Seven Random Facts About Meme...

Okay, folks... I'm succumbing to the evil powers of the meme today. I've been tagged about a zillion times by this one, and have been resisting and reeesiiiisssting, but this morning, my kids are playing beautifully, I've got a few miraculous moments to myself, and I can't think of a dratted thing to write about.

So, you're stuck with me(me).

Here they are, you poor souls. In no particular random order, of course:

1. Sometimes, just to get away from the rest of my life for a little while, I lock myself in my clothes closet with the cordless phone, call my best girlfriend, and we talk for a long, looooong time. Seriously-- it's the ONLY place in this house where I can truly be alone, since the kids have figured out how to jimmy the ancient doorknob-lock so they can even walk in on me when I'm in the BATHROOM. Little criminals...

2. Although I love the process of getting READY to go to a party, I actually can't stand the "attending-the-party" part. Every Christmas, I have a wonderful time dreaming up the dress I'd like to wear, and searching out jewellery, shoes, make-up, etc... But when it comes right down to it, I'm all dressed up and ready to leave, my stomach does a HUGE flip-flop, and an enormous wave of exhaustion washes over me before I've even left the house. I don't THINK this makes me agoraphobic-- because my husband always manages to drag me out the door and put me in the car-- but it DOES make me anti-social, I suppose. I'm just not very good at small-talk, and am unsure of myself in front of new people. Give me a glass of wine and a few friends in front of the fireplace at home any day. To me, THAT is a perfect evening.

3. I am obsessed with being punctual. Not too early, and certainly not late. Punctual. As in, John-Cleese-in-Clockwise punctual. My father instilled in me that being late is one of the ultimate signs of disrespect one can show for other people, and I have carried that value with me all my life. More often than not, my quest for punctuality has been a source of considerable stress-- especially when my children were very tiny and unpredictable. However, my rule-of-thumb was to build about half an hour of buffer-time in to the schedule per child, and it seemed to work pretty well. Now that two of the girlies are over five, I find we only need about a fifteen-minute buffer. When I am alone, I make sure I give myself ten minutes of "idiot time", just to make sure my own a$$ is covered...

4. My medicine cabinet rivals the stock at Shoppers Drug Mart. My children and I are asthmatic, and I learned years ago that it pays to be prepared when it comes to childhood illnesses. Let's face it, most of them strike in the middle of the night, when all the shops are closed, anyway. My mother balked when she first opened the cabinet to find herself a Tylenol (I buy those suckers in bulk), and she began calling my stock-pile "The Pharmacy". It gives me great comfort to know it's all up there, in case we need it... because if there's a nasty germ out there, you can pretty much bet that it's going to strike my kids and me FIRST.

5. When I was in university, I had a very loud, obnoxious alarm clock that made a hair-raisingly shrill beeping noise. I would place it on a shelf across the room from my futon, and my instant reaction to the alarm was to leap up about ten feet in the air, then race over to switch off the highly offensive noise. It wasn't a pleasant way to wake up, but by God, it worked. The sound it made is hard to describe... it wasn't an actual musical "note" (E,G,B,D,F or A,C,E,G, if you have ever played an instrument and know what I mean), it was just ever so very slightly SHARP, or something. Sometimes when I am listening to music-- particularly when I hear musicians tuning up-- someone hits that exact strange pitch, and I find myself involuntarily leaping out of my skin.

6. Although I am a fanatical gardener, I do not own one single house plant. My evil, fourteen-year-old cat used to be a plant chewer, and the results were more than slightly revolting. When we moved to Ontario nearly twelve years ago, I had to give all my plants away... Since our first child was only four weeks old at the time, I never wound up replacing them (I was so exhausted and flabbergasted that I couldn't be bothered with the expense and care of new plants, let alone figuring out which ones were poisonous). This winter, however, I am determined to make a change. Bill (my beloved gardening advisor from Sheridan Nurseries) has suggested that I start by purchasing several pots of orchid plants, and seeing how I get along with them. They're expensive little buggers, but the reward those gorgeous blossoms would give me would make them worth it, I think... I'll keep you posted.

7. Here's a little holiday-themed random fact. When I was growing up, we had two Very Important Cats in our family. The last one passed away in December several years after we three kids had left home, but nonetheless, we all felt her loss sorely. She was always so INVOLVED in family affairs, always such a presence in the old house, and always contributing in that soft, furry way of hers. One of her annual "traditions" was to climb our family's Christmas tree every year... we learned the hard way to wait to decorate until AFTER she had had her fun. That first Christmas we were without her... my family's fully decorated tree toppled over during the night. I am sure in my HEART that her little spirit visited us... and that she just wanted us to know she was still "around".

There you have it, folks, the "Seven Random Facts About Meme".

Hey-- you all still awake out there???

Stop snoring, Mrinz, Shauna, Shawn, Leann, Multi-Tasking Mommy, Sci-Fi Dad and Kim, 'cause TAG!! You're It!!