Hello? Anybody out there??

Tap...tap..tap.

Hello? Anybody still there? I can't tell through all of these cobwebs and dust.

Well, it looks like I took a long but unintended vacation from the blog. No real reason - just the usual getting swamped with the general busyness of life. And then all of the to and fro and traveling about of the holidays - oh and did I mention we are re-doing our kitchen? Gutting it completely, including the floor. So all of that put together equals = disappearing from blogland.

Not entirely though. I have been carrying on as usual at my other blog home Knit the Classics and keeping up with reading everyone else's blogs. I've mostly been too brain dead to comment though. :(

Anyhoo - Melanie is attempting to prod my blog back to life by tagging me with the Six Weird Things About Me meme. I don't usually do memes but I've got to get back into this somehow so...hmmm...this is actually a tough one. I sort of don't know where to start. Probably because I think just about everything about me is weird in one way or another. I don't think anyone is really "normal". In fact, just don't believe in the whole idea of "normal". I think it's a myth. If "normal" exists I've never seen it. And when I do meet people who seem to be normal they just scare me. Because I just know that if you scratch that surface you'll find something really truly scary weird! Know what I mean? Maybe not...well maybe my ideas about "normal" should have been "weird thing about me number 1". ;)

1. I can't sleep unless the covers are all just so. The top and bottom sheets have to be pretty much flat - no big lumps or wrinkles. All the covers have to be pulled up to around my ears and folded back so that they cover my cheek but don't touch my nose. If one of the covers touches my nose I am unhappy and have to start rearranging all over again. Depending on which sheets & blankets are on the bed it can take me awhile to get this whole set up to my liking. If I'm really unable to get comfy I contemplate waking up my husband so we can switch the sheets or blankets - whichever one is offending me. Luckily I stop short of actually waking him up & thus am able to pretend to myself that I am at least slightly sane! I take comfort in all of the other bloggers who have mentioned a similar "weirdness". There seem to be a few of us!

2. Melanie mentioned that she hates being outside. I pretty much feel the same way - especially as I have gotten older and my asthma and allergies have gotten worse. As a kid I thought it was a punishment to have to come inside & now I feel the reverse. It kind of sucks because I truly love nature. Nothing inspires me or restores my soul like the gorgeous colors and shapes and magical beinginess that is the whole wonder of the natural growing world. I just don't want to be out in it.

**I just asked my hubby for some help in identifying weird things about me and he said that was a tough one because all of my weirdnesses seem normal to him now. :)**

3. Hubby likes making fun of my mixed up "accent". I have lived in so many different places that I have a strange variety of regionalisms and pronunciations in my speech. Add to that the fact that I taught myself to read before pre-school and I was reading lots of "big words" before I ever heard them - so I have some funny mispronunciations which have stuck. All of this together means it's probably pretty hard to figure out where I come from just by listening to me talk.

4. I don't consider myself very girly. I hardly ever wear make up or heels or dresses or do any of the stereotypical girly things. But I love glitter. The more the better. Glitter and shiny things. And I firmly believe that diamonds go with anything. Ratty t-shirt and jeans - slap on some diamonds and you look fabulous. PJ's? Sweatpants? Best accessorized by diamonds. I don't know if this is weird - maybe it's just contradictory. But I consider my love of fine jewelry to be my one concession to girlyness.

5. I can't lie. Really. I can't. Please don't ever ask me to. It will just turn out bad. I've never practiced lying so I'm no good at it. I can usually muster up a diplomatic "white lie" if I have to - like when a friend gets a horrible haircut and asks if I like it. But even then I can't just lie and say that I do like it. Instead I will avoid a direct answer and desperately find anything nice to say. And I'm only successful at this if I'm not taken by surprise. And only if it is a lie about my opinion about something. If it is a lie about a fact - like what I ate for breakfast or something, I can't say I had eggs if I had toast. And I can't just not say anything either. Needless to say, this has been the cause of some bad social situations for me. My compulsion to tell the truth is so strong that it overtakes my ability for self-preservation. I just can't lie even when I know that it would probably be better for me to do so because people usually really don't want the truth - even when they say they do. :(

6. I don't know if this is that strange but I really hate wearing shoes. If I could I would probably go through my entire life barefoot. Actually, it's not so much shoes that I hate - because I can stand wearing some sandal type shoes okay - like Birkenstocks - that qualifies as shoes right? What I really hate is the combination of shoes and socks. Socks only are semi-okay - but barefoot is better. Even in the middle of winter I'd rather have cold feet then wear socks and I definitely would rather have cold feet than socks AND shoes. Okay - I guess that is weird. :) And it kind of sucks being a knitter who doesn't really like socks that much.

So there you go. You don't hear from me for months and then I hit you with Six Weird Things. If I still have any readers left - I thank you! :)

I'll end off with my New Years Resolution - which also has nothing to do with knitting.

This year I resolve to: Wear perfume everyday.

Like I said - I'm not much of a girly girl with the no make up and all. And I don't really have a fancy dress up kind of lifestyle. And I have kids and dogs and a million things to do everyday so I usually end up neglecting myself a bit. So this year I resolve to take care of me by wearing perfume everyday. Doesn't take any extra time or effort but when I put on perfume I feel like I look good - even if I really don't. When I wear perfume I feel fancy - even if I'm just in my PJ's. Good smells also have a calming effect on me & lower my stress level. Plus I need to get over the idea - that I think a lot of women have - of "saving" perfume for special occasions. (I do this with yarn too.) "Saving" is like saying you really aren't good enough for the good stuff and in 2007 I resolve to get over thinking like that.

So here's to spending 2007 wafting around in a cloud of fabulousness smellyness and knitting with super scrumptious yarn. :)

ps - I hope everyone will say hi & let me know you're still out there & that you forgive me for my long silence!