sueeeus

I’ve been tagged! Outside of work, I have no social life. This blog is it. Sad, sad, sad, but true. It is, therefore, a thrill to be tagged. A thrill!

The rules of the game:
Each person tagged gives seven random facts about themselves. Those tagged need to write on their blogs seven facts, as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and need to read your blog.

Before I begin, I’m sorry to say that I am breaking the rules, because it’s very difficult for me to muster up the courage (or audacity ) to tag someone. I am thrilled to be tagged, but not comfortable to tag. Sorry. It’s so interesting and entertaining to follow these memes, but I’m just not bold enough to tag. Actually, in a fit of boldness, I would like to tag Suse, Meg, Miscellania, Blue Moon Girl, and My Float. But only if you want to.

1. I had a school in Idaho. I like to say it the way Meryl Streep says, “I had a fahm in Ahfrica,” but it just doesn’t carry the same punch. It was a big beautiful old building overlooking a lake in a teeny tiny Northern town. It was a true yin-yang experience. It brought much joy and much sorrow and in the end, my life would not be the same, had it not been a part of me for those eight or nine years.
   
2. I am distantly related to Katrina Van Tassell of Legend of Sleepy Hollow fame, or so I’ve been told. My grandmother has a small table that has been handed down through generations that was supposedly hers, and both my grandmother and mother have been to Sleepy Hollow, NY, to tour the cemetery and find the grave stone. However, with a little internet sleuthing, I’ve come to the quick realization that possibly there was no Katrina after all, but an Eleanor instead. That is, if you can believe everything you read on the internet. But, if you can believe everything your parents have taught you, then perhaps there was a Katrina, after all. Or, perhaps those befuddled old womenfolk of mine didn’t bother to share the complete story. Anyhow, it does make for a somewhat interesting, if sketchy, story.
3. Along those lines, I have also been told that I am distantly related to Peter Stuyvesant. Of course, this information came from my mother and grandmother as well, and we all now know to take that with a grain of salt. He sounds a bit tyrannical to me, and if we are related, well. I guess that doesn’t surprise me too much. Trivia states that he was credited for introducing tea to the United States, though. Way to go Pete!
4. In 1990, I was named one of the top inventors of the year, in my company. It was a great honor, and I really can’t take credit for being a genius designer or anything like that. I was just a young whippersnapper, doing as I was told, and my saintly lead, the real inventor, submitted the team on the patent, and shared the credit (and the prize money). What a fine leader he was. I think our picture was featured in the newspaper because I was the only woman in the ceremony. Women in engineering. Newsworthy. Sensational. (And I don’t mind. Finally, a newspaper clipping on par with my golden cousins.)
   
5. My personality type is INFJ bordering on INTJ. I’m not sure if the tendency towards the T has to do with my 20 some years in the technical world, squeezing out my inherent F traits, or not. I do find all this personality exploration and analysis fascinating, though.
6. I save gift certificates for a rainy day, and then forget about them, and by the time I remember… Just last week I found an ancient gift certificate for a massage. I timidly called the number and found they were still in business, and asked if I could redeem it. Yes! They let me redeem it! It was so old, they didn’t even recognize it. It was at least 6 years old. Today, looking for that newspaper clipping (item 4), I found a $25 American Express gift cheque dated 09/18/1991. I think it was for ’employee of the quarter’ or something. It’s so pretty, I may never redeem it. Besides, I signed with my maiden name. It sadly reminds me of one of those parables about stewardship in the Bible, where the one who buried the money is reprimanded for not investing it. This $25 is worth so much less than it was in 1991. I have a file that currently has a dinner for two certificate from a swanky restaurant, another massage certificate, a Barnes and Noble card, a community theatre certificate from 1994, and a handful of others. I plan to redeem the massage, and I’m certain the book card is still good. The others I am suddenly remorseful at the waste.
7. I don’t know how to relax and unwind. I have to stay busy and keep my mind occupied, otherwise I tend towards depression. I yearn for some ‘down’ time, but if and when I get it, I teeter on the brink of depression, anxiety, and overeating, which in turn causes more depression, anxiety, and overeating. It’s a horrible spiraling slippery slope.