Cindy posted 6 weird things about herself and rather tagging others to do the same, she left an open invitation. It looked pretty fun, so I thought I'd do it too. And I won't tag anyone either. If you want to do it, do it. I'd love to read it!

1. I always read a magazine from the front to the back. There could be the most interesting article I've ever wanted to read smack-dab in the middle, but I'm going to start with the first page and read my way there. I do the same with my Sudoku, logic, and crossword puzzle magazines, too. I always begin at the beginning.

2. The clothes in my closet are arranged according to sleeve length and color. I've kept it this way since sometime during my college years. I think maybe I was bored one day... I get picked on a lot because of this, but I like my system.

3. When I'm eating, I always save something I like best for last. That's not so weird, but the way I do it is. When Taco Bell used to put black olives on their Mexican pizzas, I would eat around all the olives and save those bites for last. I eat the things I don't like first so I can be done with them, especially when I'm eating someone else's cooking. (I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.) The father of one of my middle school students mentioned to me at a basketball game once that he noticed I always ate my small French fries first and saved the big ones for last. I think I still do that. Maybe that's why I have trouble losing weight. If I go ahead and eat what I like first, maybe I won't be so tempted to finish it all. What a concept!

4. I work out problems in my sleep. When I was in college, if I had a math problem I couldn't figure out, I would look it over before bed and most of the time, when I woke the next morning, I would have figured out the answer in my sleep. It didn't work so well with memorizing lists for history, but it was great for things with a process. Even now, I can find solutions to problems in my sleep. I just think about it as I drift off and the answer comes to me sometime during the night. The most recent things I came up with were some unique scarf ideas (which ended up being more trouble than they were worth to make) and a few lines to a children's book I'm still working on.

5. I can tie a knot in a cherry stem using my teeth and my tongue. My mom and I have had contests to see who can do it faster. We are quite attractive while we're working on them, too. Those would be great blackmail photos.

6. I don't like pepperoni. I'll eat it on a pizza with lots of other stuff, but don't give me a slice with just pepperoni on it. I've always been turned off by the fact that they curl up and all the grease pools inside. That and I don't really like the flavor. I've been accused of not really being Italian because of that.

Do we share any of the same weird traits? It's your turn now. What are 6 weird things about you?

Idol Chatter
What?!? Chris was in the bottom 3 and Kellie wasn't?!? At least it was Ace who left. I told Billy that if Chris was the one to leave, I wouldn't watch the rest of this season. I'm glad he's still around. Not just because I like him, but because Andrea Bocelli will be assisting and singing next week and I really don't want to miss him! I don't have one of his CDs yet, but that may soon be remedied - especially after next week!

I haven't had much time to post since Tuesday night's American Idol, and I don't have much time now, so here's a quick run-down on all the expected and unexpected happenings lately.

Idol Chatter
After watching last night's show, I had figured the bottom two guys would have been Kevin Covais and Will Makar. I was half right. I can't believe Gedeon was voted off! (Or rather not voted on...) When it came down to Gedeon and Bucky, I thought Bucky would be the one leaving. Gedeon has a much better voice. I was happy to see Bucky stay (he's growing on me...), but very disappointed to see Gedeon leave. What disappointed me the most was the fact that Kevin stayed on. Reminds me of last year's "Vote for the Worst" campaign.

I was right on target with the girls. I wasn't surprised to see Melissa McGhee in the bottom three, either.

Busted!
I watched a drug bust take place yesterday in the parking lot behind our apartment. I missed the beginning of the action, but it wasn't long before the constable's car, an unmarked police unit, and a K-9 car, clearly visible out the sliding doors to my patio from both my dining room and my bedroom, caught my attention. I don't know if the arrested man lives here or was "just passing through", but the fact that he was parked in the lot right outside our apartment was pretty alarming. After a manual search of his vehicle and a backpack, the police dog was brought over to sniff around. He barked at an area in the back of the black SUV and again at the backpack laying on top of the police car. The police had already confiscated two small containers, one red and one blue, from the backpack. They hung around a while, filled out paperwork, inspected the SUV several times, then had a tow truck take the SUV to be impounded. A young woman in a white tank top, denim mini skirt, and flip flops got out of the back of one of the police cars, took a business card from a plain-clothes man, and walked away to the apartment complex next door. Makes you wonder what else was going on...

Like Lead
My legs felt like lead after all the working out I did yesterday. I finally made it to Baylor's fitness center for a little while yesterday morning. I went with a friend of mine so she could show me around and we could work out together. We rode the bikes until she was getting breathless (I could've kept going indefinitely), walked a few times around the track until she needed to stop (I could've kept going indefinitely), and did a few crunches. Either I'm in much better shape than I thought, or she's in really bad shape. I had barely broken a sweat before it time to head back to campus for the last chapel service before the day's activities ended.

I attended the ladies' exercise class at church again last night. I think there were 7 of us again. We walked our circuit, stretched, then worked out to a fat-burning video until we started getting confused. The lady on the video kept changing the step routine and we were always at least one step behind. Then when we added in the arm movements, we started laughing at how uncoordinated we were. I made a comment about that being the reason I had never been a cheerleader. Since it was almost quitting time, we did a few toning and stretching exercises. Then we sat in a circle to do a few cool-down stretches, update everyone on our prayer requests from last week, and give new ones. Judy, our pastor's wife, led us in a closing prayer before we left. That's probably the best part about this - the friendships that are being built, and we're all different ages. I think I'm probably the youngest in the group; the oldest in probably in her late 60s or early 70s. I've really enjoyed getting to know Judy better. She's one of the sweetest ladies I know - and she's funny and fun to listen to. (She's a New Zealander.)

By the time I got home and started walking up our stairs, I realized how heavy my legs felt. I was certain they would be sore today, but surprisingly they aren't. My stomach is sore, though, from lots of crunches. No pain, no gain.

"I want to go home."
I thought about going back to the gym tomorrow, but I need to hang around campus in case Jacob decides he's had enough of Kids' Konference. He did great Tuesday and Wednesday, but today he was tired and antsy and overstimulated. Twice I saw KK helpers walking him around one building or another. When I first saw him, I thought maybe he had escaped, but the lady who was walking around with him said he had been crying and saying, "I want to go home." She decided to take him downstairs for a walk to distract him, and it seemed to be working. He didn't fuss about leaving Billy and me and going back upstairs to rejoin the kids. About 45 minutes later I saw him walking around with someone different in a different building. Same explanation. I thought about keeping him with me the rest of the time, but he seemed okay to go back to his group, so I let him. They said he did fine the rest of the time and that he got really excited when they got the Play-Doh out for the kids to play with.

He said he wants to go back tomorrow, but I'm not sure. I'll take him and if he decides he doesn't want to stay, I'll take him somewhere else while Caleb enjoys his last day there. He's had so much fun this week, but he's definitely going to be ready for some down-time next week. We all will.

I completely forgot about something that happened Friday morning before Billy and I went in to have his wisdom teeth out. Shortly after 8:00 a.m., there was a loud knock at our door. Who in the world?!? I looked through the peephole and recognized the maintenance guy. I figured he was stopping by to check on our hot water (we had none), but then I realized I hadn't even reported it to the office yet. I opened the door and he greeted me with, "Good morning. Are your kids home?" Huh? "No," I answered, wondering why he was asking me that. "Is this your little boy?" he asked, and I looked out the door and down the stairs like I expected Caleb or Jacob to be there, knowing full well they wouldn't be. (They were with Billy's parents, nearly 4 hours away.)

There stood a thin little boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, with tousled black hair, fair skin, and a red face like he had been crying. He was wearing thin pajamas and tennis shoes, no jacket in the cold. He was standing between two men, either maintenance guys or residents. I immediately felt sorry for him and wondered how on earth he ended up outside and lost. I told the maintenance guy that he wasn't my child, that my boys were in Louisiana, and that I didn't recognize the little boy.

Billy came to the living room after I closed the door and I told him what had happened. He looked out the back window and saw the men walking the little boy around to some other apartments to check. By this time, he was being swallowed by one of the men's coats. He looked so pitiful. At least he was a little warmer.

I never found out what happened to him. Next time I see the maintenance guy (which probably won't be too far off), I'll try to remember to ask him. That little boy could've been from our complex, which is huge, or either of the two complexes next to us. I hate to think what his parents were going through while he was missing. Surely they realized it...