My friend Teresa challenged me to list 7 things about myself that nobody knows. since i’m a giant blabbermouth on social media, I’m not sure that’s possible, but I’ll give it a shot.

1. I like goats so much. I want one. I have no place to put a goat, but I love them. At a petting zoo, they’re really the only animal I want to see. Baby goats are SO ADORABLE.

2. I dig funk and reggae. If you sneak up on me at 4 AM in my kitchen while I’m wearing headphones and waiting for the kettle to boil, chances are that bumping and grinding I’m doing is to funk. You could place bets on Kool & the Gang.

3. I can belly dance. I won’t belly dance for you if you ask, but I can. I have zero exhibitionist in me. I’m no Rachel Brice, but I’ve had two years of lessons (five years back), and am considering going back because it’s incredible exercise for your core. I can comfortably belly dance in front of the ladies in my class because we’re all learning and there’s no judgement.

<note: I can NOT do this>

4. I’ve been practicing yoga for about fifteen years. I stopped for a while, and can’t restart until I heal up from surgery, but I’m longing to get back into it, especially now when I feel my flexibility is so compromised.

5. I dislike fighting, and I let people win arguments even when I know they’re wrong. I’m absolutely capable of giving up and letting someone be wrong. I don’t need them to know they’re wrong. It doesn’t bother me at all. In fact, sometimes I prefer it.

6. I get my best ideas for writing while I’m in the shower or on long drives with great music on the radio. Ideas that don’t stick with me, I let go. The good ones will be the ones that nag me, that demand my attention when I’m daydreaming, the ones that I enjoy fantasizing about. Those ones make their way into books.

7. I had a stalker once whom I nicknamed Hockey News Guy. It ended rather quickly because I turned out to be much more obsessive about it than he was, and I stalked him better than he stalked me.