10 Surprising Things About Me

I'm FINALLY getting around to doing this.  I have so enjoyed reading all of your posts!  I for the life of me can't remember who tagged me so I'm just going to say Leila since she sort of tagged everyone at the end of hers. :)

Here we go...

1.  I am so unbelievably afraid that I am going to burn my house down.  I think it stemmed from two things.  When I was in 5th grade my dad accidentally left the oven on with chicken in it and went to bed.  At around 3 am I woke up to the fire alarm and a house filled with smoke.  Scared me half to death!  Fortunately the fire was contained to the oven.  Then, when I was in high school my step-sister left her flat iron on while sitting on a chair in her room.  It caught on fire of course.  My dad smelled the smoke but couldn't get into her room because she apparently locked it from the inside.  He had to bust it down and got in just in time to see flames shooting up to the ceiling.  Ever since we got our own house when we got married I have been more than a little paranoid.  I check all the plugs before I leave to make sure my flat iron, cell charger, air purifier, toaster, etc. are un-plugged.  I also check the stove and oven (even if I haven't used them).  I do this several times before I leave.  Sometimes I can't remember if I checked or not and have driven all the way home to make sure.  It's really crazy!  I probably need professional help. :)

2.  I love love love country music.  It's pretty much the only thing I listen to.  I've even got dh into it.  Shhhh!  Don't tell anyone. :)

3.  I'm dyslexic.  Fortunately it isn't severe enough to affect my reading.  However, numbers and I don't really get along.  I'm always reversing them.  I also can't spell to save my life!  Spell check is my friend.  I try to proof read things but usually I can't see the mistake either.

4.  I hate to drive!  Absolutely hate it!  I try to avoid it whenever possible.  It's not easy to avoid though.  When dh and I go anywhere together I try to make him drive.  It usually works.  Last May when we went to a wedding in North Carolina I had to drive a bit.  Not fun!  I just don't do well with all the crazies out there.

5.  I have night blindness.  That definitely increases my issue with driving!  I was prescribed glasses but they didn't help at all.  My great grandmother also had the same issue.  My doctor said there is sometimes no reason for it except possibly genetics.  I definitely don't drive anywhere far or unfamiliar in the dark.

6.  I used to be a super picky eater.  I lived off of chicken fingers, french fries, corn, black-eyed peas, and pasta for most of my life.  I was surprisingly super skinny too.  After I met dh my taste buds slowly started to change.  Now I eat just about anything.  Except most fish.  I never got into seafood.  It taste like dirt to me.

7.  I am super frugal.  I very rarely buy anything unless it's on sale or I have a coupon...or preferably both.  I grew up this way and got out of the habit when I first got married.  DH grew up a little more "well off" than I did and thought this was strange.  Some time back when we started all my treatments and were trying to save for an impending surgery I was working on getting with Doctor Hildgers I got back into my old habits, only better.  (Kaitlin, I will have the post of how I cut my grocery bill in half up by the end of the week.  Promise!  It's almost done.)

8.  I can't sleep without the room being totally pitch black and with our air purifier on.  I started the white noise thing when I was really really young and my parents would argue at night.  It helped to drown out the noise.  Now I like it because we have a new construction house so it still makes settling noises that creep me out.

9.  If I could pick any talent to have it would be singing!  I love to sing but I promise, you don't want to listen.

10.  I was almost kidnapped by a rapist a few years ago.  It was December 17th 2005 (the year before dh and I got married).  I was house sitting for a friend who was in Ireland.  I had to be at work at 6am.  I woke up too late to make coffee so I decided to stop at the 7-11 near work to get some.  This wasn't the best area of town but I had stopped at this particular store several times and began to feel comfortable there.  I went in and poured my coffee.  I had this horrible gut feeling that was making me sick so I decided to forgo the cream and sugar and just pay and get out of there.  Just as I stepped out of the door I was confronted by a man who was asking me for a ride.  I told him no that I had to get to work.  I tried to walk past him but he had me between him and the door.  He begged me and said that he just needed to go to the "Can't Remember the Name" Apartment Complex.  I lied and told him I was going to opposite direction but knew this was strange because the complex he was speaking of was not even a block away.  I could see it from the store.  He said he was really tired and had been walking for several hours.  Let me just point out that this wasn't a creepy looking guy that would ever raise flags just passing in the street.  He was a fairly good looking, well dressed, rather young man.  I said to him very firmly to please move so I could leave.  He then grabbed my arm and begged me saying he would give me $500 if I took him where he needed to go.  I looked back into the store hoping to get some help from the guy behind the counter only to have him quickly look away.  I then took my hot coffee and splashed it in his face.  Fortunately I forgot to lock my car so I quickly jumped in a sped off.  I got to work and was so shaken up that I collapsed the second I got into my office.  My boss tried to convince me to call the cops but I was young and stupid.  I regretted this decision two days later.  On my birthday I saw a picture of this same man on the news.  He had been arrested for raping several women in that same complex and the one next to it.  Fortunately they caught him quickly but it really made me wish I had called the cops.

11.  Number 10 brings up a number 11.  Since the above incident I do not go anywhere alone when it is dark or if it will be dark when I leave.  Call me paranoid but that call was just way too close!