They say Self-Examination is Good for the Soul

I have a 'milestone' birthday looming on the horizon (cue furtive party planning efforts family & friends) and while I can honestly say I'm not overly concerned with the vanity aspects of aging, I have started to ponder my mortality just a liiiittle.

Today, for example, while I was honing my procrastination skills (*sigh* if only it was a paid position) I began to reflect on some of the random bits of ridiculousness that have accumulated over the past *mumble mumble* years to make me ... well, "me". Okay, I'll share, but no laughing - got it?!

1. I don't smoke, but admit to having a lifelong fascination with cigarettes. Seriously, if not for the fact that they - well, can kill you, I'd probably be lit up from dawn 'til dark. Where did my distorted thinking originate? Hmm. Let's see, could it be because my mom worked in a tobacco factory while I was in utero? How about because my pre-school days were spent with a chain-smoking babysitter who let me 'help' her roll tobacco? What? Doesn't every 4 yr old come home from daycare 'smoking' pencils? Good call, Mom & Dad.


2. I consistently forget my best friend's birthday (not my proudest accomplishment, obviously *cringe*) and yet somehow, 29 yrs later, I still remember every darn lyric to Kenny Roger's 1980 hit, The Gambler; a song that (for reasons defying logic) my music teacher thought us kids should learn. It's stuck in your head now too, isn't it? Feel free to curse me.


3. I love words. I love languages. I love books - classic and current. I love blathering on endlessly in written form (just ask the BWSRN), but as a teen I declined invitations from 3 universities to study English and potentially earn 'real' credentials - choosing instead to focus my time and energy mastering such highly useful and much sought after skills as ... shorthand. Oh yeah, that's opened a lot of doors over the years.


4. I think I'm pretty creative. I certainly have enormous appreciation for the arts. I travelled to Italy for the sole purpose of seeing the Sistine Chapel (Bucket List Item #1 - check). My artistic ability, sadly, is so pathetic that my child (at age 5) could only look at me in shock and horror (s'true!) when handed my interpretation of her pet hamster. Yes, it was that bad.


5. I've never been what I would term an 'animal lover'. I have 5 pets in my home right now and I say it's because I'm weak when it comes to the pleading cries of my children. Riiiight. The kids have been at Grandma's for 2 wks and have barely asked about 'their' pets. Me? I cut my holiday wknd short cuz I was worried the "purr-balls" and "critters" might not survive without me. I know what you're thinking. It's all downhill from here, isn't it?

Te nosce.