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Thursday, December 3, 2009

27: Things I am Bad At

27 : Things I am Bad At

  1. Birthdays. I am horrible at remembering them, horrible at celebrating mine and other people's, and horrible at getting gifts. I never know really how to respond to someone making a big deal about your birthday?? Once I even called my sister on her birthday, but didn't realize it was her birthday. She had to prompt me to say Happy Birthday!
  2. Numbers. This is one reason I am not good at Birthdays, I cannot remember numbers! I mix numbers in my head so easily. I will try to remember the phone number is ___ but I have totally switched it by the time I need to repeat it.
  3. Drawing or Art. You should come over and see the Jesse Tree Ornaments I drew versus the one's mr.pate drew, it is pathetic. I messed up a hammer! I mean really, a hammer? But I did find out my husband is actually good at drawing, who knew?
  4. The phone. Most of my friends can attest to the fact that I am horrid at the phone. I hate to talk on the phone. I hate to answer the phone when I am around other people or watching something. And I despise checking my voicemail… I don't know why. I mean it's not like it takes that long, but I will put it off for days if I can. So be warned, texting or email is the best way to reach me.
  5. Sleeping somewhere other than my bed. I turn into an insomniac as soon as I leave my house. I am not sure if it is me being afraid ( I hate the dark anyhow) or just out of my routine, but even when I go to my parents house (a.k.a. the house I lived in for 22 years) I cannot sleep!!
  6. Baking. I can occasionally make brownies or cookies, but other than that I am so bad at this. Last year I attempted to make a birthday cake for Melanie and ended up with a lopsided burnt cake. It was just a box cake people!
  7. Walking in crowded place. I am including this one for mr.pate, who swears I am the worst at looking where I am going. I run into or almost run into lots of people when shopping. Basically I end up with lots of evil stares as I shop.
  8. Being on time. No matter how early I get up or get ready for something, I will be late. I am one of those people that sees I have time, so I try to fit one more thing in… and then end up late. And I just don't care sometimes, I am slow and I don't like to rush. Mr.Pate also hates this (he prob is annoyed by the whole list in fact).
  9. Leaving places. Once it is time to leave somewhere or someone, I am slow at saying goodbye.
  10. Being left out. Since high school I have been made fun of for always wanting to be "in the know". At my high school we had breaks where we could hang out in the lobby before classes. Kids would stand in circles and chat, and my friends (esp. Courtney) would get on me b/c I would come up late and immediately say "what? What's going on? Who said what?" I still do this everywhere I go: church, work, friends' houses, the bcm, etc. Sorry people- I don't want to be left out!
  11. Working Out: I am so not good at pushing myself and I am a complainer/ whiner.
  12. Dressing Up: I hate skirts or dresses, and I feel so uncomfortable dressed up.
  13. Make Up: Until recently my mom didn't even wear make-up, and my sister still doesn't wear make-up. So I just did not have anyone in my house to teach me all about this. I am bad at choosing makeup, applying it and remembering to wash it off too. Most of the time I just skip it altogether these days. Mr.Pate doesn't seem to mind.
  14. Getting Ready Quickly: My friends will tell you (esp. Mel) that I am the slowest shower girl ever. Mel always makes me take a shower at night when I am at her house, b/c I will hold us up too much in the morning. I have no idea why but I take 20 minute showers usually, and that feels super rushed people! And then there is the blow drying of the hair, applying lotion, etc etc. Hate getting ready and hate showering (yes I am a dirty girl!).
  15. Mopping: I seem to make a bigger mess than I clean when I mop. I just end up pushing around the dirty water. This is Mr.Pate's job (although he doesn't ever do it either… good thing we don't have a crawling baby).
  16. Spelling: Spell check and predictive texting are my bff's. I am so bad at spelling! I blame it on the fact that I did not learn phonics as a child, I learned to read with sight words. So I don't know what sounds letters are supposed to make when, I just know what that word sounds like. Give me a break!
  17. Words of Affirmation: I am not good at encouraging. I am just a blunt person with hardly any optimism. I mean I am not all negative nancy, I just don't encourage well.
  18. Finishing things: I thought of end the list here so you would get the point, haha! I am one of those people who goes almost all the way, but leaves a tad bit undone for some reason. Like cleaning, but leaving one shirt on the floor.
  19. Alarm Clocks: I blame it on my dad, but I annoy people with my alarm clock habits. I always set the alarm at least 10 or 15 minutes before I plan on getting up so I can hit snooze a few times. It drove Duke nuts in college, it drives Mr.Pate nuts now, but what can I do? Ha
  20. Bodily Functions: Cant talk about them to anyone, I even struggle to talk with doctors about them.
  21. Retelling funny stories: You know when something funny happens, and then later you are trying to tell someone how funny it was? I always make it seem like the lamest thing ever.
  22. Remembering very important things: For some reason I can remember the dumbest memories from my life, but when I know something important about someone or I have something important happen, I just cannot remember it! It is a curse.
  23. Leaving my house: Once I am home, I am so bad at leaving to go do anything. I just get in hermit mode and don't want to go see anyone or anything.
  24. Using exclamation points!!!: I over use this punctuation way too much. If you have ever seen my posts, any comments I leave on other blogs, or any emails I write you would definitely agree with this statement!
  25. Sounding sincere or sympathetic to people: I always come across as blunt and harsh I think, but in my mind that is not what I am saying.
  26. Repetition (well kinda): I am great at watching the same movies over and over, but I hate when children want to do or say or play the exact same thing over and over and over again. I know I sound like a jerk, but don't worry I play with them and just do the thing over and over, I just hate it! Charlie is especially hard with this, because his favorite word is "more". Ha!
  27. Spelling out loud: This is different than my just plain bad at spelling self, this is me being so very bad at writing or typing words as people spell them out loud to me! I think I become dyslexic when it happens, because I always switch the order of the letters. Did I mention my job requires me to do this like 20 times a day at least?? Our customers must think I am the dumbest thing since a doorknob.

There you have it folks. It feels good to admit my shortcomings, and don't they say admitting it is the first step? What are you bad at? Come on, you can be honest here…

3 comments:

  1. I'm also bad at numbers and being on time!

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  2. I am OCD. I can't relax. I always have to be doing something. It kills Brother. He thinks the weekend are to chill and watch a movie. I think they are to get caught up before a new week starts: laundry, dishes, clean the house, grocery, go run....it drives him crazy.

    btw, i totally remember the cake you made melanie! it wa good, well, half of it!

    i also overuse the "!" i think it just means we are happy/excited about life!!

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  3. I am totally with you on #2 (if i'm trying to count i usually lose track after the number 10), 5, 9, 11, 12, 13, 19 (hubs & I argued about this last week!), 23, & 24. I am a bit opposite w/the being late (i stress if i'm not there exactly on time) and of course you know i'm a baker :)

    loved this list!!

    ReplyDelete