Eight Things About Me

What do the following people have to do with me? Read on...

Tom aka Patterns of Ink has tagged me with this thing and since I've never done one before, will play along.

First, the guidelines: 1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. 2. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. 3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. 4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. 5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. Here are eight random facts about me that I don't think I've mentioned here before.

1. Like Greta Garbo, I "vant to be alone." Well, not all the time, but I often need time to myself. My mother was the same way and even though I'm a very social person and love going out and being with my family and friends, I really need that quiet time to be alone with myself and God. The best times in the late spring, summer, and fall is when I sit out on my covered patio with a good book or the newspaper or just simply listen to the birds sing.

2. I enjoy watching TV. Yes, I admit it!!! My favourite channel is HGTV where I love to watch all the shows about real estate sales, renovations, and interior design. I'm hopeless at designing my own home (although it's nice enough) and keep looking for ways to enhance my own blah decor. Several people have suggested I go into real estate, but I think my old-fashioned thinking of having a secure salary-based job keeps me from doing it. Maybe some day...

3. I have a collection of teddy bears. I began collecting them around 1986-ish when we moved to Ottawa for a few years while my husband was with Telecom Canada. The local grocery store (I think it was Loblaw's) were selling teddy bears. I thought he was so cute and named him "Theodore" (well, duh..."Teddy" is short for Theodore isn't it?). When we moved back out here, I found the cutest bear in a local shop and bought him, too. Over the years I've collected a LOT...and each one has a name and story behind its arrival in my home. One day, I'd like to write a book about them complete with photos.

4. When I was 5 years-old, I took tap dancing lessons at Connaught Park in Vancouver. I remember the Christmas recital as though it were yesterday. I wore a little pleated white skirt and pink angora sweater and thought I was the cat's meow as I tapped along with all the other little girls. I can see my parents watching me and beaming with joy as I performed my little heart out. I wanted to keep dancing, but my father was a strict disciplinarian and said that when I started "real" school I had to concentrate on my studies. I was so disappointed about that, but back in those days what parents said ruled, even if it was ridiculous. Nowadays, parents schedule their kids for almost every day of the week with sports, music, dance, etc.

5. Going along with the above is the fact that my Dad did encourage sports activities for all three of his daughters. My older sister was dismal at sports, so Dad concentrated on me and my younger sister. He even let us take softball and basketball lessons on school nights!!! I actually played on softball teams all the way up to when I was in my late 20's when I was on a team from work. Later, I was on a teacher's volleyball team that played against other schools. I loved sports and excelled in volleyball, softball, basketball, tennis, and swimming.

6. I can become easily bored and go off in daydreams. No offence to anyone, but I can even get bored with the blogs sometimes. There's just so much to read and so many people to meet and visit that I find there aren't enough hours in the day to keep up. So there can be days or even weeks when you all might wonder where I've gone. Well, I'm just doing other things, that's all. I eventually come back and catch up.

7. Along with that is the fact that I can identify with the Smashing Pumpkins' song, "If I Had a Million Dollars." That's where I go off and daydream about what I'd do if I weren't hindered by a lack of money. I would absolutely LOVE to see the whole wide world and experience life in other cultures. Places I truly want to see are all of Europe and Africa (where I dream of sledding down the Namibian sand dunes), India's Taj Mahal, Singapore (my mother's dream that was never realized), Australia and New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands, Disneyworld (don't laugh), and do cruises around the Caribbean and the Hawaiian Islands. I'd also love to spend a term teaching in a school in Africa (either under a canvas out on the savannah or in Oprah's fancy one). So, do you think a million dollars would be enough for all I'd love to see and do?

8. Okay, here's the biggie you probably don't know and how those 4 celebrities shown above relate to me. I told Josie once I might do a whole blog on this some day, but I'll just give you the highlights now. My husband suffered from bipolar and OCD all his life and finally ended it all in August 1992 when he sat in our closed garage with the car running. Now my younger daughter has been diagnosed with bipolar II (a less severe but still serious form) and has been hospitalized twice since April this year. She's doing much better now but it's going to be a tough road for her travel. I've been reading up on the disorder and have learned so much. I've learned that the illnesses that are usually termed "mental" are not really that. They are physical/biological illnesses in that the brain doesn't work properly - something to do with the neurotransmitters misfiring, to make it really simple. You are all probably shocked that I've (we've) been going through this lately because I always seem so upbeat. But you might also remember when I posted something back in April (The Story of the Sad Sadness) of this year. That's when my daugher entered the hospital for the first time and she was there for the whole month. It's a long story, but she had a relapse mid-June and was in again for 2 1/2 weeks. Now she's doing much better and I pray that she'll continue to recover, go back to work, and live a normal life. You might be interested AND surprised by clicking on this link to see all the famous people that live or have lived with bipolar - Celebrities and Bipolar Disorder.

Well, there you have it. I had to really think about this and what might interest y'all. Like Josie always says, I just have a boring little life. I guess there are other things that might interest you - like the year I spent teaching up in the wilderness of British Columbia. Maybe that's what my next post will be about.

Okay, I'm supposed to tag 8 people - let's see...who hasn't been tagged yet? Well, here goes nothing...Mary Anne (A Place Called Home), Sylvia (Heiress Child), Janice (Persuance of Truth), jmb (Nobody Important), Susan (A Thousand Wordsworth), Brenda (Click Girl), Ruth (Upstream and Down) and Lee-Ann (Pear Tree Cottage). If you don't feel like doing this, it's fine by me - it takes a while to think things out. Regardless, hope you enjoyed the above.