i got tagged!

All righty then, I was tagged by Annalea over at The Passionate Mind to reveal 7 random facts about myself. Hmm... The sad part is, I was tagged by I Speak Beanish a long time ago, and I was such a booger that it's taken me double-tags to get around to doing it!

Okay, here goes... Here's the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


1. I have an insane phobia of cotton balls. Not really a phobia, since I don't think they are out to get me or anything, but I just hate the feeling of them. So much so that I am physically cowering in my desk chair as I type this out, and I'm more than a little sick to my stomach. GROSS. I have psychoanalyzed myself to the point of realizing that this comes from my violent hatred of vitamins from when I was a child. We had to take these Shaklee multivitamins, and while I have nothing against either Shaklee or vitamins, those were pretty much the most disgusting thing I've ever smelled in my life. They were giant, green and smelled like rotting something-or-other. And before you could get to these delicacies, you had to pull the cotton out of the jar. So the squeakiness of the cotton (do you know what I mean?) is tied to the whole experience in my head. Cornstarch has a similar grating feel, and so I'm not too comfortable with that, either. Okay, I only touch it when ABSOLUTELY necessary.

(Pause while I regain my composure and quell my nausea with a little caffeine-free Coke. ICK!)

2. When I was in highschool, my Mom wanted me to go to the Milwaukee School of Engineering, so that I could take advantage of the seriously good male-female ratio, and find myself a Catholic engineer. I didn't, and went to a Catholic college out in Ohio instead. Two years after finishing my MA there, I found myself a Catholic engineer on the internet. She knew that an engineer would be great for me, but just had the "how" a little off... I am still impressed.

3. I went to the National Junior Classical League conventions for three years in highschool (it's for Latin students)... and loved it! I got to go to Knoxville, TN, Lawrence, KA and Indianapolis, IN for a week at a time and compete and hang out with Latin students from all over the country. The highlight of the week was the "Certamen" competition, much like a quiz bowl, except that the questions were in categories such as "Latin derivatives," "Roman private life," "mythology, "Greek and Roman history," or "Latin grammar," to name a few. My senior year, I was one of the four-member team from WI, and we won NATIONALS! This was a huge feat, especially as we were not one of the four states that typically won....

4. I have a small diamond-shaped birthmark on my belly, and over the last couple of years, I've developed a couple dark freckles right in the middle of it. Needless to say, Peanut will occasionally latch on to it in order to crack me up. It does resemble my, um, normal milk-producing locations... just flatter.

5. I am a really good cook. I don't typically follow recipes, but play with flavors and textures and come up with things that are quite good. Ask Mister... he's gained more weight than he wanted since he met me. What can I say? It tastes so good he doesn't like to stop eating!

6. I am a total Catholic nerd. My particular hobby is Catholic saints - I love reading about their lives, and realizing people who lived centuries ago are so closely connected to us. Some of my personal favorites include Miguel Pro, Edmund Campion, Margaret Clitherow and Maximilian Kolbe, if I had to narrow it down to a few! We're hoping to name our first son after a somewhat obscure saint, but I definitely can't share that information here, as we want to keep it a secret.

7. I am a lazy bum when it comes to housework. I would rather read a book than do the dishes, any day. It's something I'm struggling with - and actually have been ever since I was old enough to start helping with chores when I was little. My mother would not be surprised at all to hear that I struggle with this, I can tell you that! I have a tendency to quick rush around and clean up breakfast while I'm making dinner... and then I'm embarrassed if Mister comes home early and realizes this!

Okay. Phew. There's seven. Um... as for tagging seven, I think I'm going to go with: Cellular Lola, my best friend since I can remember... Teresa at Glimpses of Galway, since I can't seem to find her more recent blog... Groovy at the groovyoldlady... Shannon at a Reforming Mom... Chris at Serendipity Mine... Amy at Raising Angels... and whoever else might possibly stumble across this post!