10 weird things about me

A little while ago, Jane tagged me for the 10 Weird Things meme, so without further ado:

1. When I was a kid, I was watching Believe It or Not (which regularly freaked me out), and saw something about fire ants being able to kill a small dog by biting it to death, and while I knew that there weren't any fire ants in New England, I was also convinced that the pile of dirt created by my parents planting a tree was actually a fire ant nest and that they would bite me and I would die.

2. Fluorescent overhead lights freak me out and I never turn on the ones in my office (I have a desk lamp instead, which doesn't do a very good job. I need a better lamp...).

3. I went through a phase when I was a little kid of eating Cocoa Puffs. With sugar on top.  (Although I'm not sure that this is so much weird as just plain disgusting.)

4. I have to go to sleep every night in the same position (flat on my back, pillow under my knees). Once I'm asleep, I switch to sleeping on my side. But I must must must start out on my back, or I can't fall asleep. And my toes must be covered.

5. More on the sleeping: LDH and I each have our own bedding, despite sharing the same bed. He's always cold, I'm always hot, so we just each have our own quilts/comforters and pile up the excess in the middle.

6. And yet more on sleeping: I can sleep on virtually every form of transportation. (I say virtually as I suspect I wouldn't do very well on a motorcycle. Planes, trains, automobiles, though - all good.)

7. I like to eat my breakfast cereal with a dessert spoon, rather than with a regular spoon.

8. I am allergic to cats, dogs, horses, hogs, cockroaches, oak, aspen, ragweed, at least four or five more trees and grasses whose names I'm forgetting right now, and dust mites. In one allergy test, the only things I didn't react to were strawberries, peanuts, and chocolate. I expressed my relief at the latter and my allergist said, "Yes, but chocolate probably makes your headaches worse." Thanks, Mr. Downer McDownerson.

9. When I was little, I didn't like my name and so I made up another one I liked better (full name, not just first name) and pretended it was really my name.

10. I don't really like drinking hot liquids - I always let stuff cool down to semi-lukewarm.

I have no idea who has/hasn't done this one, but if you haven't and are looking for blog content, go for it!

Comments

[StyleyGeek]

Snap on number 6 and 10!

[rageyone]

Um, New Kid, don't you have cats? You must have a mild allergy to them, huh?

[Dr M]

What's the difference between a dessert spoon and a regular spoon.

[Jane]

Heh, I'm allergic to cats, too (and I have cats)!

I hope you fired that doctor from #8.

Thanks for playing along!

[Wegie]

I see nothing wrong with number 5. Hubby is not only usually a lot warmer than me, but he also copes with that by being the duvet hog who rolls over on top of the duvet (sorry if that's TMI ;-)

Having gone to a wedding in the place that I think you did your year abroad, I can see that number 10 would have been incredibly useful.

And when you say "dessert spoon" do you mean those smaller size jobs that you get for your dessert in restaurants?

[comebacknikki]

#5: M & I have our own bedding, too. M swears that I steal the covers, so he insists that we each have our own comforters. :)

[Liz]

The separate bedding thing is a good idea--I may try it at my house (like you, I'm always hot and my husband is always cold).

[Otto Pohl]

You build up an immunity to fire ants. Their venom is phosphoric acid by the way. The first time I was bit I had big painful welts and hives. By the fifth time a couple months later I barely felt it. Southern Arizona is positively crawling with fireants and when the new queens, the winged ones, come out it is nearly impossible to avoid being bitten. And yes if you get bitten too many times before you build up immunity the reaction can kill you. Historical accounts mention people being killed this way by the Apaches.

[What Now?]

I chimed in to say "me too" on #10, but now I'm thinking about fire ants!

[New Kid on the Hallway]

See, because fire ants are scary! (Thanks for the actual info, Otto, as opposed to my childhood memories of a tv show!)

And yes, a dessert spoon is smaller than a regular spoon.

And also yes, I'm allergic to the cats and I have three of them. What can I say? Allergists love me. I'm on a lot of drugs. ;-)

[Otto Pohl]

You are welcome. But, I made a mistake above. Apparently, itt is formic acid in the red ant venom rather than phosphoric acid. I am an historian not a scientist is my only excuse. At anyrate the first time you get bit it hurts a lot and for days.

[Mel]

Fire ants *are* scary. And not everyone builds up immunities -- my reactions were progressively worse on successive stings. (if you are sensitive to bees/wasps etc I'd be careful.)

[kfluff]

Let me guess: "Downer McDownerson" was not your preferred imaginary name, right? (I'm just trying to get us off the fire ants idea...)