1. I was called a different name when I was younger. It was “Josaleen” (prounounced Joe-zu-leen). It’s my middle name. It would have been my first name but “Josaleen Donna” didn’t sound right to my parents. So I was called “Josaleen” by everyone until 1st grade, when my super-strict teacher wouldn't call me that because it wasn’t my official first name. From that time, I was known as “Donna” in school, but still “Josaleen” at home. As I got older it was embarrassing when my friends came over and I was called by this other name, so I forbade my family from calling me it anymore. It took a few years, but by high school I was Donna to pretty much everyone, though I have relatives who I know still think of me as Josaleen and probably always will! That's okay with me, though. It's kind of a pretty and unique name.
2. I have a perfectly clean driving record. I’ve been driving for over ten years now, and I’ve never been pulled over and never had an accident. I don’t know how this is because I know I speed too much. I still get lectured about it every time my mother is in the car when I’m driving. I can always shoot back that my driving record is perfect. Knock on wood!
3. I have an obscure talent: I’m a good diver. I took swimming lessons growing up, and I was an average swimmer, and I was pretty bad at treading water (I was always one of the first who had to reach out and grab onto the wall), but diving was something I was good at and really liked doing. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about all of the different dives I would try if I had the opportunity or the training. Not that I could have been one of them, but I feel a certain wistfulness when I watch the summer Olympics and see the divers!
4. I'm an ardent recycler. I don't know why, but I must recycle every piece of paper (even small scraps!) and all containers. It bugs me when I see recyclable things in the trash. I'm not a big environmentalist or anything, but reusing things like that just makes so much sense. This is silly, but I'm kind of proud that I usually only have to change my kitchen trash once a week, since so much of what would go in there can be recycled. My next step is to get a composter so that food waste can go into that. Reduce, reuse, recycle!
5. I don't really enjoy talking on the phone. I only do it when I have to. There is something unnerving to me about not being able to see who I’m talking to. It can also be a big time-waster. The only people I call with any regularity are my mother on Sunday nights and Peter at work when John is driving me crazy and/or to whine “When are you coming home?”
6. I have the ability to take good power naps. I can lay down for 10-20 minutes and program into my mind the amount of time I want to nap, and unless I’m really overtired, I will wake up at that time feeling refreshed and awake. This skill was incredibly useful in college. I could do it at the library or bookstore or wherever I was studying. I would just stretch my arm out across the table, lean my head down onto it, and I was out like a light, and then I’d wake up 10-20 minutes later and be ready to work. It’s a very useful skill these days too. In fact, I took a 15-minute power nap this very afternoon. It helps me get everything done that I need to do in a day.
7. I have a sense of humor that some might think is weird, or cruel. I can’t help it, but I think it’s really funny when people trip and fall, unless they’re elderly or it’s a child or the person truly gets hurt. Some of the times I have laughed hardest have been falls Peter has made. He had a fall in the bathroom one time that was just priceless. Ha ha! I also think some juvenile things are really funny, like certain bodily functions. You know what I mean!!
8. I once hit the jackpot at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. And I was underage when I did it too! Okay, so the truth is, I was around 11 years old, I obviously wasn't gambling, my family was in the mall part of the casino, and my brothers and sisters and I were playing around with the pay phones. I hit the coin return on one of the phones to see if any change would come out, and all of these quarters came spilling out. Jackpot!
