Six-List: Six Weird Things About Me

I read somewhere that people like to read lists on blogs.  So I picked my favorite number (6, yes, I'm still a Christian) and decided that from time to time, I'll provide some Six-Lists for you.  Today, I'm listing six unique (aka weird) things about me for your reading enjoyment -- or for you to ignore completely -- whatever floats your boat.

These are in no particular ranking or order:

1) My hands don't match.

Right.  Yes.  Look at the palm of your hands.  The "life line" (I guess) in the middle there on 99% of the people I meet is a broken line with one curve heading upwards and the other curving downwards.  That's my right hand -- just like my mom's.  My left hand is like my dad's hands: just one straight line across the middle.  Not only have I never met anyone whose palms are both like my dad's ... but I've never met anyone with one of each like me.  I figure if I ever do, we're distant relatives with the same weird recessive gene.

To prove it, I scanned my hands for you.  See what I'm talking about?

I do not read palms.  I just check them out on everyone.  This may count as a separate weird fact for me, but we'll include it in number one.

2) My feet don't match and have been weird my whole life.

I won't scan them, don't worry.  However, one of my feet is arched and the other is flat.  This has caused me all kinds of shoe troubles over the years.  I walk on the outside edges of my feet (always have) and wear shoes out really quickly because of it.

Also, when I was in 7th grade, my feet grew to size 10-1/2 and 11 women's.  In a variety of shoes, so it wasn't just one ill-sized pair.  For an entire school year and then some.  But by high school, they'd come back down to 8-1/2 and 9's and have stuck there ever since.  My mother can attest to this growth phenomenon because she was there and bought my shoes and she knows.  Very true.

3) I can't whistle or roll my tongue.

Sad, but true. I just have never figured it out.

4) I'm practically ambidextrous.

When I was a much more athletic individual (pre-20s), I was able to play most sports equally well with my left and right hands.  Now it seems I can't do it with either, so it's still pretty fair. 

As a full-fledged adult, I dreamed one night that I could write with my left hand equally as well as my right hand.  When I woke up, I tried.  Surprisingly, my left-hand handwriting is quite legible.  It needs practice if ever I'm going to lose use of my right arm and rely on my left to sign autographs or whatever, but from what I hear, most right-handed people can't hardly form letters with their left hands.

Here's a quick handwriting sample with no warm-ups.  See?  Not perfect with the left hand, but still doable if it was my only hand choice.  With a little practice, it could be pretty good.

5) I developed an allergy to bee stings ... as an adult.

I was stung a few times as a kid by both bees and wasps.  I had normal swelling occur as a result but I was not allergic.

Fast-forward several years into adulthood and our kids were playing in our forested backyard in New England.  It was time to go in for lunch and two of the boys (H and Z) started running for the house (I was behind them with J) and as if they were suddenly possessed, they started screaming and spinning in circles.  I put J down and ran to see what was going on -- incidentally, following their path.  When I got to them, they were being stung repeatedly by yellowjackets.

In the house, H had several stings, even on his tongue, from the yellowjacket nest he'd crossed over and fortunately, Z only had one.  I guided J up another path and she avoided being stung.

In my concern for the kids, I didn't realize till later that a yellowjacket or two got up my pant leg and stung around my knee.  My knee swelled three times its size and got hard like a rock.  I went to the doctor a couple days later and he suggested that I was probably allergic to bee stings now and that "next time" I get stung, I'll want to get in quickly and they'll probably have me carry an Epipen after that.  I'm not sure I like this policy of needing to be stung again before I have prevention available to me, but by the grace of God, I have yet to be stung again.

6) I am still cavity-free.

By some small miracle, I still have no cavities.  My teeth aren't the straightest or the whitest, but they are apparently strong.  Considering how few adults I meet without cavities (not even on their baby set), I figure that makes me unique.

My mom asked me about it on her last visit and seemed so surprised and proud at the same time.  So apparently, moms never stop caring about their kids' dental care.