10 Things

I've seen this meme going around the blogs I read, and while I thought it would be fun, I also thought it might be kind of hard as well. Then I got tagged by Teaberry for it, so the thinking had to start.
10 things you might not know about me...
1. Bodies of water terrify me. When I was growing up, we didn't know anyone with a pool so I never learned how to swim. By the time my parents made friends with a couple who had a pool, I was in high school and too embarassed to try to learn. I basically taught myself how to flail my arms and legs enough to "swim" from one end of the pool to the other, but that was it. I've never gone into the ocean past my knees, because I'm afraid of the pull of the water. I didn't want my kids to be afraid of water, but because I was scared that a day might come when they needed help in the water, we had them take swimming lessons. 3 summers in a row, they took lessons at the rec center and both did great. They love swimming and have no fear of the water. This makes me very happy and very relieved.
However, I do love being near the ocean, lakes, rivers, etc. I find the water very calming, as long as there is no danger of falling in.
2. After I graduated high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life besides getting married and having kids. My parents never stressed the importance of going to college, but everyone else in my life did, so I registered for community college with no direction in mind. I went for 2 weeks. I hadn't really thought much about it over the years, mostly because I hadn't ever found a career that seemed attractive to me. Lately however, the topic has come up often and I'm now thinking about actually going to college for real. My wife is pushing me in this direction, simply because she has more faith in me than I do. I'm still finding the reasons not to, and she is there to remind me of the reasons to do it. I think she might be winning...
3. My college time ended after 2 weeks when Shell & I ran away. We were gone for almost a month. Didn't let anyone know where we were. Our cover was blown when we contacted a friend and she ratted us out to Shell's parents. Looking back, it was a very foolish decision but in a lot of ways I don't regret it. It was just another way we were proving that nobody could keep us apart.
4. I don't mind speaking in front of people. I've run meetings with no problem. I've spoken my mind about things I believe in and oppose. Doesn't bother me. What DOES bother me is that when I do speak to a group of people, my face and neck turn bright red. I don't feel embarassed, so why does this happen? It never fails and many times knowing that it will happen keeps me from speaking up. I hate it, but I have no idea how to prevent it.
5. Shell is the only woman I've ever been with. I had one serious boyfriend before her, who I lost my virginity to when I was 17. Five months after we broke up, Shell and I got together. From that moment, I've never doubted my sexuality. Realizing that I was in love with her and wanted to be with her felt like finding out who I really was.
6. When I came out, everyone was surprised and that is still the reaction to this day. To be honest, I doubt that I trigger most people's gaydar. This bothers me at times, because I feel that visibility is very important. But I am out to all my coworkers and my entire family, so I do what I can in that aspect. I am who I am. I found the term "chapstick lesbian" one day and the definition fits me well. I like it.
7. I've never had a broken bone and other than for dental work and my c-section, I've never had stitches.
8. Most people I know would have followed up the previous statement with "knock on wood", but not me. I am not superstitious at all. Shell is and it drives me crazy when she tells the kids to throw salt over their shoulder or knock on wood or that breaking a mirror brings bad luck or not to step on a crack. I just don't believe in them. I don't believe in heaven & hell and I don't believe that there is a godlike being somewhere passing judgment on everyone. I do however, believe in ghosts and spirits.
9. I love doing laundry. Every part of it, EXCEPT walking up and down the 3 sets of stairs between the basement where the washer & dryer are and the bedrooms. My kids can do their own laundry, but I'll just randomly grab clothes out of their hampers and then wash, dry & fold them. When I do their laundry, I leave the folded piles of clothes on their beds to put away, you know so they have to do some of the work. But I don't mind, I like it.
10. I love living in Colorado and dread the day when Shell (who doesn't love living here) decides that we've lived where I wanted to for long enough, it's time to go back to California. She talks about wanting to move back all the time and has for years now, but I just can't bring myself to seriously consider it. I just don't want to live there again. But I know that someday, I will have to give in and it makes me very sad.

Okay, so now the fun part. I get to tag some of you to take this. Unfortunately, most of you have already been tagged, so that takes some of the fun out of it. These are a few I don't think have done this yet:
Steph at All For the Love of You
B at Endless Love
Jackie at Waiting for Mavis
Kathy at Wannabe Earth Mamas
Meg at All About Austin
Ally at 2moms2babies

I look forward to reading your 10 things!