The Ten Day Challenge – Day One

Admittedly, I’m always pretty bad about updating this site – I don’t like to just post for the sake of it, I’d rather have something to say – but lately I’ve been worse than usual! There’s just been so much on the go! So, in the spirit of forcing myself to post every day, I thought I’d join my lovely friend Chereen from For the Beauty of It in a ten day challenge. Also not the kind of thing I usually do, but hey.

The challenge goes a little something like this:
Day one – ten secrets
Day two – nine loves
Day three – eight fears
Day four – seven wants
Day five – six places
Day six – five foods
Day seven – four books
Day eight – three films
Day nine – two songs
Day ten – one picture (of yourself).
Feel free to join in!

Here are my ten secrets…eek:

1. When I was about six or so, I wanted to be a botanist. Except that I pronounced it bottomist. The shame. I could never understand why the parental found this career aspiration so hilarious. But I took it very seriously and had a little workstation in the garden where I concocted all kinds of things by squishing plants…it seems I wasn’t quite sure about what a botanist (or bottomist for that matter) actually does. I’m not too sure why this dream job faded into obscurity.

2. I’ve always wanted to take up horse riding, but I’m scared I will do myself a major damage (more on this later). When I was a kid, I was totally, and utterly besotted with horses. I mean, most little girls are at some point, but I was a little cray-cray about it. Not only did I have many little horse figurines and pony pictures decorating my bedroom, and read all the horsey books I could get my hands on, I also used to make the parental buy me the Farmer’s Weekly so I could peruse the ads for horses for sale. Somehow I was convinced that if I asked just right, I would soon own a horse all of my very own. The fact that we lived in a flat didn’t seem to factor into the equation for me.

3. I am RIDICULOUSLY clumsy. If there is a way for me to hurt myself, I will find it…and often even if there isn’t. I was once teaching a class full of very rowdy teenagers and I literally just tipped forward and fell onto the blackboard. Mortification! But the kids were so stunned they didn’t even laugh, they just sat there in awed silence. Possibly the only time I ever heard the sound of silence in that classroom! I have dislocated my shoulders (both of them) a stupid number of times, and once dislocated my knee by falling off a horse (so maybe I shouldn’t take up riding!). I think the doctors at St Augustine’s hospital were starting to think that I was being abused! Miraculously though, I have never broken any bones! And hopefully I haven’t just jinxed myself.

4. Everybody knows I am a grammar Nazi, that’s no secret. But there is one common grammatical error that genuinely makes me want to inflict bodily harm. It’s when people say yous instead of you (as in, yous really should have paid more attention at school). In fact, I actually broke up with someone when I was 16 in essence because he was the kind of guy who said yous. Harsh. You is already a plural people!!! Stop it.

5. I really hate most photos of myself. And when I look at them I think oh feck, is that what I look like??

6. A lot of people know that my sister (who’s name is actually Angie) and I call each other Bridget and Abby, but not everyone knows why. It all started with a silly email that I sent her years ago, whining about some boy who was hurting my feelings. It was very much in the style of a missive to an Agony Aunt, a la Dear Abby, and the kind of thing Bridget Jones would be bitching about. And so Bridget and Abby were born. I can’t remember which boy was pissing me off, or even why, but Bridget and Abby has stuck.

7. I have an almost pathological hatred of parking. Like, I actually don’t want to go places where I think I will battle to find an easy parking. I know this does not help the “women are good drivers too” cause, but I can’t help it.I will walk kilometres if it means I don’t have to parallel park.

8. I am also disgustingly bad at directions – I will turn the wrong way at every given opportunity – yet I can give fantastic directions to other people. Go figure.

9. I think superstitions are silly – but if I’m wearing a particular pair of earrings (for example) when the Sharks win, I have to wear them again the next time they play. And I can’t wear any of the opposing team’s colours at all on game day. Blush.

10. I fear I may be getting less intelligent and less funny as I get older. This bothers me a lot more than it should.