7 Weird and Random things

Why not- I will play along too. (I thought 7 things would be easy, but it wasn't!)

1. I often eat the same food everyday for weeks or months (years?) on end. It doesn't bother me at all. In elementary school it was buttered toast with cocoa for breakfast. In high school my breakfast was a cinnamon raisin bagel with plain cream cheese and a can of coke. Everyday. My current obsessions are a weird thing I invented called Banana breakfast (though that seems to be fading) and a turkey & cheddar sandwich.

2. Two of my front teeth are partially fake. I had a bad flu when I was about 14 or 15 yrs old and I fainted on the tile floor in my parents bathroom. I chipped two teeth and gave myself a black eye. When I cried to my BFF that I looked like a hillbilly, she tried to cheer me up by telling me she thought I looked more like a vampire. She meant it as a compliment.

3. The first concert I ever went to was when I won tickets to see INXS. Michael Hutchence spent a lot of time singing directly to my section. I know he saw me. I still have the t-shirt.

4. First grade was a tough year for me. On the first day of first grade we had to go up to the bulletin board that had a big paper cut out of a tree with apples on it. The apples all had names on them. We had to find the apple with our own name, take it off the board and sit back down at our desk. I looked and looked at all those apples, but none of them said "Jenny B". There was one that said "Jennifer B" - but I was so used to being Jenny and to there being other Jennies, that I was sure that "Jennifer" one wasn't mine. Finally there were about 3 apples left and everyone else had sat down. My poor teacher, Mrs. Leir, came over and asked if I needed help. I told her that my name wasn't on any of the apples, so she asked what my name was and checked her list. She tried to tell me that the "Jennifer B" apple was mine. I told her that was NOT my name. My name was Jenny. She tried to explain that "Jennifer" was a longer version of Jenny. I tried to explain that I knew that, but that "Jennifer" was not my name, and then I spelled it for her, "My name is J-e-n-n-y, B." Finally, she turned the apple over, re-wrote my name the right way and I got to sit down. Eventually, I loved Mrs. Leir and she became one of my favorite teachers, but I did not like her at all that first day.

5. My sister and I once ditched school by pretending to go out the back door, but we really went down in the basement instead. We hid down there until my mom went to work. We had planned ahead and left a backpack with snacks and blankets there the day before. (even though we only had to wait an hour or two before she left). I don't remember how old I was, but my sister and I are 5 years apart, so the oldest she could have possibly been was 8th grade, and I bet she was younger than that. My mom still doesn't know about this one. Please don't tell her!

6. People are always telling me that I look just like their cousin in-law, or their ex-neighbor, or their sister's roommate from college or something. I must have a very common midwestern* face or something. Though when I suggest that explanation, the person almost always replies, "Hmmm... maybe, but you talk/gesture/have mannerisms just like her too! It's really weird!" To which I usually just laugh, because what else do you say? Thanks? But of course, I've never gotten to meet any of these doppelgangers. Not once. (*though this did happen to me when I was in England too)

7. I'm a supertaster. I even tried this test and gave up counting because it was too hard to keep track. Though the older I get, I can definitely tell that I am losing a lot of my taste sense. There are lots of things that I like (or can at least stand) to eat now that I never used to like; sour cream, guacamole, spinach, artichokes (well only in dip form), green beans, coffee, dark chocolate and red wine. I have to tell you though, I wish they had done the supertaster research when I was younger. I drove my parents crazy with how picky I was (am)- it's nice to have an explanation for it.

If you are reading this, and haven't tried it yet, consider yourself tagged. :P