Day 11
Name something that makes you feel ooky; creeped out.

1. When my dog acts as if someone or something is “there,” but I can’t see or hear anything.
2. Clowns (people who think clowns are funny are suspect as well)
3. That initial moment of deafening silence when the electricity shuts off during a thunderstorm
4. Cats. They stare and hiss and dig in their claws and expect you to like it. Sociopaths…

Nothing like a violent thunderstorm with the beginnings of hail (I can hear it against the windows) to accompany the creepy talk this morning. And then I get to drive in it — yay! So tell — what makes your skin crawl?

Day 10
What are the weirdest foods or food combinations that you love?

While I’m not looking for responses like “I like mushrooms” or “I adore oysters,” “weird” is subjective. What’s dandy to one may be bizarre to another. I’m among the pickiest eaters I know (I think the Thriller is *the* pickiest), but when I latch onto something, it doesn’t matter how strange it sounds, as long as it tastes yummy.

I love:

1. Fluffernutters
2. “Picklebeets”
3. Frosting, all by itself (I’m fond of saying that the cake part is just an obligatory conveyance)
4. Cherry pie filling, right out of the can
5. Graham crackers dipped in raspberry Kool-Aid (but be careful: you have to pull them out of the drink at just the right time, or they’ll disintegrate)

I know all you non-picky eaters have even stranger tastes. Let’s see ’em. Ick.

Day 9
Tell about a time when you nearly lost — or thought you might lose — your life.

This is an easy one. Took place, oh, 1969-1970. The family (the four of us) were on one of those pleasure cruises to Washington Island in Wisconsin. On the way back across Green Bay, a storm came out of nowhere (or it seemed that way to me). There was no shelter on the boat, so everybody just sat down on the benches, out in the open, and hung on. It was terrifying. The swells and troughs (I think that’s what you call them) of the waves were slamming everyone around. I was seated next to my sister and mother, and wanted to get up to sit with my dad. In the pouring rain, I stood to go to him, and at that exact moment, the boat lurched violently to one side and my feet left the deck. I was airborne and going over the side.

The only thing I remember was being yanked by the back of the powder-blue windbreaker I was wearing and pulled from what definitely would have been certain drowning. It only took me a second to realize that the person who saved me was Dad. I spent the rest of the horrific ride back to shore with my entire body glued to his neck and chest.

Since then, me and boats….ehhhh not so much.

What about you?

Rapid-fire responses today. See how many of these you can answer without phoning anyone for help. I will enjoy finding out yet more coolish facts about my RtB fiends.

Day 8
When you were ten years old…

1. In what city and state did you live? Brown Deer, Wisconsin
2. What kind of car(s) did your parents drive? A ’67 Pontiac Catalina and a ’65 Chevy Impala
3. What was the name of your elementary school? Algonquin Elementary
4. What was your (5th grade) teacher’s name? Mrs. Rubin
5. What was the name of the street where you lived? Silverleaf Lane
6. What did your dad do for a living? Cost accountant, E.R. Wagner Mfg. Co.
7. What were your favorite TV shows? “Bewitched,” “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Hogan’s Heroes” (I can still hear Dad laughing at Klink and Schultz)

Ready, steady, go!

Mothers Day version! (Sorry I’m late in posting today; the Js just left after an awesome sleepover.)

Day 7
Name one life lesson or epithet your mother used that has stuck with you all your life.

My mother repeatedly told me, “If you tell the truth, you’ll never have to keep track of what you say.”

Good advice.

What did your mama teach you? And Happy Moms Day to all moms and those who function as moms.