Quirky, Quirky Me

My sister, Kristina, (bless her soul) tagged me. The task: to narrow down my quirkiness to just six items. That is such a challenge. But because Kristina is such an avid commenter on my blog, I will try to do as she requested.

1. Books. I love books. I have books ALL OVER. I probably have more books than some small town libraries. And I can't bring myself to part with any of them. I have spent much time pondering my issues with parting with books. I actually think it stems from my time overseas. We lived in Taiwan and China for 6.5 years before the age of the internet, cheap long distance calling, cell phones or text messaging. Long distance phone calls only happened once a month with family. My only solice came from letters I received. (And Linde wrote me EVERY. SINGLE. WEEK.) I had very little access to information from people or books (at least that I could understand). I couldn't just go to the library and get something to read or head on over to the local newstand and read People. There was no TV. And there was only one English radio station in Taiwan. In China, there was 0. I think it left me with a deeply instilled fear of being without beloved books. Therefore, I cannot part with any of them. I never want to be without books again. EVER.

2. I can't just read one book at a time. I always have AT LEAST four books going at the same time---all of different genres. I usually am reading something about health and/or fitness, something fiction from an LDS author, a non-fiction Church book, something on the pop-culture list, and something on scrapbooking.

3. I never wanted to be done with college. If they would have let me, I would have stayed in college for three or four degrees. Matthew could never understand this until he went back for his MBA. His undergraduate was a double major in Chinese and Engineering and he never veered from the required classes. I told him that was the difference with my experience. I took all sorts of interesting and fun classes. (And my major was a ton easier, mind you....) He loved his MBA.

4. Speaking of college....I'm going back this fall, after 20 years! I just signed up for some classes at the local community college, Joliet Jr. College. I am taking a semester-long photography class, and three month-long classes---Fundamentals of Graphic Design, Fundamentals of Photoshop, and Advanced Techniques in Photoshop. I can't wait!

5. Sundays used to be my favorite day of the week. Since moving here, it is my hardest day of the week.

6. And last, but definitely, not least, I can't eat sugar in the morning. I can (and unfortunately do) eat sugar in the afternoon and at night (what's better than a big bowl of ice cream while watching "The Biggest Loser"????) I can't even really eat breakfast cereal any more. It just does not make me feel good. (After 12:00 noon, sugar ALWAYS makes me feel GREAT.) In the morning, I have a lovely shake that I make that I love. It's got rice protein powder, ground flaxseed, Omega 3 and 6 oil, almond butter, agave nectar, frozen berries, almond milk and water. I wish my morning sugar adversion would last all the day long and into the night. I would be so much better off!

7. One more for good measure....If there are any typos, mispellings, or bad grammar in books, magazines or newspaper articles, I will find them. Most books have at least one error in them.

I now tag any of my cousins who are reading this, as well as Julie W. and Julie B.