I'm really sticking to this write everyday thing. Luckily, I haven't set a per day word count for myself. After today, that might be something I need to institute. If we're being honest, I really don't feel like writing today. I'm doing my best to make sure that my words are worth reading, even though my heart isn't really in it right now.
Q: Kristin, why don't you feel like writing today? You were so excited about it this weekend?
A: Well, I'm glad you asked that. First of all, this is my Sunday night. I have to go back to a standard work week after almost two and a half weeks of either being at camp or taking some personal days to recoup. Second of all, my husband is gone for the week. He is on a business trip with his dad. I'm really thrilled for some time to myself, as I don't typically get that...like at all...ever. But, let's face it, I'm much better when I'm half of a wonderful whole.
Q: Do you have any big plans while your husband is gone this week?
A: Yes I do. I'm looking forward to having some time to clean up the house. Also, we have a closet full of stuff that hasn't been touched since we moved in almost a year ago. I'm going to try to sort that out and post it on Craigslist, hopefully to make a bit of money to put toward our vacation in July. I'm also helping a friend put together her resume and apply for some jobs this week. Hopefully, I will get to everything, but let's face it, I have access to Netflix and I need to rewatch the last season of True Blood so I know what's going on when I finally get around to watching the premiere.
Q: Vacation, that sounds exciting. Where are you going?
A: Next month my husband and I will be flying out to Mexico with my in-laws. We are going to stay at a resort in Puerta Vallarta. Truthfully, it hasn't really sunk in yet that we are leaving so soon. What has sunk in is that this weekend, I found an amazing swimsuit for the trip. It was the very first one I tried on.
Q: No way, the first suit you tried on? That never happens.
A: I know! It was fate, I had to buy it, even though it was more money than I had ever spent on a swimsuit before. I walked into Torrid just to check and see what they had. My husband and I both reached for the same suit first. It was the style I had said I wanted and my favorite color. I cringed at the price and had no idea if it would even fit me, but my wonderful husband insisted that I try it on. I'm so glad I did. However, I've declared that this will be the last swimsuit I ever buy! It doesn't look like much on it's own, but it is just perfect once it's on. It also fits into the whole pin-up girl/40s chic that I've really been into lately. We'll have to see if I can pull off some victory rolls in my hair while I'm lounging on the pool deck.
Q: Now you've mentioned before that you have been struggling with some unusual allergies. How do you think those will affect your vacation plans?
A: I really don't think they will, at least, I hope they won't. I've been struggling with an intolerance to red meat and red meat byproducts, along with some random fruits like avocados and bananas, as well as most medications, especially antihistamines. It has been an uphill battle, but I think I've finally figured out most of what triggers my hives. I have gone to a primarily vegetarian diet as of lately, but I can eat seafood and fish without any negative impact. I think our resort is along the Pacific Ocean, so I fully intend to stuff myself with seafood and fresh fruit the entire trip. I actually think it will be easier to stick to my diet outside of the Midwestern U.S. Not to mention, these allergies have really pushed me to try new foods or foods that I didn't think I liked any more and I'm really happy with the diet I've put together while branching out.
Q: Well I can't thank you enough for taking the time to speak with us today.
A: Anytime, you've made it really very easy to write what I needed to today. I appreciate the help and the non-traditional blog format you've allowed me.
Everyone has their idiosyncrasies. Not everyone is willing to share those with the rest of the world. Being a Millennial, I think that mine are equally, if not more interesting than everyone else's. Hence, I have a blog and hence I am posting them for the world to see.
10. If there is a Top Ten Countdown on TV, I have no choice but to watch it.
Some countdowns have included, the Top 10 One Hit Wonders, the Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns, the Top 10 Celebrity Pregnancies, and the Top 10 Redneck Weddings. Buzzfeed is my Kryptonite now.
9. I feel physically ill if I spend more than $12 on a shirt.
I don't feel like this one warrants explanation. It just means that I shop at Goodwill and really I only feel sick about it until I forget how much I spent on the shirt. I am the queen of hand-me-downs.
8. I am afraid of someone hiding in the backseat of my car and attacking or even just surprising me while I'm driving. Especially if it is raining.
I think this might stem from an urban legend I heard in grade school. The one where a lady is driving home and a trucker keeps flicking his lights on and off at her, then she freaks out because he follows her home and she thinks he is going to kill her, but it turns out that there is a man in the back of her car who keeps trying to stab her and the trucker saves her life by flickering his lights. Also, I feel like this is a prime example of how not to do "show not tell" writing. Read a better version here.
7. Red meat gives me hives. (Are undiagnosed medical conditions considered idiosyncrasies?)
I don't actually know if red meat gives me hives. It seems like everything gives me hives now. Currently known culprits: red meat, allergy medications, pain medications, large amounts of sugar, pants that are too tight, socks, seat belts, and lemongrass.
6. I love to subvert people's expectations of me.
Something I regularly do that just makes me giddy with joy, is to go straight from work, wearing professional attire, to a comic book store and then to walk in and start conversing with the guys working about the latest comic releases. While I like surprising people with how much I know, I hate when people assume I don't know anything. Example: When I worked in a video game store, I had a man walk in looking for a flight simulator game. I hate flight simulator games, so I didn't know a ton about what we had. When I went to ask a co-worker (also a female) she was able to give me some titles to direct him toward. When I went back to help him, he made the comment, "It is OK, no one expects you to know about games because you are a woman." Luckily, I brushed it off, and didn't think to be upset about it until later. I don't know if I would have been able to do the same if it happened again today.
5. In college, I found out that my now-husband was allergic to me.
My favorite scent was and still is coconut anything. The more it smells like sunscreen the better. What didn't occur to me was that they used actual coconut in the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, and body spray that I used. (I don't do moderation very well.) So, my lovely husband, who is allergic to coconut, stayed quite about the fact that he itched like crazy after we saw each other because he didn't want to hurt my feelings. We had been dating for almost 3 years by the time we figured this out.
4. I yawn every time someone says the word "yawn," makes a yawning noise, or really does yawn. (I yawned four times just while writing this sentence.)
This isn't usually a problem unless someone finds out about it. (Yes, I know I am broadcasting it to the Internet as I say this.) I worked in a warehouse for a while, and my boss found out about this lovely trait of mine. He would hide behind corners and make fake yawning noises and then run away giggling as I yawned and shook my fist at him. He didn't believe that it would really happen every time, so he kept trying it. There was a day at work where he made me yawn so many times, I had tears running down my cheeks. I tried the yawning test, and failed before the movie even started because I read the title.
3. I have severe technophobia, but I still consider myself to be technologically savvy and used technology in almost every aspect of my life.
I think this stems from a weird experience I had as a child that made me connect hackers and Satan. My favorite website used to be Bored.com. I know, I know, but that was the best there was for me on the Internet at the time. You can't visit it anymore, but it used to be links to some of the coolest time wasters online. It had games, MadLibs, personality quizzes, etc... I found one link that was supposed to be the "Internet reading your mind." You had to look at a number on the screen, not click on it or anything, and the computer would tell you what number you looked at. I tried it a dozen times and it worked every time. I even tried it where I didn't pick a number, and it managed to get the number that I was kind of thinking of on accident. I tried to figure out what it was, a math trick, a visual trick that made the numbers look more appealing, anything! I couldn't figure it out, so I told my mom about it. I'm sure she meant well, but she told me that I needed to be careful and not to visit that site anymore because it was probably Satan and to remember that evil is a real thing that needed to be feared. I took that to heart and have been scared of the Internet ever since. Now, let's be real, my fear of the Internet has matured and become much more logical than "it is Satan's fault," but it is fear nonetheless.
2. I am terrified of anyone coming near my Achilles tendon, and I can't watch videos where someone's is hurt or severed.
Again, I think this one come from the Internet. The lesson from this, is that the Internet is a terrifying place for children. The urban legend that everyone's grandmother forwarded to them was about a man who would wait under womens' cars and when they opened the door, he would cut their ankle so they couldn't get away before he took their purse and stole their car, leaving them stranded and bleeding in the parking lot. Thanks again to Snopes for letting me know that these are all fake. They never go into too much detail, but being the curious kid I was, I did some investigating and learned about the Achilles tendon in your leg. I learned that it stretches clear up your calf and if severed, your muscle will snap and bunch up behind your knee, leaving you unable to walk. Things that bother me because of this (which I will not post because I can't bring myself to search for the YouTube clips of them)
The video footage of a famous runner snapping his Achilles tendon when taking off in a race. (This is the worst one because you can watch his muscles move all the way up his leg.)
The scene in Kill Bill Volume 2 where the Bride gets out of a coma and hides just inside the door to slit the ankle of the gross nurse.
Any scary movies where someone is hiding under the stairs, not because anything really happens, but because something MIGHT happen.
Watching a scary movie while sitting on a chair that has space underneath it. I have to pull my knees up on to the seat of the chair.
Really anything where someone's ankles are vulnerable.
1. I hold my breath when people I don't know walk past me so I don't accidentally smell them.
I really don't know where this one comes from. I just started doing it one day. It doesn't matter if I smell a strangers perfume or their body odor, it freaks me out. Truth be told, if I haven't seen you in a while, I will probably hold my breath when you walk by too. Sorry, it's nothing personal.
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