Get to Know Me

No post since Tuesday? C’mon, me! Get with it!

I was tagged in my first blog game (not counting ones I used to participate in on livejournal waaay back in the day) by Tanya from Dans le Townhouse! She’s my favorite Canadian blogger and I’m excited to participate! Also, she was the first to e-mail me at my brand spankin new e-mail address (for blog correspondence), myfriendstaci[at]gmail.com! Woo hoo!

The Rules:

1. You must post the rules.
2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.
3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post.
5. Let them know you’ve tagged them!

Here are the questions posed by Tanya: 

• How much time do you devote to blogging each day?

This just depends on the day. Some days I really get into a groove and write a really long post, or work on photos for a few posts in advance, and some days I don’t even touch the blog except to check comments. I would like to get into a better routine and dedicate the same amount of time to it every day, but at this point with work, trying to make it to the Y, and making sure not to neglect my dog, sometimes it seems like there are no hours!

• What do you think is the best room in your house/home/apartment/lean-to?

Right now, it’s gotta be my office/guest room. To me, it feels the most “finished,” like, everything in there makes me happy. I love my living room, too, but right now it doesn’t have a proper media stand and two of the chairs in there just don’t “go,” so until those two “problem areas” are addressed, the guest room it is! I like the desk in there, and the way everything simply “goes” together effortlessly.

• What is your favorite colour?

GREEN! I love green! I want to marry it!

• What skill would you love to learn?

Hmm. Let’s go with two, so I don’t have to choose. First, I’d love to be great at woodworking. To build myself furniture and shelving and everything… I think it would be so interesting and very enjoyable! Second, I want to learn something athletic and be really good at it. I enjoy indoor rock climbing so that’s a “someday” option. Or surfing–when I live near an ocean again!!

• Are you sentimental about stuff, or can you de-clutter with ease?

Sigh. Both. I’m not the kind of person who needs nostalgic stuff sitting around all over the place, but don’t you dare try to make me get rid of it. That’s what boxes and basements are for! Actually, I have been getting better at minimizing my “keepsakes.”

• Who is your favorite band/musician?

Ah, the impossible question. I love so many different musicians that it’s hard to say, because every day I am discovering something new that I’m totally into. But, the music group for which I will note CD release dates and go to the store early to get my hands on the CD as soon as it drops is… U2! LOVE me some U2.

• How do you organize your books? By colour? By theme?  Some personalized system?

Unfortunately, right now, my books are a mess. When we moved into our current house I threw the books onto the shelves and there they have stayed. They are sort of organized by theme… meaning the textbooks are on the bottom shelf, the rest are on the shelves above them. I did make a little effort, though. I pulled out a few in certain colors, (red, for example) and stacked them in front of the back layer of books in attempt to create order and a pop of color.

• What accomplishment are you most proud of?

This is an interesting question. I don’t have any “Everest” moments like running a marathon or winning an Oscar, but I am proud of myself for graduating high school and college–something not everybody has the ability to do, which I’m reminded of regularly when people come in to my work to ask for financial assistance because Sonic cut their hours and they can’t make ends meet. The thing I’m most proud of, and didn’t give up on (the way I gave up on piano, dance, drawing, etc) is French. I studied French for 5-6 years and would consider my skills pretty good. I would probably struggle making it through a novel, but in a French-speaking country I can and have gotten by easily. And that, I’m proud of.

• Do you buy yourself fresh-cut flowers?

I’ve done this once. I would like to do it more. Must begin creating excuses to get some…

• Do you screen your phone calls?

Since my only phone is a cell phone, obviously I see who is calling as they call. (The exception to this is someone whose number is not in my contacts). That being said, I almost always see who is calling but, again, I pretty much always answer. Even if I don’t want to talk to the person at the moment… the worse option is returning the call later. I hate returning calls. The feeling nags at me for days (I usually procrastinate the call-back) and I always worry if I’m calling the person in question at an inopportune time.

• What is the funniest things that has happened to you?

I’ve never been mistaken for a celebrity or murderer or something, nor have I fallen down three stories of stairs to land gracefully as if nothing happened….. I don’t know! Funny things happen all the time! I like to think I have a funny group of friends and we constantly make each other laugh. So nothing stands out.

Random things about me:

1. I love, love, love, love the feeling of getting in a hot car. Even when I was little, I loved it (except when I’d burn myself with the metal seatbelt latch). Today I was pleasantly surprised with a hot car when I left the office for lunch. Especially welcome in winter. Spring is coming!!
2. This month, Doug and I joined the Y and we try to go exercise at least three days a week now.
3. Mosey is my first dog–EVER–and I am loving being a dog owner.
4. My cousin Roberta is the one who converted me from “cat person” to “dog person” and I’m never looking back!
5. Favorite espresso beverage: dirty chai (chai tea latte with two espresso shots).
6. Favorite tea: yerba mate. With honey, or milk, or both.
7. Went through an extremely serious anime/japan loving phase in high school. Many people already know this, many people don’t. As a result of this phase, I’m a little “burned out” on Japan and it’s not on my list of top 5 countries to visit at this point.
8. Various careers I have dreamed of (beginning as a toddler): Bird, fire-woman, Olympic gymnast, Olympic ice skater, screenwriter, President, set designer, shop owner,     ??     .
9. I love maps, but not as much as my husband does.
10. One of my favorite memories is when my family was on vacation in Hawaii: evenings with the patio doors open, and falling asleep to the sound of the waves.
11. I would like to live in a foreign country for a while. Like, at least a year. At some point.

My eleven questions for Angela, Ashley, Katie, Libby, Melissa, and Sarah! It’s not eleven bloggers but i make my own rules :P

1. Do you have a signature (or simply favorite) perfume? What kind is it?
2. If you had to pick one song to be your ringtone–FOREVER–what would it be?
3. Favorite kind of shoe?
4. What was your favorite subject? (any grade, k-12)
5. Do you enjoy exercising? Do you actually exercise?
6. Favorite season?
7. How often do you go out to eat? Where?
8. If you had to donate all your money to one charity, which would you choose?
9. Name a detail that you always notice that most people overlook (nice paper, clean cars–something like that)
10. Most-used tool in your makeup bag? (You can tell I’m writing this for girls)
11. One cherished memory.