From Cricket to Pie to Kidneys

Phew! I'm exhausted after this one. Thanks to DEBBIE DOES DRIVEL and dad - thedude for tagging me. OK who am I kidding? Why am I thanking them? This was hard and involved a lot of typing.

Seriously I was tagged with listing random crap facts about myself that most people don't know (and probably don't really want to know). I tried to make this as entertaining as possible and I want all of my 3 readers to thank me that I'm not tagging them to do this. I think I was supposed to list 7 but I have 8. You got a bonus!

As you read these you might get the idea that weird stuff happens to me. Maybe it's just me. My dad, may he rest in peace, for all his good qualities spent about half of his adult years one sleeve short of a straight-jacket. Mental issues can be hereditary so who knows?

1. I have an autographed cricket ball from a British celebrity.

No I didn't get it off EBay and unfortunately that picture isn't it. Mine has seen a few games. I was there when it was signed. In the height of my geek period, hubby and I made a trip to a SCI-FI convention. That's right. Geekville; where folks (not us) come dressed up as their favorite characters from the movies and TV shows. This convention was focused on the British SCI-FI show Doctor Who. I won a raffle to have breakfast (yes, just breakfast) with one of the actors. It was Peter Davison (who also played Tristan on All Creatures Great and Small) and I had my cricket ball for him to sign. He is a big cricket fan and played in leagues for years in England. He was nice flashing me his pretty blue eyes, but he laughed at my sorry excuse for a cricket ball or maybe that he had to write on a round surface ;-)

2. I've been on a commercial airline flight that had to make an emergency landing.

I was 16 and Mom and I were on our way to London to meet my aunt and her kids for a European vacation. The plane lost an engine and we had to dump fuel and land somewhere in Kentucky. Poor Mom was really freaked out. I was thinking it was kind of cool. There's more. Believe it or not we were seated next to a young women named...get this: Pumpkin Pie Span.

You really won't believe this but several years later I was watching the Price is Right (I was really bored) and guess who is called down to play the game? Yep. Pumpkin Pie Span. Really. It was her. How many folks with that name are out there? Weird, huh?

3. Even as geeky kid, I had to be different. I insisted on playing trombone in 6th grade.

It lasted 2 days. I was a wee little thing and finally gave in to mom's nagging me about "you won't be able to carry that thing around". Duh. I had to take the bus to school everyday. I came to my senses, allowed myself to be a girly girl, and got a flute.

4. I fell off a a mountain in Austria.

No really. In Europe ski trails go for miles connecting ski areas and towns. It was the end of the ski day and I was attempting to get down the mountain to take a train back to Badgastein where we we staying. It was snowing that wet icky snow and I guess the trail was slippery. Or maybe I just tripped over my own two skis. I was close to the side of the trail so when I fell I fell over the side about 3 feet. I was so tangled up with my equipment and the trees that I had to be helped up by some other skiers. I was so embarrassed. I knew a few German words but it just sounded like a Texan trying to speak German.

5. Like dude, I am also afraid of heights.

Occasionally I try to overcome this fear. When I was a teenager I worked at Six Flags Over Texas. I would go to the top of the Oil Derrick (300 ft.) for breaks and I would take 1 step towards the rail each day. I finally got to the point where I could lean on the rail. This was before they added extra wire to the rail to make it @12 feet high. I'll admit that there is no way I could do that now. Yes that's THE Oil Derrick in the picture.

Sometimes I have to take a deep breath when I'm on a high overpass. I can't walk to the very top of some of the hikes hubby and I do if they have cables for you to hold on to or if it's a narrow trail with a drop on both sides.

This is one of the weird phobias. If I'm sitting down and partially enclosed, I'm usually OK. Airplanes don't bother me. Most chair lifts at the ski areas don't bother me. Roller coasters don't bother me although I will sometimes close my eyes and scream loudly. ;-)

6. I'm related to Daniel Boone.

My Mom and her sister traced our family line back to Edward Boone, Daniel's brother. They published this genealogy in the 80's.

7. I live at an airport.

Literally. My neighborhood has a 1500 ft. grass airstrip. Yep. That's it. Most of our neighbors have small planes and corresponding hangars.

8. I only have 1 kidney.

I was born with the normal 2 but when I was a year old, my right kidney became infected, burst, and had to be removed. Since I was a baby, I couldn't effectively communicate beyond constant screaming and simply point to my lower back and say "IT HURTS!" It took the doctors awhile to figure out what was wrong with me. My poor mom ;-( Guess that explains the over-protective childhood I endured.

Sorry folks. No stories about my other life as a double-agent. Since that's top secret stuff, I can't elaborate much.


Seriously I can only dream about being Sydney Bristow.




OK, now I can breathe. Have mercy on me and give me a toothy grin please!