Category Archives: Five Question Friday

Happy Friday… hope your post-Thanksgiving week (for those in the States) was as painless and withdrawl-free as possible. This week was quiet for us, relatively, I didn’t have any plans in the evenings outside of Liam’s Wednesday night church program and it was nice to come home and not leave again. From now until we leave for Australia, the schedule is packed… if you see me in person, please disregard and forgive any distracted actions or spaced out eyes… just give me a minute.

We started The Advent Book last night (thanks for the recommendation, Kim) – this is perfect for us, I’m excited!

And now time for Five Question Friday…

1. What is your favorite Christmas decoration in your house?
My Willow Tree Nativity that I got from Simon… hands down.

2. Do you finish your Christmas shopping early or are you a last minute type?
I buy gifts throughout the year, when I see something I know someone will like and it’s on sale, then I get it but I also typically have one or two things left to get right at the end but this year I believe I was all done as of Monday, this is unusual. I do have two things left to MAKE and those will more than likely come down to the very last minute because that’s how I roll (for reference: I made the boys’ Halloween costumes two days before Halloween.

3. When do you turn on your heat?
I wait as long as possible, but I also don’t feel bad about turning it on and then turning it back off again if it warms up for a brief spell. We don’t keep our house super warm, but certainly warmer than it used to be since we’ve had kids. Of course the kids seem immune to the cold and run around without socks and warm shirts, no matter how many times I get after them to leave these things on. If they get sick, it’s on them, I’ve done my part 😉

4. Do you ever wish your blog was private?
No, it’s meant to be an update on what’s going on with me and the fam and what’s on my mind. It helps to keep things in my mind that anyone could read it so I don’t have regrets later because once something is out there, it’s out there. I’m a fairly open book, I don’t really believe in secrets (except when it comes to gifts and surprise parties) and don’t see the point in keeping things hush-hush, it just leads to problems, at least in my experience.

5. Do you put your deodorant on before of after you put on your shirt?
Typically before, but sometimes I forget and then I have to do it after. The worst is when I forget completely and don’t remember until I am on my way to work, but I’ve finally smarted up and leave a spare at the office so I don’t get stinky during the day – it happened enough that I needed a solution to the problem. You’d think that after putting on deodorant for 20+ years, I wouldn’t forget it, but yet I do.

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!

Hello, Friday, so good to see you again! We currently have no set plans for the weekend and I’m glad about that because that’s not likely to happen again until maybe February… or ever.

On the way to school this morning, the following conversation occurred:
Liam: I’m not happy with just Jack.
Me: Oh really, did Jack do something to upset you.
Liam: No, I think we should have more than two kids. We need three.
Me: Well, I don’t know that we are going to have any more kids.
Liam: But God knows… and Jesus.
—
This comes after a conversation we had yesterday where he was trying to pin me down on exactly how the doctor got the baby out of my body. So I asked him how HE thought it happened and he said he didn’t know but he did know that the doctor didn’t just reach in my throat and pull it out because their hands would be too big. [No kidding.] Actually, it comes after multiple conversations on all different aspects of being pregnant and having babies – someone has babies on the brain and it is NOT me. It kind of cracks me up and makes me wonder if he knows something I don’t about God’s plan for our family… he regularly says God tells him things, like is morning God told him to push the booger back in his nose rather than blow it out.

On that note, Five Question Friday…

1. Do you have a go to song that always puts you in a good mood?
I love music – duh, I have a fairly regular Music Monday posting/feature thingy – and I also have a number of songs that put me in a good mood, but there is one that tops the list: Babylon by David Gray, I just love the music intro and the moment I hear it, I smile.

2. Are you a real Christmas tree kinda person or do you go with a real fake one?
Fake all the way, I hate the needles. But as I mentioned yesterday, we haven’t put up a Christmas tree in ages. We just enjoy the one at my parents’ house.

3. What are you thankful for?
So much… family, friends, good health, good jobs, Diet Coke and coffee, church community – that about covers it. And in case you missed it, I am thankful for people who say the right things at certain points in our lives.

4. Which fashion fad from the past do you wish you could wear today?
I’m pretty happy with where fashion is at the moment (minus leggings or jeggings, I just can’t get behind those for myself). Though I thing I would have loved the 70s – tie dye, muumuus, bell bottoms… all appealing.

5. Do you wait until the “low fuel” light comes on before you fill up the gas tank?
Usually not, but lately, it’s come on quite a few times. I think because my husband and I swap cars so often, I feel like I’m always putting gas in a car so I think it doesn’t need to be done in whatever one I’m driving and then the stupid light comes on and I’m like whoopsies. (Just like that, yes.) I could never understand how people could run out of gas but then I had two kids and a full-time job and other commitments and now I fully understand, apparently in the past I just wasn’t distracted enough to have that happen.

Happy weekend, y’all!

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!

It’s Friday, Friday… can I get a whoot, whoot!?

All right, let’s get down to business… answering a few questions… I’d love to hear your answers, too…

1. What’s the last thing you spent too much money on?
I can’t think of a particular thing I spent too much money on. I certainly spent a lot of money on plane tickets for Australia – but whether it’s too much, that’s a matter of perspective. I do spend too much money any time I go to Costco or Target, but I think I’m in good company there. I think that restaurant drinks are way over-priced and since I did go out to eat this week and got a beer (shhh… don’t tell my mom), I’d say that was the thing I spent too much money on.

2. What celeb chef would you want to make you dinner?
This is a hard one… really, any of them because the food would be amazing. My favorites for their personality would be Bobby Flay (pretty sure he wouldn’t try his womanizing moves on me), Mario Batalli (who doesn’t love a cheery, round Italian?) or Guy Fieri (I’d love to see his hair in person). I can tell you who the chef would NOT be? Paula Dean. I don’t mind her at all, but the hubs can’t stand her. But really, if ANY celebrity chef wanted to come and make me dinner, I’ll take it! I dream of being a judge on Iron Chef America – unless the secret ingredient is something hideous like sweetbreads or peas.

3. Where do you hide things when visitors pop over or do you let them see the real deal?
I’m a 50/50 mix, since the boys’ rooms are downstairs, most the toys get stowed away in their rooms, but I do also tuck them inside the gate that surrounds our TV. The front closet gets a lot of things thrown into it but I need to work on not doing that as it’s rather frightening to open at the moment. For the kitchen – I will put dirty dishes in the oven (just don’t forget and preheat it with them in there, I’ve made that mistake) but if there are clean dishes in the drainer, I leave them. My friends are all moms just like me and they understand when the house is less than perfect (which is always, BTW).

4. Who is your oldest living family member?
I believe that would be my Uncle Chet (see below). He’s my mom’s oldest brother and he lives in northern Wisconsin in a very small town where he was the veterinarian. When I was growing up, I loved going to visit he and my Aunt Sharon and last summer we got to road trip out there to visit with my parents and the boys – so fun! But a word to the wise, don’t beat him at cribbage, he tends to get upset when this happens.

5. What is your favorite DQ treat and/or Sonic drink combo (ie: cherry vanilla dr. pepper)?
At DQ – the George Mud Fudge blizzard with chocolate soft serve and extra pecans. At Sonic, cherry limeade slushie or grape cream slush. We were SO excited when two Sonics opened up in our town recently – before that the closest ones were across the border in Indiana, even though they showed Sonic commercials for years before they opened (so strange). We also get commercials for Dave and Busters and I think there is one 2+ hours away – why is this?

I hope everyone has a great weekend – please take a moment to answer a question in the comments – I’d love to see what your answers are… maybe we can go get a DQ treat together?

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!

1. What movie do you love to quote?
The Princess Bride – of course – just like every other person who has ever seen it. “Wuv, twu wuv… it’s what bwings us together today…”

2. Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?
Nope. And don’t want to. I told Simon he could get a motorcycle if we had purchased everything else we could possible want. So never.

3. What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?
In a perfect world, I’d love to hang out in front of a fire, reading and drinking hot chocolate. In reality, my favorite thing to do on a rainy day is simply make it through the day without having to leave the house, hoping the kids don’t mutiny.

4. Do you prefer a bunch of small gifts, or one really big, (expensive) gift?
Probably the big one, especially if the small gifts are all chintzy. Though, if my mom is shopping, the small gifts are awesome because really they are great gifts that she got good deals on (she’s a skilled bargain shopper).

5. Do you ever lose track of days and show up somewhere wrong?
Not in a while – though I often make it half way through the day and realize that I’ve been thinking it’s the wrong day. I’m pretty good about logging things in my phone and on my Outlook calendar and setting reminders so I don’t often forget appointments – really, not ever.

And now I’m off for the weekend – sleep, reading and more sleep, here I come! Don’t be jealous – your day will come, I promise! Good things come to those who wait!

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!

So I didn’t post yesterday which is the first weekday I haven’t posted on in a good long while – anyone notice? I think it’s safe to say the world’s not going to end, but I did miss it…

My dad is back home after his knee replacement – do yourself a huge favor and do not Google knee replacement images (I’m full of these handy PSAs). I’m not sure exactly what I thought was going on with his knee, but it was not that. [Side note: There was an older-than-my-dad woman who was in the physical therapy room at the hospital who had gotten both knees replaced and they were having her walk up the practice stairs by herself THE DAY SHE HAD SURGERY. Doesn’t it seem like of all days you’d get a break from walking stairs, it would be the day you got your TWO knees replaced?] Anyways, my dad is also a rock star and no doubt so is my mom for putting up with him during his recovery – I’m just saying…

So continuing on, five question Friday:

1. Where do you escape to when you’ve had enough?
I don’t know what this says about me that I drew a blank on this question, at least initially. Mostly because having a place to escape to immediately isn’t really an option, but with further thought, I do have things I do to help me decompress or regain my sanity:
– Coffee with a good friend
– Girl’s night out with my college friends
– Hiding out in the bathroom, with the door locked

But I’m also feeling pretty lucky because coming up in two weekends, I’m getting to escape reality for three glorious days with one of my BFFs. No kids. No WiFi. No alarms. All good.

2. What shows are you watching this fall?
How I Met Your Mother. Modern Family. Fringe. Prime Suspect. Vampire Diaries. The Good Wife. There are more, but those are the ones I watch as soon as I can after they’ve been DVR’ed.

3. What was the longest roadtrip you’ve ever taken and where did you go?
When I was growing up we drove everywhere we went and each year we took at least one long trip. I’ve driven (or ridden, rather) from Michigan to Florida, Maine, Montana, Colorado and Texas. The longest road trip was the three weeks I spent in early retirement with my parents after college when we drove all around the East Coast visiting every place but NYC (my dad couldn’t hack driving in the city). Distance-wise, our trip out west to Montana and Yellowstone was the furthest away – but that was just a two-week whirlwind trip. So many happy memories with all those trips – I can’t wait to take our little family on the road to show them all the sites I’ve seen.

4. Do you plan on taking your kids to Disney World?
I had to pose this question to my husband because I really don’t care either way – his response, “At some point.” So there you have it. I’m sure they’ll want to go and I’m sure we’ll end up taking them, but when your in-laws and friends are in Australia, your vacation plans aren’t typical.

5. What is something people would surprised to know about you?
Again, I had to pose this question to my husband… his surprising (and immediate) answer, “Your toes.” What he meant by that is that my second toe is longer than my big toe, not only that, but my third and fourth toes are also longer than my big toe. Apparently, that makes me a freak. I used to hate my toes and never wore anything open-toed but at some point in college I decided to embrace them and learned to love them, in all their freakish longness.

Linking up with Mama M for Five Question Friday!