That Isn't Weird

I was tagged by Viooltje, from Lady Greenthumb's Garden for a meme. I'm supposed to tell ten weird or random facts about myself. I had already participated in a meme back in November telling eight random facts about myself, but I thought it might be fun to participate in this one too.

I mentioned the meme at the dinner table tonight just to see if my family could help me come up with some things that are weird about me. My fifteen year old son said that I go nuts when I see a new bird in the yard. My twenty year old daughter said that I'd rather shop at Lowe's, Home Depot and garden centers than regular stores. That is not weird. It is perfectly normal behavior. Apparently they couldn't think of anything more weird to contribute, (my husband wisely kept silent).

I guess I should be thankful that my kids don't think I'm weird. However, it is now all up to me to figure out ten weird random things about myself, I think I'm pretty normal too so this is rather difficult. H'mm......

1. I hate roaches because when I was 19, one crawled into my ear while I was asleep. I woke up and ran to the bathroom to run water in my ear to try and get it out. I was hysterical, slapping my head and screaming, STOP! STOP! The thing was tormenting me by clawing and scratching on my eardrum. Thankfully, when I got to the emergency room they quickly ushered me back and removed the big roach that had attached itself to my eardrum. After I calmed down, I noticed that my pants were unzipped and I had a wet bedhead look. I was so embarrassed! The people I worked with started calling me the "Roach Motel", roaches get in, but they can't get out.

2. I am terrified of heights and absolutely hate flying. I've had to fly anyway to accompany my husband on numerous business trips. I don't get up unless I absolutely have to while flying because it makes me dizzy and nauseated. In October 1995, after an Alaskan Cruise, we flew into Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, we only had a few minutes to make our connecting flight and I HAD to go to the bathroom because I was feeling sick with an upset stomach. I quickly went to the bathroom and we took off running as fast as we could through the airport. We jumped onto a tram that happened to have several of my husband's co-workers and their spouses on it. I felt someone grab something from my pants, I turned to discover that I had been running through DFW with a 2 foot long toilet paper tail flapping behind me. How humiliating! To keep from dying of embarrassment, I thought about all of those weary travelers that must have needed some comic relief, even though the laugh at my expense. Thankfully, everyone was gracious and the incident was never mentioned again, at least not to me.

3. I'm a very serious minded person, but will occasionally act silly and out of character just to surprise or embarrass my kids.

4. Being the serious minded person that I am, I don't laugh at jokes very often. They are usually dumb and corny to me. When we first met, my husband spent our entire first date telling jokes and trying to get me to laugh. They weren't funny, so I didn't laugh. He finally said something that was spontaneous and truly funny and made me laugh. After nearly 26 years of marriage, he still tells jokes and I still don't laugh. God was gracious though, and blessed him with a beloved daughter who will laugh at anything and everything he says. And what a delightful laugh she has, her generous laughter has been beautiful music to our ears from the time she was two months old.

5. I am weird about using chemicals. I don't want perfume to touch my skin and on the rare occasion that I use it, I spray it on my clothing. My black hair is turning gray, but I refuse to put any coloring on it. I don't use harsh chemicals when cleaning my home, and I garden organically.

6. I'm sure my neighbors think I'm weird because just about every day, (sometimes twice a day), in July and August I can be seen outside picking Japanese beetles off my plants by hand and placing them in zip-lock baggies. Remember, I don't use chemicals for pest control.

7. I'm weird about taking medications too. It has to be a pretty bad headache that lasts longer than twenty-four hours before I will even take anything for it. When I'm sick, I'll drink barley green or take a number of other things to boost my immune system, but I hate taking any kind of cold medication.

8. I didn't become a cat person until about three years ago. I didn't like cats at all, because I couldn't trust them after being bitten a couple of times by cats who acted like they wanted to be petted. I love my wonderful kitty now and can't imagine not having her. She has won me over to the cat side.

9. I'd rather stay outside all day, sitting on the ground weeding than being in the house cooking or cleaning.

10. I've been a stay-at-home mom for almost 21 years, devoting my life to my husband, children and home. Now that my two children are pretty much all grown up, I'm trying to decide what I want to do with my life now. That, is so very weird to me.

I'm not sure who has been tagged already, so please join in if you'd like to play along.