A Mommy Story

Kristi has tagged me to tell the world 5 weird or quirky things about myself. OK, you asked for it:

1. I am not squeamish, and in fact, have a fascination with death. This in no way means I am seeking it out, but I find the rituals and taboos surrounding death very interesting. I love watching the Discovery Health channel. Yes, I watched it all the time for Special Delivery and all the other labor and delivery shows when I was pregnant, but I’m also a big fan of Dr. G, Medical Examiner. She spends her time examining dead bodies to help discover what it was that killed them – how cool is that!? OK, yeah, I said it was weird. Oh, and I love the new TV drama Bones – about a forensic anthropologist solving crimes by using evidence found on a dead person.

2. I know more than the average bear about Tudor and Elizabethan England. After all, that’s what I got my degree in. I also spent 10 years working at the Ohio Renaissance Festival as a performer and historical advisor. It was an amazing time in history – the English Reformation, the first great English Queen, the fabulous clothing! If you ever need help writing a paper on it, I’m a wealth of information. Just don’t take me to see a movie about that time period – you’d get sick of me muttering, “That didn’t happen” and “That’s not quite right” and “What a horrible attempt at costuming!”

3. I love to start new things, but have a lot more trouble finishing them. That’s why I currently have 6 cross-stitch projects that are unfinished (including the ABC’s quilt that was supposed to be for Cordy when she was born), 1 knitting project that may never be finished, lots of baby slings that I need to work harder on selling, and countless books that I have started yet never made it to the end. I guess I get really excited about new things, but then once I’m into them, it’s not as exciting anymore, and so I lose interest. Good thing I’m not that way about parenting.

4. I’m incredibly blase. My husband loves to point this out. It takes a lot to really get me upset or excited or impressed or anything (unless it involves my daughter – any action by her gets a response from me). His best example: when the title of the second Star Wars film was announced (Attack of the Clones), we had a discussion about it with some friends. At one point, our friend Jonn picked up a pair of fabric shears (scissors, for those of you who don’t sew), and pretended to stab himself with them repeatedly, saying “Kill me now!”. Without losing a beat, I said “Jonn, don’t use those. They’re only for cutting fabric.” Apparently everyone found my lack of emotion hilarious. To be honest, fabric shears should only be used on fabric; cutting anything else will dull the blades.

5. Like Kristi, I’m so not a girlie-girl. Nearly all of my favorite outfits involve a pair of jeans and a sweater, sweatshirt, or t-shirt. I only dress up for special occasions, or for the Renaissance Festival, but that’s different (I’m the one in red & gold). Pink is usually not something I can stand. I made it a point to have no pink decorations when putting together Cordy’s nursery. I also rarely wear makeup, and I always ask that my hair is cut in such a way that I can wash it, comb it, and go. Bangs are forbidden.

So, there you go, 5 weird things about me. Now, will anyone keep coming back to read my blog after this, or did I scare everyone away?