8 Random Things

The lovely She has tagged me for the 8 random things meme, and since not only is it not Mother's Day here in Israel but rather it's just a regular work day, I've got plenty of time to work diligently answer. Here's how it works:

• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Okay, enough rules. What you're really here for is the dirt. So here goes...

1. I can't sing. I REALLY REALLY want to be able to, but I just can't. If the genie ever pops out of my soda bottle that would be the first thing I'd ask for. (Followed by something like happiness for my family and world peace I suppose, can't be too completely selfish. But yes, a really great singing voice would be first.) I used to play classical flute, so I'm not completely musically inept, just in the areas I'd most like to not be now.

2. I have one of the world's blackest thumbs. Plants see me coming and just keel over dead to save time. I can even kill plastic plants. My poor cleaner used to teach agriculture before coming to this country, and cringes in horror every time he sees that my houseplants have obviously not been watered (or heck, even thought of) since the last time he was there. I live in a penthouse, so no big garden to take care of. We do have a lot of largish plants and small trees in pots up on the roof (patio), but we have a computerized drip irrigation system to take care of those. Of course that too works better when we remember to set it properly. We never remember to increase the water when the hot weather starts until some friend comes over and comments on how dry everything is looking, and then of course the reverse is true every fall.

3. I used to speak completely fluent French, going so far as to study medieval French literature in university, but I lost almost all of it years ago when I learned Hebrew. It's as if the brain just switches into "foreign language mode", and whichever language is the closest to the surface is the one that pops out. I can hold a very basic conversation or do some reading in French these days, but it's a struggle.

4. I actually enjoy going on vacations with my extended family (parents, sister and her family). We have a great time together. In fact, we're going to be camping with them in Washington and British Columbia next week after we leave San Francisco. That said, I'm really looking forward to the chance Jay and I will get for our firsteversincehavingkids solo vacation this November. I don't care where we go as long as it's just the two of us.

5. I love stir-frying, especially Thai and Chinese dishes. They've become the standard "what to eat when we have nothing to eat" meals in our house.

6. All 3 of my laundry baskets are cracked. I really need to go buy some new ones.

7. I feed the fish only slightly more often than I water the plants. (Heck, I barely remember to feed the kids, let alone the fish!) That might be the reason we went from having a lovely blue betta fish and three little zebra fish to just one measly zebra.

8. My grandfather was a pilot in the original US Air Corps (before they founded the Air Force). These were the hats and goggles guys (think Snoopy and the biplane) who flew under the command of the controversial "Father of the Air Force" Billy Mitchell. My father and several of his cousins fly private planes, and my younger cousin flies Search & Rescue helicopters off a carrier, doing things I probably really don't want to know about. When my son turned 3 we happened to be in the States, and my dad took him up for a ride on his birthday. He sat him up in the front seat, gave him headphones and set him up with a joystick from his at-home flight simulator, hiding the end of the cord to let Itai believe he was really flying the plane. They even got the guys in the tower to wish "Co-pilot Itai" a happy birthday over the radio. The kid was so excited I don't think his head landed until a week after his body did! To this day he truly believes he flew the plane. The technical side of flying doesn't interest me at all, but I do love to go up as a passenger. I love looking down at the ground and watching the scenery go by. You'd never believe how many swimming pools there are on the East Coast of the US by the way...

That was fun. I'm now going to tag Jen, Jen, Meredith, Mags, Carmen, Janet, FOM and Rachel. This meme has been going around for a while, so just ignore me if you've already done it.