6 Random Things

I’ve been tagged by fellow blogger, Judy, to share 6 random things. This is a tough one, because have a hard time being random! So here are a few random, yet not-so-random, things about me that you may not know:

1) Against all common sense, I sometimes drink coffee in the late evening. I must have built up a tolerance to caffeine, because it doesn’t keep me awake at night.

2) When I was growing up, I had a box turtle. This turtle was about the size of a grapefruit and lived in a TV box in the basement. My cat, Mittens, used to sleep curled up around the turtle. One day, Mittens must have slept too long because the turtle was smothered! I discovered it when my parents had company and went screaming through the house carrying the smothered turtle.

3) I am directionally challenged. I get lost regularly, in many cities and in other countries. One of the worst times was when I was living in Paris in college and had a job babysitting two young girls after school. I was supposed to pick them up after school and walk them home, but I had been out sightseeing somewhere else in the city and got lost trying to find my way back. Luckily I made it in time, but just barely!

4) I have a lot of trouble remembering people’s names. I can almost always remember faces, but sometimes I can’t remember how I know someone either. I’ve always been this way and it is really embarrassing.

5) In college, I worked a summer job at a window factory. My job was to make mini-blinds, the kind with metal slats. It was actually a very difficult task to learn, because you had to hold an entire stack of slats and thread them through two or more hanging “ladders” of string loops. But I caught on quickly and actually became pretty skilled at making them. Being the "Type A" person that I am, I kept challenging myself to make more and more blinds each day. One day, one of the regular workers pulled me aside and told me to slow down since I was making everyone else’s numbers look bad!

6) I enjoy reading non-fiction books much more than fiction. I almost never read fiction.

I think many of my blogging friends have done this challenge, but if you’re reading this and have not, consider yourself tagged!