Sit back and grab a drink...
I must first thank my
thoughtful and giving friend
Kristen for tagging me with this. We share the same agency and I guess she thought we should share this painful experience, too. =)
1) Read the meme that was dumped on/assigned to you. Answer the questions.
2) Add TWO new questions to the list. Answer those questions.
3) Dump/Forward this onto the next victim/blogger (and list their name and link to their blog).
4) This series will conclude when we get 50 questions - so yes, it’s 25 bloggers in the chain.
5) Please make sure that the next victim in the “link” doesn’t have a password protected blog.
[Optional] Copy these micromanaging instructions into the top of your meme post.
Now... On to the questions!
1. What secret/surprising/personal goal (that is realistically achievable within the next 15 years) would you like to fulfill? Other than to actually bring my daughter home? I guess to figure out what goal I should have.
2. Can you name an event or a last minute decision or guess that significantly changed the path of your life? Going to grad school to embark on a career in speech-language pathology. I was in California and went to Virginia which led to a bunch of changes.
3. What is one unrealistic goal (but your total secret dream) that you would love to come true, but are pretty sure it won’t ever happen? Getting back to a size four and marriage. =)
4. Who has had the most influence on your life and what did they teach you? My parents. Where to begin…
5. You are on a deserted island. You are stranded with someone from any point in time for 2 months (they are coming to rescue you but are busy right now). Other then family/friends/naval engineers, who is it? Whaddaya mean they’re freakin’
busy right now???
6. Name and describe 3 things on your mind lately. Is there any particular reason why you're thinking about a particular thing? 1. Having a child or not. The wait gives me lots of time to overanalyze and stress. 2. My job. I am trying to figure out how I can make a bigger difference in my students’ lives. 3. Training for the next half marathon or not. It’s gonna get cold soon…whine.
7. If you could go back to one moment in time and change it, what would the moment be and what would you change it from and to? I’m not sure it would be a “one moment” thing. It would be changing my whole mindset when I went to UVA so as to alter several aspects of my life, not just my career direction. The rear view mirror always helps, doesn’t it?
8. What is your biggest pet peeve and is there anything that you can do or not do to stop other people from doing it? I work with neglected children. One would hope that educating their parent(s) would make a huge difference, but I don’t see that happening. Parents and educators need to work together to make a difference in the life of a child. Oh, and people that throw trash out of their car windows and leave cigarette butts on the ground...grrrrr.
9. Who has been the most influential teacher in your life and why did he or she have such an impact on you? Have you sent them a note? I remember a few, but none were truly inspirational. So no.
10. What three things do you regret not learning to do? 1. Auditioning more in NYC. 2. Learning to be
fluent in sign language 3. Dance. Oh yeah, I tried sign and dance. I just suck at them. =)
11. What is your biggest fear? The death of my parents.
12. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’m very critical of people as I’m aware I probably have the same flaws in myself. Also, my ankles, my thighs, my oh, did you say ONE thing? =)
13. What is the answer to life, the universe, everything? Sleep.
14. If you knew, beforehand, that the wait for your child from China would take this long and drastic a time frame, would you still go through with it or would you choose another country? No. I probably would have been better prepared to wait and not feel like I’m crossing off days til my life officially starts.
15. What is one food that most people like that you do not like at all? Shrimp. Especially the big kind. Clams, oysters, etc. The texture freaks me out.
16. Name one place in the world you would love to spend at least one month visiting? Is there anywhere on earth that is so repulsive to you that there is no amount of money that could convince you to visit it? Norway. I used to live there and would love to go back. I probably wouldn’t do so well in the Middle East.
17. What book have you just finished reading and why did you pick it up? Would you recommend it to others? The Power of Visual Imagery A Reading Comprehension Program for Students with Reading Difficulties by Karen Kelly. It had some good strategies. Don’t know when I can fit them into the day, though. Not really one to recommend for vacation reading, though! I am wading through Peony in Love. It’s a bit frustrating.
18. Share a relatively quick and easy recipe for Fall. One pot/dish recipes given extra credit. My family lets me make about 4 items for family get togethers: salsa, guacamole, broccoli casserole and a sherry bundt cake which my brother always mistook as sherry bum cake. Here’s the cake: 1 pkg yellow cake mix, 1 pkg vanilla instant pudding, 1 tsp nutmeg, ½ tsp salt. Add following all at once & beat five minutes with mixer. ¾ c. oil, ¾ c. Sherry wine, 4 eggs (unbeaten). Pour into greased & floured bundt pan. Cake will be moist after 40 minutes at 350 degrees. When cool, sprinkle lots of powdered sugar on top.
19. Would you rather be financially well off, but unhappy, or a happy person who is always in need of money? I still think money can help buy you happiness in some form or another. =)
20. What is the most comforting sound in the world to you and why? My dogs sleeping/snoring.
21. What is your all time favorite book? If you aren’t a reader, what is your favorite movie? And why? I don’t really have favorites of anything. I remember loving Mallory Towers, Anne of Green Gables and Trixie Belden books growing up. A while back I liked Outlander and Voyager books by Diana Gabaldon and Here Be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman (historical fiction/trashy reading with some historical events thrown in). Recently I really enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Now I struggle through lots of “Teaching Children to Read” type books.
22. Share one of your most cherished childhood memories. Running with my dad and dog Callie during my High School Cross country days.
23. What are you paranoid about?Making good choices.
24. What trait of yours do you MOST hope your children will carry on? Being a good person.
25. What’s your guilty pleasure? My mom’s chocolate chip cookies/dough. =)
26. What would you buy if you had a thousand dollars to spend on yourself? The only catch is that it has to be a totally selfish purchase, just for you. No paying bills or buying a year’s supply of wet wipes. Wet wipes cost $1000 a year??!?! I’d go on vacation, far, far away.
27. Help me update my iPod...name your favorite artists, and then your favorite song that they perform. I tend to like a song for awhile and then grow tired of it. Kind of like my men. Haha. =) Recently I loaded my ipod with Paralyzer by Finger Eleven, Misery Business by Paramore, Sewn by The Feeling, All the Pretty Faces and Shadowplay by The Killers, The Pretender by Foo Fighters, I’d Really Love to See You Tonight by England Dan and John Ford Coley and a couple of new Matchbox Twenty songs.
28. What is your favorite charity? American Cancer Society and the local SPCA.
29. In The Shadow of the Wind, there is a beautiful passage that says “few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart.” Do you think this is true, and if so what is your “first” book and why. I have a tape of me reading the Diggiest Dog back when I was 4. Does that count? I remember reading A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry in about the 4th grade and I thought it was shocking to read about a girl dying from leukemia. A scene with blood soaked bed linens scarred me for life.
30. What is your favorite wilderness hike and why? (You knew I was going to ask this-if you aren’t a hiker, you can modify it to drive by landscapes or whatever speaks to you.) I loved hiking in Mount Zion last spring. Amazingly beautiful and peaceful.
31. What were/are your nicknames? Do you like them? Shi-shi (given by my niece) which I love. Other than that, I’ll never tell! =)
32. What was your first concert? Your most recent? I think it was Sting Nothing like the Sun tour (1987?) and most recently Nickelback (2007).
33. Have you ever done someone the dirty? I mean really, foully, badly wrong. And would you do it again, and why, or why not? No. I’m not that devious. But I’d think about it…a lot…
34. If you found out that the universe HAD been created, and you could ask the Creator one question, what would it be? Just one question? Something about little children having to suffer. Doesn’t make sense to me.
35. What were your dreams as a child? Being a professional cross country skier and a singer.
36. What can you do better than most people you know? Worry about nothing.
37. What’s your favorite bird and why? Another favorites question! Ummm…penguins? They’re cute and live a strange life.
38. When/where did you last go camping? I think I blocked those experiences out. Camping is not my favorite thing to do! We went somewhere in Virginia in 1987? It was summer and all I can recall are mosquitoes, humidity and horrible bathroom conditions. Aaah, camping!
39. Is there something that you feel you should love doing with your kids but you really don’t enjoy at all? Well, if I had kids…I guess going camping would be up there.
40. What home improvement project is next on your list? Something as small as changing a light bulb counts.I think I have to rake the leaves, does that count? Also, finish decorating the second bathroom now that the paint/tile/etc. is done. I am not a decorator. Add that to my "should have learned" list under question #10.
41. Which season is your favorite? I usually love Fall, but it seems to have missed us this year. It is supposed to be76 degrees tomorrow. I am really liking spring these days because it’s the end of the gray days and we get in a sprint for summer vacation!
42. MAC or PC? Only know PC.
43. If you had to name the best thing about getting older, what would you say it is?I don’t have to name anything. You can’t make me. =)
44. If you were to name the most comforting thing for you to hold in your hands, what would it be and why?My puppies.
45. What is the most surprising thing you've learned about the blog world (and you CAN'T say "I've made such great friends". We all have, so we know that already! lol...).People put stuff out there that is really raw and emotional. I admire that and also fret for them. See #36.
46. If you had to choose one actress to play you in a movie, who would it be? Charlize Theron. I look just like her. =) Or maybe Helena Bonham Carter. She always has cool roles.
47. What are you currently watching on TV... and don't give me the I'm a smarty pants, I only watch current event shows type answer... what's your guilty pleasure TV show? I’m really not into tv much lately. I guess Friday Night Lights, America’s Next Top Model (love the transformations), and on Thermoman/My Hero the character of grouchy Mrs. Raven is my fave!
48. What is your favorite Holiday and Why? My favorite holiday…I suppose Christmas. I haven’t felt very holidayish for awhile.
Now I’m up to my two questions. I know this 50 question MEME is "finished" but if anyone else wants to join in, please do! Leave your info so we can follow along.
49. What is your favorite scent and why? I love honeysuckle and gardenia. I think the gardenia reminds me of my mom. I wear Knowing perfume. "Knowing Perfume by Estee Lauder- Launched by the design house of Estee Lauder in 1988. Knowing is classified as a refined, woody, mossy fragrance. This feminine scent possesses a blend of rose, mimosa, jasmine, oakmoss, amber and sandalwood." I can't stand patchouli, though. Side note: Have y'all tried Tigi Bed Head Brunette Goddess? Smells like yellow cake. yum.
50.How did you meet your best friend? My BFF is my mom. I
formally met her in February 1972. =)
There, Johnny. Now I'm definitely done!
Red Hot n’ Rollin’: Johnny(1, 2) ->
Our Journey to China (3, 4) ->
3D’s Adoption Journey (5, 6) ->
Waiting for Pumpkin (7, 8) ->Two Kayaks (9, 10) ->
Watch Our Family Grow (11, 12) ->
Our Journey to Little Maple and Back (13, 14) ->
American Family (15, 16) ->
Chicago Mama (17, 18) ->
The Further Adventures of SpacemomMrs. Figby (19, 20) -> (21, 22) ->
Mortimer’s Mom (23, 24) ->
Mimiboo (25, 26) ->
Sopapilla (27, 28) ->
Jiangli (29, 30) ->
Beeb (31, 32) ->
FD Chief (33, 34) ->
The Daily Grind (35, 36) -> Different Dirt (37, 38) ->
Twoladybugs (39, 40) ->
Forks and Chopsticks (41, 42) ->
The Mad Race for Macey (43, 44) ->
Digging A Hole To China (45, 46) ->
The Sense In It All (47, 48) -> Elena, R U?(49, 50) DONE!
