She called it 'Monday Meme'....

(swiped from Kwizgiver)
...but I'm doing it on a Saturday...


1. What is your dream career, and what path do you plan to take to get there?

I'm 48. Probably half of my career path is behind me. I have been a librarian, a temp worker, a newspaper carrier, a babysitter, a library page, an intern at my church, a conference setter-upper (and tearer-downer), and a cheese-seller, among other paid positions so far. I'm hoping to stick with the librarian career for another couple of decades, and of course, I'll always be Mom, and not just to Sparky: I noticed a couple of weeks ago that one of the youth group girls, now in college, added me as her mom on her Facebook page.

2. Who do you aspire most to be like?

Myself. The difficulty, of course, is that I'm not always sure who I am. In terms of whom I emulate, there is a long list that starts with my dad and moves through various coworkers and friends.

3. What do you like in a best friend?

Honesty, humor, and intellect. The latter doesn't have to be "book smarts" but the ability to think outside of her (or his) personal life is imperative.

4. Do you currently have any squishes (people you really want to be best friends with)?

So glad someone has come up with a term for this! And to think, only about 30 years too late for me! There are a few people that I'd like to get to know better, but I'm not sure I'm in the market for a Best Friend. Then again, are we ever?

5. What is your ideal platonic relationship?

Uhm? I don't think I understand how this is different from best friends, is it?

6. Best late night IM conversation story.

See above re my age. Late night IM conversations don't happen here. I'm smarter than that.

7. List one person you’d like to wear the sweater of, one person you’d like to bake cookies with, and one person you’d like to drive around and get lost with. (can be celebrities or fictional characters, has to be three different people and not all the same person)

Sweater: my dad. Cookies: Jenny, or Amy (because I hate making cookies and I know they make good cookies, so it would all work out). Drive around/get lost: I do this regularly with Beast; it's one of our hobbies. And I would like to do this with Sparky, since one of his biggest fears--seriously--is being lost. Which he was about 3 months ago, at night. He called pretty close to a state of total panic.

8. Describe your current best friend(s).

Well, one of them seemingly effortlessly always seems to do/say/be just the right thing at the right time. One of them has known me since September 1982 and still wants to hang with me; we've been through it all, on parallel tracks, in a rather weird way.

9. What is a strange, little-known fact about you?

I loathe "women's magazines." Is that strange? I don't think it really should be. Women's magazines, from what I've seen, seem to hate women.

10. What is a career you wanted to have when you were younger, and still kind of want to have now?

There have been several long periods when I wanted to go to seminary.

11. If you could have tea and pleasant conversation with one person, who would it be?

Well, since you brought up tea, I guess it behooves me to say one of my British rellies, eh?

12. If you had a time machine, what era would you go to?

Stipulating that I could come home when things got dicey, I'd love to visit the early settlement (by whites) of Colorado: the mining camps, the prairies, the homesteads. It would be weird to run into my grandparents!

13. What celebrity or historical figure would you love to have as your best friend and why?

Being a woman makes this tricky since, as a woman in history, most of the historical figures I admire wouldn't have given me the time of day. In fantasyland, I would love to watch Michelangelo work, and I'd love to chat with Thomas Jefferson. Edging towards more realistic choices, I'd go with Laura Ingalls Wilder and/or Corrie Ten Boom.

14. What fictional character would you love to have as your best friend and why?

Laura Ingalls. No brainer question!

15. If you could have one wish, what would it be? (cannot be related to romance or sex)

I would have access to a private jet that could take me whenever I want to go to the vacation home we would own in Colorado. So, yeah, it's a twofold wish, but structured as a single one.

16. If you were trapped on a deserted island and could only take one item, what would it be?

I hate answering this question because I'm far too practical to NOT say "a boat" or "food and water."

17. If you could pick one career other than the one you are pursuing/plan to pursue, what would it be?

Hmm. Part of the reason I'm a librarian is because there's not really anything else I want to do.

18. What is your best memory you have with a friend?

Laughing in a slightly manic, out-of-control way. It happens often enough that I can't really pin the occasion down to just one example.

19. Do you have any peculiar interests that most people don’t know about?

Hmm. Probably not people who read this blog regularly, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of people at church don't know how much I swear or how irreverent I am most of the time.

20. What were your favorite childhood toys? Do you still have them?

(Metal) jacks and ball, jumprope, Barbie, toy cars, also metal. I have most of the cars. As well as most of Beast's childhood car (Hot Wheels and Matchbox) collection, and Sparky's, and perhaps my nephews' as well. We have a LOT of toy cars.

21. Favorite baked good?

Iced sugar cookies. I bought some tonight to take to the youth group meeting tomorrow. They're in the car, because if I bring them in, I will each them. All 16. Before tomorrow's meeting.

22. If your best friend were here right now, what would you do with them? (cannot list best friend as your romantic/sexual partner)

I'm sure we'd discuss boys. And food. And philosophical issues. And books. Not necessarily in that order, but not necessarily NOT in that order, either.

23. Who would you love to play video games with?

I'm kind of a solitary player, at those times that I play them (if we're talking non-computer games). This is pretty much why the Facebook games eventually annoy the hell out of me: you are penalized if you don't have enough friends playing.

24. If you could visit any country, which one would it be?

That I haven't been to: Australia. That I have been to: The Netherlands.

25. Are there any friends you miss having around?

Yes. There are more family members that I miss having around, though.