Five Question Friday -- April 1

OK, so it's not yet Friday...but I won't have time tomorrow or any time this weekend, so it's either now or never!  As I was typing the title, I gasped...I HATE April Fool's Day.  Maybe it's because a) I have a HORRIBLE memory and will completely forget that it's April Fool's Day repeatedly throughout the day) and b) I can be a little gullible on occasion.  Here's hoping I make it through the day without looking like a fool (at least, no more than usual!).

1)  Have you ever had surgery?
Nope.  The only times I have ever been a patient in a hospital was to birth a baby (thank goodness!).  Yes, I'm knocking on wood as I type this...

2) Ever ride in an ambulance?
No to this one as well.  I have driven people to the ER, though, on several occasions, and while I like to think I remain calm under pressure, that's really not one of my favorite experiences!!

3) How are you in a medical emergency?  Panicked?  Calm?
Well, this is a mixed bag.  Thankfully I've never been in a REAL medical emergency, where CPR, or the Heimlich, or a tourniquet, or any of that "emergency first aid" are needed.  I think under those circumstances, I would totally panic.  Please God, don't ever test me on that one! :-)  But under lesser circumstances (such as the ones above, where I had to drive loved ones to the ER), I think I'm usually one of the more level-headed, clear-thinking people in the group.

4) Do you have a garden?  Flowers or veggies?
I hate gardening.  I hate everything about it...I hate digging in the dirt, I hate bugs, I hate getting sweaty, I hate weeds, I hate watering and fertilizing.  I think you get the picture.   I don't know the first thing about it...don't know what grows in what season, when to plant things, what kind of food to give them, how to take care of them once they're planted...it's just a big mystery to me.  And I prefer that it stay that way, or I might have to get off my lazy butt and do some yardwork!

5) When did you move out of your parents house?
Well, I went back and forth a few times.  I went to Rhodes College (here in Memphis) and lived on campus, so I basically moved out during the school year, but came home in the summer.  Then when I graduated, I went to grad school in clinical psychology...I moved in with Lesley and we shared an apartment for about a year and a half or so?  I quit school after a year, and then was on the way to becoming engaged, so I moved back home to save up money.  I moved out for good when I got married (the first time!), at age 24.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Friday, but no five questions

Well, the originator of the weekly "five questions" has had a family emergency this week, so perhaps I will have to come up with my own random questions.  But for now, I want to blog on something that's been on my mind.

I heard a fantastic speaker yesterday at the ASWA (American Society of Women Accountants) meeting...Susan Stephenson, who is the president and co-founder of Independent Bank here in Memphis.  So down to earth, and such a successful "working mother" who has raised three children while pursuing her career with a passion that is enviable.  I was totally with her until the end of her talk, when she finally explained the "secret" of being a successful working mother...you have to sacrifice your sleep.  There just aren't enough hours in the day to do everything you need to do to be a good mom, a good wife, AND a successful businesswoman, so you just have to give up sleeping.

This is not the first successful woman I've heard this from.  I've heard variations on this story, from Martha Stewart who reportedly only sleeps 3 hrs a night, to Biggest Loser participants who get up at 4AM to work out for two hours every day before going to work, for years.  Do you know how thin I could be and how uber-organized my house could be and how successful I could be in my career and how much volunteer work I could do, if only I could get by with 4-5 hours of sleep each night?  Maybe it's a "mind over matter" issue, but it's just not in me.  When I don't get enough sleep (and I'm talking AT LEAST 7.5 hours, preferably 9!), I'm grouchy, I'm angry about whatever it is that caused me to have too little sleep, my eyes literally will not stay open, and I just feel worthless.  And people, it's a major health issue!  There are all kinds of studies out there (studies linking obesity to too little sleep, equating driving while sleep-deprived to driving while intoxicated, etc) that show how important it is to get enough sleep.  So if I'm not going to sacrifice my sleep, what AM I going to sacrifice?  What do YOU sacrifice?  And why is our society structured in such a way that we have to sacrifice ANYTHING?  Deep thoughts...

Five question Friday -- March 18

In case you're wondering where the five questions come from each week, I steal them from Edi...but she gets them from the blog above.  What a great idea!

1) Have you ever testified in court?  For what?
Once, when I got divorced.  There are a couple standard questions they ask anyone who files for divorce (honestly, I don't even remember what they are...something like "do you see any hope of reconciling in the future?"), and you just answer with either "yes" or "no", but I'll tell you...being in a courtroom is nerve-wracking!  I cannot IMAGINE how scary it would be to actually testify in a real trial, even if I was nothing more than a witness.  Many thanks to my dear friend Jennifer for accompanying me to court that day, because I would not have wanted to go it alone!

2) Do you still have your wedding dress?
Yup, both of them!  At least, I think I do...I think the original wedding dress lives in a closet at my parents house...maybe Ashley will want it some day.  And the more recent dress is hanging in my own closet.

3) Is there a special place you like to go when you're happy, sad, stressed, etc?
Not really, though if the beach was closer, that would be my answer!  Why does the beach have to be so freaking far away???  Of course, if I lived too close, it probably wouldn't be special any more, so I guess it's a trade-off.

4) If you have kids, do they sleep with you?  If you don't have kids, will you let your kids sleep with you when/if you have them?
Nope, nope, nope.  I never wanted to open that can of worms.  Plus, I am a really light sleeper...the (very) few times I was so desperately tired that I brought one of the babies into the bed with me, neither one of us could sleep!  Now it's much more fun though...I love cuddling with both my kiddos before bed when I tuck them in and we occasionally have "slumber party" night in the guest room (only one kid at a time, though...I can't get comfortable if they're both in the bed, even though it's king size, and neither of them want to "share" me when we're in situations like that). 

5) Do you watch late night TV?
Not really, because I'm rarely able to stay up that late!  I've just never been a night owl.  You can ask Amy, my college roomie...I was probably the only person on campus who was in bed by 10:30 most "school nights"!  And that was late for me...the only reason I could do it then was because I usually didn't have to get up very early.  Now I'm usually in bed between 9:30 and 10p.  But I do love SNL, so I always record it and watch it another time.

Okay, now that we've dispensed with that...family updates.  Ashley is taking karate now, which she really likes so far.  She goes two or three times a week and is really working hard.  I'll try to post a pic soon.  Tyler only has a few more months until Kindergarten, which is really hard for me to believe.  Mallory's birthday (39) was last week and mine (37) is Sunday.  Other than that, no real news to report!  Hope you are all well.

Five Question Friday - March 11

Hola friends!  It's Friday (whew!), and for many of you, it's the Friday before Spring Break, which is even better...that means Ashley and I get a break from homework next week, so even though I have to work, it will still feel like a special week to me!!  And I am most definitely ready for the "spring" part of Spring Break.

So here's this week's Five Question Friday:

1) Do you know what your real hair color is?

Yes, it's a slightly less attractive version of the hair you currently see on my head.  Dishwater blonde, I believe is the formal name. :-)  I do get "highlights" every three months or so, and sometimes in the winter I go a tad darker...all just enhancements to my natural color.  For those of you who don't know, I DID go through a "dark" phase (both in life and in hair color) a few years ago...here's a pic:

I doubt I'll ever go that dark again, though it was fun for a while!

2) Do you plan ahead for summer, or fly by the seat of your pants?

This question would seem to imply that the person answering is "off" during the summer and has the freedom to "fly by the seat of their pants".  Alas, I am one of those people who work full-time, so summer is really no different than any other time of year, except that I have the added joy of finding summer camps for Ashley and Tyler.  Ashley did Y Camp for four straight summers, but bless her heart, she's sick of it (and I don't blame her), so I'm investigating other options for this coming summer.  Tyler will go to CTK for summer camp, so to him it will just be a continuation of the school year.

3) What is your favorite meal to cook?

I really, REALLY wish I found joy in cooking.  To me, it is a huge pain and an enormous effort to go through on a daily basis...I desperately wish we could just eat one meal a day (or a week!).  Perhaps then I would feel like it's worth the effort.  Sadly, I can't even come up with an answer for this question...any meal I have to cook myself is at the bottom of my "favorite meals" list.

4) Do you get offended by not receiving thank yous?

No, not at all...as long as I know the person received the gift (in the case of one which was mailed), it doesn't bother me at all.  To me, gift-giving is as much about the joy of giving as it is the joy of receiving (and I really mean that!), so it just doesn't really bother me if I'm not thanked for a gift.  Maybe that's because I really only give gifts to people I am close to, and so I know that they appreciate it without them having to say it.  Of course, it's NICE to know that someone appreciated something, but I don't want my gift to become a burden ("oh great, now I've got to dig out my notecards and write a thank you note")...that kind of ruins the "yay, I got a gift!" feeling that I'm trying to impart!!

5) How did you meet your best friend?

This assumes that you only have ONE!  I hate to narrow it down, because I have several friends that I consider "best", but we'll go with the top two.  We'll start with Carrie, since she's already pictured above...we've been friends since seventh grade (1985!).  I know we met in Band (we both played clarinet), but I can't remember if she came to summer band that year (before school started), or if I didn't meet her until school actually started.  I think it was the latter.  Anyway, I wouldn't say we became BEST friends until later on in high school, but we always "ran with the same crowd", so to speak, so we've been friends for over 25 years.

And of course, my sweet husband Mallory is also my best friend :-)  I haven't known him nearly as long (just 3 1/2 years, and we've been married for almost three of those!), but we both just kind of knew as soon as we met that we were kindred souls, I guess you could say.  We met on match.com, and I just knew as soon as I looked at his profile that it wasn't just coincidence that we found one another...both Methodists, both went to small liberal arts colleges and majored in psychology, a lot of the same likes and dislikes.  No, obviously that's not enough to build a marriage on, but it was enough to open the door so that we could discover the REST of the stuff that IS enough!

Happy Friday friends!!!

Five Question Friday

1. Have you ever forgotten your child in a store or at school?  I think I can honestly answer "never" to this question.  And please understand what a big deal that is, when you consider that their father and I have one of the most complicated custody schedules I've ever heard of (but it works for us!)...in four and a half years of rotating who drops off and picks up from school, I have a perfect record so far of remembering when it's my turn!

2. Where did you go on your very first date? (Like...first first, not first with your spouse or current significant other!) It was when I was a sophomore in high school (just turned 15)...my date and I double-dated with my BFF Heather and her boyfriend at the time.  It's a little foggy, but I do remember going to Oak Court Mall for some reason (did we eat dinner there?  No clue) and then stopping by the local "mom and pop" video rental store and renting a movie for all of us to watch at my house.  I was sooooooooooooo nervous the entire night because I had never kissed a boy before...the good night kiss was fairly unremarkable, but boy was I glad to have "the first kiss" out of the way so I could stop obsessing over it!
3. What's your "silly" fear? (We're not talking water and heights. Hmm, I'm not really sure.  I am NOT a fan of bugs, but I don't consider myself to be abnormal in that respect...I'll kill the small things, but if they are large enough to make a crunching sounds and/or a mess when you squash them, I generally find a way to trap them under a cup and leave them for my sweet husband to dispose of.  I probably have an irrational fear of being a victim of random violence, but again, I don't think I'm bordering on pathological (and I DO live in Memphis...not that crazy of a fear!).  If I come up with anything better, I'll post it.
4. Confrontation: do you cause it, deal with is as it comes, or run far far away? I avoid it whenever possible.  Hate it, hate it, hate it.  If everyone would just do what they're supposed to do, there would be no need for confrontation, now would there?  Maybe that should be my "silly" fear...my fear of confrontation!
5. Wood floors or carpet?  Good question.  I think I'm going to have to say a mix.  Growing up in homes that had an abundance of wall to wall carpet, I sometimes find wood floors to be a little too cold, echo-ey, difficult to keep clean (yes, I know my carpet isn't REALLY clean and I'd be disgusted if I saw all the crud beneath the surface, but there's just something so satisfying about the way carpet looks when it's freshly vacuumed!).  But they are really growing on me, and I think we'll be taking out the carpet downstairs and replacing with hardwood in the not-too-distant future.  But I still like carpet in the bedrooms.