You know you're bored when . . .

You're sitting at work, and you have nothing to do but a meme that you were tagged for.



That's right, boys and girls - it's the busiest month of the year for me, and I'm so caught up right now that the only thing I can think of to keep me busy is a meme. Is that pathetic, or what?



Anyway, here's the rules:



Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.



Only - I don't tag people, and I don't go asking people to read my blog. So, I guess that's the first fact/habit I'll list. I don't do that. If people want to do the meme on their blog - fine. Go ahead. But I refuse to "tag" people, or go trolling other blogs, begging them to read mine. I read the blogs I want, when I want, and I post what I want to post. Not that tagging people is bad, it's just not my style.

Second fact about me - I hate crowds. Lady K can surely sympathize with that. When I get around a large group of people, unless they're friends/acquaintences of mine, I get hyper-aware. I suppose it's because I value my "personal space". When strangers invade that, I just want to go ballistic. Especially when my children are around. Too many horror stories about them being picked up in crowds where people aren't as aware of what may be happening. Gives me the heebee-geebies.

Third weird factoid - I don't like bridges. Especially if they go over large bodies of water. Plays hell with me when I have to go to San Francisco to visit any family members. Would also explain why I am not close with that side of my family. They never see me unless it's for a funeral, because I really don't like going over the Bay Bridge.

Fourth - I've recently developed a fear of heights. I have NO idea when it happened. My guess would be probably when I had Kidlet, and I discovered the fact that I was, indeed, mortal. I suppose before that time, I was like most young people and had this grand illusion of super-power invincibility. But now, not so much.

Fifth - I'm a hypochondriac. If I feel a little weird, I become convinced I'm dying of some exotic (or even not so exotic) disease. I hide it well. But there's always that niggling at the back of my mind that something is going to be dreadfully wrong with me. If I read something in the news, and I have symptoms vaguely similar, all of a sudden, I get worried that I may have that. Then, I have to make my brain convince the rest of my body that I'm fine, I'm normal, and everything is okay. It's a very strange circle. Which leads me to my next weirdness . . .

I believe that the power of the mind has control over the wellbeing of the body. My mom, for example, has convinced herself that she's sick. Consequently, everything that could possibly go wrong with her has. I, on the other hand, am constantly telling myself that I'm okay, that there is nothing wrong with me, and I haven't been REALLY sick in years. Granted, I have my aches and pains, not to mention the occasional migraine. But when I start feeling icky - like maybe I'm coming down with a cold or the flu - I just tell myself over and over that I'm NOT sick. And it works. Within a day, I'm feeling better.

Seventh - I have lupus. It's a strange chronic illness where my antibodies are always on high alert. When there's nothing for them to fight, they fight my own body. It makes me a little more tired than most people, and a little more achy, due to the anitbodies attacking my joints. However, rather than see this as a bad thing, and get all depressed over it, it sort of ties in with what I was saying before. I have convinced myself that, since my germ fighters are always on alert, that means (to me) that it's even harder for me to get sick. Even though I've read that it could make people with lupus more suseptable to illness, I think the exact opposite. And it works. When I was younger, I used to get pneumonia about once or twice a year. Since I was about 20 (about the same time the lupus symptoms first started showing), I haven't had it. In fact, other than one really bad ear infection about 3 or 4 years ago that waylaid me for about a week, I haven't been sick sick, since my mid-20's. Sure, I'll get the sniffles, or even a cough, upset stomach, whatever. But it usually only lasts about a day or two. Tops. See - super-antibodies!!!

Final fact is - if you haven't already guessed - that I'm typically very optimistic. I always try to see the bright side of everything. I always believe that things happen for a reason - you just have to figure out what that reason is. This is also the antithesis of how I was raised. The two women who raised me were very pessimistic. They could rarely see the bright side of the sun. That's just not me. That doesn't mean I'm Miss Happy Sunshine. Trust me - I have a very sarcastic wit at times. But I always believe there is a silver lining SOMEWHERE. You just have to find it.

That's all for now. If you want to do this meme, by all means - go ahead.