Just 6 quirks?

Before I start this, I have to give a shout-out to Jen Oswald for sending this game along. I am supposed to share 6 "unspectacular quirks" about me and then pass the game along to 6 other bloggers. I don't know 6 other bloggers (that haven't already been tagged by Jen), so I will have to cheat and send out 3.

I had to laugh out loud when I read Jen's quirks http://theoswaldfam.blogspot.com/2008/08/im-it.html, because just that morning I had received a thank-you note hand written on some fabulous stationery and had thought to myself "I wish I had cards this cool. Where in the heck does she find these?" I wish my all my quirks were adorable like that....anyways...here goes:

1. As many of you know, I have a fantasy book obsession. (Not THAT kind of fantasy...tsk tsk) I love anything about witches, vampires, elves, fairies,hobbits...etc. What you probably don't know, because I am ashamed to admit, is that I have a long-time personal fantasy of actually BEING one of these things.. though not so much a hairy-footed hobbit, I guess. When I was little, I truly believed I had magical powers. I would say "spells" to myself for good luck and if someone really pissed me off I would "hex" them. If I ever looked really red in the face, it was probably me concentrating on turning someone into a frog. Now that I am older I realize I can't actually do spells...sigh... so I continue to read novels about people who can.

2. I have a ridiculous hair product collection. Shampoos, conditioners, mousse, gel, pomades, curl enhancers, defrizzers, straightening products, silkening/softening products... I am sure you get the picture. Just last week I spent 2 hours cleaning under my sink, throwing away half-used bottles of stuff. I am embarrassed to admit it took up a full garbage bag. I blame my frizzy haired genes and the media for this complete waste of money.

3. Number 3 is kind of gross, but.......... I LOVE to clean toilets! There is something so cathartic about the smell of bleach and good scrub brushing. The dirtier the toilet, the better. I feel like I am doing battle with the millions of germs and "I WIN!" The problem is then, if I haven't just cleaned the toilet, I picture all the germs spreading over the house, just like in those Lysol commercials. Ick.


4. "It's better to give than receive," but you'd better open it fast! Having the attention span of a puppy, I have little patience for many things, but the worst is waiting for someone to open a gift I got for them. I get so excited when I give gifts, I can't be bothered really with the wrapping ( "crappy gift wrapper" should be sub-quirk under this). As I am wrapping, my hands shake and I slap as much tape on the sucker as I can, so that it is all ready to go. Then, when I see you, I must pretend I am not itching to see you open it. This often involves leg-shaking and chewing of my lip. Just this week I had to use my 7-month-old as an un-wrapping excuse. Don't be surprised to here me say, "Well, Noah, wanted you to open it now."

5. I am afraid of the dark, especially being alone in the dark. Not only do I fear the typical, (rapists, serial killers, thieves, etc), I also fear the irrational (spontaneous combustion of my carpet, a snake living under my bed, ghosts wearing long, black dresses). Mandy I know you feel me there! Thank god for Sarah Chintawat and Lisa Eisenberg or I would have never slept through Bri's India visit.

6. Jen's Visalia buddy, Christina and I share a quirk. Christina said that when she gets nervous she talks a lot. I do that too, only I think I suffer from the more severe condition known as "verbal diarrhea." When in an uncomfortable position, my lips really get going, and I know I should have stopped my mouth ten minutes ago, but somehow words keep coming out. Typically, I am thinking to myself, shut up, shut up, shut up. By then, not only am I rambling, but generally I am rambling about myself. Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out that my story about the socks I bought last week isn't that interesting and that actually asking a question in return is a nice way to keep a conversation going.

In the spirit of keeping it going, I now tag:

Erin, Ruthie, and Summer.

BTW, I would like to tack-on poor punctuation and grammar to my list. :P