The Long-awaited Meme

I think a dozen people have tagged me for this meme, and I apologize for taking so long to get it done. I lost the instructions, but it's the one where you list six things about yourself and then you're supposed to tag six other people and a bunch of other stuff I forgot. This is as close as I get. :)

1. I wasn't born fat, but it didn't take me long to get that way. According to my mother, I went on my first diet at the age of six months, when the doctor took me off of formula. That would've been about 2 weeks after this picture was taken. (Personally, I've seen chubbier babies, so I don't know what their problem was.) I guess the diet worked, because other pictures from throughout my childhood showed me pudgy, but never fat. That came later.

2. While I never excelled at any sports, I was always encouraged to play them. I played softball, basketball, and volleyball in school and then softball again in my late 20s. My mother and grandmother also played sports during their younger years. Mom played basketball and was on the high school track team. (She lettered even!) My grandmother was in a women's basketball league during WWII. They traveled the area, providing "entertainment" to small communities.

3. I've loved to read since my pre-school years. My parents would hear me get up during the night and when they would check on me, I would be on the sofa or in a chair, looking through my picture books. I fell in love with biographies in elementary school: Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Betsy Ross, Elizabeth Blackwel, Annie Oakley, and so on. I also discovered the joys of the case mystery through Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. I still love mysteries, especially those with a female protagonist. Janet Evanovich, Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, Jan Burke, and Lisa Scottoline are some of my favorite writers.

4. I don't like to fly and will go to great links to avoid it. For my vacation in a couple of weeks, I'm driving to Maryland—15 hours by car. Of course, 11 hours of it is through some of the most beautiful scenery you've ever seen: the Smoky Mountains and the Virginia Highlands. That's what I love about driving. You get to *see* the country and interact with the people who live in the areas you visit. Some drives are better than others, of course. I'm driving to Texas in September and it's mostly farmland and truckstops through Arkansas. :)

5. I have hundreds of pet peeves, but one of the big ones is food noises, or maybe it's "eating noises." Slurping, smacking, crunching, chomping—they all drive me NUTS. Gum popping and ice crunching are the worst! If I get on the elevator and someone's slurping and crunching her way through a JUMBO SONIC cup of ice, I punch the button for the closest floor and get out of there quick. I've left stores without making my purchase just to get away from a gum-smacking sales clerk. I probably need counseling, but I'm trying to hold out for something more interesting.

6. Who can tell me what happened in Memphis on August 16, 1977? (No one is allowed to respond with, "I wasn't born yet.") Okay, give up? That is the day Elvis Presley died here in Memphis. I was on the first day of my first bona fide job (I was a data entry clerk. My only previous job was at my cousin's ice cream shop), and one of my new co-workers came in and told us the news. By evening the city was filling with mourners from all over the world. Believe it or not, many people return each year on the anniversary of his death for "Elvis Week" (locals call it "Death Week") to hold a candlelight vigil, watch old EP movies, and--I'm not sure what all they do, to tell you the truth, but there sure are a lot of them doing it. Needless to say, I do not attend. I grew up about two miles from Graceland, and it lost its appeal by the time I reached puberty. It was always pretty at Christmas, though.

If you made it this far, I applaud you. I have given myself a headache and so I'm off to find some heroin aspirin. Hope you're all having a marvelous Thursday and are getting ready to a fantastic Friday!

~