Seven (More) Random Facts

I have been tagged by Jeff to list seven random or weird facts about myself. Let me see…what haven’t I blogged already…

How about a bunch of childhood memories?

1. Though I grew up in Wyoming, I have not (yet) visited Devil’s Tower or Yellowstone. Sad, I know.
2. In addition to the large birthmark on my right arm and hand, I have a small birthmark on the back of my left leg, just a couple inches above my heel. I remember when I first “discovered” this birthmark. I was maybe 4 or 5 and I had some blue sandals on. They were similar to jellies in the material and I think Snoopy was on them. They had a strap that went near where the birthmark was, and I thought that somehow the strap had caused it.
3. I have seen at least one tornado. I remember that my brother, Brian, and I were playing down the road from our house when we saw it coming down out of the clouds like a long string. We hadn’t seen one “in real life” prior to then, but we knew enough to run home right away. Sure enough, then the town’s sirens started going off. It was far enough away that my parents got our video camera out. It never did touch the ground, but it was pretty neat.
4. Growing up, whenever there was a bad storm, my siblings and I would take our many stuffed animals and throw them down the stairs to the basement. I guess they must have been our prized possessions and we didn’t want anything to happen to them should there be a tornado.
5. One night when I was sleeping in my parents’ bed (not sure why), I remember waking up and seeing what I thought was an angel.  The angel looked like a man with wings and was very bright. It seemed pretty real and I remember feeling very peaceful as I fell back to sleep.
6. When I was maybe 6, some neighborhood friends and I were playing on our swing set and saw what we thought to be 3 UFOs fly over. They looked like your typical UFOs. It was broad daylight, so I am sure they were something else, but we were convinced otherwise. And they still look like UFOs in my mind when I think back to that day.
7. For awhile, Karen and I shared a room in the basement. We also shared a double bed and would play Yahtzee and other games in bed long after we were supposed to be sleeping. But I don’t think we ever got caught because of our dachshund, Buddy. Buddy followed Mom everywhere around the house and the tags on his collar jingled as he walked. So whenever my mom would come downstairs to check on us, we could hear Buddy heralding her approach and we would quickly pull the covers up over the game we were in the midst of playing.