Friday Five: Attraction Edition

Haven't done a Friday Five in ages, and lately Blogthings has been hosting their own Friday Five, so I thought I'd draw from them. Plus it gives me a chance to take one of their quizzes-- the answers of which are usually quite obvious, but are fun little time-wasters nevertheless :-)

Today's Friday Five is about attraction:

1. How accurate are your first impressions of people?
2. In your view, what sort of vibe do you give off?
3. If you’re in a crowd of strangers, what sort of people do you gravitate towards?
4. What is more likely to attract you to someone – their voice or their scent?
5. What Type Do You Fall For? Take the quiz and share your result. Is it true?

1. I've never been known for being an accurate judge of character, especially not with first impressions. But I think I get it right more than half the time. Maybe it's because I've gotten older and have had more experience dealing with different types of people, and can more easily detect the same patterns?

2. I like to think I give off a happy, carefree, approachable vibe. I feel like I'm more successful at it now than when I was younger, and I think that's maybe because I'm already settled and have no need to try and impress anyone.

3. I would gravitate towards people giving off the same vibe: happy, carefree, sociable and friendly. Maybe also the wallflowers, just because that what I usually was in social situations-- hanging back, feeling shy and timid, nervous about approaching other people. Sometimes it's a real relief to  have someone approach you and strike up a conversation. I'm still mindful of what it was like to be in their shoes, so I sympathize.

4. Ooooh, that's a tough one! A deep, beautiful voice (think Josh Turner) can make any girl swoon, and I'm no exception. But I think scents would do it more for me. In particular, I like a clean, fresh, crisp scent-- like a guy has just showered, put on freshly laundered clothes (I LOVE the smell of clothes laundered in Tide!), and applied just a little dab of aftershave. No cologne necessary-- in fact, I'd wager to say that most colognes would be too overpowering, even in small doses. A natural, fresh, clean scent is more to my liking. There is, after all, something to be said for the phenomenon of pheromones ;-)

5. Well, here are the results of my quiz:

You Fall for the Guy or Girl Next Door Type

You think that people make love too complicated, and what you want in a partner happens to be pretty simple. You're content with someone who's nice, attractive, honest, and normal. So how come that's so hard to find? You are fairly traditional, and you value security in relationships more than most people. It's important for you to find someone loyal. When you find the right person, you don't expect much from him or her. You're just happy to be together.

What Type Do You Fall For?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

I think it's pretty accurate. I've never been one for the dark, mysterious, bad-boy type. Or the dashingly handsome muscle dude that EVERY girl wants. This is pretty much evidenced by my "top 5" list that I blogged some years ago, and that hasn't really changed much (except to add Silas Weir Mitchell to the list-- whom, as you can see, also fits neither the "bad boy" or the "gorgeous hunk" type).

How about you?

Belated Friday Five: Laundry!

Feeling lazy tonight, since we just got back home from a fun-filled Thanksgiving weekend in LA. So, since I didn't do a Friday Five yesterday, I thought I'd make up for it by doing it today, and keeping it low-key with a relatively simple set:

1. Washing machine: front-loader or top-loader?
2. Detergent: liquid or powder?
3. Rinse cycle: fabric softener or another additive?
4. And then: clothesline or dryer?
5. Do you fold things straight off the line or out of the dryer? What do you iron (or have someone iron for you)?

1.  Front-loader. They seem to clean more thoroughly than top-loaders, so we're die-hard front-loader users. Fortunately, all the communal washers we've used in our years of apartment living, prior to purchasing our own set, have been front-loaders.

2. Liquid. I feel that it dissolves and is distributed more evenly and cleanly than powder.

3. No additives. The only thing I ever add besides detergent is an occasional splash of bleach, when washing the whites. I do throw in a dryer sheet to keep the dryer load static-free, but that's about it.

4. If we had the space for it, I would totally get a clothesline set up and dry my clothes naturally. It saves energy and is much easier on the clothes. Unfortunately, that isn't an option for us, so I make do with dryer use for hardy clothes like undergarments and jeans, and then hang up clothes that I want to preserve longer (such as Todd's school uniforms-- so expensive!) onto clothes racks and from the shower curtain rod.

5. Only if it's regular clothing like shirts and pants that I don't want to wrinkle. Underwear and socks have been known to sit in the hamper for a few days until I find the time to fold them. I typically only iron my cotton dresses, and since I don't wear dresses THAT frequently, I don't wash them that often either, and hence don't have to iron them regularly. Thank goodness! ;-)

How about you?

Roaring Random Words

Today's post comes from a plinky.com prompt:

Pick a random word and do Google image search on it. Check out the eleventh picture it brings up. Write about whatever that image brings to mind.

I suppose the word I plugged in isn't all that random, as it's my favorite word:

Onomatopoeia.

And this was the 11th image result:

So what does this bring to mind?

It brings to mind sleeping. This is how I feel when I am awakened before I am ready. Ask my husband and son about the time I shook our San Francisco hotel room with a mighty "SHHH!!!" when they were making too much noise one morning ;-)

It brings to mind power. Tigers are big, powerful cats. When they roar, you'd better pay attention or start running.

And finally, it brings to mind husbands. Who else but constantly consternating husbands could elicit such frustrated roars from their wives? ;-)

Friday Five: Travel

Haven't done a Friday Five in ages, so I thought I'd wrap up this week with another one. Plus, being only halfway through NaBloPoMo, I'm starting to run out of steam a little, so I'll gladly use all the help I can get!

1. Have you ever left the country you live in and where?
2. What countries would you visit if time and money were not problems?
3. Out of all the foreign food you've tried, which is your favorite and why?
4. Can you name all 7 continents?
5. Which continent are you least likely to ever want to see and why?

1. This question's kind of ambiguous. If it's asking if I've ever simply *traveled* outside the US, then yes, several times. And if it's asking if I've ever *lived* outside the US, then also yes, from 1998-2001. I was stationed in Mannheim, Germany with the U.S. Army. I lived on post, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Loved the food and loved the culture!

2. I've already visited a handful of European countries while living in Germany, but regret missing a few, like Greece. I'd love to go there someday, see all the ancient structures. Also Israel, visit the Holy Land. Australia's also on the list. And of course, you can never go wrong with the tropics of the Caribbean ;-)

3. Well, I'm a die-hard fan of German food, but I'm not sure that really counts as anything I've "tried", since I was born in Germany and then spent time there after college. So I'd have to say it's a tossup between French food and Indonesian food. Which I find interesting, because I'm not normally a fan of Asian cuisine (usually too spicy), but Indonesian food is actually pretty good.

4. North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, Antarctica. (I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to think for a few seconds to not only come up with the last one, but to spell it correctly :-P)

5. Probably Asia. Visiting Indonesia in 2008 pretty much killed off any desire to visit places where human rights (and, by extension, animal treatment) are so abysmal. I don't think I would enjoy the sights very much when surrounded by extreme poverty and general indifference to your fellow man's situation.

How about you?

Will you go out with me?

Today's post is brought to you by plinky.com. The answer prompt for today is:

What did you feel when you first asked someone out on a date?

I actually remember this very clearly. It was the fall of 1995, and we were coming up on one of our annual ROTC military balls at UCLA. I had a bit of a crush on one of the cadets who was a year ahead of me, and after much persuasion by some friends (also fellow cadets) who were aware of this crush, I mustered up every last ounce of courage I could find to dial his number (which I got off the class roster, of course) and ask if he wanted to accompany me to the ball. I didn't do the dial-and-hangup spiel that you often hear of, but I did pick up the phone and hang it up a few times before even dialing. I was THAT nervous.

Anyway, I got him on the line, and asked if he wanted to go to the ball with me. Bless his heart, he tried to let me down as gently as possible. He said he was only popping in for an hour and then going right back home to study for his LSAT. It was a totally plausible excuse-- we all knew he really did have the LSAT coming up in the next week or two. At the end he tried to temper the refusal by saying "maybe next year!" It made me feel a little less embarrassed, at least.

But after I got off the phone, I realized that what he said made no sense-- he was a senior, so there would BE no "next year" for him to be around for another military ball. He wasn't just saying that he didn't want to be my date for the ball, he was saying he wasn't interested in going out on ANY dates, period! Talk about embarrassing!

After this experience, I vowed NEVER to ask a guy out on a date again, at least not so obviously. It was more nerve-wracking than it needed to be, and I feel like I got a glimpse into what it must be like for guys, on whom the onus to do the asking is much greater. I definitely sympathize! 17 years later, I can still vividly recall how my stomach was in knots, how nervous I must have sounded, how disappointed I felt when he said "no", and how embarrassed I felt now that he knew I liked him. Not something I ever want to relive!

Why is dating so complicated??

Friday Five: Recent Exclamations

I've noticed that in recent months, I've been blogging at a rate of twice per month: one post is a Karaoke Ring of Death post, and the other is a "normal" post. Which means that in actuality, I've been posting only once a month. One of the things I used to do with regularity back in my blogging heyday was the Friday Five. So I thought I'd try to get the blogging juices flowing again... with another installment of the everlasting meme :-)

1. What were the events leading up to your most recent utterance of oops?
2. What were the circumstances that led to your most recent utterance of aha!?
3. What most recently caused you to say ick?
4. What inspired your most recent utterance of yum?
5. Where were you (and what was going on?) the last time you said ooooooooh?

1. Well, Allan can attest to this one-- it invariably involves some kind of electronic device, whether it's a phone, a tablet, a laptop or a desktop computer. I have a reverse-Midas touch: every device I touch will, without fail, hiccup at least once. I'll bet you didn't know that Macs and Linux machines have BSODs, did you? Well, just leave those devices to my capable fingers... Anyway, while I don't remember the last specific instance leading to my utterance of "oops", I am quite sure it involved a device of some kind, and I'm quite sure it belonged to Allan ;-)

2. This one is less amusing: we'd gotten a letter from the IRS with questions about our 2010 tax return, and I was puzzling over why they thought we had so much unreported income. After sifting through our W-2s, pay stubs, and financial company statements, I figured out where they were getting those numbers (that was my "aha!" moment), and immediately printed out and organized my "evidence" to set them straight! Now I've got a nice little packet to mail back to them today. I tried to make everything as clear as  possible, and hope they will be able to sort it out. No offense to my father-in-law (the former IRS agent), but I have little faith in the organizational and comprehension skills of your average IRS agent!

3. This morning we held a little welcome breakfast for the new Chair of our department, and the subject, as it usually does amongst my co-workers, turned to food and local eateries. Someone brought up Jack-in-the-Box, which garnered many wrinkled brows of disgust, particularly at the tacos. Not me personally, as I like the place okay. But when my boss brought up how her husband loves JITB and how it sometimes doesn't agree with him, and a co-worker piped up with "yeah, JITB can be a real crapshoot", that certainly elicited groans at the pun and "ewws" at the visual!

4. Yesterday, a HS classmate of mine posted on FB about how he was cooking up sausage and kale soup. It sounded really delicious, and the thought of the dark, leafy green, healthful kale balancing out the less-healthful but undoubtedly yummy sausage made it sound even more appealing!

5. This week has two Fridays. Tuesday was a "Friday" because of the 4th of July holiday on Wednesday, and, well, TODAY is a real Friday. So what better way to celebrate a mid-week "Friday" than by going out and enjoying a good happy hour? My mind and lips were full of "ooooh"s as I scoped out various local joints to find out which ones had a good happy hour. Eventually, I settled on Tupelo Junction, which elicited the most emphatic "ooooh"s from both me and Allan. I mean, come on, just LOOK at their Happy Hour menu-- isn't that enough to make anyone salivate? Here's a small sampling of some of the many mini dishes we savored on Tuesday night: bread assortment (cheddar scallion, smoked bacon gouda, and sweet potato pecan) and fried green tomatoes with a corn and tomato salsa and buttermilk dill sauce. Blackberry mojito in the background:

 

How about you?

Friday Five: Brrrrrr!

NaBloPoMo 2011 may be officially over, but I'm hoping to continue the trend of blogging a bit more frequently, now that I'm more inspired and have gotten into the habit. It actually felt strange last night, knowing I didn't have to sit at the computer and churn out a post before the day was over. Of course, I say this same thing every year, and then I wind up petering out, posting MAYBE once a month (if that) before gearing up for another 30-day flurry. Ah well. New Year's resolution, perhaps? (not that I believe in them)

So let's start things off easy with another round of Friday Five! Today's theme? The cold weather!

1. What’s your favorite thing about cold weather?
2. Soups and hot beverages seem to be everyone’s favorite cold-weather culinary combatant, but what’s another food that seems to take the bite out of the cold?
3. When the weather is just starting to turn cold but is not yet in full frigidity, what do you add to your bed until it’s time to break out the heavy artillery? (I said what, not whom!)
4. What household chore seems especially unkind in these colder months?
5. Among people you know, who seems most oblivious to cold weather?

1.Um... nothing?? That's why I live in Southern California, and in particular, Santa Barbara, with its Mediterranean climate yielding nice, mild temperatures all year round. It's especially satisfying when I read the FB statuses of friends who live in less gentle climes, fretting about snow and ice and sub-zero temperatures, and I can serenely look out the window at the beach and the sun-kissed palm trees ;-)

2. The reason soup and hot chocolate or tea works so well is precisely BECAUSE it's heat in liquid form, and therefore spreads the warmth faster! I can't really think of anything else that would do the trick quite as well or as efficiently. Maybe piping-hot fresh bread?

3. I don't add anything to the bed (since I use the same medium-thick comforter all year round-- like I said, stable, mild temperatures!) but when there's a chill in the air, I will switch out pajamas. In summer I wear short-sleeve/short-pant pajamas, in cooler weather I'll wear flannel pajamas, and in winter? Time to break out the fleece pajamas!

4. Gardening. I enjoy working under the sun, tending to my garden. But overcast weather makes that less enjoyable. Not to mention, it's harder to dig weeds out without uprooting my whole garden when the ground is moist.

5. My husband :-P Seriously. The guy will wear shorts on all but the coldest of days. If I see him wearing his jeans, socks and shoes, and his light jacket, I know I'd better bundle up in multiple layers, scarves, gloves and maybe a balaclava hood

How about you?

Friday Five: Shopping

In honor of Black Friday, I thought I'd do a shopping-themed Friday Five. So here goes:

1. Do you participate in Black Friday shopping?
2. What is your favorite thing to shop for?
3. What store do you have a weakness for?
4. What's the biggest purchase you've ever made?
5. If you had $1000 to do with as you pleased, what would you spend it on?

1. Maybe if there are online deals to take advantage of on things I already need, but other than that-- no. I don't understand the craze that surrounds saving a few bucks. It's just not worth getting up at the crack of dawn and dealing with unruly mobs. I also feel sorry for the poor retail workers that have to give up their Thanksgiving to come in at midnight (or other ungodly early morning hours) and deal with the mad crowds. They already deal with enough sucky customers as is, I know that Black Friday multiplies that number tenfold... even more.

2. Books! I can spend hours in a bookstore, browsing and browsing.

3. The 99-cent store :-) Usually I'm good about not buying things unless I absolutely need them (and even then I scour out the best price), but in a dollar store, that impulse control goes right out the window. Likely because I figure "it's only $1!" Thankfully, it's usually on items we need, anyway. I'll never need to buy glue sticks for Todd again, but he uses them plenty at school!

4. Well, aside from the house (which doesn't really fall under the realm of "shopping" anyway) and things for the house (such as flooring), I'd say our big-screen TV. It was a luxury gift to ourselves now that we finally have the room for it :-)

5. I'd probably first stick in savings to earn a little interest while I figured out what to do with it! Honestly, I can't think of anything that I really need other than things around the house: new memory foam mattress, probably. Or else paying a gardener to remove the plants bordering our house and a neighbor's, replacing it with a fence instead.

How about you?

Finally, I leave you with a funny little shopping cart fail:

Friday Five: Pets

Back in my blogging heyday, I used to do a Friday Five almost every week. I'd post 5 questions, quiz-style, and answer them myself, then invite readers to answer them in the comments section. Last time I did it was nearly 2 years ago, so I thought it was high-time I restarted the tradition. So here goes. Today's theme is pets:

1. What was your first pet's name?
2. What kind of animal was your first pet?
3. If you have a pet now, what kind of animal is it?
4. What is your favorite animal to have as a pet?
5. What animal have you always wanted to have as a pet?

1. My first pet that I actually remember interacting with was a parakeet. I named him Hustle Bustle, because I'd recently read a children's story about a family parrot named Hustle Bustle. My mom thought it was a weird name, but hey-- kids, what can you do? I never did teach the skittish bird to say anything, except for the clicks of our tongue we'd make when trying to calm him down-- that he imitated pretty well!

2. Well, as I mentioned above, Hustle Bustle was a parakeet. I was 8 years old when I got him. And actually, before that, we had a couple of goldfish, but I don't remember much about them. I remember that they both died by jumping out of their fishbowl and "drowning" in the air.

3. No pets. Unless you count plush ones. In that case, I have a whole stuffed menagerie going! A veritable zoo filled with creatures that aren't always your run-of-the-mill stuffed animals:  a scorpion, a tarantula, an octopus, a striped skunk, a bald eagle, a couple of Turtwigs, a squishable Android, a killer whale, and a plethora of turtles... among many others!

4. Well, what kid doesn't like dogs? I used to have an imaginary dog when I was a kid-- a German Shepherd named Frisky. Best-trained dog you ever played with! ;-) And while I still do love dogs, now that I'm grown up, I don't think I'd ever want to own one-- a lot of work! I think a pet turtle would be pretty neat, but they take up a lot of room and can likewise be as much work as a dog.

5. Besides the dog and turtle-- a tarantula! Those fuzzy creatures are beautiful. And some of them pack quite a personality, if the stories on the LJ tarantulalovers community are any indication! I've always wanted to pet one-- I've heard that they're as soft as bunnies, and I've always wanted to see if that was actually true!

How about you? What are your pet stories?

The Meme where we reveal our secrets

Throughout my years of blogging, I've done several Q&A type quizzes, memes and posts dealing with the more private aspects of myself: from deeper ruminations about life to lighthearted trivia about my own quirks and foibles. Today Tabitha posted her response to a meme that's currently going around: revealing some of your secrets on video. Here is my version.



Some of you may already be familiar with some of the tidbits on there. Some of it will be new to you. Either way, I had fun making this video, and was surprised by 1) how easily the ideas started flowing once I started (and I had some serious writer's block when I began!) and 2) how personal it got.

How about you? What are some of your deeper secrets?

(The accompanying song in the video is called "Gently" and is from http://www.danosongs.com)

Happy Thanksgiving

This is going to be pretty cliche, as *everybody* writes "what are you thankful for?" types of posts on their blogs and on Facebook this time of year. But in the general spirit of things, I thought I might as well follow suit. Here are a few things I am thankful for:

1. Living in paradise. Year round mild weather that rarely ever gets too hot or too cold. Plenty of sunshine (June gloom aside), and close proximity to both beaches and mountains.

2. Having a good job that pays enough to be able to live in said paradise. I know that some jobs do not. I'm especially thankful that my job is flexible enough that I can work from home when Todd is sick, or bring him to the office with me after school some days.

3. A comfortable and sturdy roof over my head, hot and clean running water, and a warm bed to sleep in. When you hear of the plight of so many of the world's poor, it really puts things in perspective.

4. A husband who is my best friend. We get along in so many aspects of our lives, from our hobbies to our attitudes about the important things in life. And where we don't agree, the disagreement is actually complementary. Very harmonious :-)

5. A happy, healthy child. As with the roof over my head, when I hear of children suffering, whether it's due to starvation in a third world country or abuse/neglect in this country, it breaks my heart.

6. Having the fortune and privilege of living in a country where true freedom is known. Where gender and racial inequalities, while still not perfectly addressed, are not nearly as prevalent as in other countries. Where you are truly free to pursue your dreams and be what you wish to be.

7. The Internet! :-D What better, faster way to keep in touch with friends all over the country; all over the world!?

8. God. For all the blessings, some of which are listed above, I've received. Thank you.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

Things I love (and don't love)

Over 5 years ago, I blogged a list of things I love, in the context of the 5 senses. I thought I'd revisit that list and update it, as well as add a little twist: things I *don't* love.

I love the taste of ripe strawberries, soft-boiled eggs with a sprinkling of salt, peanut butter with Nutella, liverwurst-and-lettuce sandwiches, coffee-flavored ice cream, batter-fried squid, soft, chewy dinner rolls, and crisp bits of tender pork fat that melt in your mouth.

I don't love the taste of ginger, processed coconut, black licorice, beer, black coffee, and most spicy... well, spices.

I love the smell of pages in brand-new books, freshly-brewed coffee, barbecues, freshly-baked bread, and clothes laundered in Tide.

I don't love the smell of vanilla/cocoa butter, most perfumes (because they're too overpowering), vinegar, smoke, and black licorice.

I love the feel of (the outside of) velour clothes, my bed after a long day, baby's soft skin/hair, smooshy pillows, my soft and cuddly stuffed tarantula, and stepping out of the shower onto a freshly-laundered bathmat.

I don't love the feel of clothes tight against my armpits, my unruly hair getting in my face, warm, dry wind, earbuds in my ears, dirty hands (I'm mildly OCD about washing them), jewelry on my hands (especially rings), and not having my neck and shoulders covered by a blanket as I sleep.

I love the sound of the pitter-patter of falling rain while I'm snugly indoors, the bustle of city life, upbeat country music, frogs croaking, my son's giggles, and heels clicking on a hard floor.

I don't love the sound of kids screeching, Santa Ana winds blowing, dogs barking incessantly, Harleys cruising by, and just about anything when I'm trying to sleep ;-)

I love the sight of big city skylines at night, neat and newly-cleaned living spaces, my son's smile, Rottweilers sitting regally, the views of cities from an airplane, and tropical beaches.

I don't love the sight of cluttered spaces, baby drool (not even my own son's), animal abuse, crooked parking jobs, and blatant grammatical errors.


How about you?

99 Memorable Experiences

After wrapping up the last remaining tidbits in the back of my head for the month of sex, I found myself stumped for blogging topics. Then I came across this post by April, and though I've filled out variations of this before, it's been a while since I've partaken of a meme, and thought I'd see if I could warm back up to the blogging routine by posting this.

So here we are: a list of 99 potential things you've done in your life. I've bolded the ones that I have, and added commentary when applicable :-)

1. Started your own blog -- several, in fact: Grab, Myspace, LiveJournal, Blogger, Tumblr, and here.
2. Slept under the stars -- yes, but not by choice-- during Army field training exercises.
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disney -- both Disneyland and California, and Disney World in Florida.
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a thunder and lightning storm
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice -- and it's true what they say about the canals of Venice-- smelly!
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language -- well, learned in school. I don't think that counts as "teaching myself", though.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing -- again, though, not by choice. Army training again ;-)
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted -- well, do caricatures count? ;-)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris -- not quite the top, but halfway. Considering you still got a splendid view of Paris, I'd say this counts ;-P
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling -- no, but would love to dive with sea turtles someday!
52. Kissed in the rain -- brrr! I'd rather be snug indoors, thank you very much :-P
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie -- I tried to audition as an extra for "Sgt. Bilko". They wouldn't let me, for the STUIPDEST reasons! To this day, I refuse to watch the movie out of principle. Boycott!
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class -- I don't think my current gym kickboxing class counts ;-)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching -- would definitely love to!
63. Got flowers for no reason -- no, but that's probably because anyone that knows me knows that I'm not much of a flowers-and-candy type of girl. Although the sentiment is sweet!
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Been sky diving
66. Visited a Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter -- again, Army days ;-) But this was a fun ride, with the pilot trying to scare us with some more daring maneuvers
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy -- *a* toy? Try several! Some of them my son has now inherited :-)
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job -- does a layoff count?
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone -- dislocated pinky. Never fixed. Sticks out an an angle now. Love squicking hubby out with it whenever he annoys me :-D
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car -- my 1998 Plymouth Neon. Got it in Augusta, GA
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper -- do school papers count?
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Gotten a tattoo
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

The Mommy Survey

Haven't done one of these quizzes/surveys in a while (I don't count the hearing test ;-)) and now that all 4 of the babies within our small group are out of the womb (talk about mini baby boom between November and now!) the air seems full of talk of babies and first-time motherhood. Spied this on someone else's blog somewhere and thought it would be fun to do, too:

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Nope

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? Initially, a bit stunned, then we gladly looked forward to it.

4. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 26, a lot younger than the 30s I expected to be in when I started having kids (if I even decided to have any!)

5. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Went to the doctor after I was feeling weak and tired. Took blood and urine tests, and it turned out I was already anemic, and this thing called pregnancy was exacerbating it.

6. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Allan, of course

7.. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Yes, and we did

8. DUE DATE? June 4, 2004

9.. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Not at all, fortunately. I had a bit of tiredness the first couple months (see #5), but that was it.

10. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Ramen with Spam. To this day it remains one of my favorite dishes. I don't indulge too often because it's not healthful, but it sure is tasty! :-9

11. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Nothing, actually. Pregnancy and hormones didn't really affect me much except for the expanding tummy.

12. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? Boy

13. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Nope. I was hoping for a boy (teenage girls are difficult-- I know, I was one!)

14. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? around 25 pounds

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yup, thrown by my friend Sara and all our CS grad student colleagues at UCSB. It was even hosted at the Geekhouse!

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? How is this different from #1? It was a surprise, no doubt.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? None at all, it was the most routine, uneventful thing ever.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? I always have trouble answering this question. I don't know when labor starts. If you're talking when contractions started (though they were mild and far apart), then 30 hours. If you're talking from the time the contractions shortened enough to the point that we went to the hospital, then it's more like 14 hours. And even then it was more or less bearable (meds helped, though!), so if you're talking about the really "bad" stuff where I'm cussing my husband out, then only a few hours.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Allan

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Allan

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yup. I had 2 doses of Fentanyl so I could rest a little throughout the night (arrived at the hospital at 11pm) and got a spinal during my final push.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 7lbs 3oz

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 20, 2004 -- exactly 2 weeks before his due date.

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Todd Allan

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 5 years and some change, hard to believe!

How's Your Hearing?

You are about 20 years old

The teen repellent will no longer foil you, but you can still hear some pretty high tones. The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 16.7kHz

Find out which ultrasonic ringtones you can hear!

A couple weeks ago, as was told secondhand, our pastor played a series of different ringtones over the speakers to illustrate how hearing declines with age-- only the younger folks were able to hear the higher-pitched tones. I wasn't at the service that day, but heard all about it at lunch afterward. I was curious to know how much I would've been able to hear, considering I have pretty sharp hearing. Would my hearing fall into the normal range of other thirty-somethings? Would I have been able to join the ranks of the teenagers hearing the highest frequency tones?

As it turns out, these tones are available at this website: http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/

I tried playing the tones in order, and stopped at 16.7 kHz. Apparently, according to the "quiz" result, that puts my hearing on par with that of an average 20-year-old. Not bad, considering I'm a dozen years older than that ;-) And despite his poor hearing and despite the fact that he's pushing 40, Allan could still hear tones "reserved" for thirty-somethings ;-) That ought to make him feel young.

What's interesting to note is that although I couldn't actually hear any tones beyond 16.7 kHz, at the higher frequencies (except for the very last one) I could still detect a change in the air indicating that something was vibrating, I just couldn't hear the actual sound itself. That was fascinating to me.

I've always maintained that I have extra-sensitive hearing to make up for my very poor eyesight. I don't know what my eyesight is in terms of the 20/20 scale (those numbers have always been meaningless to me) but I can tell you my eyeglass prescription: exactly -5 in one eye, and -4.75 in the other, plus a touch of astigmatism. Allan is the opposite-- I can discern almost no difference in blurriness when I try on his near-paper-thin glasses. By the time farsightedness hits him sometime this decade, he probably won't even NEED glasses anymore.

So, my hope is that Todd will get a good mix-- hearing like his Mommy, and eyesight like his Daddy. Or at the very least-- an even mix of both, yielding average nearsightedness and average hearing. I'd be happy with that :-)

How about you? How's your hearing?

Friday Five: Dreams

Haven't done a Friday Five in a long time, and thought this one was rather interesting.

1. What did you dream about last night?
2. Do you record your dreams in your blog or a journal?
3. Do you think dreams are messages our bodies are trying to tell us? If so, are you real big on trying to interpret all the details?
4. Do you remember your first nightmare?
5. Have you ever had a recurring dream? If you did, what was it and what do you think it meant?

1. Not last night, but the night before: This dream was so vivid that I thought it was really taking place. I dreamt that Joe and Tabitha were still at our place, and we were talking (just as we had actually been doing a few hours earlier) and next thing I know, we're having an animated conversation about... code reviews. (Don't say a word, Joe :-P) Ever had one of those days where your mind was so absorbed with work that it carried on into dreams later? *shudder*

2. I used to. I thought maybe I could find a pattern or some meaning or something. And most of the time, I really only jotted them down because they made for some "interesting" memories. But it turns out that it's really only interesting for the first few hours after waking up (especially those dreams that evoke emotional reactions), maybe a few days if you write it down. After that, when I went back and re-read them, I found them little more than a hodgepodge of weird scenes. So I stopped doing that.

3. I think sometimes they are. Sometimes they're obviously side effects of having your mind concentrate on something in particular for a long stretch of time (like the code review dream :-P). Sometimes they just embody wishful thinking. And yeah, once in a while maybe you might uncover hidden meaning in your dreams, but I don't think that happens often enough to warrant spending much time trying to interpret them.

4. I don't really have nightmares. I've had dreams where I felt very sad or very angry or very happy, but never ones where I was anything beyond mildly frightened. The worst have been dreams where I'm being chased or attacked, and I turn around to attack the attacker back with something powerful, like a big knife or gun or baseball bat, but fail: either I miss, or can't stab/hit hard enough. Or else the attacker is just super-resilient and still crawls along the floor despite my having pumped a dozen bullets into him ;-P Still, those are probably the "worst" dreams I've ever had, and even they seemed so surreal they evoked more frustration ("How come I can't beat him down!?") than fear.

5. Quite a few, in fact: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=28049135&blogID=419651721

How about you?

Friendly Game Show Help

Brief holiday update, first: Christmas came and went, another year gone by. As Todd gets older, they become more fun. The older he gets, the less shy he is, and this year you could tell he really looked forward to playing with Uncle Ron again-- even following him around and calling out "Uncle Ron! Let's build something else!" while carrying the new erector set he got from Aunt Debbie and Uncle Ron this year :-) He enjoyed teasing Uncle Ron (much to Aunt Debbie's delight!) as they played together, and even mustered up the courage to try to sneak up on him and Aunt Debbie to administer tickles. No belly kisses yet-- maybe next year. He's come a long way from the little baby who sat on their dining table and did nothing but stare at the ceiling fan going round and round and round and...

Today's lighthearted post comes again courtesy of Plinky.com:

If you were on a game show where you got to choose a few friends to call for help, who would you pick?

Assuming they'll allow me to place long distance calls outside the country, the first person that comes to mind is our family friend Ingrid, from Germany. I remember once watching the German version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" with her once. I swear if she'd been on the show, she'd be a millionaire right now. She got every question right, without hesitation.

I'd also pick Allan, because there's nothing sadder than the sight of a pouting, left-out husband ;-) Okay, there are real reasons, too-- he knows plenty about geeky stuff, sports and WWII history. A good mix, especially since game show questions tend to draw from all sorts of random subjects. I know next to nothing about sports, so Allan would come in handy there. Otherwise I'd be one of those embarrassed fools that struck out of the game at the $200 level because I couldn't answer a simple sports question!

I'd pick my dad, because even though he's the quiet type, he's pretty up-to-date on current events, and knows a lot about all sorts of little things, especially when it comes to things more scientific/mechanical/technical.

I'd have to also pick Scot, because I know of no bigger movie buff than him. He's guaranteed to be able to help me out of a pinch on a movie-related question!

Okay, just exactly how many people are we allowed? ;-)

How about you? Who would you pick?

On movie theaters and a movie-themed Friday Five

About a month ago our church decided to pull up its roots and move to another venue, with the notion of expanding. The idea on the whole is both scary and exciting, and all-around rather positive... except for the current venue. A movie theater. While at first glance that may sound really cool, and while it IS kinda cool for special, once-in-a-while occasions, it's really not all that it's cracked up to be for regular, weekly use. The one we rent every Sunday morning is really poorly suited for something like a Sunday service. It's too dark, it's too difficult to move in and out of your seats (because there is no center aisle), the floors are sticky and nasty, and it just feels plain awkward to be looking down on the stage at the pastor. And the more I go, the more strongly I feel that a theater, especially this one, is not a really ideal venue for church, especially not longer-term.

The upside is that it's close to our home, and the kids really love having Sunday school in a theater, so Todd enjoys it more than usual. That keeps me going (otherwise, I'd just stay home and listen to the sermon mp3s once they're posted on the website).

... and then I came across this post in LiveJournal's customers_suck community, and am even more convinced than ever that I *really, really* don't want to attend church in a theater... or even see a movie in it!

http://community.livejournal.com/customers_suck/28167874.html

Egad!

And if you're not too grossed out, here's a long-missed Friday Five to cap off the week of daily (weekday, anyway) posting-- woo hoo! Let's see if the trend holds ;-)

1. What’s your favorite sports movie?
2. What’s your favorite romantic comedy film?
3. What’s your favorite animated Disney movie?
4. What’s your favorite non-Disney movie musical?
5. What’s your favorite stranger-in-a-strange-land / fish-out-of-water movie?


1. Considering I don't have much interest in sports, period, I can't really think of any sports movies I've actually *watched*! I did see "Remember the Titans" on TV a couple times, and that was pretty good. Or, if cheerleading counts, then "Bring it On" is definitely one of my faves :-)

2. So hard to choose a favorite, but among my most-loved are the Meg Ryan romance comedies-- "When Harry met Sally", "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail". I'd have to pick "You've Got Mail" as my number one. I adore the characters, it really romanticizes New York City, and has an awesome soundtrack!

3. Oh this one is easy-- "Wall-E"! :-) I think I've watched it well over a dozen times just in this past one-month span :-D I'm thoroughly enchanted by M-O, the little cleaner bot.

4. Ugh. I can't stand sports, but I abhor musicals even more. I absolutely hate having the movie interrupted by a bunch of silly singing and dancing. Like that ever happens in real life. Just get on with the damn plot, already! I want to know what happens! Funny that the question asks for "non-Disney" musicals, because just about the only musical-type movie I can remotely stand ARE the Disney movies, and even then I don't find the interruptions any less annoying.

5. I'm not really sure what type of movie that is supposed to describe. But one of my number one all-time favorite movies is "The Negotiator", and I suppose it kind of fits the bill, with the negotiator assuming the role of the hostage taker in a daring effort to clear his name. Does that count? :-)

How about you?

Wardrobe staples

Today's post comes from Plinky.com, a great source of little ideas for posting whenever I feel like writing but can't think of what to write. They're not always deep, thought-provoking questions, but even a short post keeps the writing juices flowing, right?

And the Plinky question I've picked for today is:
Share your wardrobe staples.

Well, anyone that knows me knows that I'm not really much for fashion. I wear what is comfortable and looks nice on me. If I'm going to fuss about something, it's going to be my hair... and even then, only because it's so unwieldy and difficult to manage.

Jeans are always good. In different colors: blue, black, brown... they are comfortable, wear well, and (the darker colors especially) can be matched with just about any top: t-shirt, polo shirt, sweater, business casual blouse; or any shoe: boots, sneakers, flip-flops, high-heels.

Another staple is a good, warm vest. They are such a nice way to keep warm without having to deal with the bulk of a jacket or sweater. Now... if only I could convince my son of the same thing! :-P

One staple I've recently discovered is a skirt. I picked up a nice black skirt over the summer to wear at Old Spanish Days Fiesta. And while it fits the "Old Spanish" theme nicely, it is also generic enough for me to wear every day, not just during Fiesta. The material is a nice, thin cotton that breathes really well and stays surprisingly cool in the summer, yet keeps me fairly warm in cooler weather. I've never been much for wearing skirts before, but this little piece is really turning me on to wearing it more often! :-)

And finally, I always have to have a nice comfy pair of sweatpants to wear around the house. Jeans may be comfy enough for wearing to the office all day long, but not comfy enough to lounge around the house in.

With this cold weather descending on us, and the new apartment staying as cold as it does, I'll have to soon add "Snuggie" to my list of essentials. Wait-- does that actually count as part of my "wardrobe"? Hmm, considering that I'll probably be using ("wearing"?) it frequently, maybe it does ;-) Time to go shopping this weekend!

How about you? What are your essentials?

Friday Five -- sleeping :-)

It's been several months since I've done a Friday Five, hasn't it! Anyone still willing to play? :-) Well, I guess I'll throw this out there and see how it goes.

After being accidentally awakened earlier than planned this morning, I thought this set of Friday Five questions was especially appropriate. I'm sure most of you can guess my answers to these questions already, but hey, indulge me for a moment!

1. What is your morning routine?
2. What is your nightly routine?
3. Do you like to listen to the radio when you sleep or have it quiet?
4. What do you like to sleep in?
5. What is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning?

1. Well, when I had to adhere to a stricter schedule in my former life and use alarm clocks, I'd set it for approximately an hour before I had to get up, so I could hit the snooze alarm about 5-6 times before finally waking up enough to stumble out of bed. These days, I simply try not to snap the head off any poor soul who happens to cross my path when I first get up ;-) Other than that, my routine is pretty straightforward-- wash my face, brush my hair, brush my teeth, throw on clothes and dash out the door. Breakfast to be eaten at work.

2. Eat some yogurt so my tummy isn't rumbling, brush my teeth (and tongue-- what's the deal with dairy products sticking so tenaciously to your tongue!?), change my son's diaper, set a glass of water and eyeshades within easy reach on my nightstand, and then wind down by reading in bed.

3. Quiet! And I mean dead silence. I don't keep earplugs onhand everywhere I go, for no reason!

4. My bed, of course! :-P Oh, wait... ;-) Comfy flannel pajamas are the best. No socks unless it's terribly cold... which, given that I'm in Santa Barbara and in a well-insulated apartment, doesn't happen often.

5. Hearkening back to my answer to #1: trying not to cause lasting damage when I RAWR at the first person I encounter. I also hiss at the sunlight and think of one of my favorite quotes: "If God had meant for people to enjoy the sunrise, he would've made it at 11:00 am!" Truer words were never spoken!

(in case you couldn't tell already, I am NOT a morning person!)

How about you?