8 Random Facts

Here are the rules for Eight Random Facts:
Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Thanks to Possumlady for tagging me for 8 random facts (BTW, what's a "meme"?) I definitely do not know 8 other bloggers to tag; maybe not even one! (Anvilcloud, have you done this yet?) I invite anyone who reads my blog and has not done this yet to participate.

Here are my eight, but I think I will drag this out over the next 7 days and only post details about each fact on a different day. This will give me something to write about for a whole week!

1.) I was living in Cuba when President Kennedy was assassinated.

2.) I graduated a year early from high school and went to collage a year late.

3.) I have 2 degrees in early childhood education, but never taught or worked directly with children.

4.) I’ve never had the same job for more than 3 years.

5.) As an adult, I have never lived in the same house for more than 4 years.

6.) I love clay.

7.) I am an atheist.

8.) I’ve taken a boat ride on the Seine and seen the Eiffel Tower under a full moon.

Okay, so here's the scoop for #1: Having been born in 1959, I was 4 years old when President Kennedy was shot. My father was a teacher at the time and had volunteered (or signed up) to teach for 9 months on Guantanamo Base (I think it was at a school for the soldiers' children. As far as I know, he taught junior high English and geography. Maybe it was for the soldiers themselves; I'll have to ask him.) I don't remember learning that the President had been shot. (I wonder if I have any actual memories from that time or just memories of stories told to me.) My mother says my Dad came home from school to tell her. That's it. I just always thought it was an odd bit of trivia that we were living in Cuba at the time.

Other thoughts about that time: We had a huge old tree in the yard with a tire swing and iguanas that would run up the trunk. My mom shopped at a grocery store (on base?) where there was a big "pen" outside where you were supposed to leave your children while you were shopping. I hated that and would beg to go inside and be really quiet so no one would notice I was there. I went to nursery school in Cuba. My 2-year old brother and I found a coconut once. While my father tried to open it for us (not an easy thing to do and my father gets easily frustrated--a trait I have inherited) we jumped up and down wanting to taste it. When he finally got it open, he was so frustrated that he dumped the coconut juice on my head. He felt terribly guilty about it for years and I was frequently prompted by my mother to tell him that this incident had not ruined my life, which I dutifully did. However, I do think it left a little psychic scar! Also, there was a hurricane when we lived there. For the duration, we had to go stay with a neighbor that had a brick house (we lived in a wooden house--sounds like the 3 Little Pigs). While we were there she made what we came to call "Cuban Candy," which consists of evaporated milk and sugar cooked to a "soft ball" stage, then slightly cooled and rolled into little balls with butter and cinnamon on them. As Americans, always looking for a short cut, we have since always made this by pouring the boiling mixture onto a buttered plate and dousing with cinnamon. Then, cutting into squares and eating it after it cooled. Kind of like vanilla fudge. That's it for my recollections from Cuba. Tomorrow stories of high school and college.