My seven

Well, friends, I'm sure that my failure to be "tagged" for one of the many various lists in blogworld is due only to my prolonged absence from the blogging scene; therefore, I've decided to shock you all, tag myself and blog my "seven." So here they are ... the seven things you don't know about me.

1.I love the taste of the chocolate pudding in Kid's Cuisine microwavable dinners, and on the rare occasions where I actually purchase these, I secretly eat a spoonful of the pudding before serving the dinners to my kids.

2. I absolutely cannot look at the photos in decorating catalogs/magazines without reading the titles of the books pictured on the shelves and coffee tables. (I've even been known to use a magnifying glass.)

3. I once had a short-lived romance with a Guatamalan named Juan. He was 15, I was 14, and we were both staying the night at the home of my schoolmate, Cindy. Juan was a swimmer with a Guatamalan swim team, here in the states for an international competition of sorts; Cindy's dad was the swim coach at Jeff State Community College, and Juan was staying with Cindy's family during his time in the states. It happened to be during this time that Cindy celebrated her birthday with a spend-the-night party, to which I and several other friends were invited. First stop for the party was the local ice rink for ice-skating; I spent most of the evening being chased by Juan. Other than that, we kissed once (my 14-year-old daughter DID NOT READ THAT), and he gave me a stuffed raccoon to remember him by. Several weeks later, he called me from Guatamala, but I was home alone, wasn't sure how long-distance fees were handled, and wouldn't talk to him. A month or so after that, I got a Christmas card from him written all over with about a hundred "I Love Yous." That was the end of it ... well, almost. Juan called our house one more time and asked to speak with me, but I wasn't there. You see, seven years had gone by, I was 21, and Steven and I had just gotten married.

4. I didn't say a single curse word til I was about 30. I've more than made up for it.

5. I can identify even lesser-known paintings of Piet Mondrian, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, Joan Miro, Paul Klee, Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Ferdinand Leger, Jacob Lawrence, Jackson Pollack, Marc Chagall, Jan Vermeer, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Romare Bearden, Winslow Homer, Grant Wood, Edward Hopper, Salvador Dali, Pieter Brueghel, Wassily Kandinsky, Auguste Macke, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Rene Magritte, Edouard Vuillard, Jasper Johns, Paul Gauguin, Albrecht Durer, Thomas Cole, and more artists simply by looking at the style of the work, but I can count on one hand the number of songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s whose lyrics I know by memory.

6. I like to wear only solid-color shirts when I hang out around the house.

7. I remember having only one birthday party when I was a kid. (If you remember my favorite memories post, you'll know it was the year I turned 12 and we played Pin the Moustache on Shaun Cassidy. Dah-Do-Run-Run-Run, Dah-Do-Run-Run.)

And here's a bonus one -- (which I feel compelled to include because I came up with two when I needed only one more, and because my hubby may not know it).

8. When I was a little girl, my favorite song was Puff the Magic Dragon. (Oh, and I don't know all the lyrics to that one, either.)