Weird and Random Me

My friend Kerri has tagged me with a meme which apparently means I'm supposed to share 7 weird and random things about me. Ok, I'll play along. :) (She has a playlist on her blog - I simply must figure out how to do that... I'm loving the Ingrid Michaelson and Billie Holiday she's got playing on there.)
Here are the rules for the meme:
1- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2- Share 7 random or weird things about yourself.
3- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Weird or Random Things About Myself:

1 - I married my high school sweetheart. Phil was not my first boyfriend, but I sat behind him one day in math class and he told me some pretty bad jokes. I needed a date for Junior Prom so I asked him out and he turned out to be very sweet. He used to do things like bring me a mocha and a rose to school in the morning (and he still does stuff like that occasionally.) After dating for four years we decided to get married. Three years later (after I finished my first year of teaching) we had our first baby boy. Almost a year after that we bought our first house. We now have 3 kids, are still happily married, and next year we celebrate our 10th anniversary! Yay for us!

2 - Popsicle sticks give me the heebie-jeebies, and so do most pieces of unfinished wood. I especially don't like popsicle sticks to touch the inside of my mouth and I go to great lengths to prevent this - like buying ice cream sandwiches instead. When I do have a popsicle, I wrap the wrapper around the popsicle stick so I don't have to touch it and I bite around it so my mouth doesn't come in contact with the stick. I know, this is weird. One time I was asked to play the cello at a gallery walk - We were in a violin shop and they gave me an unfinished cello to play. I was very uncomfortable during that hour and a half. It wasn't until later that I realized why I had been freaking out. Sometimes even brown paper bags make my skin crawl... If anyone can give me insight into this, I'd love to hear it. My aunt apparently has the same issue so maybe it's hereditary?

3 - I have a yarn addiction, but most people know this about me. Actually, we need to add fiber to this as well because I'm actually hiding it in my closet now that the stash has broken loose from my craft/guest room. It's borderline ridiculous... My mum would say it passed the border of ridiculousness a long time ago. Let's just say I have a LOT of wool... and cotton... and alpaca and llama too. The only reason my stash doesn't contain very much mohair is because sadly, I'm allergic to it. It's incredible that my Christmas wish list is still pretty much 75% knitting-related, and my sweet husband hardly ever mentions how obsessed I am. I just can never get enough yarn - I really, really like it.

4 - I'm a nail biter. I know it's gross and I don't like that I do it. I've quit several times throughout my life, but somehow this habit keeps coming back. It usually happens when I'm reading a book or watching a movie and it drives Phil bonkers. I often admire other people's nice fingernails. Not the really long ones but the clipped, clean, well-groomed ones... Like my dad's. :)

5 - I played the cello for 11 years. I was pretty good... Good enough to play in a quartet at weddings, in gallery walks, and grand openings of hardware stores. Good enough to play in the local symphony and pops orchestra, and good enough to earn a college scholarship. Unfortunately it got in the way of what I thought I really wanted to do which was to get a teaching degree. I stopped playing almost 11 years ago which is why I'm really scared of what I'd sound like if I started playing again. I still have the cello - it's buried in yarn, but there's still hope for music in my future.

6 - I don't like pickles, mushrooms, olives, or beets. I used to be a really picky eater, but now I'll usually try something new at least once... unless it's got pickles, mushrooms, olives or beets in it. I thought Phil was crazy when he told me he liked cheese on his pancakes, but I tried it and now I always have cheese on my pancakes too. We mainly eat organic, but I'd have a difficult time being a vegetarian - I'd really miss the meat. I love ribs. I've never tried escargot, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it.

7 - Next summer, Phil and I plan to start the process to adopt a baby girl from China. This has been something we have thought about for a long time, and I think we're actually going to do it. China's laws require that we both be at least 30 years old which is why we have to wait. My 30th birthday is next month, and Phil's is next July. The process usually takes about 2 years, and is quite expensive so we're starting to save for it now. I've been busy making things over the last several weeks to sell in a local craft bazaar to begin our adoption fund. The bazaar is this weekend, and I'm so excited to finally be getting started! Crazy, huh?

All right, let's see... I'm going to tag Laura, Monika, Molly & Keva, Blake, Brenda, Gabi, and Judy.