Honest Scrap

I've been tagged by the awesome Michelle & her meowers over at When Cats Attack!
Rules for "Honest Scrap" :

List 10 (brutally!) honest things about yourself, then tag 7 more people.  Easy peasy.  (Wait, do I even know 7 people who blog??)

1)  I'm kind of a control freak.  Okay, I'm a major control freak.  I have a tendency to micro-manage some situations, especially when I think I'm being logical.  Anything from loading the dishwasher to writing a new marketing document for work... I'm trying to think of a more self-effacing way of saying it, but it just boils down to it's my way or the highway.  I'm trying to change the way I might present my way, so I don't come across as a raging bitch, but every now and then I fail miserably.  I think of myself as a very logical person, which is good in some ways, but it makes it difficult for me to admit when I'm wrong.  (Rule #1:  I'm always right.  Rule #2:  When in doubt, see Rule #1.)

2)  Repetitive noises drive me absolutely insane!  Especially when I'm trying to sleep... if the fan clicks or if the dog is licking his junk or if B is wiggling his foot and shaking the whole bed, it has to stop or my brain will burst into flames.  Me and metronomes do not mix.

3)  I'm a grammar and spelling freak.  I've always been a right-brained person, and while I can't do simple addition without counting on my fingers, I know when to use a semi-colon and how to properly use "you're" versus "your."  And now of course, I'm going to have the nutjobs coming out of the woodwork to nitpick what I write here, but you all can suck my cat's dirty litter-box infested toes.  I write how I want to, dangit.

4)  I'm pretty insecure when it comes to social networking.  For example, when I first got started on Facebook I was really nervous about adding people that I knew in high school because I hate thinking about what a sad, pathetic, naive little girl I was back then, and I'm afraid that's all people will remember about me.  But then I've caught myself looking at other people in that "high school light" and I've realized, surprise!  Everybody changes!  Durrrrr.  I'm not so paranoid anymore, or at least I'm trying not to be.

5)  I have some pretty irrational fears, and some completely rational ones that I tend to blow out of proportion.  For example, I am basically nervous of unpredictable things (back to that whole control freak thing, I know).  This includes fireworks, electricity, and fire/sparks.  Anything that could suddenly do something bad, like set you on fire or blow up in your hand, just makes me extremely anxious.  I can get past it sometimes (I'm not afraid of the breaker box anymore) but some, I think are a healthy fear!

6)  I suppose I could have included the weather in the list of fears, but it's really more of a phobia.  I am absolutely petrified of thunderstorms and tornados.  Period.  I actually have recurring nightmares involving tornados (the dream interpretation books say I'm stressed out.  Gee-whiz!  Ya think?!).

7)  I really don't like talking on the phone.  I think it's because I express myself better in writing (which is true), and it also gives me time to think of the best way to say things.  At work, I make a point of getting up from my desk to go talk to someone rather than dialing their extension (exercise!  Right?).  But deep down, I think it's something that goes back to when I was a kid.  Mom & Dad ran their business out of our home, and I hated answering the business phone and talking to people I didn't know.  I'm just still trying to avoid it I think.

8)  I've recently realized exactly what it is with me & kids.  Babies kind of scare the crap out of me, because there's so much that can go wrong, and I really have no idea how to deal with children that can't really fend for themselves, or at least communicate effectively.  Toddlers, I can deal with a little bit better, mainly because they seem to be made of rubber, even if they are still lacking somewhat in the communication department.  Age 5+ is what I'm most comfortable with I think.  So what does this mean for me, and any possible progeny?  I have no clue.  All I know is we are broke as hell, and that's no way to bring up a kid, so we still have a couple years before we'll consider having any anyway... so why stress about it now?

9)  When it comes to work, I don't like to leave a project halfway finished.   If I've deemed it worthy of my time and effort, I'll put everything into it and get it done.  But, I can't really say the same for home.  I cleaned up my craft closet the other day, and pulled out my cross-stitch tote bag.  I think there are about 6 unfinished projects in there: a wedding announcement that I started for my best friend (her wedding was what, 2004?  2005?); a baby announcement I started for my other BFF's first child (she's on her third now); a beautiful "Footprints in the Sand" piece that's for my sister that I've been working on since my freshman year in college; a Christmas stocking that was going to be for B for our first Christmas, and then was going to be for somebody's baby, and now I have no idea what to do with it and at the rate I'm going, I'll finish it in time for somebody's grandkid.  

10)  (Whew, I'm running out of things to write about!)  Another thing that doesn't seem to translate from work to home: I have a 'green' job, but I'm not doing very well with being 'green' at home.  I think part of it has to do with the infrastructure, or lack of, in Toledo.  We don't have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, so we have to search through the Kroger or Target for the 'eco-friendly' products and pay a hefty premium in many cases.  We have some good sources for food at the local farmer's markets (and I think locally & sustainably grown food is better than any 'organic' label) but they're still not very convenient.  We still use some regular cleaning products, simply due to the fact that we bought them long before we decided to 'go green' and haven't run out of them yet, and I'm not going to just throw them away (because remember, there is no away!).  We recycle everything that the city will take, which like most cities, is limited to paper, cardboard, tin, aluminum, and #1 and #2 plastics.  We conserve energy as best we can in our leaky old house, but I know we could do so much better.  It's frustrating sometimes, but a lot of the time I'm just like, eh.  Which is what got the world into this mess in the first place: people thinking eh, whatevs.  Hippie freaks, makin' a big stink about pollution and trees and stuff, doesn't matter, doesn't affect me.  I know better, dangit!

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So, now I'm supposed to tag some people... so I'm tagging anybody who's reading.  TAG!