I've been TAGGED

I cannot believe she did it, but Melonie tagged me!!

You have been tagged.

These are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog enjoy!Have fun!!!


Okay then, here are the 7 "strange but true, odd-n-end facts you were just dying to know about me" betcha weren't even aware of it yet! ha ha! Probably the saddest and strangest fact of all, NOT on the list is that...I have SO MANY to choose from, it took awhile to narrow it down!!

1.) I was born a fraternal twin to my brother, Brian, who passed away within 24 hours of our birth due to complications. At the moment he died, the nurses tell us that I literally lifted my torso and head from the mattress of my incubator and looking towards the ceiling, I let out a wail of grief like they had never heard--I was only a few hours old and shouldn't have been physically able to do that in the first place-but couple that with me only weighing 3 lbs 15 oz. (nearly 40 years ago) and it's even stranger....want more oddness? I spent 6 months in that incubator in the only neo-natal ICU nursery in our region..the nurses, in their attempt to comfort me, always kept baby Joey's incubator touching mine. We did everything together during that time, from feeding schedules to baths--the nurses never seperated us. When I was old enough to have my first imaginary friend, I called him Joey, of course! This really freaked my mother out, so she decided to get me a puppy............ which I immediately named Joey.

2.) I am related to Max Baer Jr. (Jethro of the Beverly Hillbilly's) His father, Max Sr., the prizefighter made more recently famous in the movie, "Cinderellaman" (and was portrayed rather villanously) was my Father's great-great uncle.

3.) The band, Green Day, has spent the night at my house and immortalized that visit in their song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" You see, my parents divorced shortly before I filed for my own divorce from my daughter's dad. My father kept custody of my then, 13 year old sister. I moved back home (to Dads house) from San Antonio, TX, where I'd lived for 3 years, Chelsea was almost 2 at that time. My sister was in her "grunge phase" along with all of her friends, who practically lived at our house. My dad liked it because he liked knowing where my sister was and he truly enjoyed all the goofiness that all of these kids brought into our home. They became a part of our family during this strange and wonderful phase. One of their favorite pastimes was heading to the Nordic Hall for Friday night shows when they would have several bands from all over the country, playing for an all ages crowd. The grunge-meisters loved the large "Mosh-pit" Terry, a good friend of my sister's and a house regular--was the one who lined up and arranged every one of these shows. Bands knew about them from word of mouth and who knows what other kind of "advertizing" but it was a great rest stop for them as they'd travel cross-country....they could refill their cash vault and be able to continue the next leg of their long trip. Well, this particular summer, Green Day was traveling east, to New York, to shoot their first MTV video. L.A. to New York is a long journey and they wound up in Sioux Falls,S.D. (my hometown) with a number of other bands for Friday night's show. One of the other bands playing was one called "False Sacrement" a great group of young adults who had stayed with us once before---my dad stayed up for HOURS, chatting away with the members of this band and truly liked their stories and their company and moreso--the fact that they were polite and respectful.....he gave me orders to go to the Nordic, and tell Terry that if False Sacrement needed a place to spend the night, he'd love to have them over again to catch up. So, I did as I was told...and then I went out with my friend for some grown up fun at the Pomp Room. heh heh. It's 2:30 a.m. or so, and Teresa and I are headed to my house--and when we turned the corner our jaws fell open and all we could think was "Dad is gonna KILL us!" There were vans--literally end to end for an entire block and a half! It seems that EVERY band was told to crash at our place for the night, LOL! We walked in and dad was sitting there, glassy eyed and with a dazed look on his face--people were EVERYWHERE! All he could say was "The groupies just left". The story has it that Billie, or one of the band members of Green Day, had asked about the meaning behind my maiden name. They were told the story of how it is descended from the Viking days when they wrote their laws on deer skins, and they were (rather unimaginatively) called "Skin Laws". OK--so then another topic of discussion was about all of the tatoos these kids were getting at the time--and there were A LOT of them! Chelsea used to tell me that she "wanted a pretty owy too" because when she'd try to touch the most recent work of art--she'd be told "Don't touch, it's a pretty owy right now" So.....a verse is written in that song where part of it goes: "Tatoos of memories and dead skin on trial, for what it's worth it was worth all the while"
So, now you know my crazy story of the night Green Day stayed at my house!
Pretty freaking cool, huh? And, yes, Billie--- we had the time of our life!

4.) I picked up the cello when I was in the 4th grade determined to play it, even though everyone told me over and over that I should play the violin because I was too small to play the cello. I proved them all wrong and became hooked on the instrument in the process. I practiced constantly------relentlessly even--it was my best friend. My mother would have to TELL me to go outside and play with my "human" friends for awhile. I found out, when I was about 25, that I had had a chance to attend Juliard--tuition paid in full--I had become THAT good, where the school District was out gathering the tuition money FOR me. But my parents didn't want me in New York--with a chaperone only--so they nixed it immediately. in high school I had to give it up completely because the small school I wound up attending, only had a band--no orchestra--12 years went by without touching a cello when I met a friend of my cousins, who has his own recording studio. He hooked me up with a cello and we started a little guitar/cello duet called Monroe and Chellars. I played music as Rhowan (hence my current DBA) Steve and his wife soon started a production company and record label as well and we wrote some new songs together--I am a singer/songwriter and I am a published author of lyrics. I now have my cello, safely sitting on "her" stand right here in my livingroom. It might sound strange, but it is a constant source of comfort, just knowing it is right here.

5.) My alias, "Rhowan" comes from the book, "The Witching Hour" by Anne Rice--Rowan Mayfair is the lead character and literally can kill with a look--I have always been accused of this myself, by my mother mainly.....but I have never rendered anyone unconscious, let alone dead, from a single look (nor anything else that I am aware of)but Rowan can. OK--so that sounds creepy, but there is more--I was studying a bit about herbology and the orientation of plant meanings and history in folklore (I get bored and my mind MUST find something new to learn--all the time) so, as I'm studying this new-age botany, I find out that the Rowan tree (Mountain Ash) was said to hold the powers of protection, strength and healing. Soldiers would carry the berries in their pockets for protection when going into battle. The bark was used to stop bleeding and prevent infection--it also, apparently aided in clotting and had certain antiseptic qualities to prevent wounds from infection. The leaves were also steeped and dtunk as a tea to promote the healing process. So, when I was thinking of a name to DBA, I immediately thought "Rowan". When I tried to use it on my AOL account, it was taken, so I wound up adding the "H" just to make it available to me. This new name represented all of things I didn't have in me at the time, or was in need of finding more of. I was an abused child, emotionally, physically and verbally--and this name gave me instant confidence and inner strength--not to mention, if anyone ever tried to hurt me again, I'd just shoot them THE LOOK and they could drop dead. (LOL!)

6.) I am a bit OCD--for example, I cannot stand it if my hands feel the slightest bit sticky or damp. I am also OCD at work and cannot stand anything in my in-basket.....ever. One of my DA's knows this (well, they all do, but he's got a "mean" streak) so he is constantly threatening to fill my basket up over the weekend--I have actually lost sleep over this before. But, I've come to learn that he is only teasing me.

7.) To wrap this up, we'll go back to when I was a kid----I used to run away.....a lot, it began when I was 4. Not in the typical "pack a bag and sit in a tree until it's dark and a bit scary, time to go inside" kind of running away either-----I would run away. The cops would have to be called and they'd find me at the bus station, or walking along a road leading out of town--and I would RUN---as fast as I could--away from the cops, LOL! So, when I was 5 and my parents found that I had mapped out my "escape route to Australia" on my new globe--they immediately confiscated it and I have not owned another globe since.

Alright--there's my strange and wacky "Tag confessions" Now------I nominate:

1.) Meg of Tiger Lily's Digis and Designs in Digital
2.) Cathy of Five Corners of my Mind
3.) Tink of Tinks Trinkets
3.) Sarah of Scrappin Cuteness
4.) Dorothy of Dorothy's Creations
5.) Lori of The Cameron Collection
6.) Janie of A Damsel with a Dulcimer
7.) Kim of Island Girl Designs