Be Happy Anyway

Be Happy Anyway
From Brave Girls Club

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Can You Believe It?

I have been tagged by one of my not so virtual friends. What do I mean by that? Well, when I started Scrapblogging in February of this year, I never knew what such a simple thing would lead to.

When I first logged in, I was "greeted" by this beautiful slideshow called Silent Ballet by Octamom. I could never have dreamed that 1) I could ever make something as wonderful as this (still don't) and 2) that I would "meet" so many fun and interesting people along the way. But meet people I did. So imagine my surprise when eight months later one of those people has tagged me to tell about my quirkiness. It's amazing that, through technology, I could meet and eventually talk with someone clear around the world (15 time zones away!)

Well, thank you Peggy (Miruspeg) for finding me interesting enough or quirky enough to tag me this week.


Here are seven quirky things about me:

1) At age *mumble mumble* I have had more jobs than most people my age. What is so quirky about that is the variety of jobs that I have held. Originally, I was going to tell the about the jobs and the reasoning why I had them and subsequently left them, but when I saw the magnitude of the task and that I still had to tell you 6 other quirky things about myself, I decided to just give you an abridged list of my many endeavors.
* Twice I worked for a factory that packaged Estee Lauder and Clinique cosmetics.
* Twice I worked retail in a small, now defunct, import store.
* In college, I had the "privilege" of shelving all of those books (no it is not done by elves in the middle of the night.)
* Also in college, I was the Resident Assistant in a women's dormitory.
* Somehow I also became the house keeper to one of our schools alums.
* While attending summer school, I needed extra money, so I went back to work for the library and for the Vice President of Development of the college.
* Upon graduation, I did a stint as a substitute teacher. I looked so young that boys would leave their phone numbers on my podium or come into the classroom and tell me I was going to get in trouble for sitting at the teachers chair. Once a coach, called me out for going down the hallway without a hall pass.
* I moved to New York to find myself and became worked as a file clerk, a bookkeeper and a sales person for a weight loss center (not very thought provoking jobs. Thus my desire to return to grad school.
* In grade school, the call of the library beckoned and became the Librarian's administrative assistant.
* From grad school on I held the positions of Crisis Unit intake processor, aerobics instructor, Adult Literacy coordinator, Administrative Assistant (twice), Community Center Director, Computer Teacher at a private school and Reading/Math teacher for soldiers.
* All of the above positions (over 20) have led me to the place I am today, a fourth grade teacher of gifted students and oddly enough an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay.
WHEW! I bet you thought that would never end.

2) I like strawberries, but I hate strawberry flavored anything to include ice cream, shakes, frosting, candy. I find that there is nothing remotely strawberry flavored in any of them.

3) I love making friends online, but I only have two real friends that I have met in real life. I have come to "know" people in Norway, the UK, Netherlands, Florida, and of course Australia. I think the desire to know people from around the world stems from a bad childhood experience. I used to watch a TV show called "Big Blue Marble" where they would travel around the world and interview kids and try to show us how much alike we all were when it came down to the basics of being kids. Then at the end of the show, they would ask you to send your name and address in with your hobbies and they would match you up with a kid from another country. Well, LISTEN UP "BIG BLUE MARBLE" I AM STILL WAITING!!!!!!

4) Every weekday morning, I get up and turn on my computer, go to the iron and turn it on, log in to my various sites and then iron my pants or skirt, return to the computer and check every email account that I have and every online community that I belong to. If I don't, when I leave for work, I feel this feeling like I have left the coffee pot on.

5) I get strange food obsessions. Currently, I have Progresso Chicken Noodle Soup everyday for lunch at work. It's easy and quick and mindless. It is not high in fat, and it tastes good. Additionally, my day is not complete unless I have had a least one large glass of Bush's Sweet Iced Tea. No other will do. I can leave breakfast with my mother on Sunday morning, where I had a glass of tea, and drive straight to Bush's for a new glass.

6) I hate dirt, yet my house is a wreck. These two actually go hand in hand. Since I was a little girl, I couldn't touch dirt. As an adult, my little phobias about dirt have compounded to the point that I don't like to touch rags or sponges. (Okay, my "green" friends, cover your eyes and say, "LaLaLa" until you get to #7) If I have to clean something, there better be a large roll of towels around because I will need them. I wash dishes with them, if I can't use the dishwasher, I scrub the counters, sinks, sometimes even the floors with them by spraying the floor with cleaner and the standing on several to wipe the entire floor - can't touch a mop. Dust bunnies and dust in general give me the hebejeebies. I actually gag if a dust bunny or cobweb touches my hands, therefore, we have plenty of them, because I can't remove them without running the risk of touching them. Thankfully, my husband gets tired of the dust and gets out the Pledge and begins to clean. I know...that is a little more than quirky, but admitting you have a problem is half the battle. Isn't it?

7) I am the world's biggest starter. What does that mean? I have started more projects than I can count. I currently have two swaps waiting to be mailed, and my closets are filled with half-finished quilts, cross stitch frames, sweaters, bolts of fabric and cans of paint - all of them calling my name. This also contributes to the wreck mentioned in #6. They say (whoever THEY are) that people who don't finish things do so out of a fear of failure or out of such a strong desire for perfection that they know they could never reach, that it is far superior to never finish the project than to complete it and face criticism...I like that explanation better than the idea that I am just a flake. :-)

So to finish this blog off - surprise I finished something - I need to tag seven other people. They include:
My Brother - Closer to Fine
Faded Jeans - Certified Paper Freak
Ima - I Was Just Thinking
Shan - Shan In Japan
RJSaylor- Flipped
BMWGirl - Welcome to the Tucker & Wolek Website
LillyRose - Lillsisslill

Good luck you all, and I look forward to seeing your quirks.

12 comments:

miruspeg said...

Can I believe you wrote so much about the quirky you....YES, YES, YES!.....its very therapeutic isn't it.

I have had about 26 different jobs (I am older than you) but not in as many different fields.

Wow I love strawberries too and can't stand the taste of strawberry flavoured icecream....way too sweet.

There you go again making me smile with your 'Big Blue Marble' story.
I could never image making friends online. I joined Scrapblog to find a place to layout my photos in a classier way....now I have both classy online friends and better looking photos....and a severe addition!

Hey I can relate to the world's biggest starter, I have lots of projects that need my attention, but philosophy is teaching me to live in the present moment so that is my excuse......that and my severe addition to blogging (I'm repeating myself again, I think I am trying to tell myself something)!

Thanks for sharing Annemarie, I can always count on you to put 'a smile on my dial'.
Take care
Peggy

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

This is sooooooooo COOL!!!!!! I'm gonna do this after I post Brookie's birthday!!!! :):):) And I am soooooooooooo WITH U on the strawberries.....love them....hate strawberry flavored things....UGH!!!!! Thanks for this....and LOOK soon for my list!! :):):):):)

Julie :):):):):):)

A Soldier Girl said...

Awesome quirks.. Happy Tagging LOL

Anonymous said...

Big Blue Marble owes you a big apology.

Loved reading about your quirks. Love this tag idea.

I'm off the post my quirks.

Happy Friday!
Sandra/merryheart2

littlemissattitude said...

Loved the tour through your quirks. Some of them sound very, very familiar. :)

I'll ponder my own quirks while I work, so look for my list sometime this evening or so, as I'll play after work...I have to be good and actually do my work today, since I had to take the day off yesterday to have my car worked on.

miruspeg said...

When I said addition, I of course meant addiction and I typed it incorrectly twice.....mmmmm what quirky thing lurks there!

MJ said...

Fun quirks! I'm going to report you to the folks responsible for the "going green" program in your community! LOL!

Roban said...

You are not alone in your quirkiness. I had fun reading them. Your strawberry quirk made me think of another one for me, that I didn't add. I love tomato sauce, spaghetti, and even drink tomato juice at times. But I HATE ketchup. I won't even touch the bottle. Can't even imagine closing the lid. I don't, and I mean absolutely don't, want to touch ketchup. At all!

littlemissattitude said...

Still working of my 7 quirky thing post...it should be up sometime this weekend. Had something come up that put me off schedule slightly.

Sorry.

Jan said...

Hey- loved reading your quirks! It was a fun game to play, I thought. At least....until my daughter found a bunch more quirks for me to list about myself. Check my blog and read her additions!

Jan said...

Annemarie, did you stop my blog to see that my daughter (age 31) augmented my quirks list? Some of them are pretty funny. I'm surprised that, so far, DS hasn't chosen to participate. It's fun to have a family where we feel comfortable lovingly giving each other a hard time. Have a great week!

littlemissattitude said...

I finally got my list up. Sorry for the delay.

It's just that I was knitting all weekend. The husband of one of the ladies that knits in my knitting group passed away last week, and some of us were knitting afghan squares to be put together for an afghan for her. Since I'm a slow knitter (I've only been knitting seriously since about March), it took me a while to get mine finished.

Blog Widget by LinkWithin