Random Factoids

It's been a long day - long week, really - and I thought I could use a little cheering up. So here are 10 Random Facts about yours truly.

1. I get the hiccups whenever I am nervous and/or excited about something. Every first date. Every vacation. Last Sunday before running the slides for church for the first time in 6 years. 
2. I was very, very trusting as a child. Some might say gullible. I like "trusting" much better. I was convinced to eat grass, Playdoh and chalk as a child. Chalk, my friends, does NOT taste like bubblegum. Don't ever believe anyone who tells you otherwise. 
3. I am a big kid. I still love Baskin Robbins' Bubblegum ice cream. I have all of the Mighty Ducks movies and the Never Ending Story, parts I & II (III was crap). I am currently watching the Mighty Ducks. I am giddy whenever it snows and I have to keep myself from buying "silly string" whenever I see it in a store. The list goes on.
4. I was "That Kid" growing up. My parents punished me by taking away my books. I ran out of Babysitters Club and Nancy Drew books around age 11 and started reading Moby Dick, The Three Musketeers and my mom's John Grisham novels for fun. When my mom would succeed in kicking me outdoors to "play", she would find me - without fail - on the front porch or under a tree with a book. This passion also gave me the ability to use words liek "ubiquitous" in every-day conversation. Verbosity rocks, y'all. 
5. Because I was That Kid, I was bullied. A lot. And you know what? I survived it. It sucked. It was hard when my only real friends were also That Kid - and they were usually That Boys - but they ended up being Those Friends. Those Friends are the ones who are still in my life today, when all of the others have moved on or gotten busy. 
6. I've been off caffeine for 10 years now, so if I don't get my morning shower - watch out.
7. I dream a ton. I mean, I remember 3-5 dreams every. Single. Night. And folks, they're getting weirder every year. Recurring dreams include: trying to be Young Elvis Presley's friend - because he's actually a sad, lonely teenager; being in an elevator that starts going sideways and backwards and all over the place, so that I'm falling all over the place (thank you, Willy Wonka); and being underwater and realizing I can breathe - but I usually don't want my captors or the killer bees chasing me to know this.
8. I have had many close calls in my life. Not the least of these is the time then-kitten Francois got too close to a candle and caught his tail on fire. It was so slight that it went out as he ran away, but in those oh-so-brief seconds I envisioned my entire apartment burning to the ground and wondering what the HECK to do with the cat.
9. I teared up during Ice Age when I thought Diego was dead.
10. My eyes change color with my mood. Usually blue-green, they are a deep blue when I'm very happy and hazel when I'm pissed. Wonder how I'm feeling? Check the eyes.

  And now that I have rambled on incessantly and unnecessarily, I'm going to bed - where hopefully I'll have the under-water-breathing dream, and not the elevator madness. Congratulations on reading the whole thing. Night, all!