Things I am Not Good At

Stasha at Northwest Mommy has another edition of Listicles this week that I've decided to take part in.  This week's topic is Things You are Not Good At.  I had first named this post "Things I Suck At"  (that's what she said) but then decided that might not be the best way to word that.  Who knows what kind of traffic I might get then...... 

10 Things I Suck At

1.  Singing
Oh, how I wish I were a fabulous singer.  And of course, I sound awesome to myself while driving or in the shower or whatever.  But the reality is:  I suck.  I am tone deaf, pitchy, and all those things that Simon Cowell says to the American Idol contestants.  Carrie Underwood = not me.  boo.

2.  Lying
I suppose this is probably a good thing, but I am really bad at it.  Good thing I'm not sneaky or a cheater or anything like that.  My face gives it away every time.  Lying to keep a baby shower secret or about a surprise birthday party is fine, those don't hurt, but a bold-faced lie to cover up a bad act or to keep someone out of trouble, nope.  I can't do it.  Don't look to me to be your partner in crime, I would spill the beans everytime.

3.  Up-selling
This is kinda a problem since I am in the business of selling things.... But it is very hard for me to push high-end products on people unless they ask for them.  It goes along with the lying thing above.  I really have to believe there is a huge benefit in order to ask them to pay $600 for a pair of glasses.  I shouldn't judge what the person may or may not be willing to pay for ahead of time, but it's hard. 

4.  Throwing a baseball
I guess I was never really taught to throw properly so I totally throw like a girl. 

Me.  Minus the tiara.

Not me.

It's all good though.  Apparently, Obama throws like a girl too.  :)

That makes me feel a little better.

5.  Putting on Makeup
Another thing I never learned how to do.  I use some concealer, face powder, bronzer and eyeliner.  That's it.  I've never used eye shadow.  I don't even have a clue how to put it on properly.  It's just not me anyway.  I'm more of a plain jane kind of girl.

6.  Backing Up
Wow.  Do I suck at this.  No joke.  My friend, Julie (of the popcorn place) has this kinda narrow longish driveway.  Whenever I go over to pick up or drop off my kid, I only pull up about 1/3 of the way into her driveway.  It's so embarrassing, but if I go further in, I cannot back up out of it without clipping a tree, or going off the edge or hitting the basketball hoop.  I should have taken a picture of my efforts the other night.  Because there was some snow still, you could see the swerving, on the road-off the road path I took to back out.   I am reverse challenged.  I can't even tell you the number of things I have backed into--cars, garage doors, poles etc.

My husband, on the other hand, can back a fully-loaded truck and trailer into a phone booth (phone booth?  did I just date myself?  do you 20-somethings even know what a phone booth is??)  if he had to.  Maybe that ability is attached to the Y chromosome..

7.  Debating/Arguing
I am terrible at coming up with reasons or arguements on the spur of the moment.  You would completely win a debate with me anytime.  Or an arguement, for that matter.  I stammer and stutter while my mind is racing trying to come up with just the right thing to say.  Then it's done and I've lost, or been totally ineffective at defending myself.  2 hours later, I come up with the perfect comeback.  Too late.  There will be no politics in my future.

8.  Following Through on Kid's Punishments
Ugh.  So bad at this.  Thankfully, my kids are pretty well behaved and don't need punishment often.  However, my threats of "Cut it out or you'll go to bed when we get home" or "You won't be able to go to that birthday party" or "no dance class or jiu jitsu for you" are often never followed through on.  I often forget what I had said the night before so then I don't remember to follow through.  Or I've paid so much for those dance classes/jiu jitsu classes that I am not going to have her miss one.  (Wrong thing to threaten, I know.)  Parenting--I'm learning too.  There was no handbook for that.

9.  Cooking
I would probably be pretty good at the cooking part, if I had the time or the inclination to spend an hour or so making my kitchen a complete disaster area to come up with some awe-inspiring dish.  But I don't.  I want dinner to be done in 30 minutes.  And dishes done 30 minutes later.  Getting home at 5 and wanting to get the kids to bed by 7:30 leaves only so much time for cooking and cleaning.  Therefore, hubby does the cooking.  Thank you, hubs!

10.  Sticking to a Budget
Ugh.  I am soo bad at this.  I am getting better, but I cannot seem to eliminate the credit cards from my life.  I just get them down to little or nothing, and wham! they are right back up there again.  The worst part is, I'm not even sure what I've bought!  Something for me to continue to work on.

Hey--don't forget to sign up for my Bloggy Birthday Giveaway!  I've got some good stuff to hand over to someone.  It might as well be you!  Happy Wednesday!  Oh!  I almost forgot!  Here's that pic of Carrie and I when I met her for giveaway swapping.  :)