More Questions, More Answers

We were iced in for a few days this week, so I had a little time to answer the next set of questions from the 36 Questions to Bring You Closer Together. Having extra time with the kids and Jason was a bonus, but the whole idea of not being able to leave the house is claustrophobic. And I am a lot like our shepherd mix: if I don't get a run in every day, I start to pace and get anxious. I usually run through any conditions, but it was too treacherous even for me. Running on the treadmill is terrifying. I'm afraid I will fall off, and that is because I have fallen off! But I've sucked it up and gotten through a couple of workouts inside and I'm just looking forward to running outside again after this d*$# ice melts! We're due for one more blast of ice today and then solid rain and warmer temps tomorrow.

Anyway, here goes:

10. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?
Not much, but I wish someone had pushed me more to try and stick to sports at a young age. I consider myself pretty athletic now, but I didn't pick up running or working out much at all until after college. I'm not sure if this is a fair complaint because I did take years and years of dance and tumbling lessons and played a few team sports.

11. Take four minutes and tell you partner your life story in as much detail as possible.
Who needs four minutes when you have this? 

12. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained one quality or ability, what would it be?
I'd like to wake up and be multilingual! And also have the answer to world peace and cures for things like cancer, AIDS, ebola, etc. That's all before lunch. Also, the ability to get my kids to eat anything and everything I make without complaint. I think world peace and curing diseases would be simpler.
 
13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know?
I don't think it could tell me anything that I wouldn't rather learn myself. The only thing that comes to mind are cures for diseases and perhaps the winning Powerball numbers.

14. Is there something that you've dreamt of doing for a long time? Why haven't you done it?
Writing a book. I don't know why I haven't started. 

15. What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?
Raising my kids is and continues to be my greatest accomplishment. Nothing else comes close.

16. What do you value most in a friendship?
Loyalty

17. What is your most treasured memory?
How can anyone pick one? Impossible. As a kid, going out for dinner on my birthday every year with my mom and dad. It was the one night of the year my dad would go out with us and we all dressed up. As an adult, walking down the aisle with my grandpa and Jack and seeing Sophie and Hawkes together for the first time.

18. What is your most terrible memory?
Sitting in a movie theater in college on a date and looking up to see another friend, Michael Sorrow, standing there in the aisle trying to get my attention. I couldn't figure out why he was there, but soon realized he had gotten a call from someone trying to find me to tell me my dad was dying and I needed to get home to say goodbye. I made it home to Galesburg and my dad died within a few hours.

19. If you knew that in one year you would die suddenly, would you change anything about the way you are now living? Why? 
I would probably take more chances. 

20. What does friendship mean to you?
Being honest, loyal, compassionate, free of judgment and having fun. 

Plagiarism is Awesome

I made a promise to myself to post once a week. So far I'm 1/1 but it's going to take thievery to go 2/2. Thank you to my college friend, Kristi, who I reconnected with thanks to the magic of Facebook, for letting me steal this idea. I love to write and I'm not delusional enough to think anyone but me will pour over my posts, so they're mostly just for me. But, if you're reading, that's icing on the cake!

Here we go. Over the next four or so posts, I'll answer nine questions. This is the first set:

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?

Myself as a teenager.

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way?

I have no desire whatsoever to be famous! I enjoy wearing old workout clothes to Target on Saturdays way too much.

3. Before making a phone call, do you ever rehearse what you're going to say? Why?

No, but I do think about it carefully if it's anything but a phone call to check in on a friend of family member. 

4. What would constitute a perfect day for you?

Everyone sleeps in until at least 7am, the coffee is ready the moment I walk in the kitchen and the kids wake up happy. We all go for a run on the greenway and out for breakfast before heading to the Zoo or to an outdoor festival. The kids magically take naps at the same time and I get to watch one of the 57 shows I have DVR'd but never catch up on, like Scandal or Downton Abbey. Kids wake up super happy and we all play outside until dinner, when we head to our favorite Mexican restaurant for lots of good bad food. The kids both go to bed in under 10 minutes after we return home with no encore calls for more stories. Wine and hanging out with my husband, and a solid night of sleep. 

5. When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?

Last night, the Annie soundtrack in my car. And again, last night, singing songs from Annie with Sophie after we got home.

6. If you were able to live to the age of 90 and retain either the mind or body of a 30-year old for the last 60 years of your life, which would you choose?

I feel like a lot of elements of my body are in my control. I hope I'm still running when I'm 90. If I'm not, I know I will find something else I can do to stay fit. It's too important to me not to. I don't, however, feel like I can control what happens to my mind as I grow older so I'd have to say retaining my mind would be my choice. 

7. Do you have a secret hunch about how you will die?

No. And I'd never want to know.

8. Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common.

We both have careers focused on helping people in some way. We both love politics. We both love to run. 

9. For what in your life do you feel most grateful?

The health of myself and my family. 

What?! A New Post?

Skipping right over the excuses for not writing a post for months (and months), here's one that I grabbed from my favorite blog, Iowa Girl Eats. I want to see what you have to say about yourselves, too! 

Household chore I actually enjoy
Ummm… this is hard. I don’t really enjoy any of them but I do enjoy having a clean house! If I had to pick one, I’d say cleaning the wood floors. I love the way they look for the 90 seconds before dog hair and kid sludge reappears.

Biggest house disaster
Just one?? Our back porch and mud room. Both areas look like Sanford and Sons meets Home Depot. Bags of unused Quickrete, old toys that don’t work, three different strollers, all of our Christmas decorations that have been sitting there for over a MONTH… they make me crazy. We haven’t yet built in storage and hooks in the mud room so it’s just the place where all the clutter goes to die, plus we have approximately 15 cans of paint sitting in there.

Before company arrives, I hide
The five or six laundry baskets full of clean clothes that no one will put away.  

Most recent music download
The Annie soundtrack. One of the greatest joys in my life is singing every single song with Sophie, who loves both the original and the new movie.  

The last thing I bought online
A new comforter for our bedroom. There was too much gray with the walls and our old gray duvet cover and I’m excited to see how the color in the new one brightens up the room.
 
I hate to shop for Bras. TMI, but true. There is nothing more humbling to me than post-baby, post-nursing bra shopping. And I’m not gonna lie, I would wear the stretchy nursing bras forever and ever if I could.  

Favorite family ritual
I hate to leave Hawkes out of this one, but I love the last few minutes of the evening with Sophie and Jason. I’m sure Hawkes will join in down the road, but for now it’s the three of us all snuggled into Sophie’s bed while we 1) read a book 2) Jason tells a crazy story with lots of direction from Sophie and 3) Sophie tells us about her day. Precious time and we learn a LOT about what’s going on in that brain of hers.
 
I sleep in
Lately, these Zella soft pants that aren’t really pajamas. Pajama pants don’t work for me; they’re always too short after one dryer cycle. These Zella pants are awesome.  

I have a style crush on
I have no idea! I like my own style.

I’m currently reading
Food: A Love Story.  But let me be real: I'm in a book club and I don't read the books. At least not very often. I just love the people in the club and the discussions we have (especially after wine) about all kinds of things.  

What’s up with the ___ trend?
High-waisted jeans. Why? I don’t mean normal-waisted, i.e. not low-rider, jeans. High-waisted.  

How did I ever live without
My Brooks Ghost running shoes. Love them so much. I thought I was a Mizuno person for the longest time, but I hadn’t met the Ghost yet. Wine comes in a close second.