Tag! You're it.

Juliana Smith of Ancestry's 24/7 Family History Circle tapped me on the virtual shoulder this morning in a game of Internet tag. Now I'm supposed to tell you five things about myself that you probably don't know then tag five other people. 1) I love chocolate! Not just any cocoa bean confection, but dark chocolate. I went ten years without eating this snack due to food allergies. A friend told me that many dark chocolates don't contain milk. Now we're on a mission to try as many brands as possible. We even have a rating scale for taste and the percentage of cacoa. 2) If you've read my columns then you know I have kids. Two teenagers make for an interesting life. They're great people and don't think it's weird that I write night and day (as long I drive them to and fro). There was only one strange moment. My book, Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors, made their middle school reading list one summer. My daughter looked at me and said with horror, "I don't really have to read it, do I?" 3) My husband jokes about my gardening. It's survival of the fittest at my house. I've inherited my mother's black thumb. Doesn't matter if it's an outside plant or an inside one, they all die. I really do try, but nothing works. It's so bad that when a friend recently gave me a plant (why bother!) she pleaded with me not to kill it. It's looking a little brown these days so I'm thinking of calling her for help. Last time she visited I hid it. Just too embarassed.... 4) Trip planning is an acquired skill. My parent's indulged my strange habits as a kid. We rarely went anywhere, but that didn't stop me from requesting free travel brochures from every state. It kept me busy for a whole summer and all it cost my mom was fifty stamps. 5) I keep my iPod on shuffle. It's a mix of all types of music--salsa, rock, ballads, disco (yes, even that), and Motown. Since it's a random selection, there are some fun combinations. Diana Ross, followed by Los Lobos, followed by 311. Tagging is fun. Let's see if David Lambert, the Online Genealogist at the New England Historic Genealogical Society can keep up this game. There are two people I want to tag, but they don't have blogs (What are they waiting for?! ). Joe Bott of Dead Fred can respond in his newsletter and Sharon Sargeant posts right on her website, Ancestral Manor. I'd like to break the chain a bit and tag a person outside the genealogical community. I recently had coffee with a fellow writer. Susan Weiner's got a great blog about investing.