5QF - Fears, Flat Irons, Phones, etc.

It's 5QF (that is Five Question Friday for the uninitiated!) - and we've got some great questions to answer care of Mama M. at My Little Life. Make sure to visit her if you'd like to play along - just click on the 5QF button above!

On to our questions!


1. What are you most afraid of?


I am most afraid of dying before my kids reach adulthood. 

Just to be clear, I am NOT afraid to die.  Oh, no, no, no.

However, I do believe that my kids were uniquely matched with me by the ultimate Matchmaker - and that I've a task set before me to train them up in the way they're to go.  My kids need their Mommy!

2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?

I use a curling iron as if it were a flat iron!  I slide it down the length of my hair and then very subtly flip the ends either in or out.

I'm sure you're sitting before your screen right now shouting, "GENIUS!" - and it is, but alas - not my idea.  I borrowed it from a real genius in one of my chic mags.

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?

Phone to the ear - forsure.

I like to think that I'm as multi-tasky as the next modern woman, but really ... I can only focus on one thing at a time, so hands-free is just plain pointless and silly for me.

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?

I do indeed! However, I DO find that mismatched sets are often very charming.

This is the bed and set of drawers (to right of bed).  Matching bureau with mirror is on wall opposite headboard - just couldn't fit it all in!  As you can see, pic is from a couple years ago

- before we moved to our present home - so not the room we have now - but is the furniture! 

5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
 
I guess that when I hear the word "paranormal," I immediately think of ghosts, poltergeists, haunted houses and the such, BUT because I tend towards being very literal, I looked up the definition for "paranormal" which is (according to Merriam-Webster) "not scientifically explainable."  Based on this definition, I very simply DO believe.
 
The End!

5 Questions - Money & Trash & Dreams & Instruments & Stores ... Oh my!

It's 5QF (that is Five Question Friday for the uninitiated!) - and we've got some great questions to answer care of Mama M. at My Little Life. Make sure to visit her if you'd like to play along - just click on the 5QF button above!

And our questions are ...

1. What is better, growing old with out money or dying young and wealthy?

Ummmm ... what kind of question is THIS?!

Okay, okay ... just kidding.

I know exactly my answer.  I would rather grow old without the dinero.  I think youth and money is a dangerous combination.  Too often, Youth + Money = Foolish.  My level of joy, peace and satisfaction are not directly linked to my bank account; they're directly linked to my Heavenly Father.

2. Who takes out the garbage at your house?

Well .... whoever remembers - which too often is NOBODY. 

Monday night is trash night ... and it seems that we only remember every other week!  On week 2, we CAN'T forget because every time we leave the house, we're reminded by the overflowing piles outside the garage door entrance.  On the weeks we forget, the trash isn't full enough to overflow - so apparently, we operate in an "outta sight - outta mind" mentality.

Just last week, I put "Outgoing Trash" on a chore list for my boys.  I'm hopeful that they'll be more on top of the task than their Mama and Daddy!

Hope springs eternal!!!

3. Have you ever had the same dream many times?

I rarely remember my dreams anymore - but I used to.

I used to have flying dreams as a kid - or the ability to leap from tree top to tree top.  I LOVED those dreams. 

Two other themes that are less fun and more unsettling:

1. I am trying to see things more clearly.  I'm nearsighted in real life - and in my dream, I'll suddenly realize that everything is blurry - and I'll frantically search for my glasses or contacts.  Often, I'll find my contacts and try to stick them back in my eye - only to discover that they are about 4x to large for my eye - and I wake up with an image of myself trying to shove a saucer-sized floppy contact lens into my regular-sized eye.  Weird, right?  I know there's a message here ... I can almost "see" it ... haha.
2. I am in a house - and I can't find my way out.  I'm walking from room to room and there appears to be no exit anywhere.  Some of the rooms are fascinating and I'll linger in them - and others less so.  It's disconcerting not having the option of leaving.  The lower I go in the house, the eerier it is.  I know there's a metaphor here.  Psychoanalyze away!  ;-)

4. Can you play a musical instrument?

Well, I used to play both piano and clarinet. 

I feel quite certain that I'd very nearly need to start from scratch on the clarinet, so I don't think that counts anymore - and I always hated the taste and sensation of the wood reed, so I'm not interested in a refresher, thank you very much.

And the piano ... well, I can still pick out a tune, but after 12 YEARS of lessons imposed on me against my will ... I maintain (as I did from the first lesson at age 6) that a musician, I am NOT!!!  If there were a maestro in me, I think that 12 years is MORE than adequate to have coaxed it out.

5. If you owned your own store, what would you sell?

Well, this one is EASY PEASY for me!!  I used to own 2 retail stores, and would totally do it again ...

My hubby and I (though he was not my hubby at the time) opened our first retail store at the young and carefree age of 20.  We rented a mall kiosk in St. Cloud, MN where we made and sold beaded and macrame jewelry - casual, earthy stuff, most of which we made by hand.  Later, we opened additional outlets in Duluth, MN, then Appleton, WI and finally Eau Claire, WI where we settled for 9 years. 

When we became parents, we chose to close our out-of-town locations and focus on the local shop and our family.  Besides, I had suffered from serious post-partum and was not a very capable partner in business, marriage or parenting at the time.

When my little one turned one, I opened a local bath boutique in addition to the jewelry kiosk, specializing in mid-range bath products with an emphasis on quality and natural ingredients.  I loved everthing about this store ... the smell of the fresh cut soaps, the natural perfumes and candles ... ah, I MISS it!!!  We lasted a year - sales were increasing, and the store looked marvelous, but we lacked the funds to see it all the way through ... AND I was missing out on the formulative years with my 1st-born.  In light of the fact that we wanted more kids, we closed up shop, cut our losses - and I stayed at home, while my hubby moved on to car sales.

Anyhoodle ... I would SO do either a bath or jewelry store again - OR gifts in general.  Hmmmm ... pardon me while I continue to dream!!!  :-)

Happy Weekend!!! 

 And feel free to let me know YOUR thoughts on Money, Trash, Dreams, Instruments and/or Stores, too!

Five Question Friday - We Got Some Hot Ones!

It's 5QF (that is Five Question Friday for the uninitiated!) - and we've got some great questions to answer care of Mama M. at My Little Life. Make sure to visit her if you'd like to play along (OR visit her anyway - she's always an entertaining read!)

So, without further ado ...

1. Worst trouble you ever got into as a teenager?

Hmmm ... a teenager - ages 13 to 19 ...

Well, while I lived under my parents' roof, my naughtiness amounted to sitting for hours in my room and reading rather than tackling the chores I'd been assigned which might have been dusting, folding clothes, tidying my room, etc.  I was in trouble for chore evasion via literature consumption ALL the time.  Books were my addiction - my escape, my high, my compulsion, my "friends."  I NEVER got into trouble outside of my home - model student and citizen.

My college career was a MUCH different story however.  (I blogged a wee bit about my transition from high school to college back here.)  Before I turned 20, I'd been ticketed for fake ID, minor consumption, underage in a bar ... and these were just the legal troubles I got myself into.  I put myself into all sorts of troubling situations with my drug and alcohol abuse.  It is a wonder I made it through that period alive and intact - but NOT without scars (the worst kind really - deep and invisible). 

The most sobering trouble that I got myself into during that college period (I was still 18) was recieving a notice in my little campus mail slot notifying me that I had lost my on-campus job.  Actually, it did not say I had lost my job, it said I was fired.  *groan*  My job was incredibly simple - and unsupervised which apparently was too much liberty for me at that time.  All I had to do was keep the study lounge on my dorm floor tidy - vaccuum, wipe counters and microwave, and take out trash.  Crazy easy.  So easy to do - so easy NOT to do.  Suffice it to say that the lounge had become quite a dive under my lack of care ... and so I was terminated.  By way of explanation, I was at the height of bad choices - bad boyfriend, lack of commitment to my studies, and overcommitment to getting high every night.  The lounge was the last thing on my mind - I never used it, never cleaned it.  I wasn't healthy ... and neither was my work ethic (which interestingly had always been stellar - overachieverish even - before AND after - Hello, Wake Up Call!).

2. Are you a morning person or a night person?

I am SO a night owl.  I am only very rarely in bed before midnight.  Lately, I've been pushing bedtime back further and further - closer to 1a.m.  I have ALWAYS been this way - often reading my book secretly in the bathroom after lights out (I was on the upper level - my parents on the lower - they had no idea that I was shut in the bathroom with the light on reading into the wee hours) - often until 2 or 3 a.m. 

And then I wonder why I have such a hard time getting going in the a.m.!

Knock, knock, wooden head!

3. Are you a one-handed or a two-handed Texter?

I am so NOT a texter. On the rare occasion that I've done so, it has been one-handed ... and only in response to texts from others ... and only in one or two word responses.

4. Democrat, Republican, or Independent..or maybe even Green Party (whatever that is).

I plead the fifth on this one (I've literally seen solid friendships annihilated in the face of political disagreement). Most of my friends don't even know my political stance ... except for the fact that my hubby slapped a bumper sticker on my vehicle last election which I mean to take off, but it seems to be too much trouble.

I will share, however, that last spring I shook hands with now President Obama. I don't care who you are - that's cool!!!

                                         

Now-President Obama addressing the overflow crowd at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire just minutes before shaking MY hand!  That's my mom's face framing the pic on the left and my hair on the right.  My sis stood behind us and snapped the pic.

5. Are you a pet person?

YES!!!  I have ALWAYS had pets in my life.  I grew up on the farm where we had countless animals - the usual suspects (cows, sheep, pigs, chickens) and the unusual (ducks, geese, swan, deer) but alway a few pets - usually dogs, though a few ponies, hamsters, rabbits, a pair of lovebirds and once we even had a pet raccoon which lived with us for a summer until it was mature and the call of the wild took her back to where she belonged.

Presently, we have two dogs - good old reliable Golden, Dakota ... and crazy unpredictable mutt, Henry.

Dakota and Henry

And, oh - not MY pet, but my son, TJ has a beta fish, Wiggles.

5 Question Friday Fun!

It's 5QF (that is Five Question Friday for the uninitiated!) - and we've got some great questions to answer care of Mama M. at My Little Life.  Make sure to visit her if you'd like to play along (OR visit her anyway - she's always an entertaining read!)

So, without further ado ...

1. What's your "comfort food"?


Really good homemade carrot bars with scratch cream cheese frosting.  (drool)  My good friend has a recipe that uses carrot baby food instead of shredded carrots - and it is absolutely to-die-for!  Hmmm ... I could go for some right now ...


2. Do you send Thank You's (handwritten or email)?


Well, I TREASURE handwritten Thank You's, but find that the sentiment means just as much via email - just the fact that someone thought to thank me for anything is both humbling and tickles my vanity in a way that is both delicious and dangerous all at the same time.

However, I SUCK at sending Thank You's - and quite frankly, in order for my thanks to make it out of my head and to the intended recipient - I find that email or oral expressions of gratitude are the most reliable means (for me).  I often will go to the trouble of buying Thank Yous, looking at the Thank Yous, thinking about Thank Yous ... and then promptly forgetting about Thank Yous.  It is almost as if once I've thanked someone in my head, I feel as if its as good as done (this must be some kind of mental illness ...)

At any rate, as I write this I am reminded that when my youngest turned 5 and had his birthday, I went to the trouble of taking a pic of each little party guest with the birthday boy and the gift they'd given ... with the intention of sending these as "thank yous" - and now in January (party was Oct. 31), I still have them just sitting in my computer's memory - they're not even in my OWN memory ... until now, of course ...

I wonder if I'm too late ... I think Miss Manners - or someone like that - recommends a 2-week turnaround period for expressions of gratitude.  If I send them now, would that be cool?  Better late than never ... OR better not at all than 2+ months late?

Here is an example ...

 

3. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?


Hmmmm ... definitely "Fantasy Island"!!!!



4. What is your favorite online recipe site?


I like www.allrecipes.com .  Easy to navigate - and I appreciate the ratings and reviews!!!  *I'm so not cool like Mama M.  :-)



5. If you had to choose: "Friends" or "Seinfeld"?

I'm gonna go with ... "Friends".

5 Question Friday - My 1st!

Today is 5 Questions Friday!  I have NEVER tried this before - but there is a first time for everything - and what better time to try a First, but on the First Day of the New Year!!!  To link up with your own Answers to 5 Question Fridays, visit Mama M. over at My Little Life!

Now - without further ado ...


5 Questions for the New Year!!



1. If you could bring one character to life from your favorite book, who would it be?

• Anne Shirley from Green Gables!  I just think she is marvelous and can so relate to all the innocent mischief that she gets herself into - would love to live right next door to her!

2. Where did you get your very first kiss?

• My first kiss was in Alexandria, MN at a little fairytale park (there were cutouts all over the park grounds of characters like Goldilocks, the Three Little Pigs or Mary - who had a little lamb, etc.) in the dark on a bridge.  I was on a date with a boy that I didn't even particularly like (but no one had asked me out before, so I thought it would be foolish to turn him down - that was my first mistake, and a sign of my truly foolish nature.)  We had gone to a movie (the hooker fairytale, Pretty Woman) and now we had paused on this sweet little bridge.  He stopped in the center - and because I didn't know what else to do, I stopped to.  He turned his Cool Waters drenched neck to the side and spit a wad of Hubba Bubba into the fairytale stream.  Then, he turned back to me and plunged his bubble gum flavored tongue down my throat.  Let's just say that this was NOT fairytale-like at all!  (I now refer to him as The Human Ear Swab since he moved from plunging my throat to licking the entire interior of my ear - ewwww!)

3. How did you welcome in the New Year?

• My hubby and I took our 2 boys (ages 8 and 5) to a Prime Rib and Crab Leg buffet - they LOVED it!  Then, we stopped at Wal-Mart (I KNOW!  But, we've precious few other options in our neck of the woods!) and picked up little confetti poppers, New Year's beverages, and razors (I was out - and hairy!  It was necessary!).  Then, we went home where I showered and shaved before assembling new stools from Ikea with Xander (age 5) while listening to MTV's New Year's Countdown with hubby (Jay) and Tobey (age 8) who were playing board games.  Moments before the New Year finally showed up, Jay was on the computer, Tobey was barely awake on the couch (had to shake him at 11:55) and Xander was watching Wow, Wow Wubbzy in the master bedroom.  At the stroke of midnight, we all piled on the sofa, shouted "Happy New Year", and kissed (well, actually Tobey refused the kiss ... but the rest of us participated).  Then, we all rolled into bed ... and slept.

4. What is your favorite Beatles song?

• Wow!  I've no idea how to choose!  Ummmmmm ... I like Eleanor Rigby, Yesterday, Let it Be ... I'll stop there ... I could go on and on for a while ...
  

5. Donuts: Overrated, underrated, or 'bout right?

• Well, I'm not really sure HOW they're rated, so not sure how to respond to this one ... I am no longer a donut fan - primarily because I am way too aware how very bad they are for me!!!  However, I used to hope and pray that I'd find a quarter (the cost of a donut) in my pocket whenever I visited the local bakery as a child.  Later, discovered Krispy Kreme (before you could buy them at the gas station) and thought they were truly heaven-sent.