July 15, 2020

'Tis mid-July and another wonderful day on the way. I just grabbed two eggs out of the chicken coop, there are bright yellow flowers on my pumpkin plants, and it's my birthday. 

That makes me a cancer. I think the first two sentences of the image, above, pretty much describe me. I do not have a poker face. I found out that my co-workers enjoy just watching my face during a staff meeting. I don't hide my emotions well. The rest of the description is pretty accurate as well. I am a private person who needs to "detox" after being around too many people or people who create drama or confrontation. I'm fine with my class, however. I am having a low-key birthday (well, that's the only kind you can have during these times). I even find birthday phone calls awkward. I do not like attention focused directly at me.

Everyone in my family knows that I absolutely despise the idea of telling the wait staff at the restaurant that it is my birthday so they can all gather around and sing and clap. It has never happened, thank goodness. I even feel awkward when it's someone else's birthday and I'm watching the whole thing unfold. 

So, I decided to choose 10 questions to answer from a list of "371 Random Get to Know Me" questions I found on the internet. Maybe if you are stuck for ideas for a blog post, you can do something similar.

1. Are you a dog or a cat person?  

Although we had a dog when I was growing up and she was wonderful, I am more of a cat person. I've rarely been without a cat in my life. Sometimes we have had more than one. Also, cats are easier to keep than dogs because you can go away for a weekend and set out enough food and water and they'll be fine.

2.  What was your favourite subject in high school?

I always loved English. I loved the discussions, the analysis of what we were reading, the discovery of a new book that I enjoyed... I loved the writing aspect of it, even most of the teachers were very engaging. 

3. Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage in it head on?

Avoid!! I will feel physically ill if I think that I'm about to have to deal with a confrontation, angry parent, family blow-up... 

4. If you had more courage, what would you do differently in your life now?

I think there are two areas to address here. I think I might have chosen to pursue writing of some sort and see if I was any good at that. I still have ideas about a series of books directed toward boys who have some difficulty reading. 

The second thing, I wish I hadn't been so afraid of looking foolish or not being good enough or hurting myself at certain activities when I was a younger adult. I think I missed out on some fun times due to my fears regarding things like skiing, skating, (yes, I am aware I'm Canadian), rafting, rollercoasters...

5. Do you have a tattoo?

No. Not my thing.

6. What scares you about aging?

My mother suffered from dementia / alzheimers and my mother-in-law has dementia. I remember my grandfather (this is one of my earliest memories that has stuck with me) in the farmhouse asking about the team and hitching them up (i.e. horses) and my grandmother chiding him and correcting him and explaining him away to me in a rather nasty way (they hadn't farmed with horses for years and years and years). So I hope and pray that I do not end up in a similar way, especially if everything physically is pretty good, but it's just your mind that is slowly deteriorating.

7. Have you ever suffered a fracture?

I have never broken any big bones like arms or legs, but I have had broken bones in my foot and broken toes before. The bones in my foot happened on a New Year's Eve on the dance floor of a bar in the university town where I was living. A girl ran across the dance floor and managed to stomp on the top of the foot with her high heel, and I was also in high heels. The pain was immediate and I still had to get home. I never saw a doctor about it because I had always heard "they don't really do anything for broken bones in your feet anyway". I couldn't really even stuff my foot in a shoe for days and days afterward.

8. What kind of car do you drive?

A Toyota Rav-4. I love an SUV because I like being higher up off the road and I love the security of all-wheel or four-wheel drive. 

9. Do you love your job?

For the most part, yes. I love the act of teaching, I love those special, funny, ah-ha moments with students, I love the co-workers with whom I work, I love shutting my classroom door and doing my own thing. There are, of course, aspects of my job that I could gladly eliminate.

10. Are you named after anyone?

No. Yet, my three older siblings have middle names that are parents / uncles names. I guess by the time they got to me, they couldn't be bothered??

So there you have it. There will be pizza and cake and drinks in the pool later today with husband, daughter and her long-time beau, and son. It doesn't get better than that.