Thursday, July 05, 2007

I'm not so weird

It seems like every blogger has been tagged with the "8 Weird Things About Me" meme. And now, my new blogger friend Gretchen over at Quantum Leap has tagged me. And I'm more than happy to fess up to a few oddities about myself, but first I want to give a nod to Gretchen. She is a pretty new blogger - just got started in April. And I'm glad I found her pretty quickly. She is a smart and funny mom of two who shares stories of her day along with some inspirational thoughts. She also happens to be addicted to coffee - or the "elixir of the gods" as she calls it. I can certainly identify with that addiction!

So the first rule of the meme is that I must share eight weird things about myself. I don't think of myself as being very weird, but I'm quite certain those who know me would disagree. But they aren't here, so you have to go with what I come up with!

1. I totally love movies - and rarely ever go. There is nothing that compares with settling into a comfy seat in the theater, popcorn and soda in hand, and enjoying a movie. I love the darkness. I love the previews of coming attractions. I love the stupid trivia questions on the screen before the movie begins. And I love the movies. But I just can't justify spending that much money to watch a movie! For my wife and I to attend one movie, we pay more than a full month of Netflix membership in which time we can easily watch a dozen or so movies. And microwave popcorn is so much less expensive.

2. There is at least some part of my body every day that is hard to feel. Or if I do feel it, it is mostly tingly. Never normal. That part might be a toe. A bunch of toes. Even a whole foot. I first wrote about this last November, and I've had a few doctor visits and tests since then. Nothing is better, nothing is worse. What they call idiopathic neuropathy. That basically means it is something to do with my nerves and they don't have a clue. How comforting.

3. I hate being cold. I don't like to swim in water that is even remotely chilly. I don't really enjoy playing in the snow. I went snow skiing once and decided that was an activity for masochists. I DO NOT LIKE COLD. And yet, I love living in New England. And I think winter is a really beautiful season. I like seeing the snow. I just don't want to go outdoors between Halloween and April Fool's Day.

4. I do my own laundry. Okay, that's not so weird. But I do the laundry for the entire family. And not because I find it somehow therapeutic to do laundry. Nope, not at all. But I have very precise rules about how I like it to be done. I'm very particular about the sorting. I have clearly defined ideas about what gets washed in hot, warm and cold. And what gets dried at high, medium, and low. And then there is the folding and hanging. Definite rules about that. Shirts get hung with the second button from the top being done. And for folding....

Ya know, this is sounding less weird and more obsessive compulsive, so we'll leave the laundry for now. :)

5. I like to sleep with the TV on. Not like a nap on the couch. I mean all night. In bed. Listening to the TV. I drift off to sleep listening to The Colbert Report or some other late night show. If I wake up in the night, I can roll over and go back to sleep listening to a re-run of CSI or Star Trek. And as I wake up in the morning, I can flip over to the morning weather or Mike and Mike on ESPN to kick off my day. Now, some readers may be wondering if my wife has filed for divorce after putting up with this stuff? Nay, dear reader. She is the one who got me hooked on it!

6. I collect quotes. I don't have anything to do with them. I don't put them on my blog. I don't print them out and hang them anywhere. But I love a good quote.

7. I'm very competitive. I love games of all sorts...volleyball, Uno, chess, badminton, tennis, poker, dominoes, etc, etc. And I love to win. Oh sure, I've got three kids so I've had to throw a game of Chutes and Ladders now and then. But not too often. Can't go soft on the kids. They had to learn to step it up or get their Garanimal-covered buttocks kicked.

8. I love rules. I live a rule-governed life. It provides order. Reduces anxiety. Allows for accurate predictions. Which is why, it pains me to break the second rule of this meme. I'm supposed to now tag eight people. I just can't. Not because I don't know eight wonderful and weird bloggers. I've read your blogs. I know who you are! But the problem is, most of you have already done this meme. And there is no way any of you have sixteen weird things to share. Well, okay, you do. And maybe you. But that might be all.

So there ya have it. Eight oddities about me, spread out for public viewing and ridicule. All I ask is that you be gentle.

39 comments:

Bardouble29 said...

The laundry thing is not so weird...I am the same way...and don't even get me started about the way I fold socks!!!

meno said...

How about if you do my laundry? I'd be happy to give up that chore and it sounds like you would do a better job.

Jocelyn said...

I'm with ya on the movie one and scared of ya on the laundry one. But if it means you do the laundry, come on over anytime.

Unknown said...

Some of those weird, some of those not-so-weird. I'll say the laundry one is definitely on the weird list. You and my father-in-law. And he'll fold your underpants in the living room in front of everybody. Well, he did that to me. Then he commented on my underpants.

I'm still bitter.

Mom not Mum (Sandy) said...

I have some laundry to be done at my house too. Maybe you could do a world laundry tour. LOL

EsLocura said...

I'd like to put in dibs for the laundry as well, I promise to also let you set up all sorts of rules/laws and as a bonus let me remind you it's always warm in the tropics. it's a groovy thing learning more about you.

Anonymous said...

I can relate to all except 2 and 8. Well, if I count my brain being numb, then just #8.

That's a bummer that they cannot ID the cause of your loss of feeling, etc. More and more we're hearing of ailments that the docs are totally baffled by. Why did they spend all that time and money getting degrees just so they could charge us an arm and a leg to tell us they don't know what's wrong with us?

Em said...

Barb, thanks for understanding!

Jocelyn, when I come over, we'll just rent a video.

Dorky...what can I say? Comments on underpants are best left unsaid!

Winston, perhaps it is all some evil virus brought here by the aliens that landed in Area 51.

And Meno, Jocelyn, Mom and Eslocura...please understand that my desire to do laundry RIGHT, does not mean I have a desire to do ALL laundry! Not that I wouldn't enjoy seeing your delicates, but, well...I don't need to do your laundry. :)

Unknown said...

Oh Em, I'm a laundry-nazi, too. The rest of my family doesn't even know where the laundry room is in this house, because I keep it a secret. Although I actually do find laundry therapeutic somehow.
Anyway, I am going to take you up on the meme, after I narrow my weirdness down to 8 things...haha. And I am also off to go check out Quantum Leap. Have a great week-end.

Jenster said...

1 - Previews are the best part of going to the movies. But I agree. Too expensive!

2 - How very frustrating for you.

3 - I don't like to be cold, either. But I DO like it to be cold so I have to put a lot of blankets on me.

4 - Maybe you should write a book.

5 - I'm the total opposite!

6 - Quote are great!

7 - I very rarely ever threw a game for my kids, either. I figured it was good for them to learn to lose gracefully at a young age.

8 - Rules do keep everything in order, don't they?

Jazz said...

My laundry method is pretty much dump it all in and kudos to whatever survives.

I need obssessive-compulsive laundry lessons.

Jenny! said...

I am compulsive with everything except laundry...i shove it all in...no matter! Does that drive you crazy??? That numb appendage thing is truly weird...does your (you know) ever go numb???

That Chick Over There said...

I've not been tagged with that, which is a good thing since I have like, 300 things I could write about.

Carli N. Wendell said...

Ditto on 1, 3, 5, and 6. You're on your own on the laundry thing. I do it, but I don't like it!

Gretchen said...

Thank you for playing and for the kind words, Em. Much appreciated. Now, since an opinion is a terrible thing to waste...onward to your list.

1. Me too. With the exception that, as a fam, we'll go to something like Ratatouille, but wait for the grown up flicks to come out on video. Oh, well...it doesn't martyr to me.

2. You know, I can't totally complain, but this having children course through your body and thus displacing everything from spine to bladder, does have an effect. I get up and stagger to the bathroom in a bent-over-old-man position, and it takes those 20 steps before I'm standing upright. That and Big and I are starting to grunt more when we sit down, change positions, etc. Gross, huh?

3. Cold is bad, but hot is worse.

4. Love it. Wives are swooning all over the blogosphere.

5. TV is a beautiful thing. Simply. Beautiful.

6. Very cool.

7. Big is EXACTLY like you with the competition among the petits. He WILL win that game of Life, dammit!

8. Me too. And...I couldn't tag 8 either. I'm fine with rules as long as the likes of you and I can bend or break them. Kind of like the speed limit...

CynAnn said...

I was very impressed with the laundry thing. Good guy...
but that TV on all night....... ?
hahah

DirkStar said...

Please help me to help Al Gore save the planet.

Anonymous said...

I like to collect quotes too. There is just something so satisfying about a phrase that nails a thought.

Big Brother said...

Well I must say that the laundry and the TV are a little weird Em. I'm pretty much in the school of survival of the fittest school of laundry doing. I've always had trouble figuring out the colour thing, whites are easy, white is white, black is definitely a dark, but what is coloured? Is dark yellow a dark or a coloured? It's the grey area I have trouble with. It drives my wife crazy since I invariably get it wrong.

Angel said...

ya, you're wierd all right...you LIKE to do laundry? NUTS I say!!

Kati said...

LOL I love that you're so OCD about the laundry. That's just funny! Nice to see your 8 weird things.

Creative-Type Dad said...

Wow, some of those are pretty weird.

I'm #7 too. I love the challenge

MaryB said...

I had trouble with this one as well, em, when I was tagged. I think other people should list my weird things (just as I could point out the weird things in someone else). ;-)

tulipmom said...

We just saw A Mighty Heart ..... first time we've been to the movies in about a year. By the time you pay for the sitter and dinner adding a movie to the mix puts the evening over the top $$-wise.

It would be such a relief to have a hubby who's OCD about the laundry. I'd be afraid to let mine help even if he offered which he doesn't.

As for the TV being on all night, I thought it was weird at first but 13 years later, Hubby's got me tuned in too.

Em said...

Who knew that doing my own laundry (okay, the entire family's laundry) would create such a stir?!?! LOL Thanks for not thinking it was too weird. :)

Oh, Jenny, no numbness in any delicate areas!

SzélsőFa said...

while I'm totally with you with #4 (the Laundry Thing: I even match the color of clothes to the hanging clips) #5 scared me totally. I would never be able to do that - unless I'd wanted to become totally brainwashed.

Radioactive Tori said...

#2 is me too. (that was the numb/tingly one, right?) At first they thought it might be MS, then they thought it might be strange symptoms of the cancer, but now that I am ok and still feel it sometimes, they just have no idea. They said they "believe it is harmless" and I feel not so comforted by that.

I like rules a lot, and also dislike being cold.

Shelby said...

great blog! I gave you a shout out on my blog this morning.. take care! :)

Jenny! said...

Good to know!

heartinsanfrancisco said...

"Idiopathic" anything just means that the doctors are idiots, or think that you are.

I totally agree about being cold. I hate it, but love the beauty of the changing seasons, and the way snow softens everything.

Your entire list is full of contradictions, which makes you quite fascinating.

Shrink Wrapped Scream said...

Hey, my hubby does all the ironing and sorting (and sometimes even loads the washer). We rarely go to the movies either, we can't afford to once we've dropped the kids and their army of friends off there, but then again it is so rare to get the house to ourselves... (smile)

Rainbow dreams said...

I'm with you on the cold thing - swimming in the sea means I lose all sensation for a very long time!
I like rules, but aren't they made to be broken though?
I enjoyed reading your list :)

Ruth Dynamite said...

I would have to agree: you're not so weird, at least in my book. Maybe weird to some frigid laundry-hating movie-phobic who hates quotes as much as competition, though.

Charlotta-love said...

"He who stands on toilet is high on pot." My absolute favorite quote. Makes me snicker everytime.

velvet said...

Great list! It's fun to find out more about you. :)

I love the whole movie experience, too, but will actually shell out a some money if the particular movie has great cinematography or special effects that would be more impressive on a big screen. Other than that, it's DVD's.

The laundry thing doesn't sound so odd. I've done most of the laundry since my husband shrank my favorite pants to an unwearable state (machine wash, hang to dry). When I hang dress shirts on a hanger, I button the top and second button (keeps the collar straight) and then every other button all the way down so the front of the shirt stays smooth.

Good luck on the numbness thing. Sometimes it's scary how much modern medicine doesn't know.

Shelby said...

thanks for visiting my blog yesterday .. and you're from Mississippi - how cool is that?!
what part?

take care and happy Toosday :)

Elle said...

LOL you sound like my husband!!

thethinker said...

I wish someone would do my laundry for me!

CS said...

Wow. There's not a right or wrong to any of it, of course, but I love these weird things lists. Probably because my whole blog is suffused with weird things about me. I totally agree with you about swimming in cold water, which is why I like the southest coast so much - bathwater ocean. But I do love to ski. Two things on your list got me, though - I can't sleep with the TV on, even if it is in another room. Drives me crazy. And although I think rules are good and necessary for the world to run in a reasonable way, I personally have little use for them.