10 for Tuesday – Reprieve

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a 10 for Tuesday. With all the upheaval in my life, I thought it would be fun to play it light for a day. So – if you’ve not read any of my previous 10 for Tuesday posts, it’s a perfect way to play voyeur into my life. It’s even more fun, when you add your own in the comments! Basically, I try to think of 10 wacky, or little known, facts about me. So here goes -

1. As a little girl, I play acted Cinderella. My favorite part? Dancing at the ball with Prince Charming. Because I didn’t have any little boys nearby willing to sacrifice their dignity & self esteem to base themselves to the level of Prince, I danced with my door. Yep. My door. I swung it back and forth while holding onto the door handles. (I never claimed knowing any of this would change your life.)
2. While enduring a particularly stressful semester in college, I locked my keys in my car on campus no less than three times in one month. From that point on, I was on a first name basis with the campus police.
3. The first story I can recall writing was in second grade. I still have it. It’s titled Tawny the Tiniest Turkey. Even back then I was a fan of alliteration. Also, it appears I had trouble spelling my own name.
4. The only prison I’ve been in was in Fiji. Not even the guards carried guns, as it’s against the law. Looking back, I wonder about the sanity of the decision to visit an all-male prison where the guards had no real way of controlling the inmates. But it also speaks to the simplicity of their culture and provides pause for contemplating what cultural morales/values controlled that environment.
5. I’ve played flute, tenor sax, xylophone, vibes, marimba, bells and cymbals in band. Yep – a big band geek here. One year, we played a song from Miss Saigon. At our last out of town game, I came in a full four measures before the ENTIRE band. Thankfully, it appeared, to those who didn’t know better, that I had a solo piece.
6. When I eat french fries, I have to pepper the ketchup heavily. I need the spice.
7. My perfect life? Surrounded by cats, writing for a living, in a sweet little cottage with a magnificent view. Oh – and I would have a beautifully restored VW Beetle. And lots of eclectic friends. Oh – and my children would give me lots of grandbabies, visit often and love me dearly.
8. I once worked as a telemarketer for 7 hours. It was not a fun job. I was selling ‘free’ appointments for hearing tests. My most memorable call? I had to yell into the phone because one man couldn’t hear what I was saying. After yelling several times, “Hearing Test. I’m calling to see if you would like a free hearing test”, the man responded, “Oh. I don’t need a hearing test. My hearing is perfectly fine.” Um, yeah.
9. The best boss I ever had was Larry at Ellis Pottery in Texarkana. He was nice, fair and never expected anything from the employees he wouldn’t do himself. I was hired by him no less than four times. I always left on a good note and he was always happy to see me come back.
10. I starred in a high school play, Murder Takes the Veil, while living in Illinois. I played the part of a woman living on a farm in Louisiana. After the play, a woman walked up to me and raved about how well I did and how authentic my accent was. (I’m from Texas.) I smiled and as accent-free as I possibly could, I said ‘Thank you’ and walked away before I said anything else that would reveal my farce.