Ignorant Historian

Time for another addition of School Day Memory. If you’re a stalker, you probably realize that I’m posting this one day early as today is Friday, not Saturday. The reason: tomorrow is a holiday, a holiday whose colors are crimson and cream. Have no clue what I’m talking about? I guess you’ll have to wait until tomorrow!

For today’s School Day Memory, I’m going to go way back to kindergarten and first grade. I don’t remember very much, but I do know that I was a bit of a player back then. Apparently, one of the boys, David, in my kindergarten class kissed me right in front of the teacher. When my mom asked me why I let him kiss me, I told her, “I wanted him too.” Nice.

But I don’t remember that, so that can’t really qualify as a School Day Memory. What I do remember is I had a good friend who moved to Boston kindergarten year. Not knowing my geography very well, I thought he was moving to a neighboring park, Boston Park instead of Boston, Massachusetts. I couldn’t understand why that was too far away for him to still go to our school.

Another memory from those years (I don’t remember which, but it was one of them, I only went to that school for 2 years) was having an animal dude of some sort come and visit us with several animals. When I saw the skunk I was so terrified that I had to be taken from the gym screaming, but happily watched his presentation from behind the glass of the principal’s office. I do remember being forced to go out and pet a snake, but I didn’t like that very much, either, but apparently a large snake is less terrifying than a little animal who’s one weapon (his stinker) has been removed. I know I’ve mentioned my fear of creatures without a human face before (be it animal or costumed human), and this was just one manifestation of it.

Alright now. Enough random memories. Have a wonderful holiday weekend!

Last night I babysat for two young kids. Right after I took off the girl’s diaper for her to get in the bath, she prompted peed on the floor. I’ve had several boys pee at inopportune times, but this was the first time that girl has for me. Further evidence that I’ll just take my kids already potty-trained, thankyouverymuch.

I’ve already mentioned before how I’m trying to be more open. I think a key to this is showing that I’m open to communication. And by that I mean with my face and body.

I have had people tell me on more than one occasion after we became friends that they had thought that I didn’t like them when we first met. In none of these cases was it ever true. While some people have rubbed me the wrong way the first time I met them (yes, I’m talking about you, Cindy), this is the rare exception. The problem is, I’m not showing them I’m open.

The other night I was hurrying into my apartment because it was about to storm. All of the sudden, I heard a “hello” coming from the balcony of a neighbor I have never met. It scared me, and it was pretty obvious on my face. The friend that was with me assumed that he must have been a creep and that’s why I gave him that look. Further evidence that I need to work on my facial expressions!

I’ve decided that the best place to start with improving my body language and facial expressions is with eye contact. I really don’t like looking people in the eyes. I prefer to have a heart-to-heart conversation side-by-side not facing the other person. But I’m going to work on it. Not just in personal conversations, but when meeting people and seeing them from across the room, etc. I’m going to use my eyes to show that I’m available to talk rather than averting my gaze to signify I’d rather be alone. Though that might be true. But perhaps it’s not.

Instead of focusing on reading the book that I have to write a book review on, I’ve actually been reading a book that a friend loaned me awhile back called How to Get a Date Worth Keeping. While she didn’t agree with it all, she thought that it would have a few good points for me. I can’t imagine why she would think that as I go out every weekend.

To the grocery store. Okay, so she has a good point. While I believe that God is more than capable of bringing a date (not to mention “The One”) around in His good timing, I’ll admit that I might have some issues that are holding me back from the whole dating process. I’ve never been very warm or open when talking to an available guy. Instead, I clam up (yes, that’s my second reference to a mollusc in this post; I’ll talk about them, but I won’t eat them) and often shoot out sarcasm as poisonous venom if I feel threatened. It’s no wonder I don’t date.

So anyway, I read the book, and though I disagree with almost everything he says, I picked up a hint or two about how I could be more open and inviting, not only to guys who I may be interested in, but also to the human population as a whole. This introvert needs to learn to get out of her shell like any good shellfish and be eaten. Hmm , I think I may have taken the metaphor too far.

In other Friday topics (celebrating Friday on Thursday should be required every week), I’ve just had my third dream about one of my friends getting pregnant. In none of the cases were the friends actually pregnant, or even possibly pregnant (according to any junior high sex education class). It’s rather disturbing to have these dreams, and the last two friends didn’t take it that well when I told them about the dream, so I won’t tell this friend, either.

Lastly, how do you like the new design? I loved the header that Jacki made for me, but I was ready for something new. I feel like Summer did a great job of making me a header that captured my girlyness and my Kansasyness. All that is missing is my penchant to make up new words by adding -ness, -y, and/or -ish.

Any big 4th of July plans? I’ll be attending a BBQ tomorrow with my Care Group, and then mainly chilling the rest of the weekend.

I mentioned this in my 100 things post, but as a child I was afraid of anything with a non-human face. This meant that I climbed on top of my parents when I saw a dog, refused to walk in to the petting zoo, cried hysterically while at Sesame Street Live, and hid behind cars when I saw a clown. (Though most of these incidents happen when I was very young, several when I was 4 or 5, I remember them vividly, so I know I must have been very scared).

That fear has never really gone away. I’ve realized that I don’t have to be scared of most animals and can tolerate them. Humans dressed up in costumes? Yep, that still creeps me out. That was confirmed today when I was at a community event for work and mascots for various local sports teams were there. Thankfully none came close to me, because I really cannot stand them.

The funny thing is, I’ve been that non-humanlike human before. When I was in middle school, I dressed up in a Miss Piggy costume for a Girl Scout event. When I wasn’t in the costume, I led other costumed characters around, which I didn’t find scary since I knew the person on the other side of the mask. When I was in high school, I dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West (everyone felt it was fitting) for marching band, green face paint and all. I definitely scared the little kiddies, including my best friends kid sister, even though she knew it was me.

I know many people dislike clowns, but am I alone in not liking masked people? Is this just another reason why I may be insane?