I decided to switch things up a little bit today. As I’ve mentioned before, I love lists. Besides helping me feel organized, they’re a quick way to highlight information. Today, I decided I’d share some random facts about me as a way for you to get to know me a bit better. I think I’ll be trying to do stuff like this a little more frequently. I enjoy reading these kinds of things and I hope you do too! (In case you’re wondering why the number 17, it’s because it’s my favorite…and because I was born on the 17th and there are 17 letters in my full name. My locker number at work also happens to be 17.
- Despite people calling me a crazy cat lady, bison are actually my favorite animal. And yes, it’s bison, not buffalo. More on that here. Many of today’s bison are actually not genetically pure bison, but have some cattle in their DNA. I believe genetically pure bison herds can only be found at Yellowstone National Park, Wind Cave National Park (South Dakota), Henry Mountains (Utah), and Soapstone Prairie Natural Area (Colorado). I dream of seeing them in the wild one day.
- I have never had a cavity. I’m hoping to make it at least as long as my grandpa did, about 76 years, without one.
- I am terrified of pincher bugs, otherwise known as earwigs. They’ve haunted me my whole life. Once, I was going to the bathroom and felt something crawling on my behind, only to look and see one of these awful creatures. No thank you.
- Sometimes I think I could be perfectly happy if I could make a living growing pumpkins. There’s something about seeing that pumpkin growing on the vine that really excites me. Sadly, I have yet to have a successful pumpkin crop, though. One day, one day…
- I am exceptionally good at remembering people’s birthdays. My family calls me Rain Woman because of my strangely good memory.
- I have never been out of the country, but I have been to 26 states. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont
- You know those infomercials for the CDs that have a collection of songs that can only be found on that set? I love those. I’m reminded of so many great songs. A bonus fun fact is, I tend to quote songs. Other people quote movies, I quote songs. If you pause after asking something, such as, “I want…” expect me to come back with, “To know what love is? You to want me? Or do you want to rock ‘n’ roll all night and party every day?” Nothing you say is safe.
- I struggled pronouncing my Rs when I was younger. Burger sounded more like booger, which I distinctively remember my aunt working with me on. I think an elementary teacher of mine sent me to speech therapy once and when the therapist was asking me what I struggled with, I used purple as an example rather than risking embarrassing myself trying to pronounce burger. I still hesitate before I say it. I currently struggle with words/names like brewery, jewelry, error, dreary, drawer, ruler, rural, Troy, and Rory.
- There’s something about pictures of trees, particularly the leaves or the light poking through them, that really makes me happy. Hence, the picture I’ve used for my blog, which was taken at Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock, Vermont.
- I know compound words are two words combined together to make one, but I’m amazed when I break them apart. For example, when I realized a suitcase was a case for your suit. Mind. Blown. I know it’s obvious, but it gets me every time.
- I really love organizing and will take any opportunity I can to color code or alphabetize something. Making things more visually appealing is something I truly enjoy.
- I have hula hooped for over an hour on a few occasions. I came in second during a hula hooping competition in 8th grade and worked on learning how to do the thing that caused me to lose (turn or spin around). I did win a competition recently in one of my classes, though, which got me some extra credit points. I also learned I can sip a beer and hula hoop simultaneously. I don’t necessarily recommend it.
- I have a weakness for older trucks, particularly those from the 1940s-1960s. You’d think I saw someone attractive walk by the way I’ll turn around to look at them.
- I thoroughly enjoy watching ice melt. It fascinates and mesmerizes me. I once thought of what I considered to be a really powerful analogy at the time of water destroying ice, or basically, ice being destroyed by itself in another form. Think about that.
- Although I’m not overly religious and acknowledge Christian holidays often have Pagan roots, I love Easter. Seeing those pastel colors filling up the stores makes me extraordinarily happy and giddy. I joke about how if I have kids in the future, I’ll be going all out for Easter and hardly acknowledge the bigger holidays, like Christmas. I just might mean it, though.
- This won’t help my crazy-cat-lady case, but I collect cat whiskers. I believe it started in my younger years when I was truly obsessed with cats. The collection has just never stopped. It probably doesn’t help that we’ve always had cats around and the collection takes up very little space. I’ve only heard about a cat whisker collection one other time when an article was saying what your collection says about you. Apparently cat whiskers makes me earthy or a nature-lover or something like that.
- I have a deep love for cookbooks. I have several and struggle to control myself from going crazy and purchasing many more. They can definitely be considered my kryptonite, but they also spark joy.
Honesty, Humor & Hope 