Getting to Know Me
[Brought to you by the weekly SS blog challenge.]

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The challenge:
I love getting emails from blog readers, especially the ones who say, "I feel like I know you and your family." The world has become such a smaller place since Al Gore invented the internet! (bwahahahahaha!) You're challenge is to tell us 5 things about you that we don't know. Go!

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This one is kind of tough as, if you know me, you know that I'm pretty much an open book. There are very few secrets with me. (And those few are going to stay secret.) But here are a few things you might not know ....

5. I'm actually a pretty shy person. No, don't laugh! I mean it. I used to be painfully shy. I've grown out of that extreme phase, but I am still pretty shy in many situations. I can now go into any situation and talk to anyone and, usually, do it with grace and aplomb. It just doesn't come naturally.

4. I'm not as creative as you think I am. Yes, I've made some pretty amazing crafted items. But that doesn't make me creative. That makes me a skilled copier.

3. I'm not really as nice a person as you think I am. Oh, sure, you hear about all the things I do for my mom and my mother-in-law, amongst others. But I often do these things with a resentful heart (mostly at my siblings for their lack of help). In my mind, doing good works doesn't make one a good person. Doing them with a cheerful heart does. I often don't.

2. This one is mostly to my family. I think my friends already know it ... I'm smarter than you think I am. There are those of you who treat me like I'm an idiot. I think much of this springs from being a SAHM, and not having some high-powered job. News flash: My I.Q. didn't drop when my income did.

And the number one thing my friends probably don't know about me ....

1. At night, when the kids are in bed, the dishes are done and the dog let out for the last time I dress up in skin-tight leather and head out into a nearby forest. Once there, I slay rabid bears, which I then skin to craft my ever-improving set of leather armor. I defeat evil encroachers, defend innocents and escort messengers through this dangerous forest. A while ago, I actually learned to shape-shift into a bear. I recently learned to shift into a seal and a panther as well. All of these forms help me greatly in my pursuit of justice and loot (which I admittedly take off the dead bodies).

Catching up ...

So, a friend e-mailed today and wanted to know why I haven't blogged in so long. Well, this @*%&^# blogger won't let me in, that's why! I've had troubles logging in since I tried the beta, but have been able to get on in a round-about way. Then even that stopped. But I finally found a round-round-about way and here I am. So, in a nutshell, here's my last few weeks:

Christmas was good. Survived both nutty families. Even psycho sister-in-law didn't make too many waves. Well, other than completely dominating every aspect of the food for the weekend and overturning every single idea MIL and I had as far as food went. But, compared to some tricks she's pulled, that was barely enough nuttiness to notice.

Got the kids back to school. I really enjoyed the break. Liked sleeping in. Hated sharing the computer with them.

Had my mom back in the hospital for another angiogram. The doc didn't find anything at all wrong with the heart. This was both good and bad news. Good because, well, her heart is good. Bad because we were kind of hoping they would find something they could fix that would make her feel better. That they didn't means she's declining and now we all have to face that.

Spent a week under ice. Last weekend's sleet is still all over most places and melting so slowly as to barely be noticeable. It melted a smidge yesterday and today. Snow is predicted for tomorrow. Go figure.

Got Sunny declawed. Within five minutes of being back home he tried to sharpen his claws on the couch but could only rub it a bit, and tried his typical jump-three-fourths-of-the-way-up-the-couch-and-climb-the-rest-of-the-way routine, and fell flat on his furry little butt. Poor guy will probably panic the next time we take him the the vet. Every time he goes there, he loses a body part.

Found a badly injured cat the day of the sleet. Rushed him to the vet despite his protests (had to wrap him up in Levi's coat to even catch him). Found out it would cost $750 to heal him, and there was no guarantee he would ever really be right. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure he was a feral cat. Cried and cried when making the decision to put him to sleep, despite the fact that he wasn't even my pet! Cried even more when I got the bill for $100.

And that, in a nutshell, is my last few weeks. Hopefully, now that I've found a new way to trick this @((*%&^@ blogger into letting me in, I'll be back soon.