Tagged in the NO TAG Zone!!!

I was tagged by my very own daughter, Alizona. I can't believe it -- she knows better!  Daughter!  Wouldn't you rather have me taking care of my girls than lose your mother to hours of mental vacation in blogland?!

This is the 8 Things Tag. I don't think I can come up with eight things.  Hold on, I'm thinking.... (Do you detect the faint odor of smoke?)  Here are the rules:

1).The player starts with 8 random facts about herself or himself.

2).The person who is tagged must post on his/her own blog his/her answers and post the rules first.

3).Then the player must pick 8 people and tag them. Also leave them either a comment or a message that lets them know that you tagged them.

 

Okay, here we go. Are you ready for a thrill (not)?

• 
  
  Since I really hate being the center of attention, I wanted to elope.  My dad kindly suggested that since I am the only daughter in the family, that might not be a good idea.  Mom and Dad had done so much for me, I did not want to disappoint them.  So we had a real wedding. But I am pretty sure there were friends and relatives in attendance who thought an elopement would have been a better idea for us, lol! It wasn't the happiest day of everyone's life, including mine. (Let me qualify that by saying that I do NOT regret marrying my dear husband!) I still think an elopement would have great, but wait... I don't want my own girls to elope!  Hear that, girls?
  
  


• 
  
  For a couple of years I attended grade school/junior high school in western NY state.  I was on the gymnastics team, sort of -- I went to the practices, but I never competed.  No way.  Too scary.  Every time the coach came by, I would fall off the balance beam on purpose.
  
  


• 
  
  While in my sophomore year in college I worked at Target snack bar. (Ick.  Awful job!) It was there that I met the subject of my final human interest story for my journalism class, an old lady who had kept and loved 87 physically and/or mentally handicapped foster children. She had come in with about seven of them, to treat them to popcorn.  I interviewed her at her home.  Too bad I never got around to sending my story to Reader's Digest!    (Oh, and I got an "A" on my paper!)
  
  


• 
  
  When my husband and I bought a two-acre place on the edge of town, we were really excited to grow our own veggies.  Nevermind the fact that we had never done this before.  It was an educational summer.  We learned the literal meaning of Isaiah 1:8, "And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city."  Someone had the bright idea to plant five hills of zucchini and three hills of cucumbers.  (It wasn't him -- he doesn't even like cukes.) Yep, the garden got besieged!  In short time there were cucumber vines EVERYWHERE.  We couldn't walk in our garden without getting our feet caught in vines. Nothing was spared! But the little cukes were oh, so good!!  Also, I had heard that if you plant basil next to your green beans, it keeps the mosquitoes down.  Well, I beg to differ.  We not only had tons of bird-sized mosquitoes, but enough basil to last us forever, as well. Thankfully our property was lined with woods, where all but one of the basil plants was sent to biodegrade, along with several dozen canteloupe melons that were chock full of little black beetles, and the zucchini over-stock.
  
  


• 
  
  I was diagnosed with juvenlie diabetes and spent the first week of my senior year of high school in the hospital.  The same week, my dad had back surgery.  Since there was nothing wrong with me to keep me in bed, I spent a lot of time in his room visiting with him . The nurse thought it was pretty inappropriate for this teen girl to be visiting that middle-aged man so much, and she told me so.  (She could have looked at our charts and figured out we were related -- we shared an uncommon last name!)
  
  


• 
  
  One of my favorite places on earth was a fire ring near lifeguard station #7 at Huntington City Beach. I have great memories of the ocean. I LOVE the ocean.  Too bad so many other people, do, too!
  
  


• 
  
  I actually did a cannonball into the lake the other day -- the first time in more than two decades, I think. It's tricky in a WholesomeWear swimsuit! (What? Did you think I would wear one of those microscopic pieces of lycra? You're crazy.  What if the Lord Jesus came back right then?!)
  
  


• 
  
  Okay, here we go, this is the last one.  I knew this would take forever.  It takes even longer when you lose your entry...  Umm, I never wanted to learn to cook while I was living at home. My mom offered many times to teach me, but I HATED cooking and I just figured I would learn when I got on my own. I made the worst ever batter-fried chicken for my soon-to-be-husband and his brother.  The brave man married me anyway, and we have had nearly twenty years of culinary adventures!
  
  

Okay, whew, glad that's done.  Since this is a tag-free zone, I don't have to follow the rules, right?  Who is going to pick up this tag and do it?  Let me know, so I can go and see your eight things. Good night, all!