Mundane Monday

A new weekly Monday meme: Mundane Monday, Mundane Monday is a new website meant to bring bloggers together. The idea is to cheer bloggers up on Mondays, and help them get over the Monday blues. Every week, there'll be a new question, game, or idea posted.

Today's topic is: 10 Interesting Things About Me

Well, I don't know how interesting these will be, but here we go.

1. One of my favorite vacations was a working vacation. One of my best friends, also a writer, and I went to Ireland, along with a non-writing friend, to research a book we were working on together. When I stepped foot on the Emerald Isle, I felt like I had come home. To this day, whenever I play the CD we bought on that trip, I'm transported back there.

2. When I was in college, I was in the Miss Andrew Pageant and was a finalist.

3. I lived in Morocco as a small child-- my father was in the navy and was stationed there. As a matter of fact, my younger sister was born there. Unfortunately, I was too young and have no real memories of it.

4. I do, however, have a lasting phobia because of my time there. I had been given a puppy and it bit me, right next to the eye. Because the puppy was too young to have had its shots and because it came from off-base, the doctors didn't want to take any chances, so I had to go through the rabies series of shots. To this day, it's difficult for me to see a needle.

5. Things are better, however. I force myself to give blood to try and overcome the phobia. Now, at least, when I have to get a shot, I don't kick and scream any more like I did when I was a kid.

6. On that same vein, one time at school they were giving everyone a TB test. My mother checked my arm every day for a week... to make sure there wasn't a reaction. A month or so later, Mama was talking to the school nurse and found out they'd never given me the test because I was so hysterical.

7. I lived in Brazil for three years. However, my Portuguese is very limited because: a. I taught in an English school and was required to speak English at all times b. I wrote in English all the time (I was working on my first book and had several poems published in Sol Magazine (you can see some of my poems by clicking on the links in the publications section of my sidebar), and c. we spoke English all the time in the house as a family. I could manage simple things, but have forgotten a lot of what I knew.

8. I have just been contacted by a Brazilian friend, however, who found my blog. I hope to improve my Portuguese by emailing her. Wish me luck!

9. I have joined Weight Watchers Online in an attempt to lose some of the weight I've put on. I started just after Easter and have lost about five pounds so far. I still have a long way to go, though. I just wish it was as easy to take off as it obviously was to put on!

10. We don't have the normal pets. My hubby and I work long hours and travel when we can, so we don't think it's fair to have a dog or cat that require a lot of attention and care. So our menagerie includes a parakeet (we are planning on getting her a friend...our daughter got her for us and she gets lonely, even though we leave the TV on for her), a turtle I rescued from our pool last year (he's getting big... and I need to buy him a bigger tank before he decides to climb out and wander the house), an aquarium frog (I had set up an aquarium and the frog was the only thing that survived... Ashley had named him Lord Voldemort...coincidence??), and a Siamese fighting fish.

Well, I managed to come up with ten things... how interesting they are, you'll have to be the judge. They are random anyway. Have a great Monday.

Mundane Monday