7 things you didn't know about me

Well, I completely fell down on the job... Apparently, waaaaay back in early April, Free From Broke tagged me with this. That'll teach me to read to the absolute end of posts! Yeesh!


But, as they say, better late than never, eh?


So, here we go. Though I'm wondering if I can come up with 7 things. I spill my guts on here so regularly...



1. I was nearly "Sam."

While pregnant, my mom didn't have health insurance. And apparently government-funded mom-to-be programs in 1978 didn't include regular sonograms. Instead the doctor's listened to my heartbeat and pronounced me a boy. So I was going to be Samuel. When I came out a girl instead, Mom considered Samantha, but ultimately decided on Abigail because she saw a movie with a character named Abby. She thought it was a nice name.



2. My butt is cat-approved

For sitting, that is. I tend to sprawl on the floor a lot. And she plops down on my behind/the small of my back, cozy as can be. Tim finds it hilarious. I've more or less gotten used to it, though with an easily startled cat, it can, at times, be a painful sort of love.



3. I wrote for the Anchorage Daily News as a teenager.

They would routinely hold a contest for "guest columnists," which entailed 1 column a month for 6 months. I got one of 4 spots out of over 100. (Though, since both my parents worked there, I used a fake name to enter. I was afraid they wouldn't consider me otherwise.) And I was asked to stay on after the initial 6 months. I kept it up for over a year, as I recall.



4. I don't officially have my B.A.

The last year I went to school, I panicked and decided I wasn't ready to graduate. So I added journalism as a second major. I had already worked for the UW Daily for ages anyway. Then, I got burned out and took some time off school. I never went back. A couple of years ago, I went back onto campus and dropped the second major officially. Now I just have to get around to officially applying for graduation. I won't graduate with honors, since I didn't write a thesis. But at this point it's all sort of moot, anyway.



5. I am very squeamish around chicken.


Despite being one of the only meats I actually consume, chicken scares me. That's because some cases of Guillian-Barre Syndrome are linked to undercooked chicken. Now, the chances for a second bout of GBS are pretty much nil. And it wasn't undercooked chicken that gave it to me the first time. (We think.) But on the rare occasions I handle raw chicken, I generally go straight from the kitchen to the bathroom and scrub my hands assiduously. For awhile, when Tim was working and so I cooked most of the meals, I actually wore gloves while handling it. And still washed my hands. In other words, if you eat chicken at my house, expect it to be a little overdone.



6. I like chick-lit.


There. I said it. It's just funny because I'm kind of a book snob. But every so often they can be a wonderfully guilty pleasure. Marian Keyes is fabulous. I definitely enjoy Meg Weiner. I recently read one by The Devil Wears Prada author Lauren Weisberger.



7. I'm a huge procrastinator.

Seriously. Everything for me gets done last minute. I've accepted it, and learned to work around it. But, other than stocking up when something's on sale, you will pretty much never catch me prepared. Or, if you do, there is one vital thing I've forgotten. Even just going down to Tim's parents' for the weekend, I'll forget a toothbrush, my contact lens case, deodorant, a second pair of shoes... Whatever. It's kind of like a running game: "What did I forget this time?"



Okay, well that was actually kind of fun. I now have to nominate 7 other people (as I understand the rules) so:

Shtinkykat's PF Blog

Revanche at A Gai Shan Life

Modern Tightwad

Pecuniarities

Brunette on a Budget

Budgets Are Sexy