Next time won't you sing with me

ABC meme

I would link to the dozens of blogs I’ve seen this on, but I don’t have the energy to trace this one to its origin. That is the cool thing about memes, I guess. Someone writes them originally, but eventually, they take on a life on their own.

Accent: Yes, I have a Snowstorm Region accent. When I travel, people are always asking me to repeat myself.

Booze: Southern Comfort. Or Scotch. But I have not had a drink in over twenty years. Unless you count all the virtual ones over at Pilgrim’s bar.

Chore I Hate: Laundry. Because it never gets done. Unless you make everyone in the household get naked and stay naked until all the laundry is put away, there is always more. I especially hate trying to sort out all the white stuff – white socks in six different sizes and none of them ever match. I never minded washing diapers actually, because that at least that was a whole load of stuff that did not need to be sorted. All the items were exactly the same. Anyhow, I hate this chore so I never choose it. Spouse does the laundry.

Dog or Cat: Cat. I like dogs but I don’t respect them. They obey humans, a dreadfully stupid trait. Cats, on the other hand, are independent. They obey no one. And if they don’t like something, they hiss and let you know it.

Essential Electronics: None are essential. When I go camping in the summer, I realize this.

Favorite Cologne: I hate most colognes and perfumes. Strong ones, like the Chanel perfumes, actually make me feel kind of sick. When I was a little kid, we would sometimes sit in church behind these older women who would wear strong perfume and I would sometimes end up fainting. I do use essential oils for reiki – these are pure extracts from such things as lavender or ginger – and I love those scents.

Gold or Silver: Gold. The colour of leaves in the fall.

Hometown: Traintrack Village, just outside Snowstorm City. Yes, I live just a few miles from the house I grew up in. My parents live there still.

Insomnia: Rarely. Unless I end up drinking caffeine by mistake.

Job Title: Mom. Well, that’s my main job. I also have this college professor gig on the side.

Kids: Four. Plus a whole bunch of extras.

Living arrangements: I live with my husband and kids and seven cats in a house on a deadend street in a rural area just outside Traintrack Village.

Most admirable traits: Smart, self-confident, persistent.

Number of sexual partners: One

Overnight hospital stays: None. Well, not when I was a patient. I have spent nights in the hospital sitting in a chair next to someone else who was sick or dying. My grandmother. My aunt. An elderly neighbor. My husband when he had a kidney stone.

Phobias: None, I guess. I mean, phobias are irrational fears, and my fears are completely rational. I am afraid of heights, for instance, but that makes sense. People get hurt when they fall from heights! The funny thing is that I have no fear of heights when I hike in the northeast because I am comforted when I look down from a cliff and see the tops of trees. I am scared to death of heights when I am in the southwest because there are no trees. My fear of heights has not prevented me from doing cool things like rock climbing. I am fine jumping off a cliff as long as I have a rope.

Quote: "Naturally the common people don't want war . . . But, after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or parliament or a communist dictatorship. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” -Hermann Goering, (1893-1946) Nazi Reichsmarschall, at the Nuremberg Trials, 4/18/46. From *Nuremberg Diary* by Gustave Gilbert

Religion: Grew up Roman Catholic. Am still sorting out what I am now. If you’ve read Kathleen Norris or Sue Monk Kidd, you might have some idea about my spiritual leanings.

Siblings: Three sisters and one brother.

Time I wake up: 6 am. Or sometimes earlier. Even on weekends.

Unusual talent or skill: I can wash my hair with just one bucket of water. (This skill was taught to me by Blonde Sister, who perfected the technique over many years of camping.)

Vegetable I love: Broccoli. Cooked in garlic sauce and served over rice.

Worst habit: Picking fights over trivial things and avoiding what is really bothering me.

X-rays: Of my teeth! When I was a kid and went to the orthodontist. But then in my later years, I can remember that I was always turning down x-rays because it seems like I was always pregnant.

Yummy foods I make: Lentil stew. Vegetable soup. Vegan chocolate cake.

Zodiac sign: Taurus. People who know stuff about astrology always guess right away that I am a Taurus. Something about me being stubborn and bull-headed.