Six Weird Things About Me - Meme

Okay, so I've been extremely slow at getting things done. The truth is Cereal Girl tagged me 2 or 3 months ago for this meme and I'm just barely getting it done. Hope this is not going to be indicative of how my whole year goes.

I'm really a very ordinary person with nothing unusual about me at all! Just kidding. My whole family is quite idiosyncratic. Some things we share and others are our own unique weirdness.

1. I like whatever I'm spreading on my sandwich to go out to the edges. Peanut butter and jam - all the way to the edge. When I fist got married my husband would spread a large circle in the middle. That way he gets too much bread in those outer edge bits. Not good!

2. Similar to #1 but enough different to be worth mentioning: I like a sandwich to be put together in the right order. The other day I was taking dh to work. We stopped to get a breakfast sandwich on the way. I went to take a bite and had to turn it around and then around again. They had put the top bun on the bottom and vice versa. I said, "I don't know how to eat this!" He laughed and said, "It's going to be one of those days isn't it?" That's what I call real intimacy - when humor comes from the little crazy things we know about each other.

3. Okay, so this is another food item and still similar to the first two, but again it is its own deal. I like a tiny bit of mustard on a hamburger, hot dog, or meatloaf sandwich, BUT it cannot, let me stress, it cannot go right on the bread. If it does, the mustard soaks in and is too strong. First, goes the ketchup or miracle whip and then the tiny dab of mustard, which is then spread evenly around the bun or bread.

4. I need lots of sleep. I hate it! I need between 10-11 hours a night. That leaves so very little time to get all the stuff done I need to. Last night I slept 14 hours straight - no potty break, drink of water - just deep, deep sleep. I've always wanted to be a person who could get by on 4 hours, heck, I'd settle for 6. Just think how much more reading and blogging I could get done.

5. Another one that goes along with sleep. I went to a sleep study at the University of Utah years ago and was diagnosed with Delayed Sleep Onset Syndrome. That's pretty weird! If left on my own I will not go to sleep until 3, 4 or even 10 am the next day. Once I do fall asleep I will sleep soundly for the above mentioned 10-12 hours. Part of this syndrome includes twitchy legs. Sometimes the twitchy will keep me awake or wake me up, but it usually happens when I try to sleep at a normal bedtime and I'm not tired. I'll lay there for a while and sooner or later my legs will start twitching. So I get up.

6. This one has to do with sleep also. Due to the sleep problem, I have developed fibromyalgia. To help me get the sleep I need, so I don't hurt so badly, I take ambien every night, so I can sleep at the 'right' time and be able to hold down a 'normal' life. I don't know that I said all that correctly. I do not take the ambien for the fibromyalgia, I take it to go to sleep on time, which then helps me get enough sleep that the pain of fibromyalgia is not as bad. Wow! I haven't even got to what I was going to list for #6's weird item. Usually people take ambien and crawl right in bed. Sometimes I do, too, but sometimes I don't go right to sleep, so I get back up. If I have any conversations or do anything during this time, I usually have NO recall of it in the morning. I've read several chapters or even finished a book and the next day I pick up the book, thinking, "oh goody, I get to find out how this ends." No bookmark! Where's my bookmark. I have to go back and reread. So I don't usually read after ambien. My children and husband are always saying, "Don't you remember us talking about this last night?" They joke about my ambien moments.

Okay, this is definitely enough weirdness for now. It certainly makes life interesting to have these fun little, quirky items that set us apart. Gee, I only covered eating and sleeping - just think what I could have come up with if I'd branched out a little. Thank heaven my bowels are regular!! Funny, funny. ;~)

Ten Things I Love That Begin With the Letter "J"

Thanks to Lotus for reminding me of meme's that I've been tagged to do, but that I had let slip my mind. One of those memes was to list 10 things I love about the letter 'J'. Orange Blossom from The Library Ladder assigned me the letter J.

1. I love Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the talents he has given me. Even more, though, I am grateful for the sacrifice he provided that allows me to heal spiritually as well as physically. I can make mistakes and be forgiven. I can do something wrong over and over again, but I can learn to do it correctly and fix it. He has made this possible.

2. I love these people in my family whose names start with J: Jenny, John, Jeff, Julie, Jason, Jordan and Janna.

3. Jokes - the ones that are truly funny and don't hurt peoples' feelings. A good laugh is healthy.

4. Journals - My mother and my husband keep good journals. They are often helpful in identifying pictures and keeping track of important happenings. My book journal is pretty good order, buy my personal one is way out of date. Years ago I decided to keep a journal for each of my four daughters. In it I write letters to them, saying the things I don't get said to them face to face. Unfortunately, I haven't written in them since before 9/11. Maybe that will be my resolution for this year.

5. Journeys - I love to travel. I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip itself. There are times when I'm talking to my mother on the phone and a place is mentioned that causes us to get our road atlases out. Before long we are planning trips over the phone line. I think that's funny, but it's really fun. I love the memories of the trips I've been on. A few of my favorite trip memories are the two we took to Disneyland, the 3 to the Northwest, the one to Boston and the one to Florida. The list of journeys I'd like to take is endless.

6. Several years ago we discovered jicama. It's a mexican vegetable that has white, crunchy meat. It looks like a big, brown radish and it sort of has a radish texture.

7. Johnny jump ups are cute little flowers that show up in my garden right when some of the other flowers are spent. They are related to pansies.

8. Juice - Among my favorite juices are carrot, grape, prickly pear, lemonade and apple. Orange juice gives me heartburn, unfortunately.

9. jpegs - What would we do without those cute little pictures that we can transfer from camera to computer to blogs? Gotta love 'em.

10. And since I'm from Utah, I have to mention jell-o!
My sister-in-law brings an extra suitcase from Virginia just to fill with her family's favorite, peach jello. One of the top selling pins from the 2002 Olympics is the bowl of green jello. Wikipedia has an article and map about the Jello Belt. More jello is sold in Utah than anywhere else in the world.

If you would like to do this meme, just let me know in the comments and I will assign you a letter.

You Know You're From Utah When...

You Know You're From Utah When...

Green jell-o with carrots mixed in doesn't seem strange. You can pronounce Tooele. The U is not just a letter - Neither is the Y. You have actually eaten funeral potatoes. You've gotten both heat and frost burns off your car's door handle in the same month. You are not surprised to hear words like "Darn, Fetch, Flip", "Oh, My Heck" and "Shoot". Your tulips get snowed on three times after they come up and twice more after they bloom. Hunting season is a school holiday. The largest liquor store is the state government. You can go skiing and play golf on the same day. 30% humidity is muggy and almost unbearable. Somewhere in your family tree is a polygamist. You know the difference between a 'Steak House' and a 'Stake House'. The elevation exceeds the population You've broken down on the highway and somebody stops to help you You can see the stars at night You have a bumper sticker that says "Families are Forever." You were an aunt or uncle before you were three. Your spouse's mother was pregnant at your wedding. You have more children than you can find biblical names for. Your family considers a trip to McDonald'd a night out.. Your first child was conceived on your honeymoon. You feel guilty when you watch Monday Night Football. Your kids believe the deer hunt is a national holiday. You drink Coke from a brown paper bag. You consider a temple recommend a credit reference. At least two of your salad bowls are at the homes of neighbors. You believe that you must be 18 or older to order coffee at a restaurant. You wonder why fire truck drivers honk when you drive 35 mph in the left lane on the freeway. There is a similarity between a ward basketball game and the L.A. riots. You think Jack Daniels is a country western singer. You negotiate prices at a garage sale. You can make Jell-O salad without the recipe. You've heard about BYU football in a testimony meeting. You have two gallons of ice cream in your freezer at all times. Your father-in-law thinks Ronald Reagan was a liberal. A member of your family wrote in Lavell Edwards for president in the last election. Cars in the slow lane are traveling the fastest; cars in the fast lane are traveling the slowest; cars in the middle lanes are always trying to exit. Sandals are the best-selling shoes. You have to ask for the uncensored version of "Titanic." Hotel rooms all have the Book of Mormon. You buy your wardrobe at the local grocery superstore. You learn about the Mormon Church by taking history in elementary school. You live in a state where Democrats always come in third place, unless a zoo animal is running. Then they come in fourth. You're on your own if you are turning left. Schools stay open, even if two feet of snow falls overnight, but close for the opening of hunting season. People wear shorts and T-shirts if the temperature rises above 32 degrees. There is a church on every corner, but they all teach the same thing. The most popular public transportation system is a ski lift. People drive to Idaho (or Arizona) to pick up a gallon of milk so they can play the lottery. In-state college football rivalries are bigger than the Super Bowl. Beer drinkers don't shop on Sunday. You don't have to breathe cigarette smoke until you walk outside a building. The cost of living rises while your salary drops. Every driveway has a minivan and a pickup truck. When you buy a new vehicle, cigarette lighters are optional equipment but gun and ski racks are standard. Every time a new family moves into your neighborhood, the local elementary school has to hire a new teacher. Your paycheck has an additional 10 percent deduction. "Temple recommends" is acceptable identification for cashing a check. More movies are filmed in your town than in Hollywood. You've never had a Mormon missionary knock on your door. Your neighbors complain about where they live, yet refuse to return to the state they moved from. You make a toast with red punch at your wedding reception. You have more raw wheat stored than some Third World countries. Your idea of a good time is playing Pictionary in the cultural hall. Your idea of a wild party is a six pack of Pepsi and a PG-13 movie. You and all your friends come to your mother for a haircut in her kitchen. You measure Kool-Aid by parts per million. You think "You're a 10 cow wife" is a compliment. You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Utah.

(I get most of these jokes!)

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