Tagged

...by Serena:

What to do:

1. Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 keywords given below (family, friend, yourself, your love and anything you like).

2. Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

3. Don’t forget to read the archived post and leave comments.

Family
Friend
Myself
My love
Anything I want (the first post on this blog)

The tag thing I'm supposed to do? If you want it, you got it. I don't tag people.

More taggage

This is from Lisa, but not exactly a direct tag. I'm actually just stealing it from her...

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night? Probably Sparky....though he was a little on the cynical side. Generally, though, he makes me laugh.

2. What were you doing at 0800? I was at work, probably talking to (i.e. listening to) CT.

3. What happened to you in 2006? It wasn't a horrific year...till the end. I went from great-aunthood to thinking I might lose a niece. Otherwise, there was this horrible series of work-related meetings, wherein I met some of the worst people I've had the misfortune to almost have to work with.

4. How many beverages did you have today? On my third bottle (20 oz.) of diet DP right now, but I'm not going to finish it.

5. What color is your hairbrush? Black

6. Where were you last night? At Meijer's buying my own birthday cake, at Panera buying dinner, and at home.

7.What color is your front door? Green on the outside, beige on the inside. I think. The screen door is (aack) gold.

8. Where do you keep your change? In my wallet.

9. What’s the weather like today? It was a GORGEOUS day today!!

10. What’s the best ice cream flavor? Vanilla, with butterscotch topping.

11. What excites you? Uhm...lots of random things, but I can't think of anything wonderful right now except going to sleep.

12. Do you want to cut your hair? I'd rather Shantell did it for me, as she did today.

13.Are you over the age of 25? Huh. Yeah, just a little.

14.Do you talk a lot? Sometimes.

15. Do you watch The OC? Could not pay me enough to watch that!

16. Do you make up your own words? Not with intent, but I have a very slippery mouth.

17. Are you a jealous person? Depends, but generally no.

18. Name a friend whose name starts with an ‘A’? Amy

19. Name a friend whose name starts with a ‘K’? Keith

20. Who’s the first person on your received call list? Sparky

21. What does the last text message you received say? No clue. I'm sure I deleted it. I'm fairly ruthless about that kind of thing.

22. Do you chew on a straw? No, I'm kinda over that stage, Dr. Freud.

23. Where’s the next place you are going? To the kitchen to turn off the lights, and then upstairs to take a bath.

24. Who’s the rudest person in your life? I work in public service! This is seriously not a fair question! OK, in my personal life, that would be either CT at work, or my niece Katherine who is a fine piece of work in many, many ways. Or my brother.

25. What was the last thing you ate? Birthday cake.

26. Will you get married in the future? Not likely.

27. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last 2 weeks? I saw the last 20 minutes of "Happy Feet" tonight, and all of Spider-Man 3 yesterday. Of the two, I'd rather watch my skin dry out and flake off.

28. When was the last time you did dishes? The dishwasher ran on Sunday night. I haven't hand-washed since Saturday, I think.

29. Are you currently depressed? I'm headed toward it, yes.

30. Did you cry today? No, it wasn't that bad of a day.

31. What was the last thing you said aloud? "Good night, sweetheart; sleep well."

32. What car do you drive and what Bumpersticker(s) do you have on it? Ford Ranger. The only bumper sticker I've ever had on any car was a AAA sticker. Not sure I have one on this truck, though, to be honest.

33. Why did you answer this and post it? Couldn't resist another tag, and I was more awake when I started. Didn't think I'd be this tired by the time I finished!!

Tagged

I was tagged by the Kwizgiver, and so here I am.

Here are the rules...

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs. [see below]
4. Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 random and/or weird facts about me:

1. I used to be able to (manually) bend my wrists so that my thumb touched the inside of the wrist below it.
2. I have a full octave-plus-one reach on my right hand.
3. My brother used to promise to pay me if I tickled his back. I'm still waiting for all those nickels 35 years later.
4. I know how to design a septic field, dig hole for the tank, and mix the concrete by hand for the construction of the tank.
5. I've taught at least two people how to drive a stick-shift, including my husband.
6. When I was a kid, I used to play with the raised veins on my mom's hands, because when I was little, she was old enough to have veins like that.
7. My two biggest wishes for Christmas, neither of which will come true, are matching bedroom furniture (dressers) and a new set of dishes.

Not tagging anyone. You want it, you got it.

Tagged

I was tagged by Kwizgiver for this.

Of course there are rules: answer the questions, tag 5 people and then go off on your travels to their hometowns. The hard part is that you can only give one answer for each of the questions. No ties. This could take awhile.

In fact, I'm stymied on several of them for my "hometown" (where I grew up), so I'm going to go with Milwaukee, which is not where I live, but I know it best. My current locale...I'll put those answers [in brackets], with no links and intentionally unnamed.
{Rules? Make 'em up as you go, in other words!}

Best place to eat. Mama Mia's. It's a local franchise, and they have the best garlic bread E V E R! Huge-ola, Milwaukee-sized servings of pasta. We lived near one restaurant for two years and ate there all the time, and still I never got tired of it. I think I need a road trip.
[The Mill, mostly because of the waitress and the 'decor']

Best shopping mall. Gotta be Grand Avenue. It's just sorta funky, for Milwaukee.
[I'm laughing. Mall? Hah!!! I live in a town that is still mostly rural. There is a new mall near where I go for DbD, so that's good, but I don't know the name of it. It's certainly not in the town where I live, and not where I work either.]

Famous landmark. I'm going with the Allen-Bradley clock because everything else is too hard to explain to non-M'wakeeans. There really isn't much in the way of landmarks; the only other one I thought of is next.
[uh....the stage theater in the center of town, I guess.]

Best tourism attraction. The art museum. The building architecture alone is worth the trip!
[Unfortunately, the only real tourism we get is either people escaping from The City, or people who have something deeply wrong with them who want to visit the site where a cult-movie-favorite was filmed.]

Best place for kids. Well, I was going to say the Circus Parade, but it seems to have been cancelled. So, I'm including this as a bid to bring it back. The Milwaukee County Zoo is one of the best zoos I've ever visited. Never bores me, and brings back loads of fun memories.
[Playing in parks, playing in yards...being a little kid around here is awesome! Not so much for the older kids, though.]

Popular outdoor activity. Summerfest. And all the other "fests" throughout the summer. If you like good music and lots of food, served with an ethnic twist for most of the summer, this is for you!
[Weekly band concerts in the town center in the summer. I think they've done this now for something like 75 years in a row. Pretty awesome. People bring potluck and eat and chat and enjoy the bugs...er, summer evenings.]

Breathtaking view. The Lake Michigan shoreline at night is amazing. Simply wonderful.
[Uh. Cornfields stretching to the horizon....? In my case, in the fall it's literally breathtaking!]

Only found here. Dolly Parton-meets-radiation-poisoning. It's an in-joke, but this photo gives you a sense of why we call it that.
[A parade in honor of a famous dude in a yellow hat.]

As for tagging...if you read this and feel compelled to join in, go nuts! No pressure, no foul, no bad feelings.... Have fun.

Career Change?

Kwizgiver tagged me this week with this career meme. It's taken me several days to get around to it, but here it is finally.

Here is how to play:
If you had the opportunity to do a 1-year internship in a company or field completely unrelated to your current career or specialty, what would be your top 5 choices?

1. Travel agent
2. Tour guide
3. College tutor
4. Youth pastor
5. Professional organizer

I'm supposed to tag five people, but I almost never tag people by name. If you feel like doing this, go on (and leave me a comment so I can come see your answers!)

Tagged

The Flavor Lady reads me, and she tagged me. TY, C.J.

If tagged, and you accept, these are the rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Here are my EIGHT RANDOMNITIES (new word, eh?):

1. I like the smell of sawdust. A lot. It reminds me of my dad, and makes me want to be four years old again.
2. The one thing I have inherited from my mom that I cherish the most is her button box: a cookie tin FULL of every kind of button in the universe. OK, not really, but very awesome. I used to play with those while Mom sewed, underneath Dad's desk in their bedroom. Sparky now has that same desk in his room, and I don't fit under it.
3. I am fine with virtually any bug (unless they are leaping around--not digging that very much), except cockroaches. But I really really really really really LOATHE what we used to call millers. I don't like any kind of moths, but millers....{{shudder}}
4. I almost always assume that the people I meet are the same age I am, or older, unless I'm told up front that they aren't or if it's obvious they aren't. It's always a surprise to find out that someone is younger than me.
5. I have a feeling that I learned more last week about certain things than the teens who were supposed to be learning stuff. One of those things is that I have a LOT more patience than I thought I did, if I choose to use it.
6. I talk too much.
7. I make light of it sometimes, but I really do miss having a dog around. I love them so much, and I can't NOT pet them when they are around. It makes me sad in my heart that they are completely off the list for me.
8. I actually want to return to Mall of America. To shop. For a long time. I think this is a sign that I've finally gone crazy!

So now, who to tag (that hasn't already done this meme recently). My apologies if I tag you and you have done it. Just let me know that it's been done so I can see what you wrote, or repost 'em in the comments. I'm really pretty easy on this part. Actually, I'm pretty easy about most things (does that count as #9?).

1. Amy
2. Artcat
3. Batgirl
4. Chris (all right, here's your chance to start a new blog!)
5. Diana
6. Laura
7. Lisa
8. Molly

If you aren't sure you are the person to whom I'm referring (since I'm too lazy to link), just go ahead and do it! hah

Open-Source tag

from Mr. Zen-Fo

Rapper Name:
According to this website, it's Coca Sweet.

Alternative Rock Band Name:
According to this site, it's Bitten Heaven.

Name your pain:
Never measuring up. Never being "good enough." So...inadequacy and the things that flow from that.

1 true word that symbolizes God:
Understanding.

1 True Love or 1 million dollars?:
You can make more money, but you can't make another love.

Live Free or Die Stupid?:
We all die stupid. My choice is to live as free as possible.

Purest, Happiest Moment Ever (8 words or less):
About a week after bringing Sparky home from the hospital, when I realized I could actually "do this" and I relaxed and really looked at him for the first time. That was also about the time the hormones wore off.

Most Influential Life Lesson:
"Life's not fair. We all have to do things we hate, but we have to do them."

Most Successful Person You Least Admire:
George W. Bush.

Where do we go when we die? (one word):
Which part of us? Part of goes back to make more of us, in the physical and metaphysical senses. The essence of who we are? I don't know. Guess I'll have to wait and find out.

Worst TV show of the past decade:
Over 90% of everything on at any given time in the past ten years. I don't want to pick on any on individual.

Best TV show of the past decade:
I like CSI. Not sure if it's the best, but it's my favorite.

Still with me, yes or no?:
Yawn.... Yep. I can do these in my sleep.

Burning Building- baby or dog:
Baby. What kind of question is that? Who would answer "dog"??

Who runs the world? (two words or less):
Evil. Occasionally interrupted by Not-Evil.

I know, I know: more than two works. So, stick with "Evil."

Worst Idea You Ever Had:
Opening my mouth gets me trouble so often, but I can't speak to which specific time got me in the worst trouble.

Shittiest Job You Ever Had:
Temping one summer. I actually enjoyed it, when places I was sent actually LET ME WORK! There were two places where I just sat. I did nothing: I wasn't allowed to file, answer phones, talk to people.... They paid me more than minimum wage to do nothing. I've never been so fucking BORED!

Best Job You Ever Had:
My current job is pretty good: cataloger at a medium-sized public library. Part of the reason I'm appreciating it so much is that I'm soon going to be losing my autonomy in many ways.

Tagged!

Lisa tagged me:

1. Do the following WITHOUT complaint.
2. Choose five people to do this after you’ve completed yours.
3. Leave a tag on the person’s tagboard to say he/she has been tagged.
4. Start your post with I have been tagged! Then do this. (copy and paste!)


Favourites:
Favourite Colour: blue
Favourite Food: pasta
Favourite Movie: "Heathers"
Favourite Sport: to watch: football -- to play: bocce
Favourite Day of the Week: Monday (I know, I'm weird)
Favourite Season: Fall
Favourite Ice Cream: Peppermint

Currents:
Current Mood: bummed: we're leaving for home today
Current Clothes: pajamas: shorts and top
Current Desktop: a photo of lilypads I took a couple of weeks ago
Current Time: 8:40 a.m.
Current Surroundings: vacation home in the Territory, in the living room with Sparky waiting on the couch next to me (he wants the laptop back), Beast making business travel plans across the room on his laptop, and Miss El reading HP on the other couch; The Big C just went downstairs
Current Annoyances: The Big C--I anticipate problems now that he's back down with the kids
Current Thoughts: I should be packing.

First:
First Best Friend: Laura M., who lived behind my grade-school babysitter. She was my best friend in high school as well. I think I had some friends before that, but besides Chris and Tony who rented a house across the street from us, I don't remember any names. I proposed to Chris. Hah.

Last:
Last Drink: Diet Dr. Pepper
Last Car Ride: home from town yesterday after a brief shopping foray
Last Crush: Not sayin' (heh)
Last Phone Call: probably Beast
Last CD played: I have no idea; I haven't heard any CDs while we were on vacation, except through the kids' earphones while they're listening

Have you ever:
Have you ever dated one of your best friends: I married my best friend
Have you ever broken the law: I haven't done anything major, and I've never been fined, ticketed, or arrested
Have you ever been arrested: no
Have you ever been on TV: yes
Have you ever kissed someone you don't know: I've kissed some people I didn't know very well

Things:
5 things you are good at: typing, making peace, organizing paper, planning trips, hugging
4 things you have done today: ot up, washed my face, ate breakfast, memes (that's about it so far, too!)
3 things you can hear right now: the ceiling fan, El turning the pages of her book, Sparky pacing

I'm not tagging anyone specifically. If you haven't done this already, and if you want to do this, please leave me a comment or link so I know where to find your answers! :-)

Tag!

I'm stealing this "tag" from ICL, even though I wasn't officially tagged. Oh, well.

The book nearest me:
The Four Witnesses, by Robin Griffith-Jones. It's next to me, but I haven't read any of it for a week. Sigh.

Stretch out left arm what do you touch?
I'm on the recliner at one end of the couch. If I throw out my arm, it ends up touching three of the four throws on the back. The other one is wadded up next to me, on top of the phone, the book, a section of Thursday's newspaper... Yeah, very tidy room right now...

Last thing watched on television?
Beast had a race on TV last night as I was going up to bed. I can't say I was actually watching it however. The last intentional thing I watched was, uhm, I don't know...something on Wednesday or Thursday. No clue. I'm not the TV-aholic in the household.

Without looking what time is it?
It is very hard NOT TO LOOK at the clock in the corner of the screen right now...I'd guess it's about 1:10 p.m.

What actual time is it?
1:00. Not bad.

With the exception of the computer what can you hear?
Just as I read the question the a/c switched on. Also, the windchimes on the front porch are noodling around pretty constantly, and Beast is turning the pages of the newspaper periodically, and reading out the good bits to me. It's the only news I actually get: what Beast tells me about. I'm so freakin' clueless (intentionally).

When did you last step outside?
Got home from church/brunch/errands about 40 minutes ago.

Before this survey what did you look at?
Online? Probably the last site I was paying attention to was Bloglines where I found the feed for this meme.

What are you wearing?
New yellow scoop-neck shirt and my tan embroidered capris, my first anniversary necklace, and the first nice pair of earrings I ever owned: topaz. Hey, it was a big day at church today!

Did you dream last night?
I have no earthly idea. I suppose I did, but I was pretty exhausted. I will be napping this afternoon to catch up.

When did you last laugh?
I know I laughed this morning at church. I think I laughed at brunch. I probably laughed at the store. I laugh a lot, though not always very heartily. I certainly don't remember what I laughed about, not after church anyway.

What is on the walls in the room?
The painting of Canyon de Chelly done by my dad's cousin for our wedding gift. Two surround-sound speakers. Two framed Egyptian papyri.
That's all the wall space there is in the living room, pretty much.

What do you think of this quiz?
It's a quiz? Damn: I thought ya'll were just nosy!
Now I'm worried I'll flunk.
I'm pretty sure I've done a very similar one at least once before.

What is the last film you saw?
"The Great Escape": Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Garner... Good movie.

Tell me something we don't know:
..about me? Or just in general? How do I know what ya'll know? So, I'll stick to stuff about me.
Uhm...I just discovered this morning that I have a large chip out of the front of one of my front teeth, large enough for my pinkie nail to fit into nicely. Yay--more dental work.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would you do?
Normally, I'd say ending war or something. Today I think I'd just end people's dissatisfactions with their perceptions, the kind that cause depression, bulimia, addiction, war, etc.

Do you like to dance?
Yup.

George Bush?
...is a pathetic waste of human tissue. Which is a much kinder thought than "and people say abortion is wrong?!?"

Imagine your first child is a girl...
...ok, now what? Am I supposed to name her? The name we picked for a girl when I was pregnant was Josephine Amalia (we were talking about this yesterday, and I really had to work on the question...couldn't remember the middle name). We'd've called her Jo, probably. Yes, the third letter in the middle name is supposed to be 'a'.
At this point, she and I would be entrenched in the official Mother-Daughter Power Struggle, otherwise known as World War III.

Imagine your first child is a boy...
Well, that was hard...he is. He's also the only child. Named after both grandpas. Best kid in the world. Looks just like my dad. Sometimes. A giant dork. Smart as a whip and dumb as a box of rocks, just like his folks.

Would you consider living abroad?
At this point, I'd have to weigh my desire to do so against educational issues for Sparky. I'd certainly love to have the option to live in another country part of the time, and come back to the States regularly too.

What would God say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
I hardly think I'm in a position to suggest God's conversational opening.
What I expect to hear is "Welcome."
What I should hear is "Holy cow, chick, you so totally fucked THAT up! Good thing I'm in charge, not you!"

6 people who will do this quiz:
No clue who to pick, though have a few likely suspects in mind who will work on it (I hope).

Me meme

from Claire Joy who got it here

I am impatient.

I want to be less judgmental.

I wish I had better self-control.

I hate rude and hurtful people.

I miss my dad.

I hear birds chirping and the guinea pigs scuffling around their cage.

I wonder if I'll ever get Life figured out.

I regret stupid parenting things I've done.

I am not as smart as people think I am.

I dance badly, but joyously.

I sing along with the radio.

I cry at the drop of a hat.

I am not always completely lazy.

I make with my hands outstanding challah.

I write because I can.

I confuse the will to do something with actually completing a task.

I need to stop whining so much.

I should go scrub out the shower.

I start a lot of things I never finish (although I'm getting better at that).

I finish everything on my plate.

I tag anyone who wants to play.

A Quirky Meme

Shelly tagged me on a double posting for this meme. And then I forgot. Which is why it's good that I save these posts so I can find them later and whack myself upside the head. We're supposed to blog about 5 of our quirky habits, and then tag some others.

What, only five?? hah

1. In one remaining OCD behavior from childhood, I have to keep my chewing balanced, so if I have one cookie, I have to either split it carefully in half and chew one half on each side of my mouth, or go get another cookie. I usually go for choice #2. It makes it hard to diet.

2. It is nearly impossible for me to leave my house once. I have to leave, drop everything in the car, realize I forgot my keys (see #5) and go back in the house for them, leave again, realize I need the checkbook and go back in the house for it, leave again, realize I didn't grab my lunch and go back in the house. Beast no longer even says goodbye properly until I've returned at least once. His usual goodbye now is "See you shortly."

3. I like to clean bathrooms and doing dishes. I do not necessarily want a job cleaning other people's bathrooms, or washing they dishes, but I find it very zen and calming. Kind of like a bath (I love baths). It's all that water. You'd think I was a fish. I can't even swim, and I'm not a Pisces, or even an Aquarius. Perhaps it's because I grew up in a relatively arid part of the country, so water was so valuable and wonderful. Or, I'm just nuts.

4. I read while curling my hair. Also while drying it. Remember the "Farrah hair" of the 70s, where girls curled and flipped all along that shag cut. I spent a solid 35 minutes every morning curling and flipping my hair--in the dining room, having been banished from the bathroom by my irritated parents. That 35 minutes was a long time to stare at the mirror. So I just check the mirror to get the curling iron set and rolled, read a paragraph, click the release, and move on. Same thing with drying
hair, more or less.

5. I'm not sure if this counts, but when life is rolling fairly smoothly, I tend to lose my keys, lock them in the car, forget them at home... Work keys, car keys, house keys, whatever. When Beast is out of town, I don't think I've locked my keys in the car once. He's had to rescue me at least 3 times, driving from work to whatever parking lot I'm standing in. I never lock my phone inside; just my keys. I now have a hidden key on the truck, which I've mostly had to use IN MY GARAGE. Just imagine the swearing that goes on as I lie on the concrete groping under the
frame trying to remember exactly where I stuck the box.... It's just not pretty.

Hopefully those are sufficiently quirky to scare away all the wierdos. OK, just the weirdos I don't know.

So I'll tag...well, anyone I haven't frightened away.

Ten Things That Make Me Happy Meme

from Shelly

List ten things that make you happy (in no particular order), and then tag five people to do the same.

1. A good book
2. A good TV show--the kind that really makes me shiver in anticipation, to quote a sage
3. Making a big meal, one that I've had time to think about, organize, and plan. One that I don't have to worry about screwing up!
4. Singing. Harmony, when I can figure it out.
5. Scrapbooking, when I have time to spread everything out and plug through.
6. Driving around the countryside mindlessly with the radio turned up very loud.
7. Mountains, on the horizon, but nearby is better.
8. The smell of dry sagebrush.
9. Sparky's giggle. Beast's guffaw.
10. Being done with a huge project that has been hanging over my head for awhile.

So, TAG: Christopher, Amy, Jenica, Molly, Robert and anyone else who is interested.

Name tag

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

PERFECTION!!