I am such a cheater

A new Meme! And just in time, since I felt pressured to post on my beautiful new blog, yet had no time to really be creative with it.

What is the worst meal you ever had? I’m not sure I remember any one specific meal, but I feel confident saying that any meal involving Jello would rank right up there. Or down there, in this case. Jello – gag.

Name one place you could vacation every year: Disney World – duh.

5 things that drive you crazy:

- My husband takes out the trash but never EVER replaces the garbage bag. That’s annoying.
- Being hungry. This literally makes me quite crazy. I’m insanely grouchy when I am hungry.
- Grammatical and spelling errors! “your” when it should be “you’re” is like Kryptonite for me.
-Complainers. Yes, we all have the need to vent sometimes but gee whiz. There is water in that dang glass people!
-Bad drivers. This includes (but certainly is not limited to):
-People who drive below the speed limit in the left (PASSING) lane
-People who drive all the way down to the intersection in the turning lane, then cut in front of everyone else who waited their turn.
-People who let those schmucks get in front of them.
-People who need to make a turn, realize they are in the wrong lane, and stop and hold up traffic until someone lets them over. Hello? Your mistake bozo! Go up, turn around and come back. Why do you think you’re so important that it’s ok to make two dozen cars wait for you?
-People who, not two minutes after leaving the sanctuary on Sunday morning, begin to do these same cut-off maneuvers in the church parking lot! Seriously? That doesn’t seem wrong to you?

Name three people from your past that make you stop and think “Hey, I wonder what ever happened to…”
-Wanda Crouser
-Andy May
-Becky Johnson

Kids’ TV show you might actually enjoy more than your kids do: Jo-Jo’s Circus!

Worst movie you’ve ever seen: No Drums, No Bugles. Sadly more than once. (Thanks Dad!)

Most under-rated TV show you watch regularly: Monk

Most popular TV show you never watch: American Idol

Celebrity whose looks you’d like to have: Carrie Underwood. Wow she is gorgeous!

Celeb you can’t stand: Brangelina! I know, that’s two people, but thanks to that incredibly stupid nickname I get to slide them both in.

What did you do today? Lots of sewing!

Who are you tagging?

Peppi at It’s All About Me!
Kim at Stop a Moment
Darcie at Such The Spot

I’ve been tagged!

I’ve been tagged by Darcie at Such The Spot. And I’ve been pitifully slow in playing along. I’m so sorry Darcie! But thank goodness I have my laptop back now, so I hope to be burning up the keyboard soon. Now that I can play, here goes nothin‘:

Favorite person (outside family)? Hmmm, that’s hard to say. I’m not very social, so cutting family out of the equation makes it tough. How about Shonda Rhimes, creator of Grey’s Anatomy, who has kept me entertained for so many quiet nights at home.

Favorite food? Currently it’s Annie’s homemade banana bread. That kid can cook!

Quirks about you? I am slightly OCD about strange things. Like doing things in odd numbers. If I eat a cookie, it will be 1, 3 or 5. Also light switches – if there are three switches in a row, I want them all to point the same direction. Anything else is clearly wrong. Clearly.

How would the person who loves you most describe you in ten words or less? Chris wasn’t home, so I asked the girls who told me, “You are the best Mommy I’ve ever had.” Quite the compliment.

Chris said:

Smart, stubborn, sensitive, motherly, thoughtful, forgetful, opinionated, pretty, cook-y, craft-y.

Any regrets in life? I regret ever having signed up for that first credit card in college! I regret more than one of the guys I dated in high school/college. I regret taking that first bite of dad’s homemade guacamole, since now I am totally addicted!

Favorite Charity/ Cause? Samaritan’s Purse – Operation Christmas Child is a favorite that I can involve the girls in as well, which is important to me. Also Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, KY which has been a godsend for our family.

Favorite Blog recently? There’s A Frog In My Soup

Something you can’t get enough of? Lilly’s sweet little tootsies. What could possibly be cuter than baby toes?

Worst job you’ve ever had? I worked at The Buckle for like a minute. Commissioned sales is so not for me.

What job would you pay NOT to have? Gosh. Probably my husband’s! He’s a finance man and I’d sooner eat my shoe than do what he does all day. But that’s no problem, since they’d probably pay ME not to do his job too, if they ever saw my number-crunching skills in action.

If you could be a fly on the wall, where? The Oval Office. Obvious reasons. Except for when Clinton was in office. Again, for obvious reasons.

Favorite Bible verse right now? Just one? Gosh. The entire book of Philippians really. But for just one verse I’ll go with Romans 1:16 – I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Guilty Pleasure? Stupid TV shows. Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, The Hills. Oh my goodness The Hills. WHY do I watch that?

Got any confessions? I have a Junie B. screen saver. I do not read my Bible every day like I should. I am completely incapable of making small talk. I sometimes eat dinner after the kids go to bed so I don’t have to share. I once rented a Yoga Booty Ballet DVD for like 3 months before I finally gave up and mailed it back, never used. And like Darcie, I too always fall asleep before I’m done praying.

If you HAD to spend $1,000 on YOURSELF, how would you spend it? Since that’s not enough $ to pay for plastic surgery or a new embroidery machine…probably some super-swank shoes like Manolos or Louboutins.

Favorite thing about your house? The newness! When we first got married we had a brand-new townhouse and it was awesome. Then we moved to a dumpy fixer-upper of a flip house. It was a great move for us, but a lot of work. I’m happy to be in a new low-maintenance place again.

Least favorite thing about your house? The horrid location of the master bedroom. Our bedroom door is right beside the front door of the house. Who in the world planned that?

One thing you are bad at? Standing up for myself.

One thing you’re good at? Sewing

If you could change something about your circumstances, what? I wish Chris was working less and home with us more.

The following stolen straight from Darcie (we just happen to agree on so many things!):

Who would you like to meet someday? Jesus.

What makes you feel sexy? My pre-nine-pound-baby body. (OK, actually for me it’s pre THREE big babies!)

Who is your real life hero? My husband. For so many reasons.

Back to my own answers…

What is the hardest part of your job? Discipline. I am not a structured or scheduled person, so I’m always battling that for the kids’ sake.

When are you most relaxed? Curled up with a good book and a nice cup of tea. Now ask me how often that happens.

What stresses you out? Anything loud. Especially loud people, but loud TVs, loud music – it all drives me nuts. If I am out to dinner with a noisy group I fight the urge to apologize to all my fellow diners out of complete humiliation.

What can you not live without? Besides my family, I’ll say Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I’m allergic to mint and this is the only form that doesn’t make me sick. I don’t have it very often, but whenever I do I enjoy it so much I’d like to make it a daily occurrence.

Do you agree or disagree with the recent article that reported that blogs are authored by narcissists? Disagree. Just because we happen to be amazingly brilliant people with incredibly fascinating lives does not make us narcissistic. Also who defines what is excessive and what is the appropriate amount of self-adoration?

HA! Actually I do say no, but mainly because everyone I know blogs as an outlet. We’re all busy at-home moms who need some grown-up time.

Why do you blog? See above. Also because our family is so spread out, this is a great way to keep up with everyone’s life.

Who are you tagging?

New bloggers – Workaholic SAHM and Be As You Are
Bloggy friends – Musings of an Ebay Mommy and Sellabitmum
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better – The Cullimore Girls and Liquorish
Bloggers whose participation is questionable – Our Crazy Family and Leanne’s Life

Okay – rules:

1. Answer the questions (Did I really have to include this as a rule? Duh!)
2. Link back to whoever tagged you
3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same, 2 from each category:

New/ newer bloggers (since we want to share the love and send them traffic)
Bloggy friends
Bloggers you’d like to get to know better
Bloggers you don’t think will respond, but you hope will

A lazy blog day :)

From Darcie’s lovely blog at Such the Spot, here are my blanks all filled in for you:

What were you doing ten years ago?

Gosh, that’s hard to remember! Apparantly nothing too exciting! I was dating my soon-to-be husband, I know that much for sure. I was working a little and playing a lot, I still ran 3 miles every morning, and I was fluctuating between sizes 2 and 4, depending on how much I ate (or drank) the night before. Ah, the good old days!

What are 5 things on your to-do list?

1. Pre-load Jimmy Buffet on ipod we got for mom’s Mother’s Day present
2. Spread truckload of mulch in backyard playground area
3. Finish dress for nautical/patriotic launch coming up next Tuesday
4. Harass doctor’s office for the 5th time about the delay in my test results
5. Get snacks ready for Annie’s soccer game tonight

What are 5 snacks you enjoy?

1. Carrot sticks (so addictive)
2. Baked Lays (even more addictive)
3. homemade guacamole
4. pretzel sticks
5. Fiber One bars

What would you do if you were a millionaire?

Well we’d move. We want to build a bigger house on some land (no neighbors, yahoo!). I’d buy a new van, and a truck for Chris who misses his terribly. We’d pay off my parents’ and my sister’s debts and make sure they’re all squared away. Set up a trust fund for my cousin with cerebral palsy. Set aside enough money to live comfortably. Then give the rest away, the sooner the better. I have zero desire to sit on mega wealth, and am often disgusted by people who do.

We’d give a chunk to our church, to the March of Dimes, and Kosair Children’s Hospital which has been a godsend to us. I’d also like to help fund adoptions for wonderful deserving families who can’t afford to adopt on their own.

Name some of the places you’ve called home.

Home for me is always Pennsylvania where I grew up. I have no desire to move back there, but it will forever be home to me.

I’m also at home whenever I am at my parents’ house, be it in Kentucky, Alabama, or South America – family is home to me.

My adult life has primarily been spent in Kentucky, though in 6 different cities!

I also feel like I live in Rainbow Pediatrics. And once upon a time I lived in WVU/Ruby Memorial Hospital.

What are some of your bad habits?

I’m stealing three of these verbatim from Darcie, who plucked the words right out of my brain:

I offer too little praise and too much criticism to the people I love the most.
I’m not as patient as I strive to be.
I let my tongue get the better of me when, many times, I’d do much better saying nothing at all.

Also…

I’m not neat enough (just ask Chris).
I can’t seem to completely finish anything before jumping into the next project.
I can’t tell people no, so I get overextended frequently.
I eat when I’m bored.

What are some jobs you’ve held?

Newspaper reporter
waitress
bartender
receptionist
title clerk
MOM

Who are you tagging?

Anyone who wants to play along!