Tagged again!

A while back, Jennifer of Random Ramblings tagged me. Sorry it's taken so long to post this, Jen. I've wondered since then if I could come up with another 7--or is it 8?--weird things about me. Of course, I can. Anyone can. (I mean about themselves, of course. Not about me.)

1.) I am super-clumsy. I have fallen onto my butt on ice so many times I can't even count that high. Once, living in Pittsburgh, circumstances were such that I wound up in my regular shoes after a snowfall--don't ask. Tom dropped me off at a bus stop on the corner--he didn't drop me off at the corner, understand; he was turning left, so I had to cross the street to get to the corner. Not a big thing, right? I only made it halfway before I went down. And--another don't ask--I had on pantyhose with no underwear. Honest, it was only because of a weird set of circumstances. So the pantyhose were sheer, all the way to the top. It was the '70s, okay? Plus, it being the '70s, I was in a mini skirt. And this time I didn't fall on my butt; I went face down.

Enough said, right?

2. I used an aka--Kate Maguire--for many years on the 'net. When I decided to switch from writing romance to mysteries, I figured it would be better to change names--because of course I'd sell a book immediately rather than...well, never so far, and that readers would identify my name with romance. Some of the friends I made back then still call me Kate, some 'Ancy Kate.

And that takes me to number 3, the 'Ancy part. I once had a dear friend many years my elder--she was only a few years younger than my mother. (I'd still call her friend but she died several years ago.) Inez gave me a place to stay when my marriage was breaking up, and her grandson--2 years old--called me 'Ancy. And he did it a lot. I'd hear him coming up the stairs to my attic bedroom, calling me repeatedly, then when he got to the room, he'd sigh and say, "'Ancy."

My sister still often calls me that.

4. While divorced, I set two goals for myself, the first to go to Europe, the second to go back to school. I did both--at the same time. My English lit class spent two weeks in England, a week on the continent. I was poor as dirt, but I never regretted making one payment on that three-year loan. Food and lodging were included in the cost of the trip and I so very much miscalculated what I needed for incidentals. In this, as many other things, Tom saved the day for me--he wired money to London. I still made it back to Dallas with only a quarter in my pocket, just enough to pay the toll to get home.

5. Though I probably don't tell him often enough, my husband is my hero. I walked away from him once, but I'd never do it again, even though he can still push my buttons. I just see him better now.

6. I dearly love my cat Max, but the love of my life--my soul cat--was a Maine coon named Murphy. For almost a year after he died, I could feel him jump onto the foot of my bed, feel the weight of him as he tucked himself next to my feet. And I'd pray not to wake. Dreams were a better place for me that year. Finally, when he was gone almost a year, Murphy came to me--in my dream--nudged my face, then jumped off the bed. I think he said goodbye that night. I never dreamed of him again that way.

7. I'm a morning person, but sometimes--like tonight--I just can't fall asleep. Back in the day, that's when I'd write. Now I get on the 'net. Writing would be so much more beneficial, but it would also be more wake-making. Even retired, I need to get some sleep cuz I'll be waking six-ish tomorrow morning regardless.

8. My mother's family came to the colonies from England in the mid-1700s. Tom's grandparents on both sides came to the States from Germany in the late 1800s--he's a second generation American. By the time my siblings and I came along, my family had really become an example of the melting pot, with Dutch and Irish and Scotch and American Indian all mixed in. Tom's straight German all the way back. I was the first speck of foreign matter in his family tree!

That's my eight. Now I'm supposed to tag eight. Since it hasn't been that long since I tagged people, I think I'll just do three:

Jenny at ArtsAfire
Heather at Misty Ridge Designs
Daynodos at I Rob Banks

Check back tomorrow for an Etsy spotlight.