Signs I Know I'm An Odd Duck: The OaKBaLL Edition

Today I'm going to make the best out of an odd situation and use it for entertainment purposes.  Do you ever stop and laugh at yourself and think, "Did that really just happen?" Sometimes we think, say, or do things that are off the wall or simply out of the norm (if one is so inclined to think that there really is a "normal" anymore, but I digress!) Let us begin and embrace the things that make us who we are.

We all have had to leave work some time or another for different reasons. "My kid is sick," "there has been a family emergency," or "I just had a coughing/sneezing fit that started a nose bleed that won't stop so my boss told me to go home." 

Oh, wait.  Apparently that's just me.

Warning: If you don't like hearing about blood, you may want to skip the first sign, but it's only about my nose, so it's more humorous and embarrassing, than gross. Just sayin'.

Yes, folks. Sign #1: For the second time in my life, I've been sent home from work because I can't get a nose bleed under control. 

After 30 minutes, a handful of paper towels, and multiple trips to the restroom, I had to do the light headed walk of shame to the car with tampons and tissue in my nose. The good news is, this time I was able to drive myself home once I lay back for a few minutes (last time I was almost 8 months pregnant and almost had to go to the ER) and I got it to stop without going to the hospital. The bad news is that I am out yet another days pay since I've been sick off and on for the last 3 weeks, and though it hasn't bled in a while now, I can feel movement of a clot behind my nasal cavity every time I swallow and still taste/smell blood every time I cough. It is such a weird and odd feeling back there and it needs to go away. This all began at exactly 11am this morning when I got off the phone to start my break and I felt a sneeze coming on. I coughed a few times, and then I sneezed and it was all over from there. Thank God I had the tissues in my hand and avoided getting it anywhere on my desk or clothes. 

At first I was determined to stay at work, but at 11:30am when the other side started, I couldn't argue anymore. I decided to go home and rest, thinking I'd be able to get back to work in an hour. It wasn't until almost 2pm I was able to remove the blockades from my nose with confidence, but I still don't feel comfortable enough to walk around without them in hand for fear that this congested feeling behind my face is not from the cold, but the clot that is keeping me from another round of tampons in my nose.

Have you ever had to put tampons in your nose to stop the bleeding? Hopefully not, but for those of us with severe nose bleeds, they are rather handy, but always incredibly awkward.

I can't quite figure out how I accomplish sign #2, but it is interesting to theorize when I look at the diagram.

To change the subject ever so slightly, I discovered Sign #2 at a young age while visiting relatives who smoked:  I can "plug my nose" without using my hands. There is something in my nasal cavity that I adjust somehow and it keeps unpleasant smells out and if I talk while doing it, it sounds like I've plugged my nose. That same muscle or whatever it is that I move to help me seems to be right next to the danger zone today where this clot is located and it is rather uncomfortable.

Since blood is red, it helps explain Sign #3 a little bit: The color red and the number 4 annoy me. I don't know when this started, but for as long as I can remember, I avoid these and things pertaining to them. If I think enough on the subject of red, I find reasons that lead me to justify that the dislike of red isn't completely unwarranted since there are many red things that have a negative connotation: blood, stop signs/lights, etc...but let's be honest here, the number thing is just weird. I'm not a math wiz and have no weird talents with numbers, but for some reason or another, I have always leaned towards odd numbers, and somewhere down the line, the #4 did something to my brain that makes me avoid it whenever I possibly can (the 49ers never had a chance.) This issue doesn't affect me to the point where I notice it every day, but it does make me laugh some times when I find myself using these things in some of my decision making processes. 

We all like making funny faces, but some of us have odd talents, and that is what makes us an awesome individual. Sign #4: I can play tennis with my eyes. For example, one eye looks at my nose, while the other looks off to the side, and back and forth they go in a fun little game of eyeball pong. Apparently it is not a common trait, and though I'm not sure if it is good for me, I find it entertaining on occasion when it makes someone squirm when they see it. I can also turn my tongue upside down or touch the tip of my nose with it, but I'm not cool enough to be able to fold it into a taco, clover, or tie a a cherry stem in a knot, so my hat's off to you awesomely quirky folks who can!

How you doin'?

Sign #5: I have friends and family whom I can have full conversations with using nothing but movie and television quotes. At any given point in time, if you ask me what I am thinking, there is probably an obscure quote from a movie or television series that I was reminded of by what you just said, and I have to fight the urge to say it because you will absolutely no idea what I am talking about. Some are easier to get than others, but I definitely have a thing for ridiculous comedies. Have you seen movies like The Ref, The Pest, Earth Girls Are Easy, Idiocracy, or Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls? Probably not, but I love them for a multitude of reasons that I never expect other people to understand, but love it when they do! If I throw out some Casablanca, Dirty Harry, or Office Space, I'm sure more folks would get a laugh even if they can't remember exactly where it came from. Between my Best of SNL collection and the multitude of television series I own (and have the ability to stream on Netflix and Hulu), the world makes it incredibly easy to indulge in my love of film and entertainment, and keeps my mind full of fun and outlandish quotes. I wish I could remember quotes from books, Shakespeare plays, Emerson poems, or even bible verses as easily as I can a funny line from a film, but I'll take it. I'm glad to remember the things I enjoy so they can keep me entertained, even if I can't be around them all the time

In short, what I love about oddities is that they make everybody an individual. We all want to belong somewhere, but that doesn't mean we have to conform and be exactly like everybody else.

I am what I am, and I don't want to be anything but me. (A version of me that could finish getting her degree and make more money for my family sounds good, but I'm getting there.) I am still growing, learning, and discovering new things every day to keep life moving forward.