I've been tagged...

Not once, but twice....for the same meme.

OK, so here goes:

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.

1. I like to bake, but not really cook. I think because when you bake you pretty much have to follow the recipe but with cooking there is more experimentation that can happen and I'm not very good at it. I also have a sweet tooth that is fed nicely by my baking habits.

2. I am not very kind to house plants. We have a few that we have had for years that I would call our "iron clad, foolproof" plants, but too many have died under my care that I tend to just stick to the few that we have that seem to have way more than 9 lives.

3. I love sheep. I used to have a collection of sheep - stuffed animals, statues, and the like. But, I've tried to rid my life of many knick knacks so I only have the odd pin in my jewelry box, one very special stuffed animal sheep that my MIL gave me a number of years ago and a cross-stitch project that I did before Rebecca was born that has sheep on it. There is a farm around the corner that has sheep and I smile whenever I drive by and see them. (I was just thinking that perhaps my Patronus would be a sheep!)

4. I love reading, but I don't read as much as I used to (gee...wonder why?). I love nothing better than getting sucked in by a story and getting to know the characters really well. I especially love when I become so engrossed that I think about the book even when I'm not reading it and wonder about the people in the books as though they are real... But when I get that involved I'm alway so sad to say "goodbye" to the characters at the end of the book. Am I just a weird freak or does anyone else know what I mean by that? It doesn't happen often but I love when a book can get to be that obsessive for me.

5. If I drink beer not long after I eat chocolate I get violently ill. It took me a couple of years into college to figure this one out. I don't generally eat chocolate and drink beer at the same time, but it dawned on me that the times I've gotten sick from drinking seemed to be on Halloween when I've had those two substances in close proximity. I don't tend to drink heavily enough for it to be just the alcohol...in fact, I've only ever done that once and it was such an awful experience that I've never had that much to drink again...so my best guess is that I can't eat chocolate and then drink beer or I throw up. I've never attempted to confirm this theory and I don't ever plan to!

6. My undergraduate degree is in Linguistics and Anthropology which is a far cry from what I expected to major in and which was only a stepping stone to what I eventually decided to do for a living. I went to UMass expecting to major in business and actually hoped to go on to do something in "International Buisness" or some such (I wanted to find a way to move back to Denmark something fierce!). But, I was not accepted as a "pre-business" major and then I nearly failed the first pre-requisite (Microeconomics) which led me to abandon any hope of doing anything business related. I delcared my major in my junior year having no idea what I would do once I actually graduated. Then during my senior year I learned about the existence of the "Communication Disorders" department which led to my eventual desire to attend graduate school and become a Speech-Language Pathologist.

7. I hate talking politics and I don't particularly like any politician - nor do I trust them - but my leanings tend to be towards the left of middle on many issues. Which is in stark contrast to my parents' views (as well as most of my siblings). I often wonder how I came to have such a different perspective on life. My parents, however, are convinced that I was "brainwashed" by all those "damn liberal professors" at UMass. So, I try very hard to avoid the subjects of politics and religion (I was raised Catholic and am now a member of a Protestant church - much to my parents chagrin) when with most of my family.

8. I will go gray naturally (and actually I have a pretty good start on that already). I have never colored my hair and I never plan to.

Phew. OK. I finally made it through my list of 8 things. I don't even know if I have 8 friends who blog to tag with this meme!! And the few who I do know have already done this or been tagged. So, if you are reading this and think it would be fun to do - consider yourself tagged and then post a comment or email me to let me know you've blogged this meme yourself so I can go read it!