gilpin25

So you come back from holiday and you have homework. The best part seems to be that I have five new stories to read, I'm not quite so sure about the Battle Cry thing which, apparently, I just had to discover...

Is it me being paranoid or do I sound a bit Xena-like? Well, Xena-like if she was a shot-putter with hairy armpits, strapping thighs, and probably a beard that

ladybracknell would recognise... No, I'm not convinced by this one, although there's a fair few people I could bludgeon with a lot of abandon, and obviously I do have an interesting turn of phrase there. ;)

Next I was tagged by

bratty_jedi,

pandorajones and

celtmama to do a meme. I thought I'd given these up, but obviously it was only for a week's trial period.

1. My maiden name is Italian, although it doesn't sound particularly so. My Dad researched our Family Tree and found out that part of the family fell out with the other back in the late 1700's and, in a bit of a huff, set sail for fame and fortune in England. (Apparently leaving a vast amount of wealth back in Italy with the other lot, which says a great deal for our intelligence). They ended up in Yorkshire, founded a firm of stonemasons, and helped build part of Ripon Cathedral. Another lot took the wrong turn in their boat and ended up in Ireland, which also says a lot for our navigational skills. Needless to say, I live in hope that one day some Italian count will turn up on my doorstep, and cry 'Bonjourno! I bring all zat lira you are owed!'

2. I've got a small scar in front of my ear where I fell off a pony as a child, and he galloped over the top of me, giving me a whack on the head as he went. An inch the other way and, as they kept telling me while sewing me up, he'd have taken my ear off. I was more upset by having to have my hair shaved.

3. I used to do a lot of dancing as a child - ballet, tap, ballroom - and the summit of my ballet career was playing Mary, Mary Quite Contrary (yes, it was type-casting) at our local theatre. Shortly after this, the ballet teacher told me I couldn't do ballet and ride horses, so I'd have to choose between them. I never went to ballet again, and gave the other two up shortly afterwards so I could concentrate properly on falling off horses.

4. I met my husband at a badminton club. We played a game together, were thrashed, and agreed we'd avoid each other like the plague in future as we were clearly incompatible.

5. My best mate and I used to spend our days off from work at the cinema. We once saw five films in one day, including the same one twice. We had rectangular eyes afterwards, and a few problems for weeks afterwards with people who made a noise in front of us or went anywhere near popcorn.

6. On my first date with my eventual husband he took me to the cinema to see "Stargate." It was sold out when we got there, but in an incredibly impressive moment he marched up to the desk, asked if any tickets had been returned or someone not turned up (we were late), and triumphantly returned with two tickets. We sat in the back row, I got an eyelash in my eye for the last few minutes and couldn't see a thing (until I saw it on video I had no idea how it had ended), and when the credits rolled I left him there and ran for the loo, shouting 'Don't worry! Back soon!' One streaming eye and a lot of assurances that I wasn't crying at the film later, he decided to take me to a restaurant he knew - it was closed - so we ate chips in McDonalds and then went for a walk. It was a starry night and he knew the name of every star and every constellation, much like

ladybracknell's Werewolf chapter. I was hooked...

I won't tag anyone else because I'm already late with my homework. Hopefully I'll get detention with Remus. ;)

That's it. I'm going off to read other people's fics so as to distract me from all thoughts of tomorrow when it's fic posting day.

mrstater says I'm not allowed to tweak any more. I think I need some earthy potato drink...