Tagged

Okay, these are pretty random - hope you all enjoy.

8 Things about Me:

1. I love food. It makes me happy - really. When I need to cheer up I think about what kind of food I need to eat to make me feel better. In fact, I've been a little grumpy today and Paul is out getting me my favorite chocolate cake at this very minute. I know that having your emotions tied to food is not a healthy behavior but I just don't care. So, basically I have a huge appetite, I eat way too fast, and I think I need dessert after every meal. Oh yeah, and I hate to cook

2. I can't make small decisions - only big ones. When it comes to the mundane, everyday stuff I'm totally indecisive. What to wear, what to make for dinner, which route to take in the car - I can seriously stress myself out about this stuff! But the big things - where to go to school, who to marry, when to have kids, where we should move - well, that's a piece of cake. A total no-brainer. I always know what I should do and when. I guess I know what I want and I know when something feels right. At least that's what I like to think...it could also be that I'm very stubborn and once I get my mind set on things I'm not easily swayed.

3. I think I have obsessive-compulsive disorder. Ok, not really, but pretty close. I'm an organizational/neat freak. You may be thinking, "oh, how nice - what a time saver to be so organized." But for some reason, that's not actually how it works out, at least in my case. I think I'm so into organization that it actually makes me quite inefficient. I'm constantly getting sidetracked. For example: I'm putting the dishes away when I realize that the cupboards really need to be reorganized and before you know it I've emptied them all out...or I pull out my bin of clothes to pull out the winter stuff and I'm suddently sorting things by size, color, season - don't ask me why, the bin is just going right back out to the storage porch...speaking of which, when I took the bin back out there I saw that it, too, needed to be organized into specific sections. Hello, who organizes their storage?!? I waste so much time organizing and then half the time I organize things so well that I can't ever find them again. Paul is always saying, "where did you organize my _____ to?" That's his nice way of saying "great, you lost my stuff again." Hey, I just like everything to have it's own special place. When I get a little too out of control Paul has to remind me that "this is not a museum, people actually live here." Oh yeah, sorry. My ocd also includes list-making. I have a list for everything. I make several lists a day. The most embarassing part...I will write something down on my list that I've already done just so I can cross it off the list.

4. I threw up on my wedding day. In the bushes right in front of the temple, in my wedding dress, in the middle of our "group picture" - you know, the one where every single person who came to the temple stands on the steps with the new couple? Luckily, I had a great photographer who started doing magic tricks and telling jokes to distract everyone. Not that they didn't know what was going on, I was 10 feet away! I was also lucky to have my uncle there, all the way from Florida, who happens to be a doctor and who was able to get me anti-naseau pills so that half-way through the luncheon I was feeling great. Thank goodness for Zofran. Contrary to popular belief, I was not having second thoughts. I just learned the hard way that I have a weak stomach. It was a combination of being new to birth control pills, not sleeping for more than 1 hour the night before, not eating breakfast that morning because I was too excited to have an appetite, and taking cold medicine on an empty stomach (I was just getting over a minor cold). Poor Paul - he told me later all the little old lady temple workers were giving him dirty looks, probably thinking he was some big jerk that I was afraid to marry. It's a long story, so if you want more details ask me later : )

5. I have a rebellious streak that I can't seem to fully rid myself of. I don't like being told what to do. I don't like doing what everyone else is doing. And I don't like to do things just because other people think I should. It makes me want to do the total opposite. I'm sure this is a serious sign of immaturity, and I am working on it. But, although I'm much tamer than I used to be, I still find that rebellious streak flaring up within me periodically. Oh yeah, and I have a bad temper. Still.

6. One of my biggest fears is what I will do when all my kids are grown and gone. The thing is, I've just always wanted to be a mom. I know that to many people that sounds lame and unambitious, but it's the truth. I always knew I wanted to get an education and graduate from college - that was always very important to me - and I did. But I never had any career aspirations. Even now, there's nothing that sounds all that appealing to me. I do think I would like to go back to school but I'm kind of freaked out about the thought of getting a master's degree. It's the whole write a thesis thing. Totally intimidates me. Also, I don't want to be super tied down. I want to be available for my kids - be able to visit, help out, take care of grandkids. So, I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself and so much free time. I'm afraid of feeling like I've lost my purpose in life.

7. I hate crafts. Seriously hate them. Any and all kinds. (Which plays into my fear of what I'll do when my kids are gone - isn't that what grandmas and old ladies do? make crafts?) I hate to make things myself, even if it saves me money. My motto, which I've shared with many of you before, is "if I can't buy it, we don't have it - if I can't afford it, we'll go without." Maybe I'm just lazy. Even when it comes to buying things I'm not interested in shopping around for the best deals. I just want to hurry and buy whatever it is that I need or want. Yeah, lazy.

8. I love to read but I hate starting new books. It's weird, I know. I'm always reading and I always have the next book ready to go so that there's no lapse. If I don't have a book to read I feel a little panicky/ansty/jittery. So even though I always start the next book right away I hate the feeling I have inbetween - just after I've finished a book and right before I start the next. The thing is I get really "into" my books. For me, it's like being transported to another place and time. When I read, I'm totally oblivious to what's going on around me. But, of course, it takes some time for that feeling to come. If it's a good book, that can happen within the first few pages. Sometimes it takes a few chapters. Sometimes more. So when I finish a book I miss that feeling. And I dread that period of time I will have to endure until I experience that feeling again.

Okay, Anna Connelly and Nellie Johnston - tag, you're it.