Tag!

I've been tagged by Deb to give you eight random facts about me...
I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog. But much like Sarah, the people I know who Deb tagged constitute the majority of the other people I know who blog. So…if you see this and are overwhelmed with the urge to share, go for it.

Random Fact #1:
My family lived in Pakistan when I was a child. When I was 29 years old, I went back to Karachi, Pakistan for work and ended up living less than two blocks from my old house.

Random Fact #2:
I can say “hello” and “thank you” in French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, German, Vietnamese, Urdu, and Arabic.

Random Fact #3:
I am really happy about growing things in our garden, even if it’s just a bunch of herbs and some vegetables. I think that people (including me) too easily forget about where our food really comes from, and that’s a big loss – actually more dangerous than most people probably realize.

Random Fact #4:
I was vegetarian for a long time. Not vegan, but a lacto-ovo vegetarian (I ate eggs and dairy). And if you eat fish, seafood, chicken, or any other kind of animal – YOU ARE NOT VEGETARIAN. Not even kind of a vegetarian. That was my biggest freaking pet peeve. I’m not vegetarian anymore, but I still enjoy lots of vegetarian stuff. I just also enjoy steak.

Random Fact #5:
I used to ride horses when I was a kid and still love it, although I haven’t gone in quite a while. The last time I went was not a good experience (it was with an ex-, and when I got thrown off my not-fully-trained horse, narrowly missing a tree, he didn’t even try to ride over to see if I was okay, much less get off his horse.)

Random Fact #6:
I like to knit when I feel like I have the time, or when I think about it. It tends to take me a long time to finish anything because I generally don’t have the concentration to just sit down and do it, even though it's really relaxing, and I can work quickly.

Random Fact #7:
I talk in my sleep. In fact, I talk in my sleep with my eyes open, so the only clue that I’m not really conscious is the total nonsense coming out of my mouth. A couple of roommates and friends and (most recently) my husband have seen this, and it never fails to weird people out. It weirds me out, but mostly conceptually, because I’ve never witnessed it.

Random Fact #8:
Even though I am a very outgoing and talkative person, I recharge through silence. Spending time alone (or now, with Special K), just puttering around the house, reading a book, or something else that involves not talking. My favorite days in grad school were Sundays when I had no plans, because I would get up early to go grocery shopping, come back and clean my apartment from top to bottom, take a nap, make myself a nice dinner, and maybe watch a movie. All without saying more to anyone all day than “thank you” to the cashier at the grocery store. On a related note, I feel a sense of peace and contentment when the house is clean, the dishes are done, and the laundry has been washed and put away. I sleep my best when all those things are done, and it makes me happy.

Okay – in case any of you folks are reading this, I will tag:

Stef

Amy

Max

Jenny

Jen A.