Quirky... that's Nice Talk for Weird & Freak!

My blogging friend tagged me to share 6 quirky things about myself. Only six? How will I narrow it down. Quirky is a cute, non-offensive little word that I'll have to start using more often... in place of weird and freak- which is usually how I describe myself and others' "quirky-ness".

1. Ever since I was pregnant with Emma I have had to have my drinks ICE COLD! If it is the slighest bit warm I cannot drink it. I stick Coke in the freezer until almost frozen, I fill up my water cups mostly with ice, and milk (on the rare occasion that I drink it) has to come out of the fridge and into my mouth as soon as it hits the glass (that one has been since I was a kid). Also, I won't drink a flat soda for anything in the world (even though I am quite possibly addicted to Coke and Dr. Pepper, I'd pass them both up if they were flat. I prefer cans b/c they provide the most fizz. (I'm with you Wife to the Rockstar!)

2. I'm quickly becoming a true germo-phobe. I carry around santizing wipes in a tub, antibacterial wipes in individual packets, and hand sanitizer in a bottle (which Emma has so adorably named "hand-tizer"). I'm the handwashing police in public restrooms and will talk out loud to Emma when we notice a grown woman not washing her hands... saying things like, " I don't know why she wouldn't wash her hands,Sweetheart,now she will spread germs all around and make people sick." Everywhere we go to eat I santitize the table when we arrive. So don't be offended if you invite us over for dinner and we complete our de-germ ritual at your dining room table (smile).

3. I spend alot of time finding, buying, and organizing matching outfits for our girls- who are 3 years apart by the way. I can't resist how adorable they look- G in a tiny version of something and E in the bigger version... like the red, white, and blue dresses I got them both (on clearance- yeah) to wear for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day at church...

4. I am a good smell-aholic. I love things that smell good: perfume, candles, freshly washed clothes, the hand sanitizer at my doctor's office, freshly lotioned babies, food on a grill, and on and on. However, I have an extreme aversion to nasty smells. At the slightest hint of funk I am holding my nose to prevent gagging and possibly vomiting. This made being pregnant the 2nd time and changing diapers a HUGE challenge. I could barely enter a public restroom and would start gagging in my own bathroom too. I do believe that I have been blessed with the most sensitive sniffer of anyone I know... Andy laughs at me all the time.

5. I have this interesting ability to spot errors in text that everyone else misses. My eyes seem to go right to the errors and then I sit there looking for more and usually find them... even in books! I even went back and changed an old blog of mine b/c it had a small typo. If anyone needs a proof-reader, jut let me know.

6. I'm nearly obsessed with nice teeth. It's the first thing I notice on people and if they aren't so nice, I have a hard time not concentrating on them. Right now Genevieve has a small discolored spot on her top front tooth. I jokingly said to a friend that God was saying, "Oh yeah, you wanna judge other people's teeth so much? Here's a spot on your kid's front tooth." We do have to take her to a ped. dentist to make sure everything is ok.

OK- I feel like a total freak now that I have shared my "quirks" with the entire blog world. I do feel free though... if I can share the weirdo-ness about me, then I don't have anything else to hide, right? The nice thing is that we all have them, so I'm in good company.

Want A Tan??

So, I went to my ENT the other day to have my tube checked... everything is good. I noticed the nurse had a nice tan and I asked her if she'd been away on vacation. She said, "No it's a spray on self-tanner." I couldn't believe it b/c it looked good and real- it wasn't all splotchy (is that even a word??)and it wasn't orange looking either. She told me that she got it from the store and sprayed it on herself- super easy, she said. What a BIG FAT LIE! A few years ago I decided to stop tanning in the sun because of the potential harm it causes on skin and the risk of cancer. I do love a nice tan though, so ff to Target I went, greatly desiring to rid myself of this washed out, toothpaste hue that I've been carrying around since last April when Genevieve was born. I searched the shelves high and low and couldn't find it- I almost left w/o it, but one more pass down the sunscreen/lotion aisle for the inner, tanned, goddess inside me... Voila! I found it. I carefully compared brands and finally chose one. I couldn't wait to get home and try it out. It seemed easy enough: open can, spray on, let it dry, and emerge from the bathroom all bronze and summery looking. I did what it said and let it dry before putting my clothes back on too (just like the bottle said). Off to sleep. I awoke in the morning resembling something like a cross between a zebra and a giraffe. Zebra b/c of the striped appearance covering my arms and calves and giraffed b/c of the organe/brown color mixed with the natural, pasty, white that I already had. It was BAD! I called Andy and asked him to look up remedies for bad self-tan disasters.... he said to exfoliate using baking soda. I exfoliated all right... baking soda and two other exfoliating lotions that I had. Then I was red mixed with my organge/brown and white. It did help some on my arms and I just wore pants to cover my legs. Then next day came and I decided that I may be able to "even out my legs". Mistake #2! Now my legs and feet have some REALLY dark spots and the white spots are only a little darker. My feet look like something rusted on them. The bottoms too, because I must have stepped in the overspray on my floor and they are stained beyond belief. Emma looked at them today and said, "Mama, why are your whole feet orange?" Then she ran over to my vanity and grabbed a pumice stone and said, "Here, let me get that off for you." She's too cute!! Today I took Emma bowling with a homeschool group. It was in the upper 70's and I would've worn shorts, but not w/ these legs. I wore longer cropped pants and ankle socks- what a sight, but it covered the worst part of my feet and legs and I don't think people could really notice. I've decided to leave well enough alone and just keep exfoliating until this nightmare is over. The point of the story: Either be pasty or get out in the sun, but don't fall for the lie of the lady in your doctor's office who says to use the EASY spray on tanner.