30 Day Challenges Day 30 - 10 Random Facts About Me

Here it is, my last list! Thanks to Kate for having a fun challenge and I was happy to join in. Make sure you check out her page for the last few challenge days!

10 Random Facts About Me

1. I am Canadian

I'm an ex-pat living in the U.S. full-time since 2013. We used to live in Quebec and I crossed the border every day for work. It's much easier and more reliable getting to work on time now. 

This is our old neighbourhood, but that isn't our house. I liked how the house looked through the trees with the newly fallen snow and it's prettier than our old house. 

I grew up in Southern Ontario near London and went to undergrad at the University of Waterloo. My hometown is a large town mostly known for having large turkey farms now although it also used to have a lot of tobacco farms. 

2. I love to play hockey

NOT ME! Image from Christinenesbitt.net

I started playing at age 9 and gave up a questionable figure skating hobby. It was questionable because I wasn't terribly good at it. :) I was decent at hockey and played for a while on teams with boys while I was almost the only girl in the entire league. I was even able to play in the age group called "peewee" when you start checking players because of a landmark case by Justine Blainey. She was my hero growing up. She fought and fought for the right to play on a highly competitive team she had made, but couldn't play because the league didn't allow women to play. The decision to stop discrimination ended the year before I started peewee. 

I joined the London Devilettes organization shortly afterwards and our uniforms were identical to the photo above. That's a girls only league although we often played boys teams because there weren't very many good girls teams in our area. 

Unfortunately I tweaked my back a few years back and I haven't played since, but if I can get some equipment and some disability insurance (!) I'll get back on the ice next season. There are a few women's leagues around and I would love to play again. I really miss it. 

3. I'm a doctor

An optometrist to be specific. I don't do eye surgery, but I can treat most other eye diseases and/or monitor conditions like macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. I enjoy my job. I get to meet new people almost every day and it's never "routine". There's always something new going on and you often learn something new every day.

4. I'm soft-spoken

Most of my family is soft-spoken as well. My dad and I have had conversations across a room and DH, sitting in between us, hasn't heard a word either of us have said! I think I've actually lost some hearing from DD crying or yelling in one of my ears and since that will make me talk louder, I don't think anyone will mind. 

When we go biking I wear ear plugs so that when I talk to DH he can hear me. If I forget I feel like I'm shouting all the time even though I'm only reaching "normal" volume. Judging my DD's cries in the delivery room, she had DH's lungs. 

DH says I also have a "doctor voice" that I use when I'm seeing patients. I amp my volume up and enunciate and try not to talk too fast and that usually works well. Apparently when I'm proof-reading work-related stuff aloud I also use this voice. 

5. I broke my leg

I specifically broke my left tibia playing hockey. The zamboni was broken and before us there were figure skaters on the ice. They tend to really chew up ice with their toe picks. We decided to play anyway, and there was just one section with a really bad groove that I wasn't aware of until it was too late. I skated forward to play the puck and got my skate caught and my leg twisted under me. 

I ended up with a spiral fracture of my tibia. I wanted to get a copy of my x-ray because I thought it looked pretty neat and I was taking anatomy in undergrad at the time. I wasn't able to get one because of how Canada's laws work in the hospital or something. 

image from mypacs.net

This looks pretty similar to how I remember seeing the x-ray. Mine was a little higher up my leg though. I didn't need a pin or anything, but it took what seemed like forever to heal. I broke my leg while in my 4th year of undergrad, 1998 and that was my first and as yet, only broken bone. 

First I had a plaster thigh cast, then a fiberglass thigh cast which was much lighter, and eventually an inflatable boot. It was a challenge using crutches in the snow and ice and one time on a freshly washed floor. I did get a free Jello shot when I went out New Year's Eve though. And it's a pretty good indicator of bad weather in the offing. 

6. I'm an amateur photographer

DH got into photography in a big way and specializes in portraits. I like it and for a few years I was really into it, but cross stitch has called me back recently and I'd much rather spend my time cross stitching than any other hobby. 

Here are a few of my favourite photos:

Montreal, QC, Canada

Shelburne Museum, VT, USA

 North Hero, VT, USA

7. I feel bad even when I kill a spider

I realize there are millions if not billions of spiders, but I still feel bad when I kill one. They creep me out like crazy, but I don't really like killing anything. I feel justified killing a mosquito, so I don't mind that as much, but I have a really hard time killing even little bugs. Don't get me started on animal cruelty or road kill. I try to suppress these feelings but I think they're only stronger since I had DD. 

The worst part of the year used to be driving home after a rain on a hot day. The road was full of frogs! And you couldn't swerve around them, and you could feel them bump under the tires, or they'd jump right into the wheel... my stomach roils just remembering it. Fortunately that doesn't happen with my new shorter commute and I no longer feel like a frog mass murderer. 

8. I don't really like flower bouquets. 

The thought is nice, but I don't like the thought of killing flowers just to make a bouquet. I'd rather receive something in a pot. For our wedding we had fake flowers as corsages for all the women and buttonieres for the men. 

I do give cut flowers and send them to my Grandma because she loves them. 

9. I'm easily distracted

I have a difficult time keeping my mind on any task except cross stitch or reading. I used to be able to read a book in one day if I wanted to ignore all other tasks. For example, I read the last Harry Potter book all in one day. I did take a break after Hedwig died and Dobby died because I was crying, but I finished it all. 

When we were dating DH used to ask if I always had to be knitting or cross stitching when we watched TV. Then when I tried not doing anything one evening he stood it for about an hour until he told me to go get whatever I wanted to work on because I couldn't stop fidgeting. 

They say you're not supposed to multi-task, but I swear I'm more efficient if I file while I'm listening to an audio book, or watch TV and cross stitch. Now I even sing in my head while I bike so I can go longer before I get bored. 

If I try and clean or something without listening to an audio book I'll end up with different piles of stuff in different rooms and things sort of half cleaned, but nothing ever seems to get finished. 

10. I'm a Virgo

I still don't think I fit the typical Virgo very well. The quote below is from the site I linked to above.

"Quite undemonstrative and introvert, the Virgo-born represent waters that run deep. Wise, witty and well spoken, the Virgo have a good understanding of human nature and can effectively help people solve their problems."

I'd agree with the first sentence, not so much the second. 

Strengths:

Meticulous - yes, sometimes to a degree that avoids the forest for the trees

Intelligent - sure!

Practical - somewhat. Generally I enjoy fantasy books and dreaming a lot more than reality 

Analytical - given enough time, but I'll often feel overwhelmed by a problem and let it sit for so long it becomes a burden

Reliable - yes, but also absentminded, so sort of?

Modest - definitely. I tried to come up with a 10 things I'm proud of list and couldn't easily think of 10 things

Negatives

Overcritical - yes! mostly of myself and I try and curb this tendency towards others

Fussy - not generally, I can get this way sometimes, but it's mostly when I'm around my parents because I'm feeling anxious

Fastidious - so not me!

Harsh - definitely not

So there's my list and you know a little bit more about me. I'm glad to be done 30 lists and I won't be doing this again for awhile because work is pretty busy right now. Tell me about yourselves in the comments!

Happy Stitching,

Tiffstitch