Giving into peer pressure

You knew it was coming. I decided it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. I mean Laurie and Jen did tag the world. So here goes...

TEN random things you might not know about me.
1. I was a deb. My college friends could not believe this. They thought I was too much of a feminist to participate in anything like this. I am the child of Southerners though and can be quite traditional at times.
2. As a result of #1, I can still do a full curtsy. I now use it as a sobriety check when out.
3. I often read while watching TV.
4. I like to eat my food before drinking my beverage usually.
5. I used to do counted cross stitch. I would still but finding good patterns has become harder.
6. I am really a shy person who learned how to overcompensate over the years.
7. There probably isn't a genre of music that I do not like. OK. I am not into Christian rock but that's about it.
8. I like to whine about gaining weight. OK. You knew that part. What you don't know is that most folks I know look at me like I am absolutely nuts because I have always worn a size 2 or 4. My neighbor and I have a pact. Shoot either of us if we ever get up to size 6. And no, I do not care that I am almost 40. Its one of my few vanities.
9. I have had the same best friend for over 30 years.
10. I am a tea drinker. I will drink coffee when I am at a restaurant or someone else's home. I keep coffee in my home for guest. When I am at home or at work though, it is all about tea. And I try to keep at least five different types from which to choose, my current fave being Lapsang Souchong.

NINE places I've visited.
1. Graceland - it was part of a cross-country drive
2. Every state along I-40 on the same cross-country drive
3. Barbados
4. London
5. Exeter
6. Puerto Vallarta
7. Mazatlan
8. A whole bunch of other places on the drive from SF to Puerto Vallarta
9. Occidental, CA - best known for its Italian restaurants

EIGHT ways to win my heart.
1. Remember the little things like my favorite candy to enjoy while watching a movie.
2. Giving me flowers just because.
3. Have a life beyond me and your job.
4. Be nice to your mother and animals (My grandma said this is the first thing to look for in a man.)
5. Be able to dance -- well.
6. Being chivalrous.
7. Be adventurous.
8. Accept me for who I am, not who you think I should be.

SEVEN things I want to do before I die.
1. Travel to every continent. Well maybe not Antartica.
2. Learn at least a couple more languages.
3. Learn how to tango.
4. Fall in love several more times.
5. Own a home with space for lots of animals. Not a crazy cat lady kind of place. I've just always loved animals and have dreamed since I was a little girl of having a place in which I could at least have cats, dogs, and horses.
6. Own something from Carolina Herrera.
7. Make a cake with a fondant icing and lots of pretty flowers. And it better look just like the photos you see in magazines.

SIX things I'm afraid of.
1. Spiders.
2. Pickup trucks with the Stars and Bars in the rear window.
3. Spiders.
4. Small-minded people with lots of power.
5. Spiders.
6. Oh yeah, and spiders.

FIVE things I don't like.
1. Nuts with the exception of peanuts, walnuts, and pecans. OK. Cashews are ok in cashew chicken but that is the only use I have for them.
2. Middle America.
3. Some of my co-workers.
4. Most new cars. Most of them look alike. Give me a classic car anytime. Like a '59 Corvette.
5. Uninformed and/or ignorant people. Kind of redundant as I believe that ignorance is often born out of a lack of information.

FOUR ways to turn me off.
1. Being close-minded.
2. Being condescending.
3. Being pretentious -- especially if you have no cause to be.
4. No fashion sense.

THREE Things I do everyday.
1. Read something -- a book, a magazine, something
2. Listen to music.
3. Think about food. It is often a major a production just to decide what I want to eat for at least one meal a day.

TWO things that make me happy.
1. Ice cream in the rain
2. Finding money that I had forgotten about in a jacket pocket. It means I can buy ice cream or maybe a book.

ONE thing on my mind right now.
Boris jumping on things he shouldn't -- the TV, the lamp cord, the printer, the stovetop, my back. Yes, he has been on all of these things in the time I was writing this post.

To those who haven't reponded to the worldwide tag, then considered yourself tagged once more.