Water ski

snow ski (still am not comfortable getting off the lift)

sew

cook

sail a boat

fish

Drive a stick

shoot a gun (paper targets only)

learn various stuff by watching YouTube

stay calm when others panic

not sweat the small stuff

Crochet

Sew

Fish ( including baiting my own hook, filleting the fish, etc)

Hunt (partridge or grouse only, so far)

Cook/Grill really well

Build a camp fire

Change a tire

Drive most anything (ATV, snowmobile, tractor, skidder, etc)

Grow most anything, inside or out

Cross one eye only (lol)

I can:

Start a business

Problem solve (this can be more of a curse than a blessing)

Be diplomatic

Run rings around my younger DD when shopping

I'm very mechanical and can assemble almost anything usually without directions

Read a map and navigate like a champ

Sketch (still in the learning process but getting better)

Shoot a gun (target)

Import and export goods

Make a good, tight hospital corner

Stitch, needlepoint and cross stitch but can't sew worth a darn

Spell

Do a cryptic crossword, as long as it's not a British one

See the bright side!

Sleep through a thunderstorm. But a child coughing will wake me up.

Wiggle my ears.

Play handbells.

Judge rose shows

Officiate weddings

read maps

understand how long distance telephony works

Wire electronics

understand how computers work

Plan vacations without a travel agent

Pump my own gas (live in NJ, but capable of doing it myself when necessary)

Fire an M-16 (I might be able to take one apart and clean it)

Cross stitch and needlepoint

parallel park (took umpteen years, don't have to do it much in NJ)

make potato salad

Cook a steak or prime rib to perfect temp

I can make perfect palm crosses.

Golf reasonably well

Take and transcribe shorthand (that's telling my age)

Grow just about anything, indoors or out

Prepare a mean lasagna

Always know where north is

Write and/or edit

Remain calm in a medical emergency (I was cool and collected during DH's heart attack while DS and his wife were freaking out)

Keep a secret

Hook up plumbing under the kitchen sink. After having to make repairs about five times...I think I've figured this out. And a new connection helps, too : )

My more helpful talents:

I'm a self taught human hair cutter and dog groomer. I must do a pretty good job, as I've had several hair stylists (who I go to for highlights) tell me my cut looks professional. I can do nice doggy haircuts too!

I can always eyeball something that's been hung on a wall and know if it's perfectly level. People (DH, usually, lol) will claim they used a level, but before they double check it, I'll know if the bubble in the level will be slightly to the left or to the right.

I can get a knot out of anything, pretty quickly, especially kids' hair and dainty necklace chains.

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My 'no purpose' talents:

I have a photographic memory, in a strange way, regarding books. If you picked a book from my bookshelf, I can't recite any specific passage by heart. But I can always tell you whether that passage is on the left or right hand page, and top, middle or bottom of the page. This applies even if I read the book 30 years ago...but this 'talent' serves no purpose!

I can cut a deck of cards exactly in half and do some fancy shuffling tricks...but | don't play cards.

I discovered I'm kind of an Edward Scissorhands, when it comes to shaping hedges...but I stick to standard garden shapes as I don't think my neighbours would want to see weird animal hedges on my front lawn, lol!

Play the flute and piccolo.

Twirl a rifle.

Shoot, targets not animals. And I can help you clean that M16, Diane_NJ. I could do it with my eyes closed in basic training. Qualified expert.

Make a bed that can flip a quarter.

Anything puzzle-like.

Spell.

Drive a stick shift.

Type fast and w/o errors.

Baby Whisperer - hand me a crying baby, I can get it to stop in less than a minute.

Visualize - I can look at blueprints and "walk" through them.

Sometimes I smell things (smoke, flowers, mildew, etc) when looking at photographs.

Say my ABCs backwards. Currently teaching almost 3yo DGD.

Clean.

Organize.

Take care of a horse.

Garden design - perennials and container gardens.

Demo and remodel... but my DIY days are over.

Fish - bait hook, etc. But I do not clean them.

Find unique objects.

After feeding birds for over 20 years, I can still name the majority I see in our area.

Paint a mural on your wall, Take care of same birds

Take care of my husband without much.....Still can paint a hell of a mural and I need to do that.

Find almost anything lost or misplaced

I don't think I'm exactly telekenetic but I once made a box suspended from the ceiling spin rapidly by concentrating on it

Drive a stick shift

Refinish, paint, stain, sew and cook most anything

Use most hand tools

Pat my head and rub my tummy at the same time

What an amazing assortment of talents y'all!

When I kiss a cat, it stays kissed.

Install a glass tile backsplash

Change the belt on a riding mower

Groom an Australian Shepherd

Barrel race and show jump

Drive a stick shift

Back a horse trailer

Play French horn, trumpet, euphonium, tympani and drum set (I can wail on Sing, Sing, Sing)

Twirl a rifle (like Allison!)

Purge excess belongings without remorse

Arbitrate a union grievance (agency side)

Photographic memory of locations, features and layouts of houses I like

Bloom where I'm planted (military brat)

Enjoy my own company

Find a creative win-win solution to almost any dilemma

Enjoy Barry Manilow tunes with my head held high

I can raise my right eyebrow independently of my left.

Touch my nose to my tongue (challenge mastered as a kid)

Parallel park and back up a trailer

Keyboard by touch and look and talk to someone at the same time

Build a fence

Do percentages in my head

Shoot straight tequila without grimacing

Untangle all kinds of knots (one of my favorite relaxing pasttimes)

I am a master of 70's & 80's pop & rock trivia

Like Maddielee, I can stay calm when others panic. When I sense danger or pain or tragedy, I go into a mode of clarity and focused decision-making. I can recall specific, scary instances in my childhood when I did so, so this must be in my fabric. I missed my calling as an ER doctor.

My kids are bright, honest, kind, respectful and decent people. I'm in awe of them every day for the good decisions they make. I'm proud that I know how to be their mother. This isn't bragging, though. My parents did not set a good example, and my childhood was filled with angst and unhappiness. So I'm good at following my instincts in raising my children to be good people and not repeating destructive patterns of my childhood.

I think anyone who takes a more productive path from that of which they were raised should be acknowledged for it.

Belly dance

Wiggle my nose

Make fish lips (suck in cheeks to make a fish mouth and then open and close my lips)

Repair vacuum wipers (haven't done this in a looooong time)

I parallel park well (I once squeezed into a spot on an outside curve with only 3 inches to spare on either end)

I sew Halloween costumes without a pattern

I replaced the flap assembly in my toilet recently

Make a pot rack from plumbing pipe

Arrange music for choir

Make truffles

Make other candy (caramels, almond roca, peanut brittle, etc.)

Plan a group camping trip

I can start and use a gas powered chainsaw, leaf blower, chipper shredder, rototiller, chainsaw on a pole, etc. I can cut and split firewood (and love it).

I can drive a stick shift and change a flat tire.

And drove my (former) car on the racetrack.

I can back out of just about any long curvy driveway or road. (Without a trailer, though).

I'm a great problem solver and since becoming a widow many years ago have figured out how to move just about any piece of furniture myself, including huge bookcases up and down stairs.

I can find an on street parking spot near the front of any place I want to go, including downtown Seattle! My friends are always amazed and we call it good parking Karma.

I can cut and style and perm my own hair (cheating because I was a hairdresser many years ago).

I can understand legaleze and love reading it.

I can cook or bake just about anything and have, but I am a recipe follower - and find amazing recipes for things (according to those I cook for).

I can spot a disingenuous person a mile away, including online.

I can keep a secret like anything (like someone up thread, but I can't see her post now) and my friends tell me their deepest, darkest secrets.

I can help people find their birth family or their children lost to adoption.

eta: I almost wrote that I'm good with editing, grammar and punctuation, then I had to come back here and fix an apostrophe faux pas, so I'm glad I didn't brag about my skill. :-/

I can drive a stick, and a tractor.

parallel park and back up anywhere, not with a trailer, but can do a simple backup with a trailer.

Cross stitch and needlepoint, and sew from a pattern pretty well.

This is totally useless, but can write backwards. And write mirror image simultaneously.

Am right-handed but can also write with my left hand if needed.

Snow ski, water ski, play racquetball well, paddle board, kayak, still run a half-marathon now at 67.

i can touch type on a keyboard really fast & accurately, but new thumb stuff on iPads I don't do as fast or as accurately.

Play piano but not as well as I once did.

Good at baking, especially pies, cakes and breads.

Good at engineering program management. Did it for years in my career.

I am usually an accurate judge of people I meet within the first 15 minutes.

Have an innate sense of direction and can read maps.

Can plant a garden and coordinate my own landscaping. And I know how to take care of it.

Shoot a shotgun, rifle and handguns for target practice.

I am another of those who stays calm when there is chaos or panic.

I can cook, and used to make bread. (I don't eat much bread anymore)

I can do stained glass (lead solder method).

Read maps.

Keep secrets, even when I eventually realize I dislike the person, the secret is still safe.

I can perform medical treatments on my cats.

I can fish, including baiting the hook and cleaning the fish afterwards. (I sometimes buy whole fish at the supermarket and gut them myself, to keep in practice -- or maybe because I may be in a hurry and don't want to wait for them to do it).

I write, and once earned $20 for a humor piece published in a small journal.

Create websites for fun and for small businesses.

Garden -- mostly veggies, some flowers.

Camp, set up the campsites.

Drove a tractor once. Handled Angora goats while someone else administered shots and trimmed their hooves.

Co-ran a festival over a 3-day weekend, of about 100 attendees one year.

As a child, I built a lean-to against a cliff. Once got lost in the woods, didn't panic, and figured my own way out before my parents worried -- this was back when as long as you got back home by dinner, you could go out and have fun without the world coming to an end.

Enjoyed reading these! I can--

Rock climb ... on a real cliff, not gym wall (big deal, since I'm afraid of heights).

Work on a car.

Train/tame a wild horse, ride a bucking one.

Do a better mani/pedi than the salon. Ditto makeup application.

Draw pretty well, especially horses.

Keep secrets, and am good at helping people with problems (much better than I am dealing with my own).

Stay calm and focused during very bad/crisis situations.

Drive a tractor.

Ride a mechanical bull.

Finish a crossword like nobody's business (I know lots of useless trivia). :D

Write. I'm a published writer, plus used to write a newspaper column.

Handle snakes, lizards, etc.

Race cars.

Strike up friendships with anyone, anywhere.

Decorate/landscape.

Swim very well.

Jump off cliffs into the ocean. If you don't do it right, it can cause severe injuries.

Successfully navigate a long distance relationship, after my world falling apart (this may not sound noteworthy, but it still surprises me).

Survive unthinkable horror.

Littlebug, Ollie, and Artemis, we are all secret keepers. I think that's one of the reasons that family, including in laws seem to look to me to problem solve or confide in.

This morning I realized I DO know how to keep my calm and not let someone who's obviously angry and having a bad morning get to me. It's been rainy here and commuting traffic was absolutely horrible. The freeway was at a crawl, and I was in a line of merging traffic from an access road entering the freeway. As is the norm, cars were taking turns - one car already on the freeway made room for one car entering the freeway. On and on. Except when it came my turn, and a young bearded man sped up to block my access, honked, and as I watched him s-l-o-w-l-y roll by me (remember, freeway's at a crawl), he looked over at me with the ugliest possible face and extended his middle finger. When he got in front of me, I noticed his bright yellow BABY ON BOARD sticker. Gah.

That once would've sent me into a rage and I would've very likely have retaliated with a little finger waving of my own. As it was, I simply did an index finger revolution next to my head to indicate, "you're crazy" and then even thought better of that (because maybe he really was) and kept my distance.

It's liberating when you finally come to understand that someone else's poor behavior does not have to influence your behavior.

Twirling batons

Driving a stickshift

Reading music and playing piano

Math

Crossword puzzles

Organizing

Acting as an advocate for my elderly parents

Baking

Painting

Spelling

Being a mom

Empathy

I can keep secrets forever

I can do a painting, sculpt, carve, do pottery, just lucky I got the creative gene.

I can launch a boat down the ramp and drive a 38 foot boat

I can give shots to my cats and dogs

I can pierce ears

I can calm people down and listen to their problems

I can wallpaper, paint, do carpentry etc.

I can speak two languages

I can make people laugh without trying lol

I can drive anywhere and in any country

I can sing

I can be quiet for hours

have been an IT manager, software performance analyst, computer programmer, marketing strategist, product manager

write technical documentation (for money)

write travel articles and itineraries for tourism (for money)

photography (sold photos for garden books, brochures; travel articles)

blog

write a novel (with feedback from a literary agent confirming that I know what I'm doing)

drive a tractor (mow and rake hay to be baled)

drive a stick shift

change a battery in a riding mower or a car

mow a meadow

garden

use a drill

use a hammer

use a trimmer, blower

ride horses (I used to breed and raise Arabian mares, but there's too many tasks associated with a horse farm to list)

I sewed for a long time -- made lined jackets, blouses, etc. I need to get back to it.

I also used to crochet. Need to revive it.

balance a checkbook

Cook and not afraid to experiment

invest successfully and manage my investments

design a house (3) and an addition (1), renovation (1)

Of the things others have mentioned, I can also:

Drive a tractor and a stick shift (my first vehicle was a '41 Chevy pickup with a manual choke, floor start, and the aforementioned vacuum wipers)

Shoot a gun (rifle, shotgun, handgun)

Fish and clean a fish (but it's not thing)

Do crossword puzzle (and other word puzzles, like Cryptograms, and number puzzles like Sudoku)

Manage my investments/handle my own financial planning

Read music, and passably sight read many pieces (as long as they aren't too fast and don't get too crazy with syncopation)

Sing

Do embroidery, cross-stitch, and needlepoint (not that I do much of any of them anymore)

I can also:

Assemble large pieces of Ikea furniture on my own

I can touch-type on a qwerty keyboard and an alternative keyboard layout, and switch between them from my work desktop setup and my home laptop. I do occasionally make wacky typos when my brain is on the wrong layout for the keyboard I'm using.

Make metal jewelry (soldering, etc.)

Dyhgarden, I'm a technical writer, too! Well, I was before kids, but I still rewrite user guides and redesign user interfaces in my head. (Like the oven that you turned off by pressing "Cancel". Yes, really.)

Oh my gosh, Lukki - you've brought tears to my eyes. I've had one of those "beaten down" kind of days and you can't even know how much your kind words touch me. Thank you.

I can tell time without looking at a clock. I can drive a stick shift but hope I never have to again.

Until I used it yesterday, I forgot my most helpful talent. I can fit more into any space, box or vehicle than anyone I know.

I just saw this topic! I'm glad I'm late to the thread because I would have forgotten many things I see listed already.

I can,

Type fast (also a legal assistant at one time, and did statistical typing for Prof's at OU) w/o errors.

Whistle

Drive a stick

Dance

Quilt & Cross Stitch

Figure out endings of movies which angers my family. I was the Queen of "Clue."

Figure out what's in a wrapped present.

Play a little piano and read notes, and I' m almost pitch perfect.

A bit ambidextrous. So is DS2.

Shoot a gun.

Water ski

Curl my tongue (If you have to ask, you can't do it.)

Play Bridge

Green thumb indoors, quasi green thumb outdoors.

I was LOL about the "keeping calm" comments. I always said I would be the type to keep calm during a disaster or something bad, but the first time I experienced something like that as an adult, my mouth went dry and I couldn't talk. lol

You're welcome, after all the times you're kind words have helped others, I'm glad they were found when you needed them the most

Do pretty much any type of first aide, including venipuncture, suturing, CPR, etc., etc.

water ski

snow ski

shoot a gun (target only)

write as well as any first grader with my left hand (due to 2 surgeries on my right hand, and not because I wanted to)

decorate a home or business

cook from scratch and rework just about any recipe to make it more healthful

I'm a whiz at medical terminology; it came very easy to me from my first class

I'm very good at Sudoku, and now only bother with the very toughest, which still don't take me very long. I love the logic of them.

Drive a stick shift.

Change a tire or the oil.

whistle louder than anyone I know . . . Except maybe Oakley, but that's yet to be seen/heard (LOL)

Fish

Scuba dive and snorkel

sew, knit, embroider

Organize anything

play a mean game of Gin, Backgammon, Mexican Dominos or Scrabble

Read and speak Spanish , although not as fluently as I used to

i have a great sense of humor

So many ingenious 'I cans'.......

Parallel park

Watch while getting blood drawn or a shot

Make up and tell a story to grandchildren at will

Recrceate a missing piece from an antique picture frame

Prune a bush into a topiary

Do a French braid

Set the sprinkler system

Rewire a lamp

Sew Roman shades/bedspread/draperies

Strip down/refinish furniture

Reupholster a chair with a glue gun

Crochet/knit/embroider/cross stitch/needlepoint

Wash/wax a car

Write a poem or limerick

Play poker/canasta/ucker

Organize closets/cabinets/garage

Trim a man's beard/mustache

Memorize telephone numbers/bank account numbers

Put together a floral arrangement, fresh or silk

Make a lemon meringue pie from scratch

Roller skate

Sing country!

Dance like no one is watching. ;)

I can:
play clarinet
play alto sax
sing
play handbells
knit
crochet
sew clothes
design and make quilts
cross stitch
drive a stick shift
tap dance (a little)
do floral arrangements
use hand tools (hammers, wrenches, pliers and such)

and...tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue :)

Donna

OMG! I forgot my best Can Do - which nobody else in my house Can Do:

Replace a roll of toilet paper!!!!

How could I forget.......I took ballet/pointe(toe)lessons for 7 years when I was a kid, and can still do many of the steps. Not so much the tourjet'e. ;)