7 Facts About…Me!

7 facts about myself?  Okay!

BereavedSingleDad nominated me to tell 7 different facts about myself (sorry it took so long!  Thank you for the nomination!) and I thought – why not?

I thought for this piece I would write 7 things about me that I do not believe I have ever told anyone here before to make things more interesting.  I think most of you know that I enjoy long distance running, reading and writing.  That I’m married, have three kids, two on the autism spectrum.   I’m highly sensitive and very introverted.  And that I recently joined a gym.

Here are some things you may not have known about me –

1.      I hate ironing.  Really hate ironing.  But it is one of my weekly chores.  My husband must wear a dress shirt for work and since I would rather use the money that would go to a dry cleaner for something else, I iron.  I hate ironing so much that for a couple of years I would only iron the left arm sleeve of my husband’s shirts.  The left being the visible sleeve in our closet, while the right sleeve stayed tucked in the closet a wrinkled mess.  When I finally admitted to my husband of this dirty little trick I pulled for years, he gave a fist pump and whispered, “I knew it….”

2.      I get asked, “Do I know you?” frequently.  I mean like, all the time frequently.  I have heard it so often that I do not even look at the person before answering, “No.”  I have surmised that I have a very generic look.  Straight brown hair.  Brown eyes.  Not too big, not too little.  Very plain Jane.  In a sense, I guess you could say I have perfected the art of blending in.  I am plain Jane and I look like every other plain Jane out there.  So, I guess ONE OF US has met you before, but not me.

3.      A lot of people may know that I have my master’s degree in clinical psychology – and I worked in community mental health/crisis for many years.  What you may not know is that my last job working FT was not in MH.  I left MH for the most basic reason.  I was burnt out.  Little pay, little time off, no benefits, heavy cases.  After I left MH I went and worked as a sales rep for an international shipping company for heavy weight freight.  In my last job I was implanted in a customer’s location and monitored the importation of their MRI’s from Germany.  I left MH where I had trained and worked for years to do something, I had no training in – and more than doubled my salary overnight.  (Community MH workers are so very important, yet so undervalued – there’s a soapbox post I could someday).

4.      My favorite band is The Pixies.  I loved them in high school and continued to follow Frank Black’s albums when he went solo there for bit.  I even met Frank Black one night after one his shows on his “The Cult of Ray” tour with a few friends.  My friend that was with me that night has passed away since, which makes that moment even more special to me, and in turn, my love for The Pixies.

5.      I used to think my feet were the best things about myself.  Not to brag, I just felt like they were foot model worthy (totally kidding…MAYBE foot model worthy).  Then when I started running farther and farther, they got beat up.  Skin got hard in places, blisters formed and then just hardened into these knobby little creatures on the edges of bones.  My feet even grew a whole size!  Now I happily sit in a men’s size 9W.  And I am still hopeful my three lost toenails will find their way back.  I guess my feet are still special to me, just more in a Neanderthal way.

6.      I am sad to say – I am a back-seat driver to the core.  As a highly sensitive person, I am fully aware the road is a collection of bad drivers.  Drivers looking down at their phones, drivers crossing the lines in the middle of the road, drivers that stop WAY PAST the stop sign JUST to freak me out.  And why the heck would someone even CONSIDER driving with a dog on their lap?  As a driver, I am aware of and mad at them.  As a passenger I am fearful for my life every time the car moves.  I have even ripped the ceiling handle out of one of our cars.  I can’t help it.  MOST OF THE TIME, it’s not you, it’s me (Sorry!).

7.      My hero?  Jesus Christ.  Nuff said.

So, there you have it!  7 things about me that you didn’t know before.  Let me say that was fun, and if anyone wants to do this, my nomination goes to you.  Have fun!