Voila!

1. Yes it is true that I was recruited by the Marines when I was in high school. To the point where they tracked me down at home and then showed up at the school to meet me and a couple other students. Seriously. Even then, I was curvy and (at the time) was in a 36DD bra. Can you imagine me running at Boot Camp? The only running I did in high school was treading the boards of our local theater's stage. Obviously, they really didn't want me; I so did not enlist.

2. When I was 5, I was diagnosed with ADHD. My pediatrician wanted to medicate me, but my parents refused. I did not make my first A (outside of Drama and Choir classes) until I was in the 10th grade. I have learned to cope. As an adult I have developed my career around working with people who have mental illness or mental retardation. I think my childhood issues have had a direct effect on every aspect of my life - for the best.

3. I am so left-handed it's sick. I cannot drive a stick shift, knit, crochet, shuffle cards, or twirl a baton. So, if you haven't figured it out, this is the Stinkin' Lie!

4. Yes I have had some brushes with death..

a. I have been in 14 car accidents, 2 of which I had to be "assisted" from the vehicle by firefighters.

b. I was a bank teller in college and was robbed at gunpoint.

c. My college fiance's stepdad was re-habbing a house for us to live in when we were married. My fiancee lived there with a roommate, and the plan was that after we married he and I would live in the house for free, and my fiancee would manage the small apartment building across the driveway. My fiance's stepdad was a total slum lord and he would hire ex-cons on Work Release to do construction and maintenance around his rental properties. One guy was a known murderer. I knew this because he was my dad's best friend's step-brother, and when he killed and was jailed the first time, my family was freaked. I tried to tell my future FIL about him, but he didn't check him out. My fiancee and I had a huge fight over the whole situation, because he thought I was being reactionary and accusatory. I knew the truth! I refused to go to the house or stay there as long as that man was employed. About a month into the guy's employment he murdered a woman who lived in one of the apartments across the driveway. He stabbed her with my fiance's roommate's diving knife, planted my fiance's watch in the kitchen, and stole her jewelry, money, credit cards, and car. She was a social worker and knew him from where he was doing construction on our house. He went to her door and asked for her help. She trusted him and he killed her. To me, that's a little too close for comfort.

5. I am extremely ticklish and cannot stand for someone to touch the backs of my legs, especially on the backs of my knees. It's been like this for years. I don't know why, but I believe it's a visceral reaction to too much sensation. It's a total sensory overload, and as soon as someone touches me there, it automatically makes my stomach roll and I feel queasy. I will physically react by kicking out and gagging from the nausea. During my annual exam a couple of years ago, my GYN put his hand around my knee to check my reflexes and I almost took out his teeth. He doesn't check my reflexes anymore. I know. I am a freak.

Thanks for playing along!