I Stoled This from Oshun ...
Spring has finally come to northern Vermont. I am comfortably wearing short sleeves right now, and the early-flowering trees have that faint crimson or pale green haze just starting. Bobby uncovered the hillbilly hot tub yesterday; it had a big chunk of ice still floating in it, but an afternoon in the sun and it was gone. We put our vegetable seedlings out for a few hours to harden off for the first time yesterday, and Bobby got the garden beds uncovered and discovered that we had kale, leeks, carrots, and lettuce successfully overwinter under row covers, despite the fact that it got down to -30F/-34C this winter.
I freaking love this time of year.
Work continues to be exhausting, but that needs its own post. For now, I am going to waste some time before getting started on some SWG chores and do an m-thing that I stole from
heartofoshun.
1. Have you ever driven an electric car? Nope.
2. Do you live in an area that is prone to tornadoes? Not anymore, thank goodness. However, Friday night, we were under a tornado watch for the first time since moving to Vermont. (And this is rare enough that it apparently made national news!) The wind was fierce: knocked over our lamp post. In Maryland, we lived in the strip just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains that was most prone to tornadoes in the area; we used to sometimes have multiple warnings in a day and had one touch down in our town while we lived there. Not Tornado Alley but quite enough for me, thank you!
3. How many closets does your house have? Four, none walk-in. We live in a single-wide trailer, so storage space is not a Thing. (However, we live in the sticks and have two sheds and a barn, so more than enough storage space.)
4. When was the last time you saw someone you went to high school with? I went to high school with Bobby and see him every day! Aside from him, I don't even remember. I went to a magnet school; we came from all corners of a large school district and ended up scattering to all corners of the Earth, and despite going to school with many brilliant people, somehow no one has figured out how to successfully host a reunion yet ... (Bobby and I have talked about hosting something here, it's so desperate!)
5. Have you ever eaten moussaka? I don't even know what it is!
6. What breed was the last dog you saw? I saw my two Golden Retrievers just a few minutes ago.
7. How long have your parents been together (or how long were they together if they no longer are)? Thirty-seven years, one year longer than I've been alive.
8. What has been your most epic cooking failure? I'm not sure. I don't cook a lot; that's Bobby's household job. I did make vanilla ice cream once and forget to put in the sugar ...
9. Do you read other people's survey answers on here? Totally! Let me know if you grab it from me; I'm terrible at following any social media these days.
10. What's your bedtime routine? I stop working on whatever at 10 o'clock. Bobby and I do something brainless and relaxing for an hour. In the winter, that's usually watching TV. In the summer, that's usually sitting on the deck or in the hillbilly hot tub with a drink and the stars.
11. Do you agree with the saying 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'? No. My unfortunate experience, after moving here, has been that distance makes me easier to forget about, at least based on the fact that I don't even seem to exist to my parents anymore.
12. Have you ever been to Mexico? No.
13. Do you have a bad temper? Not really. I have worked hard to wrest control of my emotions. It's essential for a teacher and especially for a teacher of emotionally disabled kids--who are usually Olympic-level button-pushers--which I was for five years. People often tell me how calm and patient I am, which is hilarious because it does not feel that way on the inside of my brainpan!
14. When was the last time it stormed where you live? Friday night we had our first thunderstorm of the year. There was thunder and lightning for about two hours, then the scary wind started.
15. Do you ever fact-check the things you read on the internet? Of course, all the time.
16. How long would it take you to walk to the nearest store? Probably about an hour to Thibault's in Orleans or an hour in the other direction to the Natural Market in Newport. Coventry is not a big enough town to have a store, and I live a good forty-five-minute walk outside of the village anyway.
17. What five words best describe your mother's personality? kind, generous, timid, accepting, nature lover
18. Do you know any transgender people? No.
19. What's your dream job? Exactly what I'm doing: teaching humanities in a school I love where my work serves a significant need.
20. How old were you when you got your first smartphone? I was in my early thirties. I had no interest when they were expensive, but once they came down in price, it made sense to have one. I am not against smartphones, just have very little interest in much of what they can do and tend to use mine relatively little.
21. Have you ever had a parrot sit on your shoulder? Not a full-sized parrot, no, but I've had many budgies scramble around on my shoulders.
22. In the morning, do you eat breakfast first or brush your teeth first? Teeth! I do not feel fully human until I have clean teeth.
23. What's something you had to learn the hard way? What I loved and valued. I was a bright kid with my head on wrong. I thought that success was having an impressive job and money. I realized in college that I didn't love the work I was expecting to do, and since my family didn't offer a lot of support in my education, I kind of blundered through, into an unsatisfying job, and only once my hand was forced there, went back to school for my teaching license and found that, beyond subsistence, money and especially prestige don't offer me a lot. I sometimes wish I'd realized this younger, but I'm happy in my life now, so who knows that this would have been a better road.
24. What sort of window coverings do you have in your living room? Curtains on the big windows and these accordion-looking blinds on the small.
25. Has anyone in your life ever treated you abusively? Bobby and I broke up for seven months when we were nineteen, and I had a relationship with a man who was emotionally abusive. This was also when I had my major depressive episode and all that came with it.
26. What's the weather like right now? It's warm (upper 60s), overcast, and finally not windy!
27. How long has it been since your last breakup? Well, it was the emotionally abusive guy when I was 19-20, so that would have been sixteen years ago.
28. Can you concentrate well while listening to music, or do you find it distracting? I love instrumental music on in the background when I'm doing anything that requires creativity or deep thinking. Popular/Vocal music is a distraction, especially if I'm trying to write. If I'm doing menial or tedious work, I like music that can engage me imaginatively and make the task less dull.
29. What's the name of the amusement park closest to your house? I don't even know! I think there is a theme park in Montreal; if so, that would probably be it.
30. Do you like The Rolling Stones? Some of their songs, yes.
31. What was the last single item you spent over $100 on? Jeez, I don't even know! I have very little interest in buying things. I'm more likely to spend money on an outing or a trip or even a really good meal. Most of what I buy (books, seeds/plants, the occasional item of clothing) are very small-ticket items. Possibly it was Sherman, my used Jeep, last fall?
32. What's something you've been struggling with lately? This past week, I had terrible insomnia on Sunday night and so spent the rest of the week fighting exhaustion. Exhaustion is probably A-number-one. I get exhausted to the point of pain sometimes and struggle too with feeling like I'm failing in other areas of my life that I don't have time or energy for, like writing, calligraphy, fandom ...
33. What was the last caffeinated drink you had? I had a cup of coffee with breakfast this morning.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
https://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/430600.html
I freaking love this time of year.
Work continues to be exhausting, but that needs its own post. For now, I am going to waste some time before getting started on some SWG chores and do an m-thing that I stole from
heartofoshun.
1. Have you ever driven an electric car? Nope.
2. Do you live in an area that is prone to tornadoes? Not anymore, thank goodness. However, Friday night, we were under a tornado watch for the first time since moving to Vermont. (And this is rare enough that it apparently made national news!) The wind was fierce: knocked over our lamp post. In Maryland, we lived in the strip just east of the Blue Ridge Mountains that was most prone to tornadoes in the area; we used to sometimes have multiple warnings in a day and had one touch down in our town while we lived there. Not Tornado Alley but quite enough for me, thank you!
3. How many closets does your house have? Four, none walk-in. We live in a single-wide trailer, so storage space is not a Thing. (However, we live in the sticks and have two sheds and a barn, so more than enough storage space.)
4. When was the last time you saw someone you went to high school with? I went to high school with Bobby and see him every day! Aside from him, I don't even remember. I went to a magnet school; we came from all corners of a large school district and ended up scattering to all corners of the Earth, and despite going to school with many brilliant people, somehow no one has figured out how to successfully host a reunion yet ... (Bobby and I have talked about hosting something here, it's so desperate!)
5. Have you ever eaten moussaka? I don't even know what it is!
6. What breed was the last dog you saw? I saw my two Golden Retrievers just a few minutes ago.
7. How long have your parents been together (or how long were they together if they no longer are)? Thirty-seven years, one year longer than I've been alive.
8. What has been your most epic cooking failure? I'm not sure. I don't cook a lot; that's Bobby's household job. I did make vanilla ice cream once and forget to put in the sugar ...
9. Do you read other people's survey answers on here? Totally! Let me know if you grab it from me; I'm terrible at following any social media these days.
10. What's your bedtime routine? I stop working on whatever at 10 o'clock. Bobby and I do something brainless and relaxing for an hour. In the winter, that's usually watching TV. In the summer, that's usually sitting on the deck or in the hillbilly hot tub with a drink and the stars.
11. Do you agree with the saying 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'? No. My unfortunate experience, after moving here, has been that distance makes me easier to forget about, at least based on the fact that I don't even seem to exist to my parents anymore.
12. Have you ever been to Mexico? No.
13. Do you have a bad temper? Not really. I have worked hard to wrest control of my emotions. It's essential for a teacher and especially for a teacher of emotionally disabled kids--who are usually Olympic-level button-pushers--which I was for five years. People often tell me how calm and patient I am, which is hilarious because it does not feel that way on the inside of my brainpan!
14. When was the last time it stormed where you live? Friday night we had our first thunderstorm of the year. There was thunder and lightning for about two hours, then the scary wind started.
15. Do you ever fact-check the things you read on the internet? Of course, all the time.
16. How long would it take you to walk to the nearest store? Probably about an hour to Thibault's in Orleans or an hour in the other direction to the Natural Market in Newport. Coventry is not a big enough town to have a store, and I live a good forty-five-minute walk outside of the village anyway.
17. What five words best describe your mother's personality? kind, generous, timid, accepting, nature lover
18. Do you know any transgender people? No.
19. What's your dream job? Exactly what I'm doing: teaching humanities in a school I love where my work serves a significant need.
20. How old were you when you got your first smartphone? I was in my early thirties. I had no interest when they were expensive, but once they came down in price, it made sense to have one. I am not against smartphones, just have very little interest in much of what they can do and tend to use mine relatively little.
21. Have you ever had a parrot sit on your shoulder? Not a full-sized parrot, no, but I've had many budgies scramble around on my shoulders.
22. In the morning, do you eat breakfast first or brush your teeth first? Teeth! I do not feel fully human until I have clean teeth.
23. What's something you had to learn the hard way? What I loved and valued. I was a bright kid with my head on wrong. I thought that success was having an impressive job and money. I realized in college that I didn't love the work I was expecting to do, and since my family didn't offer a lot of support in my education, I kind of blundered through, into an unsatisfying job, and only once my hand was forced there, went back to school for my teaching license and found that, beyond subsistence, money and especially prestige don't offer me a lot. I sometimes wish I'd realized this younger, but I'm happy in my life now, so who knows that this would have been a better road.
24. What sort of window coverings do you have in your living room? Curtains on the big windows and these accordion-looking blinds on the small.
25. Has anyone in your life ever treated you abusively? Bobby and I broke up for seven months when we were nineteen, and I had a relationship with a man who was emotionally abusive. This was also when I had my major depressive episode and all that came with it.
26. What's the weather like right now? It's warm (upper 60s), overcast, and finally not windy!
27. How long has it been since your last breakup? Well, it was the emotionally abusive guy when I was 19-20, so that would have been sixteen years ago.
28. Can you concentrate well while listening to music, or do you find it distracting? I love instrumental music on in the background when I'm doing anything that requires creativity or deep thinking. Popular/Vocal music is a distraction, especially if I'm trying to write. If I'm doing menial or tedious work, I like music that can engage me imaginatively and make the task less dull.
29. What's the name of the amusement park closest to your house? I don't even know! I think there is a theme park in Montreal; if so, that would probably be it.
30. Do you like The Rolling Stones? Some of their songs, yes.
31. What was the last single item you spent over $100 on? Jeez, I don't even know! I have very little interest in buying things. I'm more likely to spend money on an outing or a trip or even a really good meal. Most of what I buy (books, seeds/plants, the occasional item of clothing) are very small-ticket items. Possibly it was Sherman, my used Jeep, last fall?
32. What's something you've been struggling with lately? This past week, I had terrible insomnia on Sunday night and so spent the rest of the week fighting exhaustion. Exhaustion is probably A-number-one. I get exhausted to the point of pain sometimes and struggle too with feeling like I'm failing in other areas of my life that I don't have time or energy for, like writing, calligraphy, fandom ...
33. What was the last caffeinated drink you had? I had a cup of coffee with breakfast this morning.
This post was originally posted on Dreamwidth and, using my Felagundish Elf magic, crossposted to LiveJournal. You can comment here or there!
https://dawn-felagund.dreamwidth.org/430600.html