Eight Random Facts

Eric tagged me and I've procrastinated long enough. Plus, now I finally have something to talk about!

Here are the rules. (1) Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. (2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I am afraid of water. Anything deeper than an average sized pool (even Olympic sized ones) terrifies the heck out of me. Deep water, boats, boats on water, icebergs floating in water waiting to sink ships are the things that fill my nightmares. Sharks hanging around icebergs waiting for ships to sink so they can eat the people on board are my worst fantasy. It's not that I can't swim; I can, very well, with several different strokes. It's just the thought of the unknown beneath me. It's a good thing I've lived 95% of my life dead center in the middle of my continent and have carefully avoided extended visitations with anything bigger than a frog pond.

2. I am a 9 year old when it comes to Christmas; maybe even six or seven. I figure I was frozen in time when my family stopped celebrating and only picked back up when I grew up and made the decision for myself. I never told my mom, but I would lie awake listening for Santa even after we'd made the switch. A little part of me believed that my grandparents were in cahoots with the man in red because presents always arrived shortly after THE DAY. I'm not saying this to make my parents (who frequently read my blog) feel bad; I know they were doing what they thought was right and I love them for that. This is just a random fact but it's seasonally appropriate. I believe in Santa!

3. I have recently been diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. Very recently; Tuesday recently. Is this a big surprise? Not at all. Is it a bummer? Hell yeah. I feel like I screwed up my life AGAIN by 'allowing' this to happen to me. Just when you think you're not a f***-up. Sigh. It's a whole new world; one complete with three daily glucose level checks and medication for the foreseeable future.

4. I get Ear Worm so bad it causes me anxiety attacks. Seriously, that totally cool Bowling for Soup song you love? It kept me up till three AM a week ago. I have found only three methods of removing the song from my head before I pull out all my hair and show up to work looking like a heroine addict: 1)Clonezepam, and who wants to be drugged up all the time? 2) Singing the Barney Song at least three times over 3) Singing vocal warm ups for ten minutes. The last two are pretty much guaranteed to make you unpopular with your family at 3AM.

5. A lifetime ago, I was the administrator of the Largest. Message Board Devoted to a Series of Exceedingly Popular Books That Were Later Made Into Movies. In. The. World. Period. (It's not Harry Potter, that's all the info I'm giving!) I did a terrible job. I have no managerial skills whatsoever and very little natural diplomacy. Tact is a foreign language. I constantly poured gasoline on small flames and turned them into conflagrations of badly executed good intentions. It's a wonder they still let me post there; poor deluded fools.

6. I know American Sign Language, or I used to know a lot. I still know some. I took three years of the language in college. The courses were taught by a woman who had graduated from Gallaudet University and who didn't know when she was yelling. I was terrified of her until she told me that watching me sign must be what it's like to hear someone singing.

7. I grew up in a haunted house. That's right, I believe in Santa Claus AND ghosts! Half my readership just scrubbed my blog off their history (so I guess I'm down to just the one reader). The old Victorian house my parents rescued from being torn down had many residents besides us; there is no other way to describe it. Some either did not know how to pass over or had chosen not to do so, some I think may have been members of the Fae families. I also think some of what we experienced wasn't an active spirit or soul but the echo of some one's very powerful life event. I have since developed a pretty detailed theory about ghosts, poltergeists, angels, demons, fairies and 'emotional imprints.'

8. I am half Polar bear. I almost never get cold and actually, am usually too warm. Fall and winter are my favorite seasons because I can always bundle up to stay warm but I can't take my skin off to stay cool. When Cowboy is huddled under two quilts in sweats and socks, I'm sleeping with no blankets in shorts and a tank top. I rarely wear a coat unless it's wet outside or the temperature is below freezing.

OK.. whew! I am not sure I have eight people to name, but here goes: Heidi over at Virushead, Chris on Three Hour Tour, Libby from Caffeinated Librarian, WHW from Television and Stuff and Ted from http://www.tschopp.net/. Sorry.. that's everyone who met these criteria 1)I can remember their name or how to find their blog and 2) Does not appear to have done this Meme recently.