announced that her parents would be picking her up that morning. She was done with her studies and moving on. I was devastated.

On campus, the prof gave us our final exam essay question, blue books and pencils and went on his way. Ten minutes into the exam, I started crying. Not so quietly. There were only 4 of us in the class, 3 virtual strangers and me. After awhile, they couldn’t take anymore and asked me what was wrong. I told them. Then I blew my nose and we all got back to writing. A few minutes later, the girl sitting kitty corner across the table from me suggested that we could catch a movie later that night. She may as well have said, “If you want, I could be your friend.” I cried some more. We caught that movie. And nearly 15 years later, she was my matron of honor in my wedding. And we talk almost daily still today.

6. I can’t filter background noise. If the TV is on and my DH is sitting on the couch with me, I have to mute the TV in order to hear and process what he is saying. Very challenging in a world where my chatty 4 year old vies for my attention, the TV or radio is always on and my DH appears able to talk to me only when he is in another room. I’m convinced that this will be the true cause of my ultimate insanity.

7. I once lusted after Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi. I can almost hear a chorus of “Ewwwww’s” out here. Oh, and I harbor a secret love for Keanu Reeves. Dating back years before the Matrix movies.

8. I drive crazy fast on my snowmobile. And love it. (When my son is not riding with me.) Thinking of this as weird because everyone who knows me will tell you that I am…sedate. As in, check me for a pulse sedate.

9. Long before I actually had a child, I adopted a Newf. Then felt such separation anxiety that I struggled to leave her at home everyday when I went to work. She was my child before I had a child. Needless to say that friends and family—those who had human children—thought I was an idiot.

10. My TBR stack numbers less than 25 books. And that is quite high for me. When it is this high, I treat them like homework. I’m more comfortable in my own skin when that stack of books fits in the shoebox I have designated for TBRs. Now my TBR list is another thing altogether.