Meme-ing for the very first time - I'm shy about this - I got tagged (is that the right term?) by the wonderful homeinkabul so I have been thinking about this in spare moments during my day.

1. The very first odd thing I can recall about myself is that I use my middle name (or at least a variant of my middle name) to refer to myself.  I have NEVER been called by my first name, except by strangers who assume that I use my first name.  My actual first name is the same as my mother's name.  My parents never intended to call me by that name.  So, you might ask, why didn't they put my mother's name as my middle name?  The answer is - religion.  The religion my parents followed was insistent that babies must be baptized with the name of a saint.  Sadly, my middle name, the name I use (or at least a variant of that name), is not a saint.

2. I never expected to be living in Saint Louis at this time of my life.  I left Saint Louis when I went to college.  I expected that I would never return.  I imagined living in a different town every decade.  In the decades since then, I've lived in 3 cities.  And 1 of those 3 cities is Saint Louis again!  So I'm falling a little behind on this part of my life list.

3. I regularly forget how old I am.  And I regularly forget how old my family members are.  I always have to do the math.

4. Although I'm capable of behaving in an extroverted manner, I am actually a shy, quiet person - except when I'm feeling blustery.

5. Once, I saw a house on fire and I didn't call 911.  This was before cell phones existed.  I told myself that someone else had probably already called 911, so I convinced myself I didn't need to find a phone booth and make the call.  I still feel guilty about that, almost 30 years later.

6. I love to read, but mostly I forget the plot and characters after I read the book - what does that mean about me?  Remember "Lazy Eye", where the child had to wear an eye patch over the "good eye" to make the weak eye work harder/become stronger?  Maybe I have the equivalent "Lazy Memory".  But I can't figure out where to put the patch, to improve the weak memory.

7. I know I have a fortunate life, with many material benefits.  But I have always been insecure about money.  At least a decade of my adult life trickled away with me very reluctant to spend money on myself for pleasure.  And then the pendulum swung the other way, toward retail therapy.  It's hard for me to find a healthy balance with money.  It's hard for me to feel that I'll have adequate resources for retirement, despite consistently saving in 401(k) plans ever since they were created.

8. I have a short attention span.

-Nan