Hardy har har har.
Annnnyway, Shasta actually tagged a bunch of the bloggers I already read, so short of tagging Kelle Hampton or Heather Armstrong (they'd have played along though, right??!), I'm short on bloggers and therefore not passing this on. I know, what a spoil sport, but at least you're getting this...
The Rules
1) Post these rules. Check!
2) Post 11 random things about yourself. Check!
3) Answer the questions set for you in the post of those who tagged you. Check!
4) Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer. Nope sorry.
5) Go to their blog (or email them or tweet them) and tell the people you tagged that you’ve tagged them. That'd also be a no.
6) No stuff in the tagging section about “you are tagged if you are reading this.” You legitimately have to tag 11 people. And no again.
But here I go with my 11 random things and Shasta's 11 questions:
11 Random Things
1. I love downsizing. Jordan always bugs me about it but it brings me great joy. Something in a bottle moved into a smaller bottle, or two things combined into the same container? I'm in heaven. And when it involves food, I know I am doubling the dishes, but just don't care. Small, neat packages are the way to go.
2. I have blue eyes with a thin strip of brown around the pupil, making my eyes appear green at first glance. The brown appeared in adulthood so I lived most of my life with plain blue eyes. All of my kids are blue eyed so I am interested to see if any of them will inherit the late addition of brown.
3. I have 5 tattoos. I don't regret any of them, but love some more than others.
4. I have never lived by myself. I don't wish I had, although in hindsight, some of my roomate choices were questionable.
5. I can't stand to look at a plate of partially eaten food. It either needs to be taken away from me, or covered, and I must wash dishes/load the dishwasher immediately after a meal. To a lesser extent I feel the same way about a hamper of dirty laundry, especially if it is wet and germy like a dish rag. I do laundry daily to combat this.
6. I never went to a rock concert till I was 20. Now I have been to more than I can count and am pretty sure I have seen almost everyone on my bucket list. All of my kids have heard been to several shows in utero.
7. I have seen more states (Washington, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, California, Oregon, New York and Missouri -- soon to add South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming) than provinces (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec). Seeing all of the provinces is a priority but our enormous country makes it a bit time consuming (not to mention cost prohibitive) for the time being.
8. I have been a flower girl 3 times and a bridesmaid 7 times. I have been to over 20 weddings (probably more like 30), 7 of them in one summer. I could very easily be a wedding planner.
9. I am the youngest child of four, and an accident of the sort that Irish-Italian-Catholics generally make. My siblings are 15, 10 and 8.5 years older than me. I am closer in age to my oldest nephew who is only 7 years younger than me.
10. In childhood/adolescence, I was a really good singer, taking lessons and performing. Now I am not. Proof that your voice is an instrument that really needs to be practiced, and apparently tuned on occasion.
11. At times in my past I was able to carry on basic conversations in French, Spanish and American Sign Language; these days it seems as though I can barely speak English.
Shasta's 11 questions for me
1. What products do you have in your shower?
Shampoo, conditioner, face wash, soap, bubble bath and a razor.
2. What one frivolous (not essential to survival) thing would you want with you on a desert island?
Books.
3. What's your favorite throw-together meal?
Bobotie, a South African dish made of ground meat (turkey in this house), bread, milk, eggs, vinegar, curry, sugar and seasoning; served with rice, chutney and bananas. I was introduced to it by a friend soon after the boys were born and people were bringing us meals. Now it is a regular staple because the kids love it and we generally have the supplies on hand - especially the too-old bananas.
4. If you could only visit one restaurant for the rest of your life, which would it be?
I am such a food lover that I couldn't narrow it to just one. But my criteria would be a mix of ethnicities using happy meat and as many local ingredients as possible. Luckily for us, that fits the bill of many Victoria restaurants, but unfortunately we don't get to go out to eat very often these days.
5. What color is your favorite pair of shoes?
My very favourite shoes are red, although I rarely wear them. The majority of my shoes are black or another neutral colour.
6. Dogs or cats? (Or, "other"?)
I have a cat, but I prefer dogs. That said, I don't want to own a dog, or another cat for that matter. I like other people's pets more than my own (sorry Kev!).
7. Describe a moment, however brief, in the past week when you felt joyful.
Seeing Asher get pushed on his swing by his uncle, way too high for my comfort zone. Once I got over my fear he was going to fly out, I saw that he was screaming and laughing hysterically - an experience he never would have had if it were always his parents pushing the swing.
8. You have an entire day off from responsibilities, but you can't spend any money. What does your free dream day look like?
An endless supply of coffee that never gets cold and magically continues to refill my cup, a comfy bed that has fresh bedding, and a book that I am far into enough that I'm hooked, but not so far that I'm going to finish it and then be looking for something else to do.
9. If you had $1 million to give to charity, what cause would you give it to?
That's a tough call. I could make a list of multiple charities I feel very strongly about. I would probably split it up and give to several. The first that come to mind are cancer, independent living for people with disabilities, and childhood poverty, but it wouldn't be limited to those.
10. What is a picture that you wish you had? Either a moment in time that wasn't captured, a picture of a person passed or a place in the world? Anything you would like an image of.
A clear ultrasound of our baby Cohen. Choosing not to meet her was a decision that I am (most of the time) at peace with, so asking for a real photograph doesn't really make sense. But a really clear 3D ultrasound would have been amazing.
11. Would you rather have a blanket made of the softest material imaginable with a stone bed or a rough, scratchy blanket with a gloriously soft and cushy bed?
Soft and cushy bed for sure. I could always forage for something else to cover myself with.
PS - When I worked, having perfectly formatted documents was something I prided myself upon (damn you MS Word!). I hate mismatched fonts, bad spacing, etc. Now blogging, I feel the same way. This post is a mess of spacing and it is driving me absolutely crazy and I cannot seem to fix it. So if you noticed it here (well now you did because I pointed it out) or in any other post, it is not for lack of trying to fix it (Damn you blogger!). Sorry, the perfectionist in me just needed to tell you that :)
2. What one frivolous (not essential to survival) thing would you want with you on a desert island?
Books.
3. What's your favorite throw-together meal?
Bobotie, a South African dish made of ground meat (turkey in this house), bread, milk, eggs, vinegar, curry, sugar and seasoning; served with rice, chutney and bananas. I was introduced to it by a friend soon after the boys were born and people were bringing us meals. Now it is a regular staple because the kids love it and we generally have the supplies on hand - especially the too-old bananas.
4. If you could only visit one restaurant for the rest of your life, which would it be?
I am such a food lover that I couldn't narrow it to just one. But my criteria would be a mix of ethnicities using happy meat and as many local ingredients as possible. Luckily for us, that fits the bill of many Victoria restaurants, but unfortunately we don't get to go out to eat very often these days.
5. What color is your favorite pair of shoes?
My very favourite shoes are red, although I rarely wear them. The majority of my shoes are black or another neutral colour.
6. Dogs or cats? (Or, "other"?)
I have a cat, but I prefer dogs. That said, I don't want to own a dog, or another cat for that matter. I like other people's pets more than my own (sorry Kev!).
7. Describe a moment, however brief, in the past week when you felt joyful.
Seeing Asher get pushed on his swing by his uncle, way too high for my comfort zone. Once I got over my fear he was going to fly out, I saw that he was screaming and laughing hysterically - an experience he never would have had if it were always his parents pushing the swing.
8. You have an entire day off from responsibilities, but you can't spend any money. What does your free dream day look like?
An endless supply of coffee that never gets cold and magically continues to refill my cup, a comfy bed that has fresh bedding, and a book that I am far into enough that I'm hooked, but not so far that I'm going to finish it and then be looking for something else to do.
9. If you had $1 million to give to charity, what cause would you give it to?
That's a tough call. I could make a list of multiple charities I feel very strongly about. I would probably split it up and give to several. The first that come to mind are cancer, independent living for people with disabilities, and childhood poverty, but it wouldn't be limited to those.
10. What is a picture that you wish you had? Either a moment in time that wasn't captured, a picture of a person passed or a place in the world? Anything you would like an image of.
A clear ultrasound of our baby Cohen. Choosing not to meet her was a decision that I am (most of the time) at peace with, so asking for a real photograph doesn't really make sense. But a really clear 3D ultrasound would have been amazing.
11. Would you rather have a blanket made of the softest material imaginable with a stone bed or a rough, scratchy blanket with a gloriously soft and cushy bed?
Soft and cushy bed for sure. I could always forage for something else to cover myself with.
PS - When I worked, having perfectly formatted documents was something I prided myself upon (damn you MS Word!). I hate mismatched fonts, bad spacing, etc. Now blogging, I feel the same way. This post is a mess of spacing and it is driving me absolutely crazy and I cannot seem to fix it. So if you noticed it here (well now you did because I pointed it out) or in any other post, it is not for lack of trying to fix it (Damn you blogger!). Sorry, the perfectionist in me just needed to tell you that :)
Nice post! Now, howsbout that recipe?
ReplyDeleteLol, Nice! I like that you broke the chain. I should have too — it was way too damn much work!
ReplyDeleteI love "downsizing" too!
I really loved learning all this stuff about you and your answer to No. 8 sounds like heaven!
BTW, in Blogger there is a little T with an X next to it in your post writer. Highlight the text and click that and it will get rid of all the formatting so that you can delete those invisible spaces. I have to do it all the time when I copy-paste things. That said, I didn't notice any weird spacing.
Thanks for playing along!
OMG thank you for the T with the little x!!! My OCD appreciates that immensely! :)
DeleteHahaha I'm the same way about the stupid spacing on Blogger! I have gone back so many times and spent far too much time on trying to get it spaced properly. I'm happy to know you are as anal about it as I am!
ReplyDelete