This time it's all about me

Susie has challenged me to post 11 random facts about myself and answer 11 questions.  I don’t know if anybody is going to want to read all this, but here I go…

First, 11 random facts about myself.  This might take a while ... I can never think of things like this.

1. I vant to be alone. (No, I didn’t misspell that, I was quoting Greta Garbo.) Maybe I should change that to I like to be alone. Not all the time, of course, but I like to be by myself. Maybe after I stop working I’ll want to be more social, but now most of the time I prefer peace and quiet. There was a lot of chaos as I was growing up in a big family and lots more when my kids were growing up. I have to be “on” all day at work, being friendly and helpful and engaging and all that stuff. On my own time I like silence!

2. I like true crime shows. I used to watch them constantly and my DVR was full of them, but I’ve cut back a bit because they have become too predictable. I really like it when it wasn’t the victim’s spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, sibling, child, or somebody else obvious who-done-it. Then I make Jimmy watch it, too. And yes, we have a burglar alarm, in use regularly.

3. I’m a makeup junkie. I love playing with makeup and trying new kinds. My eyeliner will probably just go on thicker as I get older and my eyesight fades. (Maybe that’s already started.) Anyway, I also love sharing my new discoveries with my daughters and Susie, my BFF.

4. I have the bad habit of thinking that I can get skinny by buying something. I have to face the sad fact that you actually have to USE the gadget or video for it to have any hope of working. I was once watching an infomercial and I thought, you know, I would buy one of those – but I already have one. Pathetic!

5. I have a dream of owning a baby grand piano someday. I even gave my old piano to Jill to help me work on the dream. So far no progress, just even less piano practice.

6. I love my navy blue Toyota Matrix so much that when the lease ran out on the first one. I bought another one just like it, only newer and better (but this time I bought it, no lease – that was a mistake). A lot of people didn’t notice I even changed cars. Toyota has stopped making them, though, so I guess I won’t be able to get another when this one dies. Maybe a navy blue Prius…

7. I am terrified of all bugs and creeping things, especially spiders and roaches. I don’t like the crunchy sound of stepping on them, though, and I also don’t like having that nasty “bug juice” on my shoe. Usually I just spray them with a lot of bug spray. If the spray doesn’t do it, they’ll drown anyway.

8. I love gadgets. Anytime I see a new gadget for doing something, whether it’s a tool or a new can or bottle opener or something electronic to clean the floors, I want to try it out. I also love trying out new miracle cleaners. Anything that makes cleaning up easier, I love it. My current favorite is “Whip It” which I buy from the occasional Sam’s Club Road Show (I understand you can get it other places but I’ve never had to look). It’s good stuff. It’s a concentrate, so you mix it with water and it lasts a long time. It also takes the spots right out of those carpets!

9. I’m sorely tempted to buy all of the miracle face creams that I see, but I know that when you put on too many layers, it’s hard to tell what’s working and what’s just rolling off. But what if I stop something that’s working and I didn’t notice until it’s too late? It’s a dilemma. Usually I do my best to resist changing (much).

10. I love jewelry, especially long, dangly earrings and watches, especially if they have a bit of bling. Jimmy says that I am revealing how old I am by even wearing a watch since today’s generation uses their cell phone to check the time. I don’t care. I can’t leave the house with earrings and a watch.  Oh, and eyebrows.  Must have eyebrows.

11. I absolutely adore my family. My dad, my kids, my siblings, my nieces and nephews and niece- and nephew-in-laws, my great nieces and nephews, all of them. I do have my favorites, of course, but I wouldn’t dare name them here. I think you probably know who you are. If you don’t know for sure, just assume that you are. =)    I also adore all of Susie’s family. They are wonderful.

Here are Susie's questions and my answers:  (I don't know why the format changed.  Looks the same on my Word document.  Stupid Word.)

1. What food do you remember most from your childhood?  I guess the food I remember most is my mother's pot roast dinner we had almost every Sunday.  She did a lot more baking than cooking, but she made great pot roast!

2. What is your favorite gemstone and why?  I love the blue sapphire because I love its deep blue color and it's my birthstone.

3. Have you ever had a pet, and if so what was/is it?  I have had many birds in my life, but I don't have one right now.  Right now I have two Chihuahuas, Chica (my precious baby) and Dobby (tends to get into trouble but is impossible not to forgive).  We also have two cats:  Scout, a chubby white female left over from when more kids were home and I continue to feed, but that’s basically the only time you see her; and Mamo, Jimmy’s tuxedo cat who loves only him.

4. What person (real, although it can be a person from the present or past) would you most like to have dinner with, and why?  Former President George W. Bush.  I think he’s a kind and wonderful person, and I’d like to pray with him, too.  I would want to say the prayer myself.

5. What is your favorite book, and how many times have you read it?  Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham, and I’ve read it at least a dozen times and have listened to it on audiobook several more times.  It’s a classic that actually has a happy ending.  I love happy endings …

6. Do you have a hobby?  Does shopping on QVC count?

7. What is your best memory of the two of us?  Hard to say, there are so many.  I think my best memories are from when we were roommates in Cedar City and we did so much laughing that the store below the apartment thought we were always having a party (and occasionally some fighting) and both worked at Bob’s Big Boy.  We would go shopping in the middle of the night and putter around town in Susie’s pink truck.  Twerpie (my parakeet) would wake us up in the morning by preening our eyebrows as we slept.  Of course my dad baptized her then, too.

8. Do you remember any favorite toys from when you were a kid?  I loved my Chatty Kathy doll.  It was so amazing; it came with tiny records that you put in its side to expand its vocabulary when you pulled the string.

9. Do you consider yourself physically fit, and if so how do you maintain fitness?  Oh h*ll no.  I wish!  I have many plans for getting there in the future, though.

10. What is your blood type, and do you donate blood?  A negative, and I donate platelets and red blood cells regularly.  Not, not for pay, to a nonprofit.

11. How many times have you been to Walt Disney World?  (Come on, you knew there would be ONE Disney question…)  I don’t think I can count them all.  Can you, Susie?