Get to Know Me Better

So today, I decided that I would try something a little different. Normally I take Monday as my computer free and catch up on reading (or play video games) time. But I feel like doing something different today.

Let’s get to know me a little better with some questions.

1. Are you named after anyone?
   Yes, I am, actually. Leticia is actually an old family name. A long, lost, great aunt had the same name and it was insisted to my mother that if she had a daughter, she name her Leticia. 
2. What does your name mean?
   Leticia means “joy” or “happiness” in Latin. It’s actually a Spanish name but of course, names travel from country to country. Leticia is actually a Portuguese spelling of it, but it made it’s way to Ireland and Scotland, which is where some of my family originates. 
3. Where are you from?
   I live in Ontario, Canada.
4. Which of your parents are you closest to?
   I am, honestly, closer to my mother than my dad. I love my dad but my Mama just knows how to handle little ol’ me. 
5. Which of your parents are you more like?
   Definitely my mama. I cook like her, bake like her, look like her, haha. 
6. What is your favourite drink?
   Pineapple, Mango and Peach Sparkling Water, Coffee with honey and cream, orange pekoe tea, and I love anything orange flavoured. 
7. What is your favourite food?
   I would have to say that it is eggplant, recently and corned beef with potatoes and either sauerkraut or sweet and sour cabbage. Yummo. 
8. What is your favourite childhood memory?
   I would have to say any memory with my grandparents. I never met my dad’s parents as they passed away before I was born. So I only knew my mom’s parents. My grandma and grandpa were divorced and he remarried to my Oma. So I have wonderful memories of eating ice cream at the beach with my grandma and my cousins, while I have memories of following my stubborn, kind of gruff grandfather around the farm in rubber ducky boots (it’s what I call rubber boots). Or making delicious German and Irish food with my Oma. 
9. What is your favourite way to pass time?
   Reading! Duh! Haha, and I am also an avid gamer. I’ve been playing 7 Days to Die a lot lately. Mostly on a PvP server. My friends let me “mother-hen” the base and build to my heart’s content. I am going to start building trap entrances and secondary exits. Might even create another trap of utter doom. I mean, I’m not bloodthirsty at all, haha. 
10. What is your favourite snack?
    Hmm, popcorn, I would say. I love spicy popcorn. Yum. 
11. What is your favourite sport?
    I was going to take this one out but it needs to be said: EWWW! SPORTS! YUCK! xD
12. What is your biggest regret?
    To be quite honest, I don’t like to focus on regrets. To me, regrets are a negative way to think. Everything that we do in life should be seen as a life lesson. Maybe that move wasn’t the best idea but what did you learn from it? Dropped out of school, what is it that you’re really seeking then? And so on. 
13. Are you a dog person or cat person?
    Both. However, I am allergic to cats. I love cats, my skin does not. It’s not their fur, but their oils on their skin. So cats seem to know I love them and am allergic, and promptly rub themselves all over me and I suffer the hives for the purring mass of fluffy-cuteness! I do have dogs though. I live with three roommates, two are a couple and they have a dog named Bandit (or as I call him Bandito!)
    

    

    If I stare long enough, some might go in my mouth! – Bandit

    I also have two dogs that live with my mama.
    Keyah is my little darling. When I was suffering from some health problems and deep depression, my mom brought this tiny white fluff-ball home, put her in my arms and from that day forward, Keyah has kept me away from the abyss of depression. I know when it is time to go have some Puppy Therapy at my mom’s. Keyah is also known as Monkey, Fuzzbutt, Monkeybean, Keyah-pet. 

    Then we adopted a dog named Zeke who we affectionately call Bubbie (or Bubbalicious, Bubbiebean, The Bubster, Bubs. Can you see a pattern of nicknames?). Bubbie is actually a rescue. He is a fear aggressive dog. He doesn’t like children and a lot of men. But we’ve worked hard on him and he’s one of the most loving and sweetest dogs ever.
    

14. Are you scared of heights?
    I am, actually. Not like my dad, though. But places that are too high, I get intrusive thoughts and have to back away. 
15. At what age did you go on your first date?
    16. My mother made me wait until I was 16 to date. 
16. What is an ideal first date for you?
    Either me cooking a nice dinner at my house for them or us strolling through a bookstore, duh. Lol. 
17. What is something you are gifted at?
    Writing, actually. I am able to, despite having an auditory learning disability, to take dictation. I edit as I write and correct their grammar as they’re speaking. I am also a human dictionary. I rarely not know how to spell a word and if I don’t, we all have Google, haha. 
18. What is something you look for in a partner?
    I am a Sapiophile. Sapiophile’s are attracted to intelligence and personality over looks. Looks are a bonus, but the more the person engages my mind, the more attractive they become. So I look for like-minded interests, intelligence, a sense of humour and the only physical thing I look for is: tall. I’m short and shelves are a bane of my existence. I need a tall guy so I don’t have to play “take tongs and nudge the thing down without hitting me in the face or breaking!” 
19. What is something you wish you were gifted at doing?
    Math. I know basics, but I have dyscalculia. I can add, do a little subtraction, a little multiplication but division is a whole lotta NOPE! 
20. What is the one item you can’t leave home without?
    Aside from my wallet, cellphone and keys? My eReader. I am agoraphobic (this means I’m afraid of being outside of my comfort zone) so having something that I can hold and distract my mind to is very important. I actually never thought I’d be an eReader person either, haha. 
21. What is the best compliment you have ever received?
    Oh goodness, probably the one my Special Education Teacher gave me when I was dropping out of high school: “it’s always the intelligent ones who get sick of the education bullshit and drop out.” It was the first time I had ever heard her swear, lol, but it was one that has stuck with me. 
22. What is the first book you remember reading?
    I can’t remember. That was like 28 years ago. Probably something Dr Seuss. 
23. What is the first movie you remember seeing?
    I’m too old for these questions, haha. 
24. What is the last book you read?
    I just finished reading No One Dies in the Garden of Syn by Michael Seidelman. A review will eventually come for this, haha. 
25. What is the name of your first pet?
    Sprocket! If you know Fraggle Rock, you will know where we got my first dog’s name from. 
26. What is your best physical feature?
    Either my eyes, lips or my hair, haha. 
27. What is your biggest accomplishment?
    Starting my education on my own and working towards getting my diploma on my own. 
28. What is your eye colour?

    

    Green eyes!

29. What is your favourite colour?
    I love red, purple and lime green. Shade: Black. 😉
30. What is your favourite fairytale?
    Beauty and the Beast.
31. What is your favourite ice-cream flavour?
    Hmm, this is tough. I love peanut butter, cotton candy, double chocolate, mint chocolate. Aw hell, I love ice cream. Why make me choose? Haha. 
32. What is your favourite music genre?
    I’m 32 years old, there is no one favourite anymore. There is so many to list. But I’ll always be a metalhead. 
33. What is your nickname?
    Oh goodness, I’ve so many. Tish, Tisha, Tishy, Dude, the list just goes on and on! 
34. What is your favourite quote?
35. Nope, you cannot make me choose this! I have so many. I refuse!
36. What is your favourite type of clothing?
    I only own and wear skirts or dresses. So, dresses. 
37. What is your most commonly used swear word?
    “Balls!” and “Oh, fuck me” which is not good to say when gaming primarily with guys, haha. 
38. What is your star sign?
    I am a Leo. But I am more like my Chinese zodiac, which is an ox. 
39. Do you have a best friend, if so, then who?
    I have two! My lovely bestie/sister Emily-Dude. I just have to yell “dude!” and she’ll call back “yes?!” My other bestie is my lovely friend Steph. I’ve been friends for 15-16 years with them each. 
40. Do you have a tattoo?
    I do not. I have my ears pierced and that is it. 
41. Do you have any allergies?
    Cats, dust, latex and I’m sensitive to aloe, sulfates in shampoo, cigarettes, oregano, fresh pinapple and kiwi. 
42. Do you have any birthmarks? If so, where?
    I do, on my leg. It’s like a half heart. My grandma used to tell me that I’d find my soul mate and he’d have the other half. She was a cheeseball, can you tell? Haha. 
43. What piece of technology can you not live without?
    My PC! eReader, phone, definitely earbuds/headphones. 
44. What was the first concert you ever attended?
    I have never attended a single concert in my life. However! My dad and uncles are musicians. I have had the best form of live music my entire life. I actually cannot live in a house without music playing somewhere. I even grind in Guild Wars 2 playing music, haha. 
45. What was your favourite subject in High School?
    English, Ancient History, skipping class…oh wait, that wasn’t a subject. *Angelic* Haha. 
46. What was your first job?
    Babysitting. I was like 13 when I was doing overnight jobs :O I know! Shocking. I was paid good money too. Then I did some tutoring, office work and dishwashing. I don’t recommend the latter. It’s not as fun as they say and now I hate doing dishes! Haha. 

So there you have it, a little bit more about me! I hope you enjoyed it. Now I am definitely going to game 😉

 

About Me

I wanted to write a bit of a post to introduce myself and give authors and my readers a better idea of who I am. Now that I’ve displayed some of my book choices.

So let me start off right with a picture:

 Hi, I’m Leticia (pronounced Le-tish-ah). I really need to use my camera more and my cell phone camera less, ha!

I’m 30 years old and live in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. I’m originally from Stratford, Ontario Canada. Yes, where Justin Bieber is from. Stratford is an extremely artistic area, especially because of the Shakespearean Festival.

I was raised by a Jack of All Trades mother and a store manager by day, musician by night father. Creativity flows deeply through these veins.

When I was in grade 4, my new teacher made a rather shocking discovery: I could not read. It had taken that long for someone to care; I’m sure they noticed.
My mother and my teacher worked hard and by grade 5, I was reading at a grade 3 level. By grade 7, I was reading at a university level. My teacher and I are still friends to this day and she still calls me her Little Light Bulb. She said one day, it clicked and I lit up like a light bulb, excited to be able to read more and more.
However, school was incredibly difficult for me. I was diagnosed with learning disabilities plus panic disorder and social phobia. I struggled constantly through out school between horrible teachers and being confined to the box they put me in, I eventually dropped out of high school.

I started working on my education in 2007, two years after dropping out. It’s been a slow ride doing that. But I feel I am better for it, that my education so far means more than when I was in school.
But by 2008, I was struggling. I started to refuse to go out and barely left my bedroom. I was depressed and having horrible anxiety constantly. By 2009, I was diagnosed as severely agoraphobic with panic disorder, social phobia, depression and excessive worrying.
Thus I turned to reading as my coping mechanism. Getting lost in a book helped me to manage and it encouraged me to get out, by walking to the library once every three weeks.

Agoraphobia is the fear of being outside of your comfort zone. It literally means being afraid of open spaces and public places but I’m not really uncomfortable with open spaces, ha ha.
At 30, I cope bit by bit but I don’t really go out much. I do my bi-weekly shopping, sometimes go out with people who are comfortable and understand what I am dealing with and aren’t afraid to give me the keys so I can escape to the comfort of a car.

In 2010, I met like-minded people by searching an agoraphobia support group on Facebook. That was, to this day, the best thing I had done for myself. I met some really lovely people, some who will be lifelong friends because of it.
In 2014, after helping and being an admin in another group, I struck out on my own with a few friends from that same group. We formed our own support group, using our ideals and working with what we knew worked for us.
Freedom from Agoraphobia and Monophobia (if you struggle with agoraphobia or monophobia, you’re welcome to join us. There is no judgement and it’s a safe haven) is my other passion. I love helping people. I also run a Facebook page dedicated to mental health Musings of an Agoraphobic

I also enjoy playing my favourite video games: Guild Wars 2, The Sims 3, Mass Effect and Killing Floor. I love zombies and zombie related stuff. I chew gum when I’m anxious. I like Charmed Aroma candles. I have two dogs who are my loves of my life. I live with a cat I can’t really pet, but spoil with tuna. I am very close with my family and friends. I love to write as well. I enjoy making candy and baking. I am also a mediocre painter.

Yup, that about covers it. 🙂