Answer Me This

What is your favorite picture book? 

This is a dangerous question to ask me. As an elementary teacher and children's literature addict, I have a very large collection of children's books. My list of favorites could easily be pages long. My absolute favorites are the Pigeon books by Mo Willems. When I was teaching first grade, we read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus every day before we went home. Kids love those books! And they are books that I don't get tired of reading because they are so fun.

Are you a boycotter? 

I am, but usually for petty reasons. If I get food poisoning, I stop eating at a restaurant for a year. If I don't like a certain actor, I won't see their movies no matter how good it looks. I haven't boycotted anything for a strong moral reason yet.

How do you feel about cheese?

 I LOVE IT! I'm not very adventurous, but give me some cheddar or mozzarella and I'm in heaven.

 How many pairs of sunglasses do you own?

I have 3 pairs of cheap sunglasses floating around somewhere. Of course, I can never find a pair when I want them.

How long has it been since you went to the dentist? 

5 days! I just went for a routine cleaning on Tuesday.

If you could visit any religious site in the world, where would you go?

I really want to go to the Vatican.


 

Weeks in Review

 And just like that, another three weeks have gone by since I last did a week review.  At least I'm consistent?

 So, what have I been up to in the last 3 weeks? To be honest, not a whole lot! I said I had plans to clean and while I had the ambition, I didn't have the motivation. I did get a few rooms a lot cleaner and laundry did get done, so it wasn't a total loss. I even braved the heat and humidity to do some weeding.

I did work on some of my hobby projects, which was nice. After all, I was technically on vacation, so fun and relaxing were in order. And I worked pretty hard this summer, so I'm not feeling too guilty about not being as productive.

My grandma had her birthday a couple weeks ago, so my mom and I took her to lunch at a local Amish style restaurant. They have a lunch buffet that I love. I definitely ate well that day!

School started last week and I'm already working. My scheduler called on the first day of school to start offering jobs. I predict I'll be busy this year which makes me very happy!

How was your week?

Answer Me This: Magazines, TV Shows, & the Sign of Peace

What is your favorite room in the house? 

I spend the most time in the living room, so I guess that's my favorite.

We've lived here for 4 years and I really wish the house was more decorated. I don't really like the way most of our room look. I still feel like we look as if we just moved in. We still have stuff in boxes for crying out loud! The only room I'd consider "done" is my bathroom.

Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?

I refuse to pay for magazines, so I only get subscriptions I can get for free. The only one I have right now is Martha Stewart Living.

How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above? 

I find it awkward, but that's because I don't like interacting with strangers much. I dread having to shake hands with the people around me. I'd be fine with the sign of peace if I could only do it with my family - kiss my husband (and shake his hand while we're kissing...yes, we're odd), shake my mother-in-law's hand and done.

Sign of peace at our wedding

 What is your least favorite sound? 

Right now, it's yelling and screaming. I don't mind the sounds of children playing, but the neighbor children insist on screaming and yelling as if they're being tortured and it's really annoying. Of course, the adults around here also seem to be doing a lot of yelling and arguing outside, so I guess they're just modeling what they see. (I promise we don't live in a terrible neighborhood!)

What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?

Punky Brewster, various Saturday morning cartoons, The Cosby Show, SeaQuest, Lois & Clark, Saved by the Bell, Boy Meets World, Full House

What are your favorite TV shows now?

 Doctor Who, Sherlock, Person of Interest, NCIS, Once Upon a Time

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Answer Me This: Pie, Sleep, and the Library

 What do you still want to do this summer? 

Nothing, really. School starts this week, so in my mind, summer is done. 

Of course, I'd always love to travel, but unless we win the lottery, that's not happening.

What's your favorite kind of pie?

I like lots of pies. I just had some delicious chocolate cream pie the other day. I also like chocolate peanut butter cream, pumpkin, strawberry, and Toll House pie. 

How much sleep do you need each day? How much do you get? 

I need as much as I can get. Seriously, if left to my own devices I can easily sleep for 10 hours. (Can you tell I don't have kids?)

However, I usually only get about 6 hours.

Do you prefer to swim in a pool, lake, river, or ocean?

Pool, please. I don't like plants and animals touching me when I'm in the water. 

Do you know any poems by heart? 

I don't anymore. My expository writing teacher had us memorize some quotes and things. One of them was part of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116. 

Do you use the public library?

All the time. We go to the library at least once a week. I've currently got a huge stack of books to get through, which I love. We also like to borrow DVDs.
 

Answer Me This

When driving, are you more likely to listen to the radio, to CDs or an iPod, or nothing at all?

Normally, I enjoy listening to CDs because the radio always seems to be either one of five popular songs or commercials. However, I've been extremely lazy and not changed out the CDs in my car since Christmas, so my CD changer is still full of Christmas music. So it's been the radio for awhile now. I'd change out the CDs, but I took all my CDs in the house and always forget until I want to listen to something other than the radio.

Do you prefer window or aisle?

I prefer aisle. I get motion sickness prettily easily especially when reading, but I can avoid it if I can't see out the window easily. It's not usually bad on planes, but I'll do anything to avoid feeling sick.

Do you fall asleep on your side, back, or stomach? What position are you in when you wake up?

I fall asleep on my side. I cannot sleep on my stomach at all. I usually wake up on my back unless the cat is sleeping against me and then I seem to know not to roll over in my sleep.

When is the last time you attended a zoo, circus, carnival, county fair, or parade?

I went to the zoo 2 weekends ago with the family. I wrote a blog post about it.

We also went to our county fair 2 weekends ago. I'm working on a post about that. (i.e. I haven't uploaded the pictures from my phone yet.)

I've never been to a circus.

The last parade I remember watching was on our honeymoon at Disney World. That was 4 years ago.

Do you have a favorite quote or inspirational saying?

These are mine for work...

This one is especially helpful to remember when you see children you are not responsible for acting in a way of which you don't approve.

What's the best thing about summer?

This summer, the best thing was my summer job. I absolutely loved day camp this year. My group was great, my co-workers were awesome, and we had lots of fun. I was really sad when camp ended.

The best part of every summer in the county fair. I have lots of fond memories of spending time at the county fair as a kid, so I love going every year. It's so much fun to see the animals, eat lots of great fair food, and look at the 4-H projects.