OK, I’ve been tagged by the Farmer’s Daughter.

Here are the rules:

–Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
–Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog – some random, some weird.
–Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their    blog.
–Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, here goes, probably way more than you want to know:

7 Facts about myself:

1. BK (Before Kids), I had a career in publishing as a writer/editor for an international technical magazine.  I traveled to interview mostly old men in wire mills and I usually got questions like “What’s a nice, young girl like doing in a place like this?”  (I secretly hoped I’d get a really exciting writing job for Cosmo or at the very least Good Housekeeping some day!)
2. I’ve walked with Grizzlies in Alaska . . . yes, I really can’t believe that I did that, too!
3. I also rafted the Colorado River for 5 days, sleeping in the canyons at night in thunderstorms, with the river or a pail as our only bathroom.  (#2 and #3 were my husband’s ideas, but I’m glad I lived through them because now I can impress people who think I’m a risk-taker, even though I’m really not!)
4. I learned how to use a computer back in the DOS days.  (“What’s that?” you youngsters are asking.)
5. I’m probably addicted to three things: coffee, the sun, and my Blackberry.  (I know this because I get a headache if I don’t get my DD in the am and I got a Blackberry so I could check my e-mail on the run.  I am trying to change my habits re: the sun due to the negative effects of too much exposure.)
6. I started college at age 40, when my husband challenged me to pursue the teaching career that I had always planned.  It was one of the best decisions of my life (second to marrying that dear guy!) and now after my 8^th year of teaching (and two more degrees) I’m planning on starting a doctoral program.
7. My crazy, wonderful family gave me a brand-new, candy-apple red Mustang convertible for Mothers’ Day a couple of years ago, which I enjoy driving “topless” more than I ever imagined!  The ‘Stang’s tucked in the garage for the winter next to their ‘66 classic mustang.  (I think they gave me mine because they didn’t want me to drive theirs!)

 OK, that’s probably way more than you wanted to hear, but I’m tagging:

 Margaret  at Periodic Pearls

Aisling at The Quiet Country House

Cloudhands at Uncarved Block

Nan at Letters From a Hill Farm

Ernestine at My Journey to Mindfulness

Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings

Linda at Vulture Peak Muse

Thanks for playing, everyone, and I hope you have a little fun with it!

~~Ruth

The Farmer’s Daughter  tagged me. Here goes . . .

Here are the rules:

Answer all the questions. Tag 8 people to do the same.
Now that you asked…

 1. What were you doing 10 years ago?  I had just changed my life course and became a full-time college student, to become a certified educator, after raising our three children.  One of the best moves I’ve ever made!

2. What are five things on your to-do list today?  Well, it’s the end of the day, so this is what I’ve accomplished:

1. Went wine-berry picking with my daughter.
2. Worked on School Budget Project for my Educational Leadership Class.
3. Weeded the gardens around the pool (jumping in every so often!)
4. Updated my blog and posted on some of my favorites; responded to e-mail.
5. Cooked (some); cleaned (not much); and started researching and writing a paper for my Educational Law class.  (It’s summer, so my schedule is a bit different from the school year!)

It’s 11 pm and I still have to:

1. Fine-tune the Budget Project, now that my son has shared some of the finer points of Excel with me.
2. Complete the School Law paper–ugh!
3. Do the dishes, laundry, clean the kitchen, wash my hair, and tuck in my hubby!
4. Pay bills
5. Make my list for tomorrow! (It’s gonna be a LONG night!)

3. Snacks you enjoy?  Popcorn, cheese, crackers, anything that goes crunch . . . oh, and a combination of pretzels and chocolate!

4. Places you’ve lived?  On my parent’s dairy farm in a lovely New England town for the first 19 years of life; then on to my husband’s 10th-generation family farm for the next 31 years, in a neighboring town.  Although I’ve traveled a bit, we’ve got deep roots, and I guess I was destined to be a farmer!

5. What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1.  DO the great room/family room addition we’ve been talking about for years–and actually pay someone else to do the painting!

2.  Pay off Abbie’s mortgage and give equal gifts to Jonathan and Nathaniel.

3.  Buy Al a new tractor or piece of “dream” equipment    Take Al on a fantasy trip, wherever he’d like to go!

4.  Become a philanthropist, kind of “Oprah-esque.”

5.  Pretty much live the way we do now, continue working as we do, but with less $$$ worries!

6. Who are eight people you would to know more about?

I tag…Dotty, Patty, Mary Ellen, Shannon, serendipitygirl21, lisa brawner, Elizabeth M., and Mary Jenkins.  If you don’t have your own blog, feel free to place your answers here in a comment!