Weird

I know, I know.  Lauren tagged me many moons ago.  But, I just can’t think of that many weird things about me.  I’m sure everyone will be happy to volunteer weird info about me.  I do have a few–and a few have already been volunteered.

 1.  My bedroom can, and often does, have books or laundry strewn on my bed, chest, floor; but my closet will always be organized according to color and type of article. 

2.  Weird things always happen to me.  I know I don’t really have control over this.  But why is it that some people seem to have completely normal weeks one right after the other, while I can’t get through a week without something crazy happening.  I think of Adrienne.  She knows my plight.  (Adrienne, I hope that the Hess story is on your blog.)  My friend Trudy says that God knows who can handle the crazy stuff, and gives it all to them.  I don’t think I handle all the insane situations that well.  For instance, I now pretty much hate all homeless-looking pedestrians. 

3.  I am very indecisive.  Not about stuff that really matters.  But it could take me 30 minutes to pick an outfit, choose where to go for dinner, order dinner, or decide what comment to put at the bottom of a magistra.

4.  I cannot tolerate excessive movement.  I must qualify this statement, because I’m sure you might be thinking something like, “Wait.  Anna, you kick your leg 5 feet in the air and squeal ‘woo hoo’ more than most people smile in a day.”  A chorus line type kick with appropriate excitement is never excessive.  I’m talking about when you are NOT supposed to be moving, and people find some part of their body, mouth, or pencil to incessantly tap, jiggle, wiggle, bounce, pop–you get the idea.  I think this stems from Coretta Grass in a voice class I took.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said to my students, “Put all your energy into learning, not tapping your pencil.”  or fill in whatever annoying RLS b.s. you want.

5.  “Within 30 minutes you can be the life and death of any party.”  This is contributed by Jonathan.  It’s true.  I don’t know what happens.  I can be so full of energy, and then it’s like someone turns off the switch, and I have to go to bed right then.  Maybe I am a narcoleptic.  or selfish.  …tomato, tomahto

6.  The only other thing I can think of that someone might deem weird is how I wasn’t quite myself around Justin or Andy when we first met.  But I think I’ve grown out of that.  So I’ll pick for #6:  I rarely listen to go-get-’em, crazy fast music.  It seems like someone with my personality should.  But I’ll choose Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Damien Rice, or cello any day. 

7.  oh, hold on.  one more.  I refuse to use T9.  I hate it.  If your phone doesn’t recognize the right word to pick, then you have to go back, turn T9 off, erase what the T9 put in, then redo it.  ug.  That irks me more than just using regular texting. 

I’ve taken a ton of words to tell only 7 weird things, and I’m supposed to have 8.  But I don’t think I have any other quirks or things I obsess about or things I really loathe.  If you think of one, you just let me know. 

B-I-N-G-O

well, folks, it turns out – bingo is much more than a song.  it is a game.  a serious game. 

there are rules.  more rules than you just cover up whatever letter/number combination that is called.  you have to use certain papers for certain games.  sometimes you can get a true bingo, but sometimes you have to get a “post stamp” (which is a square in any corner of the bingo card) or some other concocted way of winning. 

the bingo hall opens at 10 a.m.  and closes at midnight.  this is one of the few places in florida that you can still smoke.  pretty much everyone there is a regular. 

theresa, sarah, and i ventured out before christmas to check it out. 

we arrived after 9:30, and the hall was in the middle of a session – so we had to wait.  it was good that we had time to gather our supplies:  a dabber ($1 ~ available at your local bingo palace) and a roll of quarters.  the manager was a very scrawny young, spry fellow.  after explaining that this was our first time to visit this fine establishment and we would need some instruction of protocol, he eagerly told us all the rules, which papers to use when, and shouted out to the entire hall, “VIRGINS!  we got three virgins here!”

awesome. 

we were ready to begin.  we sat beside a veteran bingo player, making sure to do everything she said.  we used only paper and dabbers.  we could have used computers that play 9 games at a time, which would significantly increase our odds of winning.  but we were in it as much for the experience as for winning.  no computers for us. 

i took a picture with the manager, and his hand slid to my nether-region.  so…the picture didn’t turn out so well. 

right when we sat down, a man won $250.  an hour later, sarah won $25.  the bingo hall had to close early because there weren’t enough people.  so we went home around 11:15.  fun was had by all.  sarah was $18 richer.  this is her card.  sorry you have to look sideways. 

Happy Holidays! oops. this should have been published weeks ago…

            

Phew!  This last weekend, it hit me:  It is the holiday season!  With the commencement of hanukah, two birthday parties, two Christmas parties, and a Christmas cantata, the holiday season slapped me out of my comatose state. 

My sweet niece, Emily, turned three.  She is as cute as can be!  When given a dress up outfit of the Little Mermaid, she exclaimed in her Jay drawl, “Oh!  I could be a Barbie and a fish at once!”  So, in honor of her dear soul, I share these darling pictures with you.