Monday, February 05, 2007

Only six?

Jesse tagged me. I'm supposed to list six quirky things about me. Good grief, where do I start. I like how Jesse was so sweet at the beginning of her post by saying how quirky is all in the eye of the beholder, but I have to disagree wholeheartedly. I know that I do some really quirky stuff and I know others that do even more. But, I'll stick to me.

1. I flush all public toilets with my foot. Then I get out of the stall as fast as possible while holding my breath because I'm afraid I'll inhale the toilette vapors. This gets a little tricky when you 're holding a baby because you didn't want to bring the car seat into the bathroom and set it on the floor.

2. I think chemical hair treatments are some form of cheating. This was ingrained in my head from my beautician mother. She would never let me get a perm or color my albino white hair when I was young. I finally had my hair foiled for the first time last year and I felt so guilty that I openly admitted what I did to anyone that would listen. Even if the conversation had nothing to do with my hair.

My neighbor- "Hi April, how are you?"

Me- "I foiled my hair, see? My sister made me do it. She said I wasn't blond enough anymore. It took a really long time and I didn't know what to expect, but I think it's okay and maybe I'll do it again, except it kinda dried it out a bit, but that's okay, and I think it's sorta natural and I'm older now and need a little help so it's okay. Really, how are you?"

3. I sent my kids to public school, then I sent my kids to private school, then I threw in the towel and homeschooled my kids. And aren't most homeschoolers just a bit quirky...just a bit?

4. I like to sing in a very loud operatic voice to give instructions to my children. Sometimes, my husband joins in and adds harmony. One friend told me that being at my house is like watching a musical. My oldest son has picked up on this quirky habit, and I must say it's quite charming and can turn a bad day into a funny day very quickly.

5. Even as outgoing and loud and funny as I am; I get really uncomfortable in large groups. I even get panicky about going into unfamiliar territory like an office party or large get together with people I only know sorta well. I'm terrible at small talk, just awful. I know I'm supposed to ask people all sorts of questions about themselves, but I just draw a blank or ask really stupid questions. And the worst is I'll just start blurting out stories, I know, that's not hard to believe, but then I'll laugh inappropriately too loud, too long and too hard. Good grief!

6. I can imitate a lot of people I've known in my life. I pick up on details like the way they walk, their hand gestures, the pronunciation of certain words. I even remember stupidly small details about people like the color of their teeth, skin texture, if they have a mole on their arm, the shape of their feet and on and on. It's like a way of placing a person in my memory that I want to remember. I'm usually one of the first people to complement or comment on a new hair cut, a tan, an injury or even *gasp* an enhancement or two.

I know you all want more, but it said six, so that's all I'm givin' ya. I bet you all thought I was gonna to start talking about bodily functions and fluids, didn' cha? I held back.

4 comments:

Abby said...

I love it that y'all sing. George and I are singers too. We have many conversations where we speculate about what other families we know are singers too. I don't think we ever discussed your family, but if we had, I probably would've guessed it- because you are so quirky :) Do you ever have a song that's so catchy that you sing it again? We have a couple that have been coming back around for years now! Wouldn't it be great if this wasn't quirky at all, but in fact EVERYONE is secretly singing? And if that were true, you could just sing to people when you get in a large group! But blurting out stories is good too.

Jessie said...

I think you are good at small talk. And I agree on the public toilet thing. That is another thing I lecture my 4 year old about...

April said...

Abby,
Yes, I have many songs that have been around for years.
-the name song, that spells out all our names
- the "I have four kids, four kids I have" song
-the Hot Tamale song it goes like this... Hot tamales, enchaladeees and spaghetti soup...hey! Brilliant, I know.


Jesse,
Thanks, I'm getting better at small talk as I get older.

Also, I put my lips to the inside of my mouth while I'm holding my breath just in the off chance that I won't escape the bathroom stall quick enough. That way if I lick my lips later, I won't panick that I've just licked off toiletts vapors. ICK!

Anonymous said...

I loved reading about your quirkies. Too funny some of them. I can relate to the public restroom thing...way too well. There is just nastyness going on in those places!