Plus Ca Change Plus C'est La Meme Chose

The Over-Thinker tagged me in this evil meme because she hates me. I need to list 36 (36!!) things about myself that you (probably) don't know. I am currently plotting my revenge against the Over-Thinker; suggestions are welcome.

1. My birthday is October 12. It always falls on or around Canadian Thanksgiving which means that I get a 3-day weekend for my birthday. I love it. I get pumpkin pie instead of birthday cake. I will never grow tired of pumpkin pie.

2. I have 3 siblings. When I was a kid, we were a family of six living in a 3-bedroom house. I disliked Turtle so much that I chose to share a room with Bow and Westy (I know, right? Poor Westy. He was really little though, so I don't think he minded.) If I had to share a room with one of my siblings now? It would definitely be Turtle.

3. I am constantly finding new things to become obsessed with. I latch onto them (diets, exercise regimens, flossing) for a few weeks and then lose interest just as quickly.

4. I have worn contacts or glasses since I was twelve years old. As soon as I conquer my fear of the smell of burning, I am getting laser eye surgery.

5. My list of phobias is long and varied: snakes, sharks, bugs, vomit, death (not mine - the death of people who I love) etc.

6. I hate raisins. I hate them baked into things (quickest way to ruin a cookie.) I hate them on their own. I especially hate them when they're handed out as Hallowe'en treats.

7. For my tenth birthday, I asked for a bird. I got a fish tank.

8. I tried to love the fish tank but I gave up after I accidentally cranked up the heat and boiled all my fish. This stands out as one of the most traumatizing events of my childhood.

9. My mom didn't allow a lot of processed foods or sugar in the house when we were growing up. I hated being the kid who brought vegetable sandwiches on whole wheat bread to school. I coveted other kids' Oreos and fruit snacks. Now that I make my own food decisions, I find myself drawn to the healthy foods my mom brought us up on. I'm grateful to her but I will probably never tell her that.

10. Though I enjoy a wide range of really healthy foods, I have a disgusting sweet tooth. I am surprised that I have not given myself diabetes yet. I should be more concerned about this, as my maternal grandmother was diabetic.

11. I hated my name when I was a kid. In school I was the only Hillary in a sea of Jennifers. When I lived in England, it was bizarre to meet other people with my name.

12. It really REALLY annoys me when people spell my name with one L. I understand that it's more commonly spelled with one L. I don't expect people to intuitively know that my name is spelled with two L's. However, if I have told you how to spell my name, or I have emailed you (my email address contains my name,) or left a comment on your blog, I think it's rude to spell my name wrong. This makes me overly conscious of the spelling of other people's names. If I spell your name wrong, I will feel horrible (probably more horrible than is justifiable.)

13. My mom used to give us one "family gift" every Christmas. When I was seven the family gift was a baseball glove. This is the only reason I joined the North Delta Softball Association. I'm so glad that I did; I played for fifteen years and met some of my best friends on the various teams I played for.

14. When I was five-ish years old, I was playing in a friend's backyard. We were trying to walk across a retaining wall dividing her neighbour's yard from her mom's rock garden. I fell off and ended up needing 4 stitches in my lower back. I still have a nasty, puckered scar that I am very self-conscious of. I am mildly grateful for this scar, as it prevented me from getting a tramp stamp (ha! thanks Overthinker!) during my teen years.

15. I have two tattoos. Getting them did not hurt as much as getting my belly button pierced did. I will probably get more tattoos. I will never get anything pierced again. When I got my belly button pierced, I went into shock. It stayed sore for months. It got infected numerous times. It would get caught in my clothing. I finally took it out after five years. That was two years ago and I still have a little hole.

16. Growing up, my aunt (yes, Auntie Batshit) used to tell me and my sisters that we needed to be at least 5'10" so we would "be able to control our future husbands." I never understood this, as Auntie Batshit is very tall and has been married to the same abusive mofo for 40(ish?) years. Even though I'm 5'8", I have never felt tall enough.

17. My middle name is Dawn. My mom said it's because dawn is her favourite time of day. I'm calling bullshit on this one. No-one likes dawn. I think she was just trying to make me feel like my middle name had meaning.

18. My brother has two middle names - one is my mom's maiden name and one is my grandpa's name (also my dad's middle name.) I feel envious that my brother got meaningful, family names. If I ever have kids, I will either give all of them a family name or none of them.

19. Four years ago I moved to England to be a nanny. I also worked as a barmaid in a pub. I can pull a perfect pint.

20. I lived in England but I traveled to Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy. I also traveled extensively in England.

21. My favourite place in England is Marlow.

22. The thing I miss most about England is definitely my friends, but the food is a close second. I have not had decent fish & chips since moving back to Canada.

23. My mom sent me care packages while I was gone. Once she mailed me a bag of ketchup chips (they don't have them in England - this blew my mind.) She didn't put them in a box though, so they arrived completely smashed. I'm not joking - the bag was flat. There were no discernible chips in the bag - just crumbs. I ate them anyway.

24. When I was in grade 7, a boy had a giant crush on me. He would send me love letters and give me presents. I was mortified. Shawn's middle name is the same name as this boy.

25. I wish that I had even half of Shawn's musical ability.

26. I wish that I had a good singing voice.

27. I make really good cookies. Last night I made chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and I'm eating one right now. All I need now is a cuppa tea to make my afternoon complete.

28. I like my tea brewed very strong and with both milk and sugar. I felt so inadequate when I lived in England and asked for sugar.

29. I love pickles. I love dill pickles, garlic pickles, any type of pickle (as long as it's not sweet - those pickles are nasty.) My Auntie Ollie made the best pickles. I could eat a disgusting amount of her pickles in one sitting. She died a year and a half ago. I do not know how to make Auntie Ollie's pickles.

30. I swear. A lot. My dad calls it my "dock talk" because I swear like a sailor. I should probably try to stop but I can't be arsed.

31. When I sleep, I am always freezing. My body radiates heat though, so Shawn doesn't believe me when I say I'm cold. Until I put my feet on his legs - my feet are always like ice.

32. Stella is the first pet I've owned that I've been responsible for. Every day I am afraid of breaking her. I'm pretty sure that I shouldn't have kids because my head will melt.

33. I drive a stick shift. For some reason this feels like an accomplishment.

34. My monthly transit pass costs less than monthly parking downtown so even though I have a car, I take transit to work. I used to live close enough to walk to work but then we decided to buy a home. Vancouver's real estate market makes me want to jump off a bridge.

35. I would love to live in Europe again but I think that Canada will always feel like home.

36. I hate doing memes because I feel immense pressure to be witty. I will never not do a meme if tagged though, because I don't want to let the tagger down. So don't tag me! Do us both a favour.

Right, so now I have to tag someone. I will be tagging Alice, because she tagged me in the addiction meme. Let that be a lesson to you, Alice.