Saturday, January 21, 2006

A few things about me

I don't know if they're really odd or not, but here are a few somewhat atypical things about me, in response to Kewl Nitrox's tag. I can't think of any real superstitions or obsessive-compulsive-type behaviors or weird habits that I practice, can you?
  • I have an unconscious tendency not to screw down jar lids, but instead just set them on top of the jar. It drives my husband nuts.
  • I didn't do anything at all athletic until my mid-20s when I started running the first time. I rode and showed horses for years before that, but really didn't get much exercise from it. That's it. It bugs me when people claim that they were never athletic, when actually they did organized athletics for years and years.
  • I'm shy, though I can hide it well. I usually hate meeting new people. I hate making phone calls to people I don't know well. "Small talk" drives me nuts. I used to loathe professional-type cocktail parties when I was supposed to be networking. Job interviews are the worst form of hell. The Internet was made for folks like me.
  • I've been somewhere between an agnostic and an atheist for over thirty years now. I think any omnipotent God worth His salt wouldn't be so insecure that He wants people fawning over Him and telling Him how marvelous He is all the time, and if He designed the universe correctly in the first place He would have no need to resort to supernatural magic tricks (aka miracles) to make His point. That said, there is something psychologically reassuring about familiar rituals.
  • Along with that, I'm a huge skeptic about nearly everything. Show me the data.
  • I'm impulsive and make decisions very quickly - sometimes to my detriment. This trait has cost me a huge amount of money - for example, when I bought a house that I had to move out of about six months later when I took a new job in another part of the country.
  • I have a great sense of direction and can read and remember a map quickly. It took me a long time to realize that not everybody does this.
  • Until I was about 35 I was convinced I didn't want kids. For another decade I was convinced that I wouldn't have kids even though I wanted to. Through modern science, at age 45 I had triplets - one kid on 5/9/03 and another two kids on 6/1/03.
  • I'm a packrat, a lousy housekeeper, and have a tendency to be sloppy. Most of the time that really doesn't bother me.
  • My hands are double-jointed.
  • I believe that there is no such thing as a too-big dog, a too-fat cat, or a too-sweet dessert.



Update: I also asked my husband about this. He says I go through museums too fast and don't look at everything. I said that I really do look at everything, I just visually scan very fast and read very fast so I don't have to take as long looking at exhibits as most people. He also said that I'm intimidated by car mechanics. I said I'm not intimidated, I just loathe car mechanics with a passion. Okay, it's pathological avoidance. In my defense, I hate tradespeople who try to gouge me and take advantage of me, and that's happened to me far too many times with car mechanics.

9 comments:

Dianne W. said...

Given that I haven't been to the VA house, your MD house seemed pretty clean, tidy, and not much 'stuff'. I call you on this one!

Linda said...

I do the thing with the lids too and my husband hates it but he ALWAYS leaves his kitchen chair out so I think we're even. I have NO sense of direction so never ask me which way!

Nancy Toby said...

Dianne:
That's because all the boxes that I haven't opened in 3 years are still in the townhouse. We didn't move much stuff to the weekend place for that very reason. :-)

Anonymous said...

OK what is it about us that we can't screw the tops on those jars? I don't know I'm doing it either ;)

I'm with you on the map reading/directions too. I like to think that's not wierd at all. It's everyone else who isn't spatially enabled that is :)

Nancy Toby said...

Oh, I did a little bit of everything in the horse industry! You name it!

Granny said...

I screw on Jar Lids because I've mopped on too many puddles of pickle juice.

The girls don't though.

On the other hand, I have no sense of direction. I have to memorize street names. And never tell me to go west or east. The proper words are left and right.

Sounds like you're doing well. I haven't visited in a while.

Kewl Nitrox said...

Hi, sorry I missed your post after I tagged ya. Was stuck in the hospital with my boy. :(

Consider yourself warned, I am gonna be working on you for pt 4. ;) I like to think of it more as God got everything right except one thing - He loved us so much that He decided to give us "free will". Everything sorta went downhill from there... So finally He had to come Himself 2000 yrs ago to fix things once and for all.

But enuff preaching already, thanks for being a sport and responding to the tag! ;)

Nancy Toby said...

Thanks for stopping by!

Well, I'm a big believer in free will, I'll go that far with you! :-)

Chris said...

That jar lid would drive me nuts too. I pick up all jars by the lid!

Good list! :)