Sunday, May 07, 2006

G is for ...

Post a comment, I'll give you a letter, then write 10 things starting with that, explaining why. The letter I was given was G.

1. Grapes -- one of two things (along with string cheese) that I've had pregnancy-related cravings for. One night, I woke up and had to eat grapes. Luckily, there were grapes in the fridge. I washed a whole bowlful and shoveled them into my mouth by the handful.

2. Government -- I work for a contractor that contracts with another contractor that is paid by the government. Ultimately, your tax dollars pay for me, but I am not a government employee.

3. Green -- I am surrounded by green here in Tennessee. All the hills and mountains are covered in leafy trees, bushes, and poison ivy.

4. Games -- I love to play many different types of games, such as role-playing games, board games like Carcassonne, card games like bridge, and certain outdoor games like croquet. Mind games? No thanks, I played plenty of those when I was growing up, so I'm all done with that.

5. Gold -- the only type of jewelry I can wear. I am allergic to nickel, and jewelry made from silver and other metals usually contain a non-trivial amount of nickel. When I got my ears pierced, I chose sterling silver studs, and as a result my ears swelled and got infected. The stainless steel back of a watch causes my wrist to break out if I wear it too frequently. This is one of many reasons that I don't wear much jewelry. The only things I wear every day are my (gold) wedding and engagement rings, and I try to keep gold earrings in my ear lobes.

6. Grammar -- I am a stickler for good grammar and spelling and I tend to get upset if I discover a typo or a mistake in something I have written.

7. Gum -- I love chewing gum, especially sugar-free wintergreen-flavored gum. Unfortunately, the artificial sweeteners in the gum are off-limits at the moment. Even most sugary gum has artificial sweeteners in it! The only brand I could find that didn't have any artificial sweeteners is Double Bubble, which is kind of nasty, so I've pretty much given up chewing gum altogether.

8. Growth -- I have always been big. I was over 9.5 lbs when I was born, and I was nearly full-grown by the age of 13. Today I am one inch shy of six feet tall. My husband was a more than ten-pound baby and is also tall, and I think we are destined to have a big baby who will grow into a big grown-up.

9. Girl -- I grew up in the South, so it used to be my first instinct to call any woman under the age of 30 a "girl." For example, it was hard for me to think of a female college student as a woman rather than a girl. (To be completely fair, I never really thought of a male college student as a man, either; he was a guy. But not a "boy.") But after living in Illinois for so long, and returning to the South, it is now somewhat jarring to hear younger women referred to as "girls."

10. Grip -- I've often been told to "get a grip," but that's not really what I'm talking about here. Because of the overuse of my left arm and the twisting of that elbow for hours on end when I was practicing the violin as a child, I don't really have much of a grip with my left hand anymore. I still have trouble with hand writing and if I overuse that arm I find myself in a lot of pain. This is something that I really wish the doctor could fix, but all he can do is treat it by giving me shots in the elbow at most twice a year. I have to keep wearing my elbow brace and minimize the use of that arm.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooh! Ooh! I'll play!

Rebecca said...

Your letter is "N."

Anonymous said...

NNNNOOOOOOO! ;)

Anonymous said...

I'm Game. Count me in!

Rebecca said...

Rach, it's all part of my concerted effort to ruin your life.

Ginger, your letter is "S." Tell me, will you be posting this on your new blog, which I will then link to? (hint, hint!)

Laura said...

me too!

Rebecca said...

Laura, tell us all about the letter "D."