Saturday, May 19, 2007

Tagged

I've been officially tagged, by Medblog Addict. As I said I'd do it if officially tagged and I am not a weasel, here goes.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves. Write a post about your own random things. Post these rules. At the end of your blog, tag 8 people and post their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment and tell them they're tagged.

1. I actually like working on Saturdays. Even though my current field is much less stressful than the legal secretary gig there are times when we're on deadline, or multiple deadlines. As there are only forty hours in a week, sometimes I end up going in on a Saturday to make sure specifications, addenda, etc., are out in time. And it's so relaxing. It's peaceful, the phones don't ring much, and I can pull up the most recent episode of Heroes on my monitor and have it playing in the background while I type away.

Shoot, some weeks it's the only "break" I get, what with the offspring and all. In fact, just a little later this morning, I'm heading in because one of the principals is about to go away for vacation and needs to get some stuff finished off. It'll likely be a fairly full house as most of the people who work there end up showing their faces at some time on the weekend. Since I missed Monday and Tuesday at work (nasty head/chest cold) I can count this time against my sick hours, which is awesome because with two kids who catch every bug that passes through, I can use every sick hour I can muster.

2. I don't know what my natural hair color is anymore. Back before I started going grey, I had dark brown hair that went reddish-to-gold in the sun. It was nice hair. But after #2 son was born, the greys started coming in hard and heavy. I dyed it for awhile, then thought I'd like to get in touch with my natural hair color. Mistake! I'm more than 50% grey in some spots, notably over my ears, and salt-and-pepper over the rest of my head.

Plus I don't go grey in a nice, dignified manner. I'm one of those lucky folks with the mutant grey hairs that grow in all coarse and kinky, which makes them stand out like a beacon against the dark brown background. They make my hair look like I combed it with an egg beater even when I've just styled it. No thanks. It's chemical haircolor all the way for me, now. I've got an appointment for a touch-up today, after I finish off at the office. Work and next a hair appointment. Bliss!

3. I wear glasses; I haven't been free of them since I was five years old. I have amblyopia (lazy eye), and I was patched for several years when I was a little kid. My left eye covers only 30% of my field of vision on its own, and drifts out when I'm tired. I've heard this is disconcerting from people, because it's hard to tell where I'm looking. The easiest solution is just to look at my right eye, since it actually points where it's supposed to.

Family pictures are fun because of this. I try to make sure I'm in semi-profile so I don't look deranged.

4. I'm allergic to my cats. This means I spend most of my evenings and weekends in a Benadryl-induced haze. Hmmm... wonder if that's another reason why I like working on Saturdays?

5. I own more than 1,000 books. No, this is not too many. Yes, I've read all of them and no, I'm not giving any of them up.

My husband and I are currently negotiating wall space in the bedroom. He says he needs a new dresser (just because he can't fit all his clothes in the old one); I say I need another book shelf (much more reasonable, as I've run out of shelf space even with double-rows of books on every shelf I own).

I think we're going to need another shed. For his clothes.

6. Since August of last year, I've lost 37 1/2 pounds. Trust me, this was a good thing. I was in Publix with my elder son and foolishly got on the scale. The charming child announced (at full volume, of course), "Mommy, you weigh 200!"

Uh, thanks sweetie.

But seriously, that's the most I've ever weighed, including at more than 9 months pregnant. ACK. I started with NutriSystem and stuck with it for two months, in which I lost 18 pounds. Then the food started to get to me. One parmesean pasta with broccoli thing tasted, I swear, like fish food. Oh yuck.

So now I'm counting my calories, and I try to keep myself between 1200 and 1500 a day. I am also a very firm believer in "free" days, where I just toss caution to the winds and eat what I want. I know it makes the weight come off more slowly than faithfully eating fish food, but I can live with it. Plus it makes it more likely that the weight will stay off. We have Type II diabetes in our bloodline (my paternal grandmother is an amputee thanks to that disease), and I will not risk my health when I know I'm capable of doing something about it. Dieting works for me; ergo, I diet.

Exercise bugs, but I'm making sure I move more, too. I also have an on-again-off-again relationship with my treadmill.

Interlude, in which our blogger leaves her home and accomplishes the tasks listed in items 1 & 2...

Okay, back, and ready with numbers 7 and 8!

7. I hate cleaning bathrooms, but as much as I hate it, I hate folding laundry more. Now why is that? Clean laundry is, well, clean. Dirty bathrooms are just flat disgusting, especially considering that I live with three males, two of whom have questionable aim.

Huh.

8. I used to be one of those people who kept a pristine house. Now that I'm married with two kids and working full time, my standards are more "is it a health hazard? No? Then it's fine." It drives me batty sometimes, but considering the kids mess it up as quickly as I clean it (and also considering that my husband in nine years has yet to figure out that leaving mail on my cutting board is not acceptable... grrrrr), it's vital to my sanity that I leave my dreams of "House Beautiful" in the past. If I cleaned the way I'd need to for Martha Stewartesque perfection, I'd not only never have time to read, I'd never sleep.

A sleep deprived Amanda is not a pretty sight.

Anyway, there we go! I'm supposed to tag eight other people now. Problem is, I don't know if eight people even read this damn thing. I'm going to take a page out of Medblog Addict's book and ask, "Are there any volunteers?"

Let me know!

6 comments:

Your Mother said...

Just last week, I looked in the mirror and saw a shock (an actual shock!) of gray coming out of my bangs. I couldn't believe it. I've had gray stragglers for years, but not a ... shock.

What a shock. This shock.

I don't mind cleaning bathrooms, even toilets. What I hate is ... doing the dishes! I HATE DOING THE DISHES! I do them all day long, but there are always more dirty dishes to throw in the sink. The sink is never without a darn dish in it. My husband's very good about doing the dishes when he's around, but I still can't stand it.

I love folding laundry. My husband tells me, "You don't have to fold my t-shirts, I just throw them in the drawer" (he does---yuck!), but I can't help myself.

Medblog Addict said...

Thank you for volunteering, and for your nice comments on my blog. Sorry it took so long for me to come over here. I've been enjoying some of your blog. I can't wait to come back and read some more.

The Rainbow Zebra said...

I hear you on the natural hair color thing. Started going white with #1, and #2 really got the ball rolling. On the upside, the white hairs make my burgundy hair color look purple in sunlight. I've been told my daughter's friends think this is *cool* ;)

Oh, and the finale for Heroes ROCKED!!!!!

Did I know you had amblyopia? Mine was in my right eye. Patched as well.

Recently diagnosed as allergic to cats. My sympathies.

I think I can claim more books--I'm guessing well over 2,500 ::grin::

And WOOHOO on the weightloss! You go girl!!

Tag me if you feel like it, if not, no prob ;)

Amanda said...

A mom who thinks too much:
Oh my, yes those shocks can be shocking! And regarding dishes, they are a sore point in our house as well. Bleah. I buy paper plates (bad environmentalist), so my husband uses the regular plates and then puts them in the sink for me to wash. Bless his tiny little heart.

Medblog Addict:
Sure, anytime! Heck, it takes me back to the things I enjoyed and hated about law. I loved writing pleadings (my bosses pretty much let me fly with most motions), loved learning the details of the cases, HATED dealing with overwrought clients all day, every day. That, in the end, is why I left. I know that when you're looking a divorce/child custody, or a prison term, or dealing with DCF that you aren't going to be at your very best, but it put me into overload. Eek. Too much adrenaline for me!

And thank you for your kind words as well :)

Angel:
Heroes kicks all kinds of ass. I love that show! Hopefully I can keep watching the first season online during the summer to keep me from going into DTs during the long hiatus. If they take them down I'm going to freaking scream.

My big question there is, is Peter really dead? Because, well, the regeneration thing. He could have had Nathan fly him up really high and then let go of him and fly as far away as he could get, THEN gone nuclear, and then healed himself (like he obviously healed himself in the Bad Five Years into the Future episode).

So, yeah. And obviously, is Nathan really dead too? Inquiring minds. I'm sure they know folks are going to wonder about it.

Next season, Hiro's in feudal Japan. Hee!

I can't wait until fall.

Barbara said...

Same deal with the greys here...and my natural haircolor was as you describe. I went blonde and have NEVER looked back. The greys just look like frosty highlights up against it and believe it or not, they behave better! I sit through 100 foils every couple of months but Oh So Worth IT!!

Amanda said...

Babs, I hear you on the foils. I didn't get home until more than three hours after my hair appointment started. My husband asked, "That's ALL you did??"

Yes dear, that's all I did.

I'm slowly going more and more blonde. It's coming chemically or naturally anyway. I might as well do it on my terms. Heh.