Real Life Question Meme & Birthdays!
Today is birthday #35! Holy crap. That seems so bizarre to me because I don't feel 35, you know. Do you guys have that too, where you feel much younger than you are? It is also liptonrm's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE! My sister is taking us out to Olive Garden for birthday dinner and Sunday ceitfianna is coming to grill out. And we might sneak in a movie.
Thanks for all the great questions you guys asked for the Real Life Question Meme!
1) I always want to hear about pets, past or present.
2) Have you seen much of the country, or the world? If not, where would you like to go?
3) If you could live anywhere in the world, under any circumstances whatsoever, where would you go and what would your house be like?
4) What's your favorite meal?
5) Who was the person you were most excited about meeting?
I always want to hear about pets, past or present.
Including childhood/family pets, I have had 4 dogs, 12 cats, and 2 hamsters (or one was a gerbil?), 2 parakeets, 2 finches, and my sister had some fish - (I remember because she named them John, Paul, George & Ringo). Names included Barney, Mackinaw, Tatum (Tate), Samantha, Midnight, Maize, Patches, Midnight II, Zippo, Audrey (Papa Bear), and Zippo & Papa's babies Muggins, Whispa, Roo & Krycek (Buddy), and Pippin, Kirk, Peter, Sandy (I swear my little brother named his hamster after Sandy from Grease!), Aurora & Phoenix. Those are the ones I can remember. Patches was my childhood outdoor-cat. Tate was my dog that basically saved my life from the awful depression that was my junior high years. And Papa Bear was my cat that was with me in my one and only solo apartment and got me through having to move back in with my mom. Now I have Roo and Buddy, who both turned 14 last month!
Have you seen much of the country, or the world? If not, where would you like to go?
I am surprised by how much of the country I have seen. A trip to Texas at 8, but all I really remember is Six Flags Amusement Park. When I was 10, we spent three weeks driving around Canada. I remember a few things from this trip; staying at a Bed & Breakfast and being baffled by this stranger cooking us breakfast, Maple Leaf Village having North America's largest ferris wheel which I rode, Old City Quebec where all the streets were made from brick and there was a legit castle, Niagara Falls being beautiful and deafening, and whale watching where I was freezing and miserable the whole time except for the ten minutes our boat was surrounded by whales which was AWESOME. I also remember being stuck in the car a lot with my family. At 18, my dad took me and my little brother to Tennessee to spend a week on a houseboat on Cumberland Lake. Best vacation I have ever been on! There were waterfalls, trees and rocks all along the banks, hidden pools and the bluest water I have ever seen. I've also been to Minnesota twice to a lake cabin, to Chicago, spent a week in New York City, been to Vermont, Virginia and many childhood vacations at the Great Lakes of Michigan.
So lots of the US, but other than Canada, no countries. New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and Sweden are all on my list, but New Zealand is probably the only one that might actually happen someday. Got to do that Lord of the Rings tour, right?!
If you could live anywhere in the world, under any circumstances whatsoever, where would you go and what would your house be like?
New Zealand and I would live in a hobbit hole. Think about it; easy access, no stairs inside or out, perfect for my height, adorable little house where your green grassed yard is actually your roof. Obviously with all the modern appliances and electronics though. And I know New Zealand can get cold but I have lived in Michigan all my life, so I can take it. I'd have to move my brother's family with me though - can't be parted from The Niece and Nephew. Really, a hobbit hole would just be cool to live in no matter where, though I have been told our house has a bit of a hobbity-feel to it. Also, I would not object to living on a houseboat.
What's your favorite meal?
I could definitely put together a #1 meal. Let’s see…my grandpa's smoked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy (a favorite since childhood but if I'm picking, let's go KFC), deviled eggs, olives, and pumpkin pie slathered in Cool Whip. Dammit, now I'm hungry! I'm also a big fan of my mom's chicken & rice casserole, my dad's fried fish/mushrooms/potato breakfast platter, my little brother's meatloaf and my grandmother's peanut butter cookies (which is really strange because I hate peanut butter!). Are you hungry yet?
Who was the person you were most excited about meeting?
My Real Life answer to this is...The Niece. When The Nephew was born, I guess I didn't know how it was going to be. My brother and I weren't overly close right then and I barely knew his wife at all. They were both young and they didn't live here in town and just lots of things that had me wondering how much of a part I would even play in The Nephew's life. I had no idea then that it would be this life-changing thing for me. Since I was so close to my cousin and his wife, their kids considered me an aunt, and I knew what that relationship could be like, but I wasn't sure it would be with The Nephew. But it is, in fact, even more than I could have thought it to be. Sometimes when people find out I don't have kids of my own, they say stupid things like, "Oh, so you're just an aunt?" and am I like, "There is no just about it." It can never come close to being a parent, but it is still an opportunity to have this connection and influence over another person and to watch them literally grow and it is amazing. By the time The Niece came along, I understood what this would mean, how important this would be for me. I mean, sure, all babies kinda look alike and she basically just slept and cried a lot when I met her, but I knew this was the beginning of something transcendent in a way and for that, and for her...I was excited.
My birthday picture for the year!
I was always a bit of a dork!
Have a great weekend, you guys!
Thanks for all the great questions you guys asked for the Real Life Question Meme!
1) I always want to hear about pets, past or present.
2) Have you seen much of the country, or the world? If not, where would you like to go?
3) If you could live anywhere in the world, under any circumstances whatsoever, where would you go and what would your house be like?
4) What's your favorite meal?
5) Who was the person you were most excited about meeting?
I always want to hear about pets, past or present.
Including childhood/family pets, I have had 4 dogs, 12 cats, and 2 hamsters (or one was a gerbil?), 2 parakeets, 2 finches, and my sister had some fish - (I remember because she named them John, Paul, George & Ringo). Names included Barney, Mackinaw, Tatum (Tate), Samantha, Midnight, Maize, Patches, Midnight II, Zippo, Audrey (Papa Bear), and Zippo & Papa's babies Muggins, Whispa, Roo & Krycek (Buddy), and Pippin, Kirk, Peter, Sandy (I swear my little brother named his hamster after Sandy from Grease!), Aurora & Phoenix. Those are the ones I can remember. Patches was my childhood outdoor-cat. Tate was my dog that basically saved my life from the awful depression that was my junior high years. And Papa Bear was my cat that was with me in my one and only solo apartment and got me through having to move back in with my mom. Now I have Roo and Buddy, who both turned 14 last month!
Have you seen much of the country, or the world? If not, where would you like to go?
I am surprised by how much of the country I have seen. A trip to Texas at 8, but all I really remember is Six Flags Amusement Park. When I was 10, we spent three weeks driving around Canada. I remember a few things from this trip; staying at a Bed & Breakfast and being baffled by this stranger cooking us breakfast, Maple Leaf Village having North America's largest ferris wheel which I rode, Old City Quebec where all the streets were made from brick and there was a legit castle, Niagara Falls being beautiful and deafening, and whale watching where I was freezing and miserable the whole time except for the ten minutes our boat was surrounded by whales which was AWESOME. I also remember being stuck in the car a lot with my family. At 18, my dad took me and my little brother to Tennessee to spend a week on a houseboat on Cumberland Lake. Best vacation I have ever been on! There were waterfalls, trees and rocks all along the banks, hidden pools and the bluest water I have ever seen. I've also been to Minnesota twice to a lake cabin, to Chicago, spent a week in New York City, been to Vermont, Virginia and many childhood vacations at the Great Lakes of Michigan.
So lots of the US, but other than Canada, no countries. New Zealand, Ireland, Scotland, Australia and Sweden are all on my list, but New Zealand is probably the only one that might actually happen someday. Got to do that Lord of the Rings tour, right?!
If you could live anywhere in the world, under any circumstances whatsoever, where would you go and what would your house be like?
New Zealand and I would live in a hobbit hole. Think about it; easy access, no stairs inside or out, perfect for my height, adorable little house where your green grassed yard is actually your roof. Obviously with all the modern appliances and electronics though. And I know New Zealand can get cold but I have lived in Michigan all my life, so I can take it. I'd have to move my brother's family with me though - can't be parted from The Niece and Nephew. Really, a hobbit hole would just be cool to live in no matter where, though I have been told our house has a bit of a hobbity-feel to it. Also, I would not object to living on a houseboat.
What's your favorite meal?
I could definitely put together a #1 meal. Let’s see…my grandpa's smoked ham, mashed potatoes and gravy (a favorite since childhood but if I'm picking, let's go KFC), deviled eggs, olives, and pumpkin pie slathered in Cool Whip. Dammit, now I'm hungry! I'm also a big fan of my mom's chicken & rice casserole, my dad's fried fish/mushrooms/potato breakfast platter, my little brother's meatloaf and my grandmother's peanut butter cookies (which is really strange because I hate peanut butter!). Are you hungry yet?
Who was the person you were most excited about meeting?
My Real Life answer to this is...The Niece. When The Nephew was born, I guess I didn't know how it was going to be. My brother and I weren't overly close right then and I barely knew his wife at all. They were both young and they didn't live here in town and just lots of things that had me wondering how much of a part I would even play in The Nephew's life. I had no idea then that it would be this life-changing thing for me. Since I was so close to my cousin and his wife, their kids considered me an aunt, and I knew what that relationship could be like, but I wasn't sure it would be with The Nephew. But it is, in fact, even more than I could have thought it to be. Sometimes when people find out I don't have kids of my own, they say stupid things like, "Oh, so you're just an aunt?" and am I like, "There is no just about it." It can never come close to being a parent, but it is still an opportunity to have this connection and influence over another person and to watch them literally grow and it is amazing. By the time The Niece came along, I understood what this would mean, how important this would be for me. I mean, sure, all babies kinda look alike and she basically just slept and cried a lot when I met her, but I knew this was the beginning of something transcendent in a way and for that, and for her...I was excited.
My birthday picture for the year!
I was always a bit of a dork!
Have a great weekend, you guys!