Seven things

So Crystal kindly tagged/nominated me for this little award. Aw, shucks! I'm getting all verklempt. If I understand the concept correctly (you know I am getting on in years), I'm supposed to link back to my pal. Then tell you seven things you might not know about me. And nominate a few others to do the same! So here we go.

1. I don't sleep so well. Even though I love sleep, I find myself waking up in the middle of the night, even when Juliette doesn't wake me! Then I start thinking of all the things I shouldn't: job worries, life worries, anything. My friend Caro says she often does the same so I know I'm not alone, but I wish I could turn my brain off sometimes!

2. I love blue things. Like my blue-themed kitchen. And blue glass bottles (my mom collects these, too). My bedroom was creamy light blue in my mom's house and I just adored the delicacy of it. Now we're renting an apartment and everything's white, but I hope we'll get to paint our own rooms one day!

3. I suffer from redhead-envy. My hair is something of a strawberry blonde, or what the French call "blonde vénitienne". It was redder when I was younger. But when I see a confirmed redhead on TV I'm generally quite jealous and wish my hair were darker. My most recent object of envy was the new Dr. Who sidekick, Amy Pond, with her lovely tresses. I have even dyed my hair once in my life with one of those quick wash treatments to make it flashier. But it only lasted a wash or two.

4. I love finding good deals at the thrift store. Most of my pants come from there. I now find it very hard to pay more than 15 euros (or dollars for that matter) for something if I know I can get it for 4.50 at the second-hand store.

5. On the subject of clothes, I've got some stuff I'd consider flashy or trendy but sometimes I'm hesitant to actually wear it. I feel a bit self-conscious even if I think I look decent in them. But I'm slowly breaking out of that and wearing the red coat Remi got me a few Christmases ago. I've also got plenty of skirts and dresses but even when the weather's warm I generally just wear pants.

6. I can be outrageously campy. I like to sing Tom Jones' songs in a swingy voice. Try it and I think you'll agree it's extremely liberating. It's not unuuusual to be loved by anyone...Or how about this one: she's a lady, whoahoooo, she's a lady!

7. I was a real study geek in high school and college. On a typical Saturday night I was in my dorm room studying for next week's organic chemistry test while the rest of the world was out on a date. Some good it's done me because I'm not a doctor of chemical engineer.

Now I'd like to tag Jessamyn, and no, there's no nepotism going on here.
And a new blog I recently discovered, The Many Colors of Happiness.

So if you're game girls, let's hear your seven things...

Ginger whingeing and September blues

I had a revelation last week. I ran across a thing on the BBC (actually intended for English learners) about redheads and why they apparently complain a lot (that’s the whingeing word; I’d never heard of it before). The reporters said that it’s Scientifically Proven (!) that redheads need on average 20% more anesthesia during surgery as their pain tolerance is lower than people with other hair colors. And that more redheads avoid dental appointments than others for the same reason. I’m not sure if they mean we complain more about pain or just life in general. In my case it would be the latter, but perhaps that’s just this particular strawberry blond. For a moment it made me feel a bit better about myself. Could this explain why I’m so damn sensitive? Why I get tears in my eyes when someone starts telling me a slightly sad story or the background music gets melodramatic on TV? Why some days I’d rather stare out of the windy gloomily than get up off my duff and do something? Hmm, I don’t think it can explain everything, but maybe parts of my personality. But it might explain why I fainted when they gave me the epidural.

In other news, September is here and despite some bright and lovely blue sky days, I can feel change upon us. Remi’s mother said she doesn’t like the months that end in “re”: septembre, octobre, novembre and décembre. Since I’ve lived in France, I’d have to agree with her. But it wasn’t always the case. I loved the nip in the air that September brought when I was an Alabama resident because it meant relief was in sight from August’s dog days of summer. I still feel nostalgic for the crispness in the air and how it’s connected to going back to school and falling leaves and plaid skirts. But now that I’m in France, autumn, my once favorite season, is not as cheerful as it used to be. Too many gray days and rain and soon driving to work in the dark are probably around the corner. The winters are mild here but just cold, gray and long enough to make me dread them. So every nice day we’ve had this month just reminds me it might be the last one for a while. It’s not all doom and gloom though. I’m really trying to count my blessings and keep looking forward to the little things. I'll keep you posted.