I've Been Tagged In A Game Of Blog-Tag

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Thanks to my blogging friend Suzique from the "Waisted In The Wasteland" blog as well as the "Low-Carb Lab" blog (who I recently named one of the Top 10 Low-Carb Bloggers of 2006 on my podcast show), I am now officially a part of an active game of blog-tag! Since it's Christmas weekend and I'm game for having a bit of fun, I'll gladly take Suzique up on this.

Here's how it works:

1. Come up with 5 little-known facts about yourself
2. Post a blog with those nuggets of truth
3. "Tag" others to join in the fun

So, here's my chance to reveal some deep dark secrets about Jimmy Moore. HA, as if! No, I don't have too many things you DON'T know about me because my blog is a virtual open book into my life and gladly so. If it's helping people change their lives by permanently losing weight, then my mission has been accomplished.

Okay, so what can I share with you about me? Hmmm...

1. I had perfect attendance in school from 7th-12th grade. Not one sniffle, cough, fever, sneeze, or puke. TMI, I know, but I didn't get sick. Achoo! At least not enough to stay home from school. Yes, I was a nerd! Go figure that one!

2. I graduated college in three years. Less than a month after graduating high school in 1989 just a few months after my 17th birthday, I stepped on to the campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin to begin my college experience right away. Again, I was a NERD, so I craved knowledge (and still do!). Taking a full load of classes (22 hours of classes in one semester!) and working as much as 70 hours a week in various restaurant jobs straight through, including summers, until May 1992, I received my Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and English (yes, a DOUBLE major) at the ripe old age of 20. I was the youngest graduate in my class and didn't have a single dime of debt because I worked my own way through. My mom was so proud because I was the first person in our family with a college degree (my sister Beverly would become the second one just three years later!).

3. When I was in the 8th grade, my advanced English teacher announced the annual school poetry contest to the class. As soon as I heard about this, my mind kicked into high gear as she began lecturing that day on Shakespeare or something. Within 15 minutes I had finished the rough draft of my poem and by the end of that class, I turned in the polished version of my poem entitled "The Cheetah." Guess what? That poem not only won a prize, it was named the GRAND PRIZE winner as the BEST POEM in the entire school that year!

I remember it well because I got to attend the district poetry contest dinner with my mom where for the very first time I got to try filet mignon. I didn't know bacon wrapped around a slab of steak could taste so good, but it did! No, I didn't win anything at that competition, but I never forgot the experience.

Incidentally, my 8th grade English teacher wasn't impressed with my writing skills. She recommended that I be placed in a regular English class when I got to high school. UGH! I was so bored in that class that the teacher (Ms. Huhn) asked me if I would like to be in her advanced English class. Um, do pigs like wallowing in mud? You bet your sweet bippy! I remained in advanced English classes throughout high school and then got a degree in English with a 3.9 GPA in college. Do you think I was out to prove a point with that 8th grade English teacher? That old hag didn't know who she was messing with. :D

4. I've been through seven marriages. Yep, it's been quite an experience in life with all the weddings and divorces. What's that? Oh no, silly, NOT ME! I'm talking about my parents. Ah, yes, I grew up in the typical "dysfunctional family unit" that the media loves to talk about so much. Let's see if I can track for you those seven marriages I have been through in the course of my life.

My mom and dad got married one month before they were supposed to graduate high school (#1), but then divorced when I was less than 2 years old. They both then remarried to different people. My mom's second husband Jerry (#2) raised Kevin and me as well as his daughter (my half-sister) Beverly for most of our childhood. Meanwhile, my dad's second wife Dora (#3) had a son (my half-brother) Nathan who went on to be one of my inspirations for starting the Atkins diet after his success on it in the late 1990s. Less than 10 years after their second marriages, both my mom and dad had divorced their spouses. Are you still with me?

A few years of experimenting with new potential mates, they both landed new ones--Faye (#4) for my dad and Frank (#5) for my mom. Frank got upset about something and divorced my mother, but then came back to her (#6) wanting a second chance which she gave him. I'm happy to announce that both my mother and father have now been married for over 20 years to their current spouses which is longer than any of their previous marriages lasted combined. WOO HOO!

What about marriage #7, you ask? Well, that's the one and only marriage that I'll EVER have in my life with the beautiful and lovely Christine. We are in our 12th year of wedded bliss and have no intentions of letting the "d" word come into our vocabulary. In fact, when we got married, I told her that I had seen enough divorce in my life that it will not be an option and we cut that word completely out of every dictionary we own. So far, so good!

5. And finally, in honor of Suzique who "tagged" me for this game, let me tell you what happened when my family went to the Mardi Gras in Nawlins' (that's New Orleans for those of you who don't speak Southern!) when I was about 7 years old. We were up on a tall ledge as the floats were coming by with beads, coins, rubber snakes, and more flying through the air. If you've ever been to the Mardi Gras, then you know what I'm talking about.

I was watching all this stuff flying over our heads where a gathering of kids my age were scooping up all the good stuff. My mom said I could go down there as long as I stayed behind where they were. So I enthusiastically ran down there and was making out like gangbusters. I even got a rubber snake! COOL!

When the parade slowed down a bit, I looked up and didn't see my mom. Where'd she go? So, I looked around and nothing was familiar to me. In my quest for gathering up the good stuff that went over the heads of the people on the high rise, I had apparently lost where my family was. What does a 7-year old do when he loses his mommy? You guessed it--I started bawling like a baby! WAH WAH WAH!

But, even at that age, I had the presence of mind to go to the only person I could trust at the time to help me out--the police. We were staying with a New Orleans police officer and I immediately recognized the uniform when I saw a man directing traffic. I went up to him, tugged on his shirt, and said, "Mister, I want my mommy." He dispatched a police car to come pick me up (I thought I was being arrested!) and they took me down to the station.

While I was there, I told them about the man we were staying with who they recognized from my description and they immediately contacted him. He was able to get in touch with my mom so she could come pick me up. In the meantime, the officers at the station were super-nice to me, fed me lunch and let me look around the place. This was way more fun than the Mardi Gras was...until my mom arrived.

I can still see the look on her face to this day (I have nightmares about it sometimes--hee hee!) as she walked up to me saying, "I don't know if I should hug you or whip you, so I guess I'll just hug you for now." That was the best mommy hug I ever got! And this experience makes for a great story to tell some 30 years later.

That's it, no more revealing secrets about ME! But now it's YOUR turn. If you read through this post about me, then consider yourself "tagged" if you are a blogger (and even if you don't have a blog, this gives you a reason to START one!). It's kinda fun when you think about all the things that your readers may not know about you. Believe me, there was a LOT more I could have written on my list.

So what about you? If you decide to play, then let me know! Send me the URL to your post and I'll put it here. This was so much FUN, so give it a try.

TAG, YOU'RE "IT"!!!

12-23-06 UPDATE: Apparently, blog-tagging is chic these days. Check out this Salinas, CA-based KSBW column by staff writer Rick Ellis. He gets in on the action and even reveals the genesis of the explosion in popularity of blog-tag came when Jeff Pulver started this thing about two weeks ago! Again, if you read my blog, then consider yourself tagged. E-mail me at livinlowcarbman@charter.net if you play the game! Don't forget to tag others in your post. :D

12-23-06 UPDATE: My regular reader Calianna decided to play along with the blog-tag game today at her "Calianna's Cottage" blog. THANKS for joining in on the fun and opening yourself up a bit in the process. Anyone wanna join me and Calianna in blog-tag? You're gonna LOVE it!

12-23-06 UPDATE: Now Wanda has gotten in on the action. So you liked the idea, EH Wanda? Hockey, really? I can't get into that sport too much, but I suppose it's more of a Canadian thing than American. THANKS for playing along. Isn't this a neat idea? :D