20 Questions (aka Friday Funday. . . on a Tuesday)

A Guy Called Bloke started this and nominated Kristian who in turn nominated me for this fun post.  I’m still a little lagging in my posts, so you get this Friday Funday Challenge on Tuesday! Better late than never!

So – here’s the rules – because there are ALWAYS rules.

1. Thank the Nominator
2. Answer 20 questions
3. Nominate two bloggers of your choice and notify them
4. Delete two of the questions in the list between 1 – 19 and insert two of your own.

Thank you Kristian!  I do love these kinds of posts!  And I still need to get caught up on all your stories – especially that Fantasy one that is now 11 parts!!

WARNING:  This is long, so make sure you grab a coffee or tea (spiked if you prefer).  I tend to ramble on my questions! 

1] Your favourite colour?

Is RealTree Camo a color?  No, well then I guess I can settle for pink.  Hot pink or light pink.  And they look good as an accent for camo!  Oh, and sparkly – as I’ve gotten older I like more sparkles and bling – but I guess that is not really a color either.  So we will stick with pink.

2] If you could have 1 super power what would it be?

A photographic memory!  Ok, so maybe that is not really a super power since some people do have this in reality.  But I’ve always thought it would be so cool to be able to remember all the things I’ve read.  And I would hope that would make my memories more clear too.  I guess for the bad ones that would suck, but for the good ones that would be great.  For a REAL super power though – I think it would have to either be flying (and I hope that means my fear of heights would go away or else it would be a total waste) OR being invisible.  Although Kristian’s super power of teleportation would be super cool too.  Actually now that I think of it (and probably because I miss the GIRL who has been in Europe for almost 2 weeks) I think I will go with teleportation.

3] Most embarrassing moment?

Oh my goodness – there are so many to choose from.  I was a bit of a nerd growing up and not all that coordinated. But I was pretty strong and flexible and I loved horses.  I was part of a group that would do trail rides through the beautiful forests of Washington State.  One time we were riding along and someone ahead of me on the trail yelled “Duck!”   Since we were at a part of the trail that circled up and around a pond I responded “Where?” looking down at the pond and promptly got hit in the face with a tree branch that ended up bending me backwards until my head hit my horse’s butt.  To my defense, it is standard to yell “hole” on the trail when there is a hole you want to watch for to avoid having your horse step into it.  And usually if there is a low hanging tree branch the person yells “Branch!” not “Duck!”.  My new nickname after that day was Ducky.

4] What is the one thing you wish you were great at?

I wish I had a better poker face.  Not because I love poker- I really don’t.  But just for life.  I tend to show my emotions and I think I’m easy for others to read.  I don’t necessarily think that is a really bad thing – I don’t mind being transparent for the most part.  But sometimes – especially at work – it would be nice if I could figure out how to be a bit harder to read.  Working from home is nice though – people I’m on the phone with can’t see my face.

The other thing is I wish I liked to clean more.  I want a clean house but I really don’t like to clean at all.  I know most people don’t like to clean, but I really don’t like it.  I’m a horrible mom/wife I guess – I can’t stand having to clean up after others.  I despise it.  I do clean when I get really mad though – maybe I just need to get mad more often.

5) What do you feel is your spirit animal?

I think it would have to be a horse.  I’ve always loved horses.  They are beautiful, strong and graceful.  SO maybe this is more of what Spirit Animal I would like to be – the graceful part I definitely don’t have down.  What animal is nerdy and a bit of a klutz?  That would be me.  Maybe a baby panda bear – that’s my Spirit Animal.

6] List 3 things you would like to be remembered for?

1. Genuine: I don’t like fake people and I hope that others don’t see that in me.  While I said above I would like to have a better poker face – I would prefer to be transparent than fake.
2. Loyal/Trustworthy:  Trust is a big thing for me, so I strive to be trustworthy and loyal myself.
3. Kind/Fair:  I try to be kind but I’m not always successful at it.  And I try to be fair and consider things from other people’s point of view.  I think I’m a little better at this and to me being kind and fair go hand in hand. Otherwise sometimes if you are just kind to everyone you might get pushed around a lot.  I’m learning how to avoid that.  Or at least I’m getting a bit better at it.

7] What do you think people misunderstand about you?

Sometimes I feel like people misunderstand my intentions.  I like to think I have a good heart and I am not mean or malicious to others (although if I had thought bubbles over my head – you might see some malicious thoughts at times – but I try to pop those and get rid of them fast).  Maybe my intentions are not misunderstood anymore than anyone elses.  After all, we can’t read each others minds or hearts.  So it may just be that I’m a bit more sensitive to it.  Or maybe others are sensitive too but they just have a better poker face than me.

8] Your main strength?

I tend to have a very analytical mind and this has served me very well, not only in my career but in life in general.  Plus I love to learn so I tend to dig in and pick things apart so I can figure out how things work and flow.  My hubby is mechanically gifted and he does that with physical objects – I don’t have that talent.  But when it comes to non mechanical things or work processes I am in my element.

9] What passions do you have?

Reading, writing and coffee.  And my kids of course.  When I was younger I was not one of those girls that thought a lot about having kids and had names picked out for them.  I might have even been okay with marrying someone who did not want kids.  However, now that I have 3 of my own – they are my passion and I’m their biggest fan.  (When I’m not yelling at them!)

10) If you could go back in time and change one thing in history, what would it be?

I’m not sure if this is related to History with a capital H, as in History of the World, or in my own personal history.  For my history, I wish I could go back and talk some sense into my teenage self.  I look back and realize I was a bit more opinionated and closed minded about things than I would like and I was not real nice to some people.  Plus I took my youth for granted WAY too much.  But then I guess this is something almost everyone probably wishes they could do.

From a History perspective – there are so many things I wish I could change.  Mostly related to people hurting other people.  However, at the same time I fully believe that good comes of bad things and I wonder if I was to go back and change something – would that really make things better or would it make them worse?  Have you see the Butterfly Effect with Ashton Kutcher?  I can’t say it is my favorite movie by any means but it really stuck with me.  I do a lot of that what if thinking (there’s that analytical mind again!) and this movie really stuck with me.

11] 5 weird things you like?

Only 5?  Actually I think these things are normal – but others say I’m weird because of them.

1. I am an accountant/CPA yet I can’t do math in my head – that is what a 10 Key and Excel are for!  If you ramble off some numbers to me and there are more than 3, I guarantee I will get them mixed up.
2. I like the rain.  In fact, if it stays sunny here too long I start to get a bit depressed feeling.  And I love the feel of wet grass on my bare feet.
3. I refuse to peek at presents in advance.  I won’t read the end of a book in advance.  I don’t want to watch episodes of a show out of order.  No matter how anxious I get about how something is going to end – I refuse to ruin the surprise at the end.
4. My idea of a good time involves either coffee, a book and a bubble bath OR a big truck, mud and guns.  A perfect day would start with the latter and end with the former.
5. I am afraid of heights which means if given a choice to walk across a space on a catwalk that is either covered by a thin sheet of plywood or iron work which can be seen through – I will choose the plywood every time even though logically I KNOW the ironwork is safer.

12] How important is education?

Extremely important – however, when I say this I’m not just talking about traditional education.  While I do think that is important, I acknowledge our system here in the US is a bit broken.  I feel like we put people in a box too much – our education is cookie cutter and not that good of one.

My daughter has been in private school, been home-schooled and attends public school now.  My middle child (oldest son) has been home-schooled and now attends public school.  My youngest has only been in public school.  All three have their pros and cons (the types of schools, not the kids – although they do have their pros and cons too!)  The one thing I loved about home-schooling though was the flexibility I had to cater my children’s learning experience to their strengths and preferred learning styles.

Even now as my children get older and we are starting to consider next steps – college – I know the same solution is not ideal for each of my children.  While I definitely want my kids to pursue additional education outside of high school – I don’t believe a 4 year college is necessarily the right thing for all of them.

13] Your favourite childhood book?

I have three – Caddie Woodlawn, the Anne of Green Gables series and the Black Stallion series

16] Your hidden talent?

I can think and analyze things to death.  Honestly I can’t think of anything else right now. I probably have something – but I don’t know what.  You’ll have to ask my friends.  I’m a bit clueless at times.

17] An image that makes you happy?

Seeing my children smiling and doing something they love.

18] Bullet point your day so far.

• Woke up (probably a bit later than I should have – I hit snooze once or twice)
• Checked emails briefly for work to ensure nothing super important came through overnight
• Stumbled into the kitchen to make some coffee, let the dog in and gave her some food.
• Stumbled back to my bedroom/office and waded through my emails.
• Meeting at 9am – it was actually pretty productive – not all of them always are.
• Worked on various projects until about 11:45.  My right hand person is out on vacation starting today so I don’t have him to throw my work at right now. (Who allowed him to take time off!?)
• Took a shower (one of the perks/downfalls of working from home – lunchtime showers)
• Another meeting at 1pm – another productive one, I’m on a roll today
• Little bit of free time to get some more work done.  Also, took a peek at Facebook to see if any new pictures were posted from the Girl’s Europe trip.
• Meeting at 3pm – very productive
• Meeting at 4pm – not so productive for me, however I did do some other work while I listened in on the call.  So kind of productive.
• 5pm – officially I am off now – but working from home means I often kind of linger at my desk if I don’t have something to pull me away.  Everyone else was gone except the dog and cat who are very quiet and usually not too demanding.  So I kept working for a bit.
• 5:20 pm – Writing this blog post!!!

(Now that you are all asleep – let’s move on!!)

19] Place you would most like to holiday in?

The Girl is still in Europe right now and I’m totally jealous.  So I would love to take the trip she is doing.  Although I may not have the energy anymore to do all that they’ve been doing.

The other place I would like to go right now is back to the cabin we rented on Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho a couple weekends ago for my nephew’s wedding.  It was beautiful and peaceful (well, except for the little nieces, nephews and my sons running around in the loft above us, falling off loft ladders and running into glass doors).  It even rained one day and I enjoyed my coffee on the porch looking over the lake standing in the drizzle.  I would love to be back there (preferably without all the kids) for a couple weeks.

20] The Two Bloggers you nominate?

The Stubborn Australian – Of Course

Cinnamon Buns and Roses

To those I nominated – if you choose to participate – I’m following Kristian’s lead on the question replacement rule.  Below are 2 questions for you to answer.  You can replace any two questions above 1-19 with these two.

• If you could meet any fictional character who would it be and what question would you like to ask them?
• If you could invent one item – what would it be?