Friday, September 17, 2010

Life is Good (I wuz tagged!)

I was tagged by Stephanie at A is for Aiden a couple of weeks ago, and am finally getting around to this!  Thanks so much Stephanie, and certainly, Life is Good!  These kinds of posts are always interesting to me...they force you to think a little bit differently, and bare your soul in a more personal way than I'm used to.  I guess the "favorite cold summer drink" question isn't exactly soul-baring, but you know what I mean.  I enjoy the diversion!

1.If you blog anonymously, are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?

I don’t see any reason to blog anonymously. I guess if I were super-controversial or something, I would want that, but my blog started out as a way for my friends and family that we don’t see every day to know how we’re doing, and to see photos of Samantha as she grows up. The pride I feel for my daughter could never be anonymous!

2. Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.

Ha. Haha. Uh...

I'm rediculously stubborn, and find it too difficult to describe just one incident.  In a broad description, I generally think I'm right most of the time. Even if I have an inkling of why I might not be right, if I've already put it out there that I think I'm right, I have to back it up until I've convinced myself and all around me, or die trying.

3. What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?

I know this is shallow, but I see someone that could stand to lose about 35 lbs. LOL I see that Every. Single. Day. I used to take it for granted that I could eat what I wanted and not exercise, but all that’s catching up to me now that I have a job where I sit on my butt all day and snack to stay focused. I have no self-control.

On a less shallow note, I see someone that has really evolved over the years, from a care-free kid living the crazy life (oh, and it was crazy!), to the focused, determined, fiercely-protective mother that I always knew I would be. I’m proud of that.

4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?

Water. I really don’t drink much of anything else ever, any time of year. I suppose if I did have to choose a drink other than water for this, I’d say lemonade. Ooh, or Sangria, although I have only had that on about 4 occasions in my entire life (I'm not much of a drinker of alcohol). But I do love it, and summer is so perfect for it.

6. Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?

Being a mother was the biggest, most satisfying accomplishment I could ever have. That was the one thing I looked forward to most in the decade or so leading up to Samantha’s birth. While she’s still so young, that’s all there is for me. That’s all I want. But once she’s older and more self-occupied, I’d maybe like to be able to afford to switch careers and become a teacher. It’s the “being able to afford…” part that might constitute the accomplishment to be met, unfortunately.

7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever, the class shy person, or always ditching school?

I don’t think I fell into any one of these categories (although I certainly never ditched school). I was kind of shy, but I also had friends in all the different “groups” that school kids tend to separate into. I credit my 10th grade experience in a school in Germany for facilitating that. Kids whose parents are in the military have to make friends quickly because they tend to be together for such brief periods of time (usually less than 3 years). In grade school I was usually the teacher’s pet, and then always did well in high school. I never had to try too hard to do well, but had my eyes opened in a pretty harsh reality check when I got to college. I guess that doesn’t say much for my high school’s academic challenges.

8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment in your life, what do you see?

Hearing my beautiful daughter say, “I love you too, Mommy!” for the first time.  It was the "too" part that made it so intentional, so loving, so poignant.

9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?

Not like this post with these questions isn't making me bare all...  While I certainly avoid certain things in my blog and don’t share everything (anyone who does is a fool), I think it’s pretty easy for me to speak as I really am. I just start to write and then it all just takes off. The more honest you are, the more credibility you have.

10. If you had the choice to sit and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?

Ooh, now I’m drooling. I haven’t had time to do either in years! But seriously, I’m a reader. I always have been. I have a pile of books next to my bed that I don’t have time to read (reading in bed makes me fall asleep by the time I get to the bottom of the first page). My reading level in grade school was always a grade or two above the rest of my class, and sometimes I’d borrow books from my teachers to read, to keep me interested. I read The Stand (all 800-something pages of it), The Exorcist and Carrie (yes, I loved horror!) when I was in 6th grade.

That's it!!  Now it's time to tag some folks...

I'd love to hear all about:

Amy at The Lamjav Family (a dear friend and former neighbor, with a beautiful, beautiful family)

Stephanie at Daily Smiles (whose blog makes me smile every day!)

Jen at ReJenerationS (a fellow blogger we were so fortunate to meet on a recent trip)

Renee at Sturgill Road (Samantha's former PT, from birth to 2)

Kelli at Love for Colin (another fellow blogger we were so fortunate to meet on yet another recent trip!!)

3 comments:

Stephanie said...

Oh SWEET! I love it!!!! Thank you!

Will get on it ASAP!

You had really great answers.

Renee said...

I loved reading about you. I didn't get to read it earlier because someone around here needed me.

I, too, am drooling over the thought of time to talk on the phone or read a book. One reason I am surprised by Lydia's long "conversations" on the phone is because she really doens't hear me on the phone often - there is no time!

JRS said...

Thanks for the tag. I promise to get to it soon, well, atleast this year ;-}
---Jen