10 Things Meme

Okay, so I got tagged by Maryanne. The "game" is to list ten things that I have done that others might not have. This could be a challenge. I'm a typical caner type personality and would rather be at home with family and friends. I'm supposed to tag five others, but I think that I would rather that five of my readers admit that they wanted to do this too.

Okay, so here is the list:

Thing One - I took the SAT as a Junior in High School and got a score of 1560 out of 1600. I never took it again.

Thing Two - As a senior in High School I was required to take a CPR class to graduate. The day after I passed the class, my mother and I were leaving a basketball game (yes, I played guard as number 32) and we saw two little girls crying in the street. As fate may have it, their elderly grandfather had had a heart attack. My mother quickly ushered the girls away from the scene and I took over the CPR. Keep in mind that this was WAY before cell phones. We're talking 1980 here gang. The gas station where my mom took the girls to wait called for an ambulance. The grandfather never came out of his coma but he didn't die until many days later. The doctors all said that my fast thinking kept him alive and that allowed his family to all get to town to say their last goodbyes. They wanted to give me a reward and I would not accept. I can honestly say that I have never had to do CPR since; however, I did keep my certification current until both Trouble and Munchkin went to college.

Thing Three - I met Elvis at Graceland in May of 1977. For those of you participated in the Be My Valentine Swap - 2008 on Ravelry, there was a thread about favorite love songs....I promised to give details, so here goes. I was living in Memphis and going to school at Bishop Byrne High School. I had a friend that was dating one of his guards. We were only allowed to leave campus during exams, so in May when we were taking our finals, we went to see her boyfriend. For those of you that have been to Graceland, you all know where the pool is. There is an entrance down by the barn that we came through. We only had about 90 minutes, so I didn't expect too much excitement. Boy was I wrong. We were just sitting around the pool drinking soda (Dr. Pepper for me) when out came Elvis in a navy bathrobe. You will have to remember that he was heavy and had large side-burns too. He was wearing dark glasses too. He asked us if the boys were taking care if us and then asked us if we were hungry. Before we could answer, he ushered us to the kitchen. He asked the cook to make us some lunch. We had sandwiches and chips. He also took us on his own version of the tour of Graceland. I got to see all the rooms upstairs as well as the rest of the house. It was amazing. He was gracious and I was surprised.

Thing Four - I still hold a High School track record. Yes, you read that right. I ran the 440 yard dash, which is now the 400 meter yard dash. My senior year, I ran the event in two relays and as an individual event. My time in the state track meet in 1980 was 53.4 seconds. Yep, I could haul myself around the track at a pretty good clip. That Fall, the entire country switched to the metric system, so that is why my records still stands. BTW - I had the State's fifth fastest time in that final track meet. The winner was 53.0....that's how close of a race it was.

Thing Five - I have jumped out of a plane over the Everglades. Yep, you read that right too. My younger brother was in the Navy at one time in his life and was stationed at an air force base. I would tell you more, but he is still employed by the Government and I don't want them knocking on my door....if you know what I mean. He was learning how to jump and I got the opportunity to go tandem with him. It was great fun and I would love to do it again.

Thing Six - I have held an Olympic torch. One that was actually lit and carried by one of my dearest friends, Becky Clark. She was living in California when the last Olympics were here in the US. She was chosen to represent Sherman Oaks and carried the torch. She met me in Virginia about two years ago and brought the torch for Wifey and I to see. We were visiting Wifey's parents for their 50th anniversary and were in Williamsburg. She drove down from Maryland and we shared the torch with Wifey's family as well. It was surprisingly heavy. Last year Becky donated the torch to Pat Summit's charity. It was auctioned for a fund raiser and the winning bidder returned it to the Charity to display. Becky played basketball for Pat Summit, so that is the connection.

Thing Seven - Played guitar and rode in a float in a parade in West Virginia. Yep, you read that right as well. I was living in Charleston and for a reason that has escaped me, I was learning to play the guitar. I was very good at Country Roads (yes, John Denver). I don't remember how I was selected to play that song and ride in the parade, but let me tell you, my hands were so sore after playing for the duration of the parade that it was quite a while before I ever played again.

Thing Eight - My mother's family has had seven generations of women that were born on holidays and gave birth to a child on a holiday. Case in point, my mother was born on November 1st (All Saints Day) and had me on July 4th and I had Munchkin on February 14th. So it is now up to her to continue this odd phenomenon.

Thing Nine - I have been inside a crematorium and seen a cremation in progress. I have also seen an embalming in process. Yes, it's true. One of the numerous jobs I have had was as an Administrative Assistant at SCI Management. That is a division of Service Corporation International. They are the largest provider of burial related goods and services. While I never worked at any of their locations, we at the home office were encouraged to visit the locations and see what the industry was all about. I took advantage of it. It wasn't glamorous, but it was something that I'm glad I did. It came in handy when my grandmother died (my mother's mom). She lived in a very small town and the local family funeral parlor did not do such a good job. My mother pulled me aside and said that I need to do something with Big Mama, as she was "sweating". They hadn't embalmed her very well. Thank goodness I know my way around a funeral home. I politely closed her casket and rolled her to the service hall and delivered her to the embalmer. They had to re-do her and get her a new casket and wash and re-dress her. It was a mess and I made them discount the prices for the family since they screwed up.

Thing Ten - I got my first adult library card the summer before I entered the eighth grade. All of you young kiddos might not understand the relevance of this. When I was growing up, the library was divided into sections. You had the kids section, the reference section, the periodicals section, the microfilm section, and the adult section. The adult section was not rated x, it just had books that were deemed for older readers. You had to be 16 OR you had to have read every book in the children's section to get an adult card. I had read all the books by the time I was twelve. The first adult book I checked out was Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth. My father was so upset. He took me and the book back to the library for an answer. They told him the policy and showed him the proof. From that point on, I was a dedicated adult book reader and still am today.

Thing Eleven - The first concert tickets I ever won were to Bad Company. I was in the seventh grade and I snuck out of the house to go with my neighbor across the street. He was five years older than me and could drive. I was so cool, until I got grounded for sneaking out and disobeying my parents. It was still worth it!

Okay....that's my list. Comment if you dare and tag yourself if you are so inclined.....