Random Things

The rules are as follows:
1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

I was tagged by Nisha, So here goes. My favorite random/weird facts- I used to work for Robert Redford as a horse wrangler. Yup, it was my job to drive to a movie star's house every day and ride horses. Tough life, eh? When my kids were growing up, we would be driving down the road and when a favorite song came on, I'd sing it and dance to it, (course I kept my eyes on the road) My favorite song was "Old Time Rock and Roll", I'd really get into it, and they'd just roll their eyes and say MMOMM..... My sister and I used to enter gymkanas- barrel racing, pole bending, etc. The weirdest competition was the hide race. She would ride the horse, dragging an old cowhide attached to a rope. I got to ride the cowhide, hanging on for dear life while she raced down the arena, around a barrel and back to the starting point. Only one team raced at a time, and whoever had the fastest time (without losing the poor sucker on the cowhide) won. Random fact- I drawl whenever I wear cowboy boots. I couldn't wear boots to work, people thought I was joking around, but it just happens, the accent I grew up with kicks in when I'm in boots!
Every year that I drove school bus I dressed up as a witch for Halloween. I'd carefully apply an even bigger nose to my face, warts and all. I had a big tall black hat, and sometimes I used a wild wig too, along with a long black cape. I told the kids that I was an angel all year long, so this was a chance for my true nature to shine. No, they didn't believe me either.
I was an 'Alcohol Evaluator' for 9 years, and never drank a drop! Instead, I interviewed people convicted of DUI's in Colorado, and set up a treatment program for them, which they had to complete as a condition of probation. I would rather work in the garden than clean house. OK, that's my random facts, those of you that don't have a blog, you are still tagged; email your own random facts to me and a few friends.I tag Julie and Jana on their blogs.

Madcap adventure

I'm busy planning this trip across the country next month. Actually, David's planning the route out to New Hampshire, I planning my itnerary back. We are caravaning out with 4 vehicles- Jared and Heather have to take their own cars, then we are taking the truck with a big rental trailer full of their earthly goods, and my Mom wants to go, so she is driving her motorhome. David and Nic will drive straight back within a couple days, but Mom and I will stay a week in NH to help get them settled in, and of course we have to go to the Atlantic ocean while we're so close.

Then the real fun begins- I'm forcing my Mom to drive with me to Ohio and Iowa for genealogy research. I figure that it's for her family, so she has to help. We'll be doing exciting things like cemetery visits, taking pictures of gravestones and such. Then we will ramp up the fun factor by heading to the courthouses, and finding birth, death and probate research. Aren't you jealous? I know, some people would rather go to Vegas, or have dental work, but for me, this is a great adventure. 3 lines of Mom's family lived in Jackson Ohio area, and are buried in the same cemetery, so this should be really cool! Or cold, since last weekend Ohio had 1-2 feet of snow dumped on them. Hopefully the flooding will be over, or not quite started, by the time we get there, and I can only hope that there won't be any snowstorms while we're tramping around.

I'm planning to stop in Nauvoo, IL on the way to Iowa. Nauvoo is big on the LDS history tour, and it's right on our way. There is a new LDS temple there, modeled after the one that was burned by mobs in the 1840's. Now Nauvoo is a great tourist place, so I plan to take full advantage of the new friendly natives, and have the wagon-ride tour about town. They don't run Mormons out anymore, they are happy to have the tourist dollars, so it should be a very interesting visit. Next it will be on to Iowa, party central USA. Mom's grandparents lived in southeastern Iowa for a 100 years, and I want to find all the history I can on her families there. I know her grandpa Mathews was a coal miner, and I have a picture of him in a beautiful garden at his home, so maybe we can find more.

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