8 facts about me - my first time being tagged.

Thanks Diana .~~~Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.~~~

1. I legally changed my name at 23 from "Barbara Annette" to "Madeline" with no middle name. I was acting at the time in NY and there was another Barbara Annette Roberts in the screen actor's guild union. All I had to do was change my middle name but I loved having the excuse to change the whole thing. I grew up in Boston and was called "Baabra". I just wasn't a Barbara. Madeline was my mother's middle name.

2. When I was 20 I was trampled in a Diana Ross concert in Central Park. I didn't much like Diana Ross (only went because my roomate asked me to go) and that was the thought going through my head as people ran over me in my white dress - "I am not going to die in a Diana Ross concert!" I heaved myself up, ran after a guy I saw was stealing my purse and grabbed it back (did that a few times in NY - not very smart) and then realized I needed to go the hospital. My leg was bleeding. I got 8 stitches and a fear of big concerts - until a few years ago when I went to a huge arena to see U2. If The Rolling Stones or Simon and Garfunkel or someone else I loved had been playing I might have laid there a bit too long and died from not having enough outrage adrenaline.

3. I smoked Camel Lights (ON and off) until over ten years ago on the day I found out that I was (unexpectedly but oh so joyfully) pregnant.

4. I had to leave NYC and move home for awhile when I was 25, having been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and having no more energy to pursue acting. I went on to college, directed theater and had maybe a more grounded life (definitely a more natural one!) than I would have. I have now beaten it, for the most part, but can still have bad days.

5. I was a dancer for many years. I miss it.

6. Since the days of "St. Elsewhere", I have always had a tv hospital-drama addiction. It was "ER" for years and now it is "Grey's Anatomy".

7. Since meeting my MIL more than 12 years ago, I have not been to a doctor except to have my babies (had midwives but sadly ended up with c-sections) and once to check out a small cyst in a clinic. We didn't have health insurance until this month (the kids did), but the real reason was that my MIL's naturopathic knowledge cured all of us of any illness we had. Starting to eat organically, twelve years ago, changed my health drastically, as did cutting out most processed foods.

8. I have only had one speeding ticket, ever. I got that one on the day of my mother's funeral and the cop felt so badly about it when he realized that he said he wouldn't contest if I showed up on the court day and argued against it. This is not a reflection on how little speeding I do but rather on my magical inner cop radar. I am a good driver and a better back seat one (meaning I don't back seat drive as much as my husband). That's a fact.

1. Stephanie Roberts
2. Stephanie in SLC
3. Sara
4. Danielle
5. Helen
6. Damien
7. Vicki
8. Julie