10 Things You Don't Know About Me - Part 1

I've been a little reflective today - I think it's an "approaching 50" thing -  and the more I think about the last 49 years, the more I realise I'm quite an eclectic soul.  I've had so many amazing experiences in my life and yet there aren't any real themes.  So here's a slightly random view of who I am, and what makes me me....loves, hates, pet peeves and experiences.  Here's the first 5 of 10 - part 2 to follow shortly.

1. I absolutely HATE spiders.  Over the years I've learned to "tolerate" small ones as long as they don't come near me.  But anything larger than my fingernail makes me nauseous and causes shrieks and cold sweats.  I don't remember a time when I wasn't petrified of them.  As a child I'd call my Dad to come catch any that dared to venture into my bedroom - he'd catch them in his bare hand and throw them out the window - my hero!  Until the night I realised he actually knocked them off the wall/ceiling and then made me think he'd thrown them out the window!  After that, I'd have to follow him downstairs and out in the garden, to see him release it.  In the States I lived in 2 states that have tarantulas and wolf spiders - including an annual tarantula migration across the road between my house and work.  I'm really not sure how I survived.  I even had to ask hubby to find a pic to use here as I couldn't search for spider images.
   
   
2. I LOVE dancing.  The happier - non-spidery - side of my childhood included a lot of dance.  I did the typical round of ballet followed by tap from a young age.  Then I branched out into stage dance and went on to dance for a local amateur dramatic group that just performed musicals - I really found my confidence during this time and thoroughly enjoyed putting on the make-up, wearing fabulous costumes and losing myself in the dance.  However, my first love of dance is ballroom/latin.  I started when I was small, so I could dance with my Dad when we were on holiday.  I continued until I was in my early 20s, when life just got in the way.  This was in the pre-Strictly days when ballroom dancing was still considered to be quite geeky and not cool!  I helped to teach classes and competed a few times.  It's the one thing I regret giving up - seeing some of the middle-aged celebs on Strictly does make me think I should pick it up again - after 7 years as Mummy to a boy, I could use a little sparkle.  
   
   
3. Sort of linked into that, I am quite musical.  I can play piano, keyboards, clarinet, violin, flute and a little bit of sax.  Again, one of those things I've let slip in recent years and really should get back to.  There is something magical about being able to pick up, or sit at, an instrument and make it sing.  I'll forever be thankful to my parents for sending me to music lessons and letting me explore a number of different musical paths.  It saddens me that music is disappearing from our school curriculum, so I now need to introduce C to music - he just can't sit still long enough!!  
   
   
4. I am slightly OCD with grocery shopping...  As you know, I menu plan and from that create a grocery list.  I'm actually not sure what I'd do if I went into a supermarket without a list - probably panic and run around like one of those people who's won a supermarket dash - just randomly grabbing things.  So nothing too unusual so far - but I type and print my shopping list, and everything has to be in the order I'll find it in the store. If I add something to the list at the last minute I have to edit it and re-print.   I have a different template for each of the main supermarkets I visit. As you can imagine, when they do their twice yearly shuffle around of aisles it drives me slightly crazy.  One time I abandoned my shop, made a quick note of the new lay-out, went home and re-typed the list!  
   
   
5. I have a macabre obsession with serial killers and murderers....when I was in my teens I ordered a book from a book club (remember those? 10 books for 25p each or something, then they sent you a book a month for the rest of your life - no clicking here or tapping there - you had to fill out a form and send it in).  The book was a history of female killers - encyclopedia style it gave me just enough information to make me want to find out more.  From that start I went on to read biographies of most of the major serial killers the world has known - when living in the States I would lose whole weekends watching back-to-back true crime documentaries trying to gain some insight into what makes them do it.  Although some have the traditional "psychopath" style, the majority are only monsters behind the scenes.  At other times they live normal lives and blend into society.  If I had my time over I think I would have ventured into the world of criminal profiling - just never knew it existed until Cracker came along!  I want to understand them - and that bothers me!!  Needless to say I love the show Dexter -  a serial killer that I can relate to - hmmm, maybe that bothers me too! 
   

So there you go...part one....I'm not sure what it says about me, or if it says anything at all, but each of those things contribute to who I am today.  Stay tuned for Part 2!