I have seen this meme going around in the last week or two, so I thought I would see if I could dredge up a few nuggets that may never have made it to the blog before.

1.)  I may actually have a phobia of people dressed in animal costumes (aka muppetphobia).  I was once attacked by a Barney when I was in high school and it left me scarred.  I used to have a show on the Plushies and the Furries on my tivo (which was used to horrify every single houseguest we had for several years in a row–click that link, I dare you!) and there is a convention of people who dress up in costumes to have sex.  Every time they show the clip of the normal person working at the hotel desk who had to check in all the people wearing costumes, I would imagine it was me and have a panic attack.  As you might imagine, amusement parks and their characters are my worst nightmare.  Seriously, what is appealing about those freakishly big heads?  As soon as someone puts one on, they act in unpredictable ways.  And they don’t talk, they just gesture.  And they try to hug you or shake your hands!?!   BACK OFF FREAKS!

2.)  I can not sleep wearing socks.  I get into bed every night with socks on, then I take them off and leave them laying under the sheets at the foot of my bed.  I also have a weird sort of ritual in which I toss and turn in a specifically ordered positions before I can fall asleep.  This is probably why my sheets get worn out near my feet.

3.) Sensory issues run in my family.  I can’t stand the sound of metal scraping metal or teeth or anything hard.  My sister can’t touch wooden spoons or bear the sound of wooden spoons scraping a bowl.  If we have to cook together, we have to use a rubber or silicone spatula and ceramic or plastic bowls.  This makes preparing holiday meals rather challenging.  (The sensory stuff runs on my dad’s side of the family.  My dad claims that cotton balls and flannel cause him pain.  My mom loves flannel pajamas and sheets and has been suffering without them for the last 35 years.)  I also dispise the feeling of most synthetic fabrics: polyester, nylon, spandex.  YUCK.  Give me cotton or wool any day.

4.) I have very long fingers.  My fingers are at least a knuckle longer than Mr. A’s (though his fingers are rather stubby for a man).  While the rest of my body is rather stocky, my fingers remain very boney.  They are one of the few parts of my body I have always liked. 

5.) I think I am losing my hearing.  I used to go to raves and dance directly in front of 5 foot tall speakers every weekend.  I was too much of a moron to wear earplugs.  Now, I am afraid I am going to need hearing aids in the next few years.  If I could go back in time and kick my 20 year old ass, I would.

6.) When I was 16, I totalled two of my own cars and two belonging to someone else.  (One single car accident, one three car accident which sent 7 high school kids to the hospital.)  In the first accident which happened 6 days after I received my license, my sister and I hitchhiked home and left the car buried in an embankment with the doors wide open, keys in the ignition and radio blaring.  When we got back, there were many police officers looking for our bodies which they assumed has been thrown from the car.  The second accident happened on Valentine’s day when I came over a hill and two cars were stopped on the other side.  I was driving too fast and not paying attention because I was tying shut a blown-up rubber glove from my first-aid kit (to add to the collection of ballons stuck in the crack of my car window), singing “good day sunshine” and laughing hysterically about the spanish langauge sesame street valentines we had handed out at school that day.   And I had already hit one of the two other cars in the accident that afternoon in the school parking lot.   My children will not be allowed to drive without an  adult in the car until they are 18.