OK -- so I'm weird ....

OK -- so here it (finally ) is .... my list of 7 weird things/facts about myself. I was tagged by Jenny about 2 weeks ago to list 7 weird things about myself, then tag 7 more people to do the same. I was also tagged by Diana to tell all about my weird self.

So....... SEVEN WEIRD THINGS/ FACTS about yours truly:

!)My senior year in high school, I was "Miss Guy's Flowers" in the Tamaqua Bicentennial Princess contest --- I even have the sash to prove it !!! -- got to ride on a float down Broad Street ,have lunch with the judges (and here's a tip for all of you future beauty pagent participants -- don't order fried chicken when you're all dressed up and trying to impress local officials -- ), parade down the runway in an evening gown at the local armory , and attempt to dance with my dad at the festivities following the crowning of the Queen --- who, as my brother loves to point out all the time, -- was not me.

2) I am a total "I Love Lucy" fan. I'm pretty sure I've seen every show at least 4 times. My sister and I and her 2 daughters made the 6 hour drive to Lucy's hometown of Jamestown , NY to go to the Lucy's Birthday celebration last August.

3) I tried out for the "Liberty Belles" -- (the Philadelphia Eagles football team cheerleaders) -- the very first year they held tryouts back in the early 1980's) -- I felt my 3 years as a varsity cheerleader for the Tamaqua Blue Raiders High School Football and Basketball teams gave me plenty of experience and training to try out for a professional cheerleading squad who wears next to nothing ----- NOT !!!! (picture Little Bo Peep trying out for FlashDance) --- (OK -- so this is just plain embarrassing) -- and, as if you couldn't figure this out, I got "cut " after the first round.......sheesh, another great career up in smoke!

4) In the summer after 5th grade, and as a finale to my 3 year long stint at YMCA Day Camp at the Bungalow Pool in Tamaqua, Pa, my pal Suzy and I earned the distinguished honor of High and Exhaulted Ruler. Each summer at Day Camp you had the opportunity to earn a feather per week for completing certain tasks (eg, bobbing up and down in the pool 50 times, learning a Bible verse, making a terrarium, etc ) Each feather was harder and harder to earn. By the time you reached the High and Exhaulted Ruler feather you had to swim the length of the pool , make a meal from stuff you found in the woods which was hopefully edible and not poisonous, AND the hardest thing, at least for me, was to not talk for an entire day! Me ? NOT TALK? But, yes, Suzy and I (with the help of a little duct tape ) kept our mouths shut all day -- and that night at the camp fire after all the other kids got their feathers and did their group dance, Suzy and I were awarded our special purple feather with the white tip, did our High and Exhaulted Ruler Dance and were given our names --- Suzy is "Laughing Brook" and I'm " Quiet Fawn" --- I know -- ridiculous isn't it !!! What a hoot !

5) I was playing "Barbies" when I was asked out on my first date. It was the summer after 8th grade and Suzy and I were playing Barbies in our basement when the doorbell rang. I ran up to answer it, still holding my Barbie in my hand. (what can I say, I was a VERY late bloomer). Anyway, it was this guy who lives down the street from us -- he was a couple of years older than me and apparantly thought I was dating material. I thought he was sent by his mother to borrow something from my mother, so when he said "I was wondering what you're doing tonight?", I hid my Barbie behind my back and said the first thing I could think of "Ummmmm.......I think I have to wash my hair." (which is something I picked up from either Gidget or Patty Duke).

6) I went to college (Temple University) thinking that everyone gets the Monday after Thanksgiving off from school for the first day of buck season ( for you city folk, that's deer hunting season ). My college friends have yet to let me live that one down.

7) I LOVE flowered bathing caps! (see picture of my bathing cap model below -- also wearing swim goggles). A few years ago my sister and I decided to start a new tradition -- the Annual Fourth of July Synchronized Swim Extravaganza at the Bungalow Pool in Tamaqua. (we had synchronized swimming in high school for a few weeks -- so we barely remember a thing -- but that doesn't stop us !) My sister's 2 daughters gladly participate, but her 2 teenage boys and my 2 teenage boys run for cover and try their best to pretend they don't know those weird women in the flowered bathing caps making arses out of themselves trying to float ! This year we're pulling out all the stops and plan to do synchronized cannonballs off the 2 low diving boards while somebody stands on the high diving board holding a sparkler and singing some patriotic song. (Eat your heart out Esther Williams !)

So, there you have it --- 7 weird (and mostly embarrassing ) facts about yours truly. Now, lets see....... who should I tag.......how about Vallen, Revka, Amanda, Doe, Pam, Elizabeth, and Darlene . So, come on girls, lets hear about all your weirdnesses ! ( purely optional and all in fun -- participate if you want to).

Toodles,
Mary Anne (aka Mare, Miss Guy's Flowers, and Quiet Fawn)