Playing Catch-Up Tag

Throughout this month, while I've been experiencing the blogging blues, I was tagged a couple of times. The people who tagged me have probably given up on me completely by now, but I said I would do it! So here you are, the moment you've all been waiting for...more random Sheri facts! *wild applause and screaming...or not*

For my first tag, which was bestowed upon me by my friend, Brooke, (who probably completely forgot she tagged me by now) I shall attempt the amazing feat of coming up with seven random facts/quirks about myself. The real trick is coming up with things I haven't already revealed in previous posts. So if there are a couple of repeats, I apologize.

Fact#1 - This is one I've mentioned before, but as Brandon and I just had a slight argument about it yesterday, I'm going to talk about it again. I am a laundry weirdo. I honestly can't bear to have anyone do it but myself. As an example of this fact, I shall now post a small snippet of the strained conversation Brandon and I had.

Brandon: Do you want me to work on the laundry while you're out tonight?

Me: No, I'll just finish it up tomorrow.

Brandon: Well, you said that yesterday and you still didn't get much of it done today. I just don't want you to get behind, so why don't I do some of it since I'll just be at home tonight?

Me: No, just let me do it. I just have a certain way I like it to be done and, sorry, but it will really bug me to have you do it.

Brandon (getting exasperated): Well why don't you just teach me how you like it done then I can help you?

Me (getting equally exasperated): If you want to help me around the house, there are several other things you can do. Laundry is my thing, and it can wait until tomorrow. Just let me do it!

This tense conversation went on a little bit longer, but you get the idea. My poor husband, really. How does he put up with me? I really don't know why, but it's just something I need to do myself, without any help. Seriously, I didn't even like my own mother to do my laundry when I was growing up. I think I started doing it myself by the time I was 13. Just one of those things.

Fact#2 - I love books! I really, really do. And whenever I decide to read a new book, I can't stand to just borrow it from someone or check it out from the library. I have to OWN it. And even if I didn't like the book, I can't bear to part with it. You don't want to know how much money I spend every year on books. Come to think of it...I don't want to know either. We have one large bookshelf in our house and every inch of it is covered with books. It's quite pathetic actually. I expect it to collapse any day now. It's my dream to one day have my own personal room lined with bookshelves and filled with hundreds of books. I would love to have my own little library. I'll even check them out to anyone who wants to borrow them! (With a hefty late fee, of course...)

Fact#3 - I may not be the breadwinner around here, but I am the bill payer. And it is my one other thing that I simply can't handle anyone else doing or helping me with. I really get anxiety every time Brandon will be checking out my payment calendar or glancing at the bank statement. It's not like I spend a bunch of money that I shouldn't (except on books, shhhhh...) I just don't like the idea of the finances being handled by anyone but me. Brandon really just needs to go to work, earn the money, and look the other way.

Fact#4 - I don't like water much. Don't get me wrong, I do like to drink it, but I don't like getting my hands wet. I'm really not much into swimming, I'm definitely not into boating (much to my husband's dismay), and even when I take a bath I keep a little hand towel on the edge of the tub to dry my hands off with once I get settled. When I do the dishes, I have a long handled brush I use so that my hands can stay nice and dry. When I shower,(which, despite my water aversion, I promise I do every day) it's all business. I get in and out as soon as I can. Now don't get all grossed out, I promise I do wash my hands on a regular basis. I just quickly dry them off as soon as I'm done.

Fact#5 - This isn't so much a quirk I have now, as one I used to have. I still shake my head in disgust that I was ever like this. I used to save EVERYTHING. Someone be my witness...Katie, Sarah, Brandon Fessler...you guys know! For example, a couple of years ago, (after I had overcome my desire to save everything) I decided to go through a big bin I had of "scrapbook stuff" aka GARBAGE. I found like 20 napkins. Nope, the napkins weren't cool looking and didn't contain any cool designs or sayings. Most of them were just plain, old, white napkins. Why was I saving them? I have NO idea. I'm sure someone told me to save it, or perhaps I wiped my buttery mouth on it while at the movies with a hot date. Who knows. I used to save all kinds of dumb stuff like that. That dumb bin was filled with movie ticket stubs, old scraps of paper, nasty old wristbands, rocks, leaves, pictures of nothing...you name, I saved it. I filled the garbage up good that day and I consider myself quite cured of saving needless junk.

Fact#6 - Back in my dating years, I never really dated anyone for more that just a month or two. Every time things started getting serious with someone I was seeing, I would get really bad anxiety and completely lose interest in the relationship. It was horrible, because most of the guys I dated were really great guys. But I seriously couldn't help it. I would just freak out for some reason. I never had a steady boyfriend. My friends used to tease me that I would never get married because I would always freak out before I could ever get that serious about anyone. But I always believed the opposite. I believed that when I met the right guy, I would just never get that horrible anxious feeling. It would just feel right. And sure enough, after more than 2 months of spending every spare moment with Brandon, I still couldn't get enough of him. That's when I knew he was the right guy for me. And funny enough, even with him I got that awful feeling the first time we dated. It took the second time around (a full year later) for me to feel at peace and in love with him.

Fact#7 - I am a firm believer in journal keeping. When I was in 3rd grade, my teacher gave us all spiral notebooks and encouraged us to start keeping a journal. I filled that little notebook right up and immediately bought another...and another and another. When I reached high school, I really started moving up in the world and started buying the fancy hard cover kind. I have a big stack of journals locked away in a secret place I'll never reveal. Because I think I would burn them all before I let anyone read them (which kindof defeats the purpose of keeping a journal, I know). It's just quite embarrassing. Mostly my journals (before I got married anyway) are full of morbidly melodramatic stories of fights with friends and boys I had crushes on. Now that I've started a blog, I really haven't been great about keeping a handwritten journal, but this can count now...can't it?


Now, as if the novel posted above wasn't way too much to read in the first place, allow me to move onto tag #2, handed down to me by my buddy Eric. With tags like these, I tend to like to avoid the obvious answers of family, friends, or religion. So as a disclaimer, know that if I did include these things, they would have most definitely topped what I chose to list instead.

Joys
1. Reading a good book, I can't get enough
2. Good Mexican food
3. Nice, quiet alone time. I don't get to be alone enough.


Fears
1. Spiders. Harmless or not, they seriously creep me out.
2. Large bodies of water. Another reason why I simply don't enjoy the whole boating scene.
3. Salespeople. I avoid them at all costs.


Goals
1. Write a book. I don't think it's in me to ever come up with a good enough storyline to actually accomplish this one. But I would love to do it.
2. Run at least a half-marathon without sustaining any serious injuries.
3. Develop healthy habits. I am the worst with this. I am a big fast food eater and soda pop drinker. I wish I was one of those people who just loved and craved healthy foods. It's something I'll really have to work on.

Current Obsessions
1. Books, obviously, since I haven't shut up about them through this whole post.
2. The scale. I don't really get too riled up about any weight I've lost or gained, I just really like seeing how much I weigh everyday. A couple of weeks ago I finally had to put it up at the top of my closet to keep myself from hopping on it all the time. Now I just rely on my Monday weigh-ins for the Biggest Loser competition I'm in. (Which I'm losing miserably at, just so you all know)
3. It used to be blogging, but I really have been getting a little bored with it. Now I've been finding myself really loving facebook. It's so fun catching up with old friends.

Regrets
1. Not going to college. It was always in my plans and it just never worked out. I really hope to go someday when Brandon finishes up his education.
2. Being so incredibly STUPID with money before I got married. I would not be in such financial turmoil right now had I not spent every last cent of every paycheck I earned during my carefree single days. Ugh, what an idiot I was.
3. Not developing healthy habits earlier on in my life. I was always so naturally thin before I started having kids that I was under the incredibly ignorant assumption that weight would never be an issue for me. So when I was packing on the pounds with McKenna, I somehow thought all that extra fat would magically disappear as soon as I gave birth. Really, I deserve every extra pound on my body for being just plain arrogant.

Facts about Me - Really? I have to come up with more? I think we all are sick to death of random Sheri facts. But because it's the rules, I'll try to come up with a few more.
1. I love safe scares. You know, thrill rides, scary movies, spook alleys. I think it's so fun to get scared out of my wits.
2. I use Harry Potter spells all the time, hoping one day one of them will suddenly work for me. Accio water bottle!...Darnit!
3. I hate wearing anything but sweats. As soon as I walk in the door, I'll change out of my jeans (which is about all I'll wear outside of the house. I'm just not much of a flashy dresser) back into my sweatpants. Again, my poor husband. I am the definition of a frumpy housewife.

That's it! I'm done!
Ummm...is anyone still there? Hello? If you somehow made it through all of that, I commend you. And I apologize, but sorry, I'm unable to give any of you the last 20 minutes of your life back. Bet you'll all think twice about tagging me again, eh?