I've been tagged. . .

Okay, since Amy has tagged me, here are my six things about me:

1) I really, really, really hate having to ask for help or favors of any kind. And when I say hate, I mean hate. This dislike includes things as simple as getting a ride when my car breaks down or asking a professor for a letter of recommendation. If any else is seeing the irony of this dislike in light of my recent car experiences and my further graduate studies, please feel free to laugh. I certainly have been! I also really don't like to ask for help from salespeople of any kind. I'd rather just find it myself, to the point that if I can't find it after looking for a while, I'm actually likely to just go back for it later. I'm slowly getting better at asking salespeople for help or for answers. However, I still have to remind myself that they're getting paid to help me and that their answering of questions is, in fact, part of their job descriptions. It's okay to bother them. They are getting paid to be bothered. I don't know why I have this dislike; I guess I always just feel like I'm inconveniencing and/or bother people when I ask for assistance. Or maybe it's the result of too many snarky comments or irritated sighs when I have asked for help in the past. What can I say? I like being independent, and I'm used to doing most things myself. I guess that might be a remnant of Mom making me make my phone calls (for doctors appointments and so forth) so that I could learn how to "be brave." Well, Mom, I think it worked. :-)

2) I am easily entertained and will be the person laughing when nobody else thinks anything is funny. Case in point: I got the giggles today when my roommate told her boyfriend as he was leaving for an interview, "have fun, get a job, be safe" I think it was her voice tone or something, but I really was the only one laughing. Andrew always took advantage of this tendency and would spend many occasions in the car or the dinner table entertaining me. He can make me laugh hysterically when he just looks at me a certain way. I think it's in his eyebrows, but I can't say for certain. I think we feed off of each other, which is probably why my parents worried that one or both of us was going to choke when we were all eating dinner together. At any rate, I am the one laughing at stupid jokes, falling on the floor at overheard conversations, and the one having to bite her lip many times when out in public. If I ever start laughing at nothing, I promise, I'm not laughing at you. I'm probably laughing at myself.

3) Another dislike of mine is being the center of attention. I of course have my moments, but they're usually only in the proximity of close family and friends. In the same vein, I don't have large numbers of friends, but the friends I do have are really good ones, and they're ones I'm going to keep for life (be scared. . . ). Anyway, I would much rather be the person on the sidelines, in the shadows, and in the audience than the person on-stage performing. I don't like to perform, which makes teaching doubly challenging for me. I'm not the person who draws energy from being in front of the crowd; I'm the one who's absolutely exhausted after being put front and center. On almost every personality test I've taken, I've scored pretty much evenly on the extrovert/introvert dimensions. In real-life terms, that basically means that while I do enjoy people and being around them, I also find it incredibly draining and tiring. I need to have my own space, away from other people, as well as my own "me-time" to maintain my own sanity (and the question of my sanity is not up for discussion!). I really don't like to be graded or evaluated (sorry, Amy!), and I'd much rather do something for the fun of it rather than for the feedback. I think that's probably why I enjoy music when listening to it or playing on my own. Heck, I'm even uncomfortable praying in front of other people. That's probably why people at church as me if I "will" do something, rather than if I'd "like" to do something. I'm okay conducting the music, but then again, who really looks at the chorister (sorry, Caitlin, but it's true!)?

4) I'm embarrassed to admit that most of my hobbies equate to being a "girly-girl." I like to cook, sew, quilt, and, dare I say, scrapbook? (Gasp!) I have to say, though, that I liked scrapbooking better before it took off to something that everyone else does. When I was making jam this summer, my dad questioned me as to whether or not my mom was going to disown me for being too domestic. Or, as my friend Kelsi would say, "being domesticated." I still don't like to iron, but I will do it when sewing something to help with the quality of the finished product. However, on the positive side, these likes can have benefits for my family and friends, as evident in Caitlin's Halloween costumes, Christmas stockings, Easter dresses, Christmas and birthday presents, and so forth. I would much rather spend the day sewing than doing my actual graduate work, which makes it all the more important that my sewing machine and serger are stored under my bed behind several boxes of stuff. I am constantly fighting the desire to get more fabric and more supplies to create stuff. I'm proud to say that I haven't spent more than $5 at JoAnn's fabric in over three or four months. And, even better, that $5 was to buy the elastic and more bias tape for Caitlin's dress. I'm currently in project remission, but whether it's by choice or just by circumstance, I can't tell. Come Thanksgiving, thought, things might be different when I finally have the sewing machine time I need.

5) I have a very limited sense of direction. I can get lost so quickly it's almost unbelievable. As many of you know, I can even lose my car in the parking lot several times a day. I have even gotten lost in Oronoco, Minnesota, which is a very small town with very few roads. I'm probably reinforcing the male/female stereotype here, but I'd rather someone give me directions involving landmarks and counting of stoplights, rather than a "go five miles and turn east." In Provo, I can tell which way is east thanks to the mountains, but in a new terrain, I have almost no sense of orientation. I know up, down, left, right, but spin me around, and compass directions carry no meaning.

6) For all of my genetic medical heritage, I'm really a squeamish person. I can handle my own injuries, barely, but seeing anyone else's injuries always makes me queasy. I can't even handle fake blood and guts. When my roommates are watching medical shows, crime shows, or something similar, I always have to change the channel or look away. They're greatly amused by my discomfort, but all I can say is that I chose social science for a very good reason. I have even have a hard time with surface injuries. I can handle putting on the band-aid; I just can't handle seeing or cleaning an open wound. My reactions are kind of funny given that the weirdest job I ever had was working for the pathology lab at the hospital where I'd go to the operating rooms, pick up specimens, and then bring them back. The only conclusion I can make is that I'm okay when the specimen is disconnected from the body, but once there's a person connected to the injury, I'm going to get sick.

Okay, Clara, you're it. Sorry, I'm not sure whom else to tag. :-)