Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Freakish Schtuff...

One of my favorite bloggers, His Girl tagged me for a Six Random Quirks About Me meme. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the meme. Anybody else wonder what in the world meme stands for??? BUT, since I like HisGirl so much, and since I sorta/kinda already wrote about some of my quirks freakish characteristics in this post, I'll just cut and paste and roll with it! I kinda think I'm supposed to post the rules too, but you know me-- the rebellious rulebreaker. You can link here to read the rules.

Here's my list:

1. I only eat fruit on an empty stomach. I have to wait at least 3 hours after eating anything else before attempting to put a piece in my mouth. The exception might be a salad with fruit in it, or dessert. Like peach cobbler or strawberry shortcake. But I never eat just plain fruit as my dessert. Just can't do it.

2. I suffer from a severe phobia of germs. I wash my hands dozens of times each day. I disinfect my kitchen sink and countertops daily. I don't use sponges and I run my dish-scrubbers through the dishwasher every day. Hotel rooms scare me too. I wear flip-flops in the bathroom/shower and my slippers in the room and I keep my toothbrush standing upright in one of the glasses by the sink. My kids have never seen the play area at the mall (we take creative shortcuts) because I'm deathly afraid of the germs lurking there. I wipe down the shopping carts at the grocery store, and thank goodness more stores are providing antibacterial wipes these days. I won't flush my toilet without the lid down AND my toothbrush put away inside the medicine cabinet. Public restrooms are another nightmare altogether.

3. I drink out of the same cup every single day. If I forget to run it through the dishwasher, I'll wash it rather than use another one. It's a purple MOPS cup that I've had probably 6 years. It was a gift to me for serving on the MOPS steering committee. I like it because it is insulated and it has a handle. I need a cup with a handle, especially in the winter, because I don't like touching a cold glass when I drink a cold beverage.

4. I clean my kids' ears out with Q-tips almost daily. Two of my kids have the grossest, brownest ear wax you've ever seen. It accumulates on the outside of their ear canals and I just can't stand looking at it. So I clean it. I'll see one of them and say, "Honey, go get me 2 Q-tips, and they come back and stand there obediently while I clean 'em up. But they like me to "wik" the Q-tip first, which means they want me to moisten the Q-tip. By licking it. I've been doing this since one of those children was very small and couldn't pronounce the "L" sound, replacing it with a "W" instead, and we've just sorta kept on saying that with the ear/Q-tip thing. So I "wik" it first, then clean. Pretty gross, huh?

5. This one is probably what most people would say qualifies my freakishness. I DO NOT LIKE CHOCOLATE. Not at all. Even the smell makes my stomach turn. Most people simply can't understand this. I'm not sure I do either. At one point in my life I liked it. I remember going to the corner grocery store and buying Marathon bars--the foot-long, rope-shaped candy bar with caramel inside. I remember making Hershey kiss trees at Christmas with my grandmother and gorging myself on stolen kisses. And breaking Kit-Kat bars in half to share with my sister. But somewhere along the way I stopped liking it. I'll eat Oreos from time to time and just last week I had a Klondike bar, but for some reason that doesn't really have the same chocolate taste as say a Hershey bar. White chocolate is a different story for me though. I do like that. I don't really crave it the way chocolate lovers crave chocolate, but I don't usually turn it down either. The best creation? White chocolate Reeses' Peanut Butter cups. They are delicious!!!

6. I leave notes for John in the shower. Hairy notes to be precise. I shed constantly, so I take strands of my hair and spell out things like, "Hey, J, I love you" or "Hi honey". So embarrassing to tell you this. I don't think he's ever actually seen one of my notes though. My hair is naturally curly, and when it's wet, it bends and shapes itself easily into any form, but when it dries, it gets all crazy and boing-y (made that word up myself) and my lovely message gets all messed up. Does it get any more freakish than that? Obviously, I have too much time on my hands.

Okay...I'm not tagging anyone, but if you think you have quirky/freakish things you'd like to share about yourself, by all means do so, and then come back here and leave me a link to your post.

21 comments:

His Girl said...

oh! i love that you bared your entire quirky self with no reservations!

wow! each one, though truly quirky, makes me giggle in delight that God made you so fearfully and wonderfully!

thanks for playing!

Gretchen said...

Hair notes! I love it. :) I love that hair notes don't freak you out, but germs do. And because you like Reeses (any type of Reeses will do), we can still be friends. ;)

I'm an earwax attacker, too. And it's all I can do NOT to pop every one of my son's zits. I know...it's a sickness. I'm taking medication...

Susan said...

I guess you will never enter my German Chocolate Giveaway. I will have to do something else to tempt you;)

Ha, fun the read the quirks!

Kelly said...

I'm pretty obsessed with ear wax. Have you ever heard of ear wax candles? They have them at health foods stores (or used to). My old roommated and I loved them. You stick them in your hair and light the other end with fire and it sucks out all the wax and then you open it up and can see all the wax. We swore we heard so much better after we would do them.

Leah Belle said...

I am obsessed with clean ears too. I clean mine all the time and my kiddos' frequently. We "wik" around here too!

Amy said...

With Easter right around the corner so are the white chocolate reeses eggs!

Amy said...

With Easter right around the corner so are the white chocolate reeses eggs!

Stephanie Kay said...

Does that mean you don't enjoy a mug of hot chocolate?!

Teri H said...

I like chocolate (can't say that I love it), but you are 100% right about the white chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups! Oh my...

I'm new to your blog and a fellow transplanted Coloradan... we've lived here 19 years... and will move back to Texas in a couple of years.

Teri in CO

Sing4joy said...

Well, my MeMe wasn't nearly as interesting as yours! I hopped over from HisGirl, and had a great time visiting! Thanks!

http://sing4joy-southernliving.blogspot.com/2008/02/its-quirky-meme.html

Jessica said...

I am laughing my butt off at you spelling things in the shower!! I LOVE it! That is hysterical! And.. as a teacher, God bless you for cleaning out your kids' ears! I need to do that during class so they will "listen up!!" : )

*carrie* said...

Mer,

You're right--this IS a quirky list! =) Thanks for sharing.

Teri H said...

Thanks for stopping and "visiting" me on my blog! I'd love to get together with you ladies! That sounds like FUN! Yes, that was the Denver Post... I live in Arvada...

Teri in CO

Unknown said...

That was so funny! And brave too!
kellie

Kate said...

haa haa haa You crack me up.
How brave of you to share all that stuff...I don't think I could ever do a quirky post, but I sure enjoyed yours.

Deidre said...

I can completely relate to #2 - but, #5 makes you 'not normal' :)

Girl Raised in the South said...

Very, very interesting list! I'm not terribly touchy about germs, but who can stand a public restroom - the absolute worst!

Angie @ Flibbertigibberish said...

You have some GUTS for posting some of that stuff, Meredith! LOL! I love that list and I love you.

I also hate holding cold cups, but never thought about a handle. Hmmm. Instead, anytime we leave a fast food restaurant with drinks, I need to have mine wrapped in a napkin (or a diaper, as hubs calls it) because I don't like the coldness or condensation. Same thing if I'm eating my pint of Ben and Jerry's. I'll have to get a cup with a handle! Brilliant!

The hairy notes thing is the funniest thing I've read in a long time. I have a friend who is hair-a-phobic and would probably get sick just reading it. I, however, think it's downright hilarious!!!

elaine@bloginmyeye said...

I'm so not believing that hair note thing. I think this requires photo documentation! Get that 11 y.o. working on a shot with your new cell phone. (And I'm with you on the white chocolate thing...all the way baby!)

Jenn said...

Wow your list was great! I shed like crazy in the shower maybe I should start leaving J. notes? :o)

I clean my own ears out daily but my boys do not like me to touch theirs! I have to agree with Kelly the ear wax candles are amazing and really relaxing.

Anonymous said...

Wow! You're brave! I'm surprised about the hair messages considering your other quirks. My hubby likes me to do his ears...is that gross?

A friend shared your chai post with me. I favor the starbucks iced chai!