I've Been Tagged

When I first heard about the game Blog Tag, I thought, "I'll never think of six things about myself that don't involve my kids!" But as my sister-in-law, Stephanie (who tagged me) explained, those six things don't have to be about my current life. And once I started thinking about interesting things in my pre-kids life, I was enjoying remembering all the fun I used to have (now, of course, it's that "different kind of fun" that I wouldn't trade for a second. OK, maybe a second). So here are my six:

1. I have two tattoos, one done during a spring break trip to Mexico with my two best friends when I was 19 by a man who called himself the Poison Devil (now I'm just waiting for good ol' Hepatitis to show up), and another done soon after returning home from said trip, because once you get a tattoo you want another one. When you're 19.

2. I played the violin for 18 years. (This isn't as impressive as it sounds.)

3. A college boyfriend once told me a mutual friend had died (untrue) in hopes of reconnecting over "shared" grief. It worked, briefly.

4. In the late 90s I was crowned both Miss Danish Festival and Miss Montcalm County, competed at Miss Michigan and attended Miss America, just for fun. And the thrill of hardcore pageantry at its, ahem, finest.

5. I have personally interviewed: Jack Kevorkian, James Earl Jones, Katie Brown, Jeff Corwin, Bruce Campbell, Chris Dickey, a former Mrs. Ernest Hemingway, Jimmy Hoffa Jr., Bob and Tom, Elizabeth Pantley, Coach Ken Carter (Coach Carter), Soledad O'Brien and Arun Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi's grandson). I also did an independent study for Time Magazine in college. And I've won nine awards for excellence in journalism in the state of Michigan. Not to brag or anything.

6. Long before meeting or even knowing the same people, Trevor and I were in the same place at the same time. He worked at a skateboard shop in Chicago; my girlfriend and I went in to try on bathing suits. He rang up our purchases. We realized this during idle chat one night years later, after we were married. 

And two more, just for fun...

7. I earned a trophy for Highest Handicap in downhill skiing in 2002, at Nub's Nob. I beat out hundreds of people. (For those of you who might not know, that means I was the worst skier in the beer league.)

8. I have my CCW permit. (Concealed weapons. Might I be carrying even as I blog??)

You're supposed to "tag" six people, but I only know four others who have blogs who haven't already been tagged. So I'm throwing this to:

1. My girlfriend Liza, who was there for the tattoos and has the very same ones as I do.

2. My neighbor Mandy, who became my friend far too long after we moved onto the block (just think of all the wine that could have been consumed on the front porch during the first two years).

3. My friend Candace, who, along with hub and daughter went to Vail with us this past summer and had a much better time than we did.

and 4. My friend Kallie, who I never see anymore but still love.