25 things

For all you non-facebookers: this thing has been going around lately (I make it sound like a virus, don't I?) where you share a list of 25 random things about yourself just for fun. In typical Mel-style, it took me a few weeks of adding a bit here and there, but I did finally do it (ta da!) and thought it might be fun to share here.

Disclaimer: only read if you are prepared to realize that I have more quirks than previously thought.

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1) I have never been homesick in my life. (This is either very good or very bad, I think.)

2) A freckle appeared on the palm of my right hand during the summer I spent in Brazil. When I notice it, I think of rainforest and God and commitment.

3) I have a weird thing about having secret reasons for doing things (like piercing my nose) that I never reveal, just because I like to have that secret knowledge all to myself.

4) I have been doing the same jumping pattern whenever I'm bored or excited or cold since grade two. (Hop apart, hop right foot, hop apart, hop left foot, hop apart, hop crossover, hop apart)

5) I have had twelve teeth pulled. The best time was when my dentist gave me headphones and let me watch Mickey Mouse on the TV in the ceiling. The worst was when I ran into the wall three times before they forced me into a wheelchair and I threw up as soon as I got out of the car.

6) I was always terrible at knowing that a guy was interested in me. Completely oblivious.

7) The cello... ah, the cello. I think it makes its music by plucking my hearstrings and letting them vibrate. There is no other instrument that has the same effect on me.

8) I have a very sincere hope that ten years from now I will look back at who I am today and shake my head a little bit.

9) Half of my childhood was concerned with beefing up my geek resumé: I had an extensive pin collection... I won a medal for arm-wrestling... I was a crossing guard... I have numerous bowling trophies, the best of which is Provincial Champion... I was in a square dancing club... I could go on and on!

10) The other half, oddly enough, was concerned with building up my jock resumé: softball, track (hurdles were my main event), volleyball, basketball, swimming, even a short stint in lacrosse.

11) I have this weird quirk that if I have to turn music off before a song ends, I can't just hit the power button -- I have to lower the volume so that it's a fade out.

12) I am a terrible waker-upper. If I had it my way, every day would ideally begin with me waking up on my own to a sunny day and taking half an hour or so to have a cup of tea in bed and stare out the window.

13) I LOVE the Seals & Crofts Greatest Hits album. Much to the chagrin of my husband. (Although he might prefer it to my penchant for Bread's "Baby I'm-a Want You." It's a toss-up.) If you don't know either of these bands, it's okay... but if you DO! 70s party at my house!

14) I invent histories for my favourite second-hand items. Sometimes they are sad (like the army blanket that was sent home along with poor Sam Toffler's other belongings that his mother couldn't bear to keep) and sometimes they are happy (like Jennifer, who went backpacking in Thailand and found love among the villagers; she wrote home and told her Grandma -- with whom she lived -- to give away all her winter clothes since she wouldn't be needing them anymore).

15) We don't have any pictures up on our walls (besides the ones stuck there with masking tape). I don't understand how this can possibly be true.

16) I had a real talent as a kid for messing up my face the day before pictures... nose scrapes, 2nd degree sunburns, stitches and double black eyes....

17) I think I am naive and gullible, but people tell me I am wise. I think I am too harsh and critical, but they tell me I am tender and gentle. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever know myself.

18) I read. A lot. The only time in my life that I didn't have one or more books on the go was my first year of university, during which I stopped reading completely (since I didn't want to do my course readings and felt too guilty to read anything else).

19) I am unreasonably hypersensitive to the sound of chewing. Sometimes if I'm in an especially bad mood, even the sound of my OWN chewing drives me crazy.

20) If I had to grade myself, I think I would give myself a C- in housekeeping. I'm thorough when I do it, but there's a real consistency problem there.

21) I doubt much more than the believers I know; I believe much more than the doubters I know.

22) Despite my deep commitment to environmental issues on many fronts, I cannot make myself go faster in the shower. Just can't be done. A substantial portion of my shower time involves trying to invent things that would help me to spend more time in the shower and still get things done, like waterproof paper.

23) I probably still have a crush on MacGyver.

24) The current contents of my wallet: two expired insurance cards, medicare card (thank you, Tommy Douglas!), library card, student card, three book receipts, two bus schedules, a buss pass, two bank cards, two credit cards, a note ("Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle"), a quarter, and ten unused gift cards. I am terrible at using gift cards -- I like knowing that they're there and that I could spend money on myself if I wanted to, but it's so much pressure to pick just the right thing with that precious piece of plastic.

25) Related: I've been debating since September whether or not to buy a mini-laptop.

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There! Now don't you feel better about your comparative normality... or reassured about your own quirks?

I'll have some pictures up of the kids at the chess tournament soon (which is a fairly relative term!). Stay tuned.