I'm IT

I've been tagged twice now and I guess it's bad manners to pretend that I didn't see those tags. So, Rachel and Mara, here you go! I am supposed to give you 6 random things about myself. And by the way, I KNOW random. That was one of my favorite words, thanks to Lauren, for a good chunk of my life.

1. I love a good fight, but only with certain people. There is one special person who I consider to be a truly worthy opponent, so I married him. We are well-known for our verbal sparring. That is our main form of communication. In fact, if we seem too civil to one another, that probably means we are not getting along very well. Did you know we got in a fight while driving from the temple to our luncheon after we were married? As the former high school state debate champion (oh yeah, I can fight!)it is mostly just sport to me. I do not like to verbally spar with my family, though. They don't get it. We Davies like to avoid conflict and anytime problems arise, we prefer to ignore them and hope they go away. Now that I am a Peay, though, I get to acknowledge those problems and fight, fight, fight!

2. I am the most smell-sensitive person I have ever met. Stewart tells me I am part bloodhound and I agree. Most people don't take kindly to being called a dog but it's true. If my kids ever grow up and try to come home drunk or smelling like smoke, they are in big trouble. Not only will I catch them, I will also be able to identify the brand of alcohol consumed and maybe even follow the scent to its source and get their friends in trouble as well. One thing that drives me crazy is the smell of yesterday's dinner. I leave the fan on my furnace circulating all the time to rid my house of food smells. Surprisingly, though, the smell of a little baby's diapers don't bother me. Maddox's big, grown-up poops are horrendous but that special baby smell is almsot (I know, this is disgusting) a comfort. It's not as nice as the smell of a freshly bathed baby, all lotioned up. That's why I make all of my kids bathe every night, no matter what. I love them more when they smell fresh! I love the smells of rain, the ocean, freshly-baked cookies, gardenias, orange groves, horses, campfires, and bread baking. I hate the smells of golf (or a husband who just played), strong perfume, especially when you can taste it, cigarette smoke, fried food on clothes (you know what I mean?), cats, public restrooms, feet, mothballs, any leftover food, okay...this list is endless. The important part, I guess, is that smell is very important to me. It can take me back to a good memory or a bad one. If I smell white wine, I get tears in my eyes because it reminds me of my grandma. If I smell vodka, cigarettes and urine, I think I am in Russia. If I smell baby lotion and laundry soap, I know I must be in heaven with a clean baby in my arms.

3. When I was younger, my older brother and sisters used to tell me I was adopted and I believed them. Sometimes, I still do! I was the only one of us at that time with green eyes. Ryan's have sinced turned a little green but I used to be the odd one, or as I thought, the ugly duckling. They were all born in odd years and I was born in an even year. They were all relatively normal and I was an overly emotional spaz. I still don't have all that much in common with some of my siblings and I still have moments of wondering if they didn't just find me abandoned in some ditch and keep me, figuring that since they had so many kids, nobody would notice one more. Whether it's nature or nurture, though, I guess there are some family lines that run deep. Yeah, maybe I don't sing like the rest of them, but I can make great bubble letters. Is that a family trait?

4.I did not always want to be a mom. I had plans for my life that did not include children, or at least not for a long time. When I was younger, I started a Future Educators club in my middle school. I wanted to be either a teacher or a lawyer (two professions that allow you to talk a lot and force others to listen). So I became a teacher and married a lawyer with hopes of attending law school myself some day, when I get around to it. I was much more interested in reading Stewart's law school outlines than parenting magazines, even when I was pregnant with Hadley. I hear about people and know people (Mara!) who just wanted to grow up and have babies. I did not feel that way. My first pregnancy was not planned and I cried for a few weeks about it. Once I had Hadley, though, it felt very natural and instinctive. Other friends have asked me questions about teaching their children to read, discipline, or breastfeeding and I don't know how to answer because I didn't have to think about those things. I just do what feels right. And, for the record, if I only had the children that I intentionally got pregnant with, I would not have any children. My only planned pregnancy was the one that I miscarried. How's that for irony?

5. I am slow. I am really, really slow. I am not talking about my mental capacity, although I used to believe that I was retarded. First I'll explain that and then I'll move on to my speed. When I moved to Florida in first grade, they had me tested and put me into the gifted program. I got pulled out of my class every day and I went to this special class. They called it resource or gifted and I was convinced that I was mentally disabled and that no one would tell me the truth. The resource program at my elementary school was divided into two parts. There was the special education group and the gifted group, all lumped under the resource umbrella. I figured since those kids were called special and I was gifted, they must both be terms used to make us feel better about ourselves. It took me a long time to believe that I was okay. My speed, on the other hand, is neither gifted nor special. It is just plain embarrassing. I once lost a race to Stewart. No big deal, right? Yeah, well he was running backwards. I'm slow. I'm really, really slow.

6. I used to joke that life was trying to make a pessimist out of me. If there is a less then one percent chance of some bizarre medical malfunction, it seems to happen to me or my family. But I am still an optimist. When the phone rings, I usually think it's going to be some exciting news. When I wake up in the morning, I wonder what great thing is going to happen that day. When I am going to a football game, I am sure my team will win. When I am going to a presidential primary, I am sure my candidate will win. When I am watching American Idol, I am sure my favorite singer will win. Does it always turn out? No, not really. Does that mean I don't still hope? NOPE! I also do have a little bit of psychic in me. And a lot of psycho but we'll save that for another post. Before all of my major life events, I've known something was coming. I was telling Stewart before Hadley's implant failed that I knew something bad was coming and he told me that wasn't being psychic. He said that you could just plan for a major trial in our lives every few months. I think, seriously, that Heavenly Father gives me little warning feelings to help me prepare for disaster. Or maybe I could start a psychic hotline and earn a few extra dollars! Either way, I feel optimistic about the outcome. Ha!

WHEW. I did it. I told you six random things that you may not have known about me. Now it's my turn to spread the love. I tag Lauren, Susan, Joelle, Rachel (my cousin, not my sister-in-law), Hailey and Sarah. Sister-in-law Rachel, it's not personal. I don't think I can tag you right back since you just tagged me. If I recall, the playground rules clearly dictate, "No Tag Backs!" That goes for all of you that I just tagged as well!