did YOU know?

'this shameless moment' - saxon shore

lovely sunny day outside, but i am here, tethered to my desk. what joy.
well, at least i can enjoy the next four days off.
AND i am taking some time off next week to head down to Izu (via the Gotemba Outlet Mall) with Sister Sin & Sandi. Kind of a mini-road trip with shopping. Actually, not 'kind of' at all.
It IS a road trip - with shopping, sea, sand, mountains & beer. Woohoo....words can't express how much i am looking forward to getting away from the big smoke.

and then, following the road trip, Sister Sin & me are heading off to DisneySea. It's like visiting europe, but everything's clean & it doesn't smell. (hey, i'm british, i am allowed to slag off europe...)

anyway - j-ster meme-d me & wanted to know 5 things about me that people don't know.
I don't think there's going to be much surprising information here though. i don't really have much to hide - and i have to be honest that i wish i had had something truly interesting to write down...e.g. i was a stripper in vegas out of high school, or my mother is actually my sister or something else equally jerry springer like. (Un)luckily, i grew up relatively unscathed by my own (or parents) choices and therefore have 5 pretty mundane things to tell you about...

so here they are - ranked in no particular order...

1. I lived in France
Fair enough, i was about 7 at the time, but i went to french school and everything. think we were there for about 18 months & i could speak french pretty well by the end of it. then, several years later, i started studying japanese & lost it all....still can do the basics though.

2. I've never owned a pet
It's always been something i have wanted - a dog or cat, but due to time constraints, familial allergies & other factors, i have never owned a pet. Daddy Sin isn't really into animals so we never lived with any growing up either (unless you count the shrew that hibernated in our toy cupboard when we lived in france...) One day, eh?

3. I'm petrified of water
Had a near drowning experience in high school (got out of my depth in the ocean) and since then i can't handle not being able to touch the bottom of the pool/sea/lake. if i get to a point where i can't touch the bottom, i start panicking & lose my ability to swim. totally a mental thing - but it stresses me out...very uncomfortable on ships too...all that swirling water...arghhh....

4. I have 10 piercings
All in my ears, and all usually visible. Weird thing is friends always seemed to be surprised. they keep asking me if i've always had this many?' My answer: well, no, not always, but my most recent piercing is from about 7 or 8 years ago

5. I've worked in a supermarket
when i was in high school, i worked part-time in a supermarket 3 times a week for a year. i worked on the deli-counter, and sold cheese, hams, bacons & other deli-type stuff. not the most varied of delis (bear in mind i come from stoke-on-trent....), but there was enough to keep us amused (and fully snacked up) one of the things i am proudest of during that time, was my ability to be able to cut a piece of cheese into 1 pound blocks - just on sight. not everyone can do that, you know!!

so, there you are, i hope you learnt something new about me.

and who do i pass this on to? Sandi & Tanabata & Arumanda & anyone else who feels the urge.
And i second J-ster's request to Life Out Here - where have you gone?! The Cubans taken away the internet because of y our suberversive writings?
Have another meme from Tanabata too, but i need a little more time to think about that one...hopefully next week sometime...