I've been tagged!

I've been tagged! I love memes and love to be tagged!

Valerie, who has become a good blogville friend of mine, has tagged me to list 8 facts/habits about myself.

Here are the rules: Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

I hope I can think of 8 interesting things about myself! I live a very quiet life. (That's not one of my facts, by the way!)

Here is my list:

1) I am left-handed. My family - that I was born into - consisted of my Mom and Dad, two sisters and three brothers. My Dad was right handed along with my two sisters and my youngest brother. My Mom was left-handed along with my two oldest brothers and myself. We were divided equally - both in gender and in handedness (I know that's not a word, but you get the idea). There were four males in our family and three females!

2) I was never in trouble in my entire school experience - 1st through 12th grade - except one time! I was in the third grade. My teacher (I can't remember her name now - it's been 40 years, you know) was one of the nicest teachers I had and I loved her a lot! We - her class - were planning a surprise party for her birthday. The school had a basement and we had gotten permission from the principal to decorate the basement for the party. Of course, we couldn't let our teacher know or it would ruin the surprise! One day as I came up from the basement she caught me and wanted to know why I had been down there. I couldn't tell her and she swatted me on the behind and told me I wasn't supposed to be down there and not to go back! It broke my heart, but I still loved her! That was the only time I ever was in trouble at school!

3) I was in a wheelchair at two different times in my life. I had - during the six years from 1970 to 1976 - eight surgeries on my feet to remove tumors! They don't know why I got them and finally after the last surgery, they never returned. Those six years were some of the worst in my life! I was in junior high and high school during those years and being in a wheelchair and then on crutches did not help my already low self-esteem and insecurities! Two of those eight surgeries, they operated on both feet at the same time, hence the wheelchair.

My family lived in a house, at the time, that had a couple of steps leading down to the bathroom. When I would have to go to the bathroom, I would leave my wheelchair at the top of the steps and crawl to the bathroom and then come back to the chair - if it was still there! My brothers loved the chair and when I would leave it empty they would take it to play with, which wasn't a bad thing for me! The worst for me was when I was in it - unable to get out because I couldn't walk - and they would take me for joyrides! They would take me out back and run me around the yard, popping wheelies with my chair - with me in it! They loved hearing my screams of terror!

4) I once helped build a house - a whole house! In preparation for my Dad's retirement, my parents bought five acres - now split between my sister and I - and all of my siblings, sibling's spouses and my Dad built their house. It was a small two bedroom, one bath house, but was quite an experience! I always love to be with family - in any capacity - but this was one of the most unusual and fun experiences we shared together! Probably the most memorable part was my brother talking me into getting up on the roof while they were putting on shingles!

I was - and still am - afraid of heights and he talked me into getting up there. When I was a child I always wanted to get up on top of things with the other kids. My brothers built a tree house over the creek with a huge rope swing and I was always left out because I wouldn't climb on either! One day I decided to brave it and climbed up to the tree house! Such courage, right! Wrong! Once I got up there, I couldn't get back down - I was too afraid! The other kids had to go get my Mom to talk to me while my brothers helped me get down! I'm not much braver than that now!

5) I love to type! I know - a little strange right? I have always loved it since I took typing in high school! I was one of the fastest typists in the class and my best friend and I would always do the assigned homework for two of the football players in the class because they hated typing! My family lived in a small town when I was in high school and there were only 22 students in my graduating class. I think our typing class may have had 8 or 10 people in it! It was a lot of fun! Before I had surgery two years ago for carpal tunnel, I was able to type over 90 words a minute! My typing test results for the job I have now - when I tested just a month and a half ago - was 84wpm! I could type all day and be perfectly happy! Elizabeth (my daughter) is like that, too.

6) I had a small silver poodle when I was in my early 20's. I named it after my Grandma. My grandma's name was Sylvia Mahelia and that's what I named my dog. That was my favorite dog that I have ever had my entire life! When I first got her she was only about four weeks old. She was the runt of the litter and the mom stopped letting her nurse. I had to feed her with a little doll bottle for the next couple of weeks. Remember the cup holders that fit down in the window of the car - back before cars came equipped with them? I would put Sylvia in a cup in the cup holder so she could see outside when she rode in the car with me! I loved that dog. When Elizabeth was born, Sylvia became her best friend!

7) I was a hippie back in the '70s! I loved the "hippie" clothes - loose fitting, light gauzy material, skirts and jumpers to the floor and sandals! How great was that time! I went to concerts - some of which were held outdoors and lasted all night! I loved Janice Joplin, REO Speedwagon, Fleetwood Mac, Aerosmith and the Charlie Daniel's band! I have a lot of fun memories from that time and a lot of memories best forgotten!

8) I love coffee! I love the smell of coffee, the taste of coffee, the warmth and comfort of coffee! I love to walk down the coffee aisle at the grocery store and inhale all of the wonderful smells of the coffee! I like hot coffee and I like iced coffee! I add coffee to my protein shake in the mornings! When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is make myself a cup of coffee! I love coffee brewed, dripped or instant! I like coffee in the morning, in the afternoon and/or at night! I like to hold my cup with both hands - feeling the heat and enjoying the taste and the smell! I'm not obsessed, but I definitely like my coffee!

Those are eight things about me that maybe you didn't know before! I loved reading Valerie's 8 things and plan to visit each of the other bloggers she tagged for the meme!

Now, I'm supposed to tag 8, list their names and let each of them know they've been tagged! For those of you that I tag, please let me know once you've posted your 8 facts! I would love to learn more about you, too!

I am tagging . . . . hmmmm . . . .

Michael; Sheila; Elizabeth; Natalie; Amy; Tammy; Stacee; Toni

Don't forget to let me know when you've posted so I can come read your lists!