{"id":1759,"date":"2013-06-24T22:06:54","date_gmt":"2013-06-25T03:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/askmrsmom.com\/?p=1759"},"modified":"2013-06-25T22:12:49","modified_gmt":"2013-06-26T03:12:49","slug":"25-things-you-dont-know-about-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/askmrsmom.com\/?p=1759","title":{"rendered":"25 things you dont know about me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I seldom look at <\/span>People<\/em> magazine or <\/span>US<\/em>\u00a0unless one is sitting tattered and three weeks old in a doctor’s waiting room. \u00a0Or I am stranded at an airport.\u00a0<\/span>No really, I buy them at airports regularly and weekly at check out lines in the grocery store. It’s a guilty pleasure although I am sad to say as I get older, and the stars get younger, the celebrity news doesn’t thrill me as it used to. Still love the personal stories of the heroes of the Boston Marathon tragedy or appreciate the issue on the parents of the children who perished at Newtown Elementary. The fashion sections of do’s and dont’s are always good for a chuckle as well as the self-indulged star or starlet section in <\/span>US<\/em> called “25 Things You Don’t Know Me.” \u00a0As I mentioned, I usually don’t know who they are much less care to read a laundry list of the name of their first dog or their favorite food.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I was thinking, for my purposes in this blog, a little self-disclosure might be fun, since I drone on and on about subjects or events I find interesting or feel may interest you. \u00a0Thought perhaps knowing a little more about me would lend that shared information more credibility.<\/p>\n

1. \u00a0I am mortally fearful of thunderstorms. \u00a0Especially while driving. \u00a0Don’t know if my fears are based on being trapped in a second floor apartment, tornado sirens blasting out my window in the flatlands of the midwest the first week I was married. \u00a0Or perhaps it is just congenital, like it was for our old dog Trey. \u00a0(See, I’ve already worked in my dog’s name and didn’t even have to list it.) But dark clouds gathering or the weekly emergency broadcast test signal on TV sends chills down my spine.<\/p>\n

2. \u00a0I am convinced that the fancy piece of plastic that pretends to keep toilet seats fresh and sanitary only goes in one big circle. \u00a0Same dirty cellophane cover, tucked around the lid like a shower cap, just circling the lid for fool after fool, bottom after bottom. \u00a0Never sat on them; never will.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0In the same germaphobe vein, I don’t drink after others, even my children or grandchildren. \u00a0No one, no matter who or how dear or special, do I want to share saliva backwash with. \u00a0Same with lip or chap stick. \u00a0My lips or no one’s.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0I accidentally on purpose wore a friend’s watch home from her house after school in first grade. Mom made me return it to her and apologize to her scornful parents. \u00a0Lesson learned. \u00a0Never wear a plastic\u00a0watch with a black rubber band strap again.<\/p>\n

5. \u00a0I can write my name in cursive or print with my toes. \u00a0And a writing utensil, of course.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0My brother called me Burl (he combined girl and boy; not sure about his spelling) from childhood well into college. \u00a0My dad called me Punkin’. \u00a0Dad wins alternate name category.<\/p>\n

7. \u00a0In high school, I always felt like “Miss Almost.” \u00a0Lost cheerleader five times, student council eight and graduated number 11. \u00a0Of course the top ten were in the newspaper. A friend at my last high school reunion heard me tell that and said, “Yeah, we should get you a t-shirt. \u00a0On the front it should say, Miss Almost.<\/em> \u00a0On the back it should say, Get over it<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

8. \u00a0I would leave my husband for Dennis Quaid or Andy Garcia. \u00a0At least for a night. \u00a0For Daniel Day-Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans, <\/em>maybe a week.<\/p>\n

9. \u00a0I love birds except those that walk like people. \u00a0You know, the ones that step one foot in front of the other instead of adorable birdlike hopping. \u00a0i. e. pigeons, mourning doves, grackles, starlings. \u00a0One exception might be any shore bird. Never saw a bird on the beach I didn’t like, walking humanlike or hopping.<\/p>\n

10. \u00a0Sundays give me a sad feeling of longing and I love Fridays. \u00a0Just like in college.<\/p>\n

11. \u00a0My favorite number is three. Except for martinis.<\/p>\n

12. \u00a0I once contracted scabies ( an icky sort of body lice) after a fateful sit in a cedar hot tub. \u00a0I was newly married and when I told my mother she advised me to get rid of them and not tell my husband. \u00a0 Which I did quietly until he called the next day from a business trip and said he thought he had lymphoma because of all the bumps under his skin. \u00a0He welcomed the scabies and his new bride. \u00a0I wouldn’t tell Dennis, Andy or Daniel about that though.<\/p>\n

13. \u00a0I flipped from the back to the front seat of a convertible once in high school when the driver slammed on the brakes. Landed unharmed. Two things. \u00a0Should have been the driver since I was the only one not drinking. \u00a0And seriously, how did I not make cheerleader?<\/span><\/p>\n

14. \u00a0My husband and I met on a blind date in high school. \u00a0We played miniature golf. I nearly aced every hole because it had been a long summer of putt-putt dates. He thought I was athletic and I thought he was the second coming. \u00a0Love, like our date, was also blind.<\/p>\n

15. \u00a0I met Nelson Mandela on a business trip with my husband to South Africa in 1994, soon after his release from prison and election to the presidency. \u00a0Being in his presence was surreal, like meeting Gandhi or having an audience with God. \u00a0It was magical and indelibly etched on my memory.<\/p>\n

16. \u00a0I won a set of World Book Encyclopedias at\u00a013 by writing\u00a0Ask Andy<\/em>, a national science question column, and asking why it was so hard to swat a fly. \u00a0Had my picture in the paper and got my green and grey set of 12 books delivered to our door. \u00a0In case you are wondering, it’s because they take off backwards, so aim a half inch or so behind. \u00a0Haven’t missed one since.<\/span><\/p>\n

17. \u00a0I’m pretty good on a pair of roller skates. As a kid, I once skated with Dallas Bias, the Police Chief, at the local rink. \u00a0We skated arm-over-arm, hand-in-hand, leg crossovers as we rounded corners. \u00a0Idol worship at its best.<\/span><\/p>\n

18. \u00a0Mr. Deitrick had a garage near my two room grade school (See Martin School post March 13, 2012) and he had a pet bear in a cage that we walked past to get home each day. \u00a0Don’t know why I didn’t think it was strange or scary. \u00a0Maybe\u00a0<\/span>because my parents voted in that garage every election day, stepping behind cloaked booths right beside his pot belly stove. And the bear.<\/span><\/p>\n

19. \u00a0I love Toby Keith’s American Soldier<\/em>. \u00a0I crank it up every national holiday, road trip or whenever I need an inspirational kick in the butt. \u00a0Cry every time.<\/p>\n

20. \u00a0I have never had a McDonalds burger. \u00a0Never. \u00a0Still waiting for Letterman to call to do a spot on that.<\/p>\n

21. \u00a0I can sing and read music, but only when holding a Methodist hymnal. \u00a0I can harmonize with any hymn, great or small and do it loudly and with confidence, much to my children’s’ chagrin. \u00a0Especially on Easter morning or Christmas Eve.<\/span><\/p>\n

22. \u00a0I always carry a tape measure in my purse. \u00a0I especially like the small leather one my sister gave me several years ago. \u00a0It comes in handy for a myriad of things: furniture at flea markets, dress length, inches to the finish line if my grandson comes in second.<\/p>\n

23. \u00a0I am a slow reader and often invert numbers. \u00a0Unless it is the finish line and my grandson comes in second.<\/p>\n

24. \u00a0I am addicted to lip gloss. \u00a0Must have it on my lips day and night. \u00a0Day on a dip-stick and night in a pot.<\/p>\n

25. \u00a0I am convinced waiters spit on or do worse to food returned to the kitchen if it is too cold, undercooked or not just right. \u00a0I am sure it often happens to me since I always order at restaurants something like Sally in When Harry Met Sally<\/em>.<\/p>\n