... and minding my own business... and then- TAGGED!

For those of you among my plethora of readers that don't know what being tagged is, let me explain. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to say it is like the blog-world's equivalent of being Double-Dog Dared! Usually it involves sharing something in a list. Longtime friend and grad school roommate, Danny Sims was tagged to share "5 things people might not know about himself" and then he promptly tagged me. I don't think I've lived such an exciting life, but here goes, my 5 things people might not know about me:

1. I went to boarding school in Canada for high school. I know it sounds crazy in our day and age, but it's true. It wasn't an uppity-up type of school. It was a very poor school (the food was wretched - I had to rely on my brother and sister-in-law living in town to feed me sometimes). Although it wouldn't be an option for my kids, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It was so much fun and I had good memories there.

2. I play Badminton. Before you think outdoor-in-the-backyard badminton, let me set the record straight: it's a great sport! Watch the Olympics sometime! In high school (see above) I played in competitive tournaments (it's a British sport, so Canada latched onto it as well). I played a little in college with some professors at ACU. I have played a little here in the Springs since we moved here, but I don't play as much as I would like because of schedule conflicts. Really, if you are still laughing, believe me, it is a great sport.

3. I am a Classic Rock Trivia buff - go on, try me. I know a lot about that whole time in our western history (the 60's & 70's). This is a by-product of having older brothers. One went to college in the town where we lived and I was in elementary school. He used to bring home the Doors, The Who, Yes, and Pink Floyd records when they came out, and that became a part of my upbringing.

4. I almost drowned on my honeymoon. One word: Riptide. I had never been in that kind of situation before (we were in Cancun). Before I could think, I had two lungs full of salt water and was being pulled out into the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the little local lifeguards pulled me in. Very scary. I would have left a very young widow.

5. I performed a wedding on a boat on Lake Travis in Texas. I was right out of grad school. I was doing part-time campus ministry in Austin, and we had a "walk-in" to our church one day wanting to know if a minister could do their wedding (it was a second marriage for both and they wanted something out of the ordinary). I was the only one with availability so I did it. It was a comedy of errors. The grooms mother was late (makes a sunset wedding difficult when it gets dark!). The boat was small with no guard rails on the upper deck: just chairs and - -off you go (come to think of it, this relates to number 4 above, because Laurie thought ew were going to die again!). Back the wedding. Anyone who is familiar with that area of Texas knows that when the sun goes down the wind picks up. Waves crashing into the boat, almost falling off the top, horrific singing, it was a definite memory for my first wedding. Every other wedding after that was downhill!

*** Bonus: I am in the credits of a movie. I'll tell you personally about that one if you want to know...

Hey, I get to tag people now - Livonia Theme: Rob, Dale, Brian, Kari, Phelps - If you see your name there, consider yourself tagged.

... what you call a planet that is no longer a planet?

I know that this happened a little while ago. But you have to hate being a planet on the scale of other planets (even though your orbit was wacky), and then getting everything pulled out from underneath you! Now, just now, demoted planet Pluto is finally getting some respect.

According to a Jan. 7 Associated Press story, it may be off the official list of planets in our solar system, but "plutoed" has been named the 2006 Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society.

The story continues: "To 'pluto' is 'to demote or devalue someone or something,' which is exactly what happened to the former planet last year when the IAU (the International Astronomical Union) decided Pluto didn't meet the proper definition of a planet."

"Plutoed" won in a runoff against:

- "climate canary," defined as "an organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon."
- "murse" (man's purse)
- "flog" (a fake blog that promotes products).

Oh well, I guess there's some redemption in that. Recognized for something that happened TO you as opposed to WHO YOU ARE. But somehow it falls short. It's like complementing someone after you just made a crack about how they look.

I just received my National Geographic and the map inside (I always look at that map first) is one of our galaxy. Pluto is not found in the place it occupied when I built the solar system thingy in third grade. You know, I think I want Pluto back as a planet!

Besides, this means teachers have to come up with a new jingle in order for their students to learn our Solar System!