You Know What Happens to People Who Keep it All Inside?

They get old and they get sad and they get weird.   ~ Jessica Day

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Hallie and I have been watching New Girl, so when I was looking for a quote about sharing information with other people and this one from New Girl's Jess popped up, I knew I had to use it.

So, without further adieu, today's post...in which I share a little about myself so as to not get old, sad, and weird.

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I generally gain a few new readers around this time of year, and since I've started writing for a couple of new publications that share my bio and the blog web address at the end of my articles, now seemed like as good a time as any for a quick update. 

I've completed this kind of questionnaire before, but when I saw this one - which included a few unique questions - shared a couple of weeks ago, I decided to use it as my introduction. Here we go!

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1. Dream Job

What I do now: Wife, Mom, and Writer...and someday I'd like to add Author to that list. 

I also think I'd be good at helping people organize their lives - not in a "The Home Edit" way, but in a "we can reasonably maintain this level of organization in our home" kind of way. I'll probably never pursue this line of work though...the first step in the organization process is to purge, and since I'm a ruthless purger, I'd don't think I could behave as sensitively as would be necessary (to be successful in the job) when working with people for whom purging is difficult. In past lives I wanted to be a doctor, a PA, a Child Life Specialist, and a Speech Pathologist, but none of those jobs interest me much anymore.

2. Hobbies

Exercise, soccer (watching Will), dance (watching Hallie), reading, baking, singing, volunteering, and organizing. 

3. Favorite Dessert

Strawberry shortcake, chocolate chips cookies, and brownies. 

4. Dream Vacation

It depends on the time of year...right now I'd love to visit anywhere cooler than Texas. 

I'm lucky to have visited a lot of the United States, but I've never been to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam, Seattle, Northern California, or Maine so those places are on my list. I'd also love to go back to northwest Oregon, upstate New York, Park City, and San Francisco. Ultimately I'd like to vacation in a place that isn't too hot, with hotel accommodations, where I can enjoy both touristy activities and outdoor adventures that fall into the "not too dangerous" category. Suggestions? 

5. Favorite Class

NOT English, interestingly. Probably algebra or biology, along with choir.

6. Favorite Piece of Clothing

JEANS. I have favorite brands or styles in other categories of clothing, but jeans are an easy overall winner for me here.

7. Dream Date

Sports bar for beer, appetizers, and assorted sporting event watching. Movie theater for popcorn, soda, and a clever mystery or heist movie. Hiking somewhere new (in an area where there aren't animals I'm afraid of and the weather is nice). Getting dressed up to go to an event (likely something we don't really want to attend in the first place)...and then sneaking out to go to dinner just the two of us. I love to dress up from time to time, but for the most part we're just not that fancy...

8. Weird Fact You Know

It's impossible to hum while holding your nose. (You just tried it, didn't you?)

9. Least Favorite Food

Split pea soup, beets, and weird things - oysters, clams, mussels, caviar - from the sea. 

10. Comfort Show/Movie

Friends on television. Anything sports related (Cool Runnings, The Rookie, Miracle, McFarland USA, etc.) on the big screen.

11. Most Used App

Messages, Instagram, and Facebook are probably tied for first (because I use Instagram and Facebook messaging for some of my regular communications), followed closely behind by my email and clock (my alarm goes off close to 20x/day) apps.

12. Coffee or Tea

Coffee. 

13. Bedtime

11:30pm. Ish.

14. Favorite Restaurant

This is too hard... But if I had to choose, I'd go with Josie's Spaghetti House and Andy's Restaurant, both in Madison, Wisconsin, and both long ago closed. 

15. Blood type

A-

16: Do You Like Museums?

Yes, but not all kinds of museums. I like interactive museums, and museums through which I can move at my own (relatively quick) pace. 

17. History or Math?

MATH.

18. Languages You Can Speak

Besides spoken English, a little signed English and a little French. 

19. Favorite Thing about Yourself

Personality trait: I'm good at helping. It's the Girl Scout in me: "On my honor, I will try, to serve God and my country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law" and "leave every place cleaner than you found it." I try to recognize when people need help and reach out. 

Physical trait: the color of my eyes.

20. Most Played Video Game

I don't like video games at all now, but back in the day I ruled at Tetris.

21. Sports You've Played

Recreationally: soccer, swimming, diving, volleyball, tennis, baseball, dance

Competitively: soccer, swimming

22. Ever Been to a Concert?

Yep. My favorites were James Taylor, Sophie B. Hawkins, and The Chicks.

23. Instruments You Play

The piano and my own voice. I wish I knew how to play the ukulele.

24. Pens or Pencils

Pens, specifically Emily Ley's Simplified Pilot Precise V5 pens and Pilot's gel pens.

25. Favorite Animal

Kittens

26. Pet Peeves

I know I have more, but in this moment, the only one I can think of is insensitive and inconsiderate drivers. I'm sure my mom, husband, kids, and besties will remind me of what my other pet peeves are as soon as they read this post and then I can report back. 😉

27. Horror or Comedy

Comedy, but I love suspense/mystery/heist movies even more.

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If you're new here, welcome! 

I spent far too long trying to find a picture to share at the end of this post.
Finally, I randomly picked one of the 20 I'd considered...this is that one.
But looking at it now, I feel ridiculous for even throwing it into the mix so
I'm also sharing the one below, in which I look better and you can see
my family instead of just three foster kittens napping on me.

That's a little better, right?