I've been tagged...

It appears that I have been tagged by my friend Amy to post 7 random things about myself that no really knows. Um, seven is a big number and I'm not that interesting, but I'll give it a go.

1. I'm a planner. I realized yesterday that if I could, I would plan out the next 10 years. I know it cuts down on the spontaneous part of life, but being spontaneous and making spur of the moment decisions (like trips to Myrtle Beach by myself with the kids) give me mini panic attacks.

2. In honor of Amy's random thoughts, I will admit that I also spend a crazy amount of time planning what I would do in the most dire of circumstances. My fear does not center on drowning in a body of water after my car goes careening off the side of a bridge but on what I would do in a possible hostage situation. I have spent way too much time trying to figure out which child I would rescue first as well as which bedroom would be our safest route for escape. Do I grab AJ first and head to Lexi's room or do I grab Lexi first and head to AJ's room? Do I take a land line phone with me or should I keep the cell by the bed and use it instead? Do I grab the pistol first before the kids or just head for the kids? Should I try to barricade the door or just lock it and try to get out the window? As you can see, I've spent way too much time involved in planning and I still don't have a concrete plan. Honestly, I don't think I'm famous or important enough to make the list of possible hostage targets, but my town is a crazy place and well, you just never know.

3. I am obsessed with spelling errors...not other people's but my own. Very few blog entries go unchecked. Let's put it this way. I'm only on entry number 3 and I've already been to my favorite website twice.

4. I am very bad with names. My most widely used phrase is "No I don't know who that is, but I'm sure I know their face." Rest assured, I do know my children and immediate family. After that, I make no promises. So if word gets back to you that I don't know you even though let's say we work together, don't take it personally.

5. Yesterday as I was driving home to see my family, I realized that I love the mountains. I know that someone will correct me because I don't live in the Rockies, but the Blue Ridge and Appalachian mountains are absolutely beautiful and I truly do feel home in a "mountainous" area. I also believe that it is in your blood to be drawn to certain areas. This groundbreaking theory is based solely on the fact that my people have been in the same region since the dawn of time, okay really about 300 years but that must mean something right?

6. I know that most people who know me know that I don't eat vegetables. But what you don't realize is that I'm really not just being a baby. I absolutely cannot stomach them. Most of the time I want to throw up when I eat them. I actually have a vivid memory from my childhood when a childcare worker made me eat sweet potatoes and I literally threw up on my plate. Now that I'm adult, I mostly have a gag reflex but I will refrain from hurling in front of other people. A lot of it is about the texture but I really don't like the taste either. I do eat a select number of vegetables: corn, potatoes, most beans except for snow peas and green beans, tomato products (pasta sauce...but it must be pureed, salsa...ditto for pureed, ketchup, Campbell's tomato soup) and the occasional green onion. I have become skilled at eating around the vegetables in many dishes and usually tell people it has nothing to do with their cooking and to just ignore the growing mound of vegetables on the plate. This is one reason I love Chinese and Japanese food because I give Larry or AJ my vegetables and I eat the meat. Matter of fact, AJ is my Mexican restaurant buddy because we order fajitas with chicken, beef and shrimp. He eats the shrimp and veggies and I eat the chicken and beef. It is a match made in heaven and it's cheaper too.

7. I talk to myself in public. It was easy to pull off when the kids were younger and with me all the time. It just looked like I was talking to them, but really I was talking to myself. I also sing along to the songs playing in stores. Occasionally I've been known to bust a move as well but only when the aisle is empty. I'm not really sure when the voice in my head became an outside voice, but I don't realize I'm doing it until I see someone looking at me.

I hope you had fun learning about me. I suppose I'm basically a paranoid, anal, picky hillbilly whose inner dialogue is no longer private. By the way, I checked the spelling of 10 words and fought the urge to check more. I would tag my friends to play this game but I can't remember their names.

Disclaimer: I have not passed on my vegetable phobia. Lexi and AJ were both given vegetables at a young age and learned to love them before they realized I don't eat them. You should also know that I prepare veggie dishes, including salads for my husband and children even though I don't eat them. Just doing my part for the veggie growers of America.