What don't I know?

I was talking to a friend on facebook chat tonight. We have never met in person, but I enjoy talking with her, and getting to know her, and finding out about what is going on in her life. Tonight when we were talking I asked her if she ever had a hard time falling asleep, and what she did when it happened. She told me that in the summer she likes to go outside and listen to the frogs and see all the stars. She lives far enough out in the country that if she turns off the lights at her house, she literally can't see any lights except the moon and stars. In the year she and I have been chatting, I never thought to ask if she lived in the city or country. Most of our conversations revolve around out families and kids, and it was fun to learn this surprising fact about her.

So, I thought about what I would about me might be surprising to my friends and family members, if I had to think of something that no one would really know. Certainly close friends and family members that I spend a lot of time with will know a lot more about me than I know about my facebook friend, but there are some things that I just don't talk about a lot, and I was wondering which of those things I would be willing to share.

So, after thinking about it, I decided I would share this secret. For years I bit my fingernails, sometimes to the point where I would have to put band-aids on them so that they could stop bleeding and heal. When I finally decided that I wanted to stop biting them, when I was about 14, I had to find something to replace biting them. I did fine with chewing gum when I was awake, and I would suck on my fingers instead of biting them. For the first few months I also bought Fun Dips and would lick my fingers, and then put them in the sugar so that there was some flavor. Even with that, I still missed how the fingernails "crunched" when I was chewing on them.

So, I made a deal with myself. I wouldn't chew my fingernails until after I cut them. A couple of times I month I would cut my fingernails, and then after they were cut, then I would chew on them. It allowed me to tell my brain, everytime it wanted to chew on my fingernails, that I would do it later, after they were cut, but that I wasn't going to do it now because I wanted my nails to look nice. I know that you are supposed to be able to create a new habit in a month or two, but it took me almost a year to entirely stop biting my nails. And still, when I am really stressed, I will often go cut one of my fingernails, and chew on it.

So, what is something I don't know about you? It doesn't have to be a deep, dark secret, it can be funny, or gross or just something you have never told me. I can't wait to get to know everyone better!

(Okay, all my FB friends, this is your chance to learn one of my secrets, and I hope you will share one of your own. Especially my FB friends who I have never met, I want to learn more about you. I will send cards to all of my FB who respond and leave a comment on my blog or here. Just make sure to send me an email with your address. Help me send out cards all over the world!!)