14 Random Facts

1.  I have had a piece of graphite embedded in my palm since the 1^st grade.  I was playing a game of pull-your-hand-away-before-you-get-stabbed with Lisa and Nathan, and I lost.  I was convinced that I was going to die of lead poisoning, but I didn’t tell the teacher for fear of punishment.

2.  I can’t stay awake long enough to watch an entire movie at home.  I try to conceal my fatigue from my husband, but my right leg will involuntarily twitch as I’m falling asleep and I’m busted.

 3.  I cheated on a spelling test in the 3^rd grade.  I wrote the word “special” inside my desk before the test because I couldn’t remember how to spell it.  I consider myself a decent speller now, though I routinely struggle with the words “camera” and “sandals”.

4.  My mom had to take me out of the theater for almost every Disney cartoon because they made me sob hysterically.  I can still remember the anguish I felt during Cinderella (when the step-sisters tore her well-deserved, beautiful dress off), Dumbo (when people/animals made fun of his ears) and The Fox and the House (because the animals were living in poor socio-economic circumstances).  Why did she keep subjecting me to the Disney misery?

5.  I have a history of running into objects while riding my bicycle.  In the 3^rd grade, I ran into a mailbox (ouch).  As a junior in high school, I ran into a Doberman Pincer dog (double ouch).

6.  I have a major Post-it® fetish…the flashier, the better!

7.  I didn’t talk to anybody at school my entire pre-school year.  The teacher told my mom that I played with only one girl and that we never talked to each other.  I’ve made up for it since then.

8.  I have all 39 books in the Trixie Belden series.  Trixie Belden mysteries were published between 1948 and 1986…they are similar to Nancy Drew, but much better.  I completed my collection in 1999 thanks to the advent of Ebay.

9.  I make backwards timelines to help keep me get to places on time.  I also make them for weekends when I don’t have to be anywhere at a specific time.  That might be a little abnormal.  Here is a sample:

7:00 a.m.- Arrive at work6:40 a.m.- Leave home6:00 a.m.- Shower and get ready5:45 a.m.- Leave gym

5:00 a.m.- Exercise

4:50 a.m.- Leave home

4:40 a.m.- Wake-up

10.  I was a Brownie for three years and I never earned a single patch (I was just in it for the uniform and the snacks).

11.  I love the smell of chlorine, paper fresh off the ditto machine and Noxzema.  I hate the smell of watermelon.

12.  I recently learned that I have been mispronouncing “dynamo” for years.

13.  I can’t remember the lines to any songs, so I make lines up to go with the music.  I prefer to sing the wrong words quite loudly.

14.  I hike four excruciating miles (elevation change of 3,700 feet) to the top of Mount Si every time I visit Aunt Linda in Seattle.  My muscles ache for the rest of the week, but it’s worth it.