Five Things Friday: 11 Things (+) Edition

11 Random Things ...

Having a small # of blog followers, I feel honored and privileged to have been tagged in this Blog-o-Rama known as Eleven Random Things. What's even more amazing is that I was tagged by a follower who I had previously not been following. (I have amended that, Lisa!) So, in order to persuade Karma to increase my readership, here's what's goin' on:

The rules:

1. Post these rules
2. You must post 11 random things about yourself
3. Answer the questions set for you in their post
4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5. Go to their blog and tell them you’ve tagged them
6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this". You legitimately have to tag 11 people!  (I'm SO breaking this rule!)

Here are 11 random things about me ...

 

1. I can't wink my left eye. When I try to do it I look like this:

Pretty, huh?

2. I am a vegetarian (or vege-terrorist as my father would say!) but I can't stand cucumbers or celery. Many people tell me that these veggies "taste like nothing" so how could I hate them. If that's what "nothing" tastes like then I hope there is an afterlife and not "nothing" after you die, because that would be an eternity of dis-GUS-ting!

3. One of my biggest frustrations with the world today is that we can all hang onto our pre-subscribed beliefs (prejudices) so easily based on which channel/magazine/newspaper we consume. We listen to the choir. Preach to the choir. Sit with the choir. Dine with the choir... But just OUR choir. Your choir is WAY out of tune so stay the heck away from mine. (I wish I could say I'm above that, but whenever I happen to overhear or read The Other Side's melody, I get itchy and angry and wind up posting something on Facebook - or my blog - to express my outrage!)

4. I cannot believe that I run a daycare in my home. I cannot believe that I am the same person who excelled in school and received nothing but affirmation and encouragement from my elders about my ability to excel in whatever field I chose. Mostly I cannot believe that I still don't have a clear vision of What's Next.

5. I am thrilled to be 11 or so weeks away from bringing Baby Boy #3 into our lives!

6. While I'm disappointed that back pain made it impossible for me to maintain "real" running through out this pregnancy, I have high hopes for my ability to bounce back quickly from child birth and run my little hiney off all spring and summer. I have no expectations for performance but I know that getting the time and miles in will make me feel Badass. Zooma Cape Cod Half Marathon is September 22nd but I hope to do some others before that. We'll see...!

7. My husband is phenomenal. He works his butt off all day as a public high school teacher and spends long afternoons creating fantastic theater with his students. The program he has created is constantly achieving higher and higher standards of performance. The culture is one of mutual respect, support and hard work. When he gets home from giving other people's kids 100% of his energy, he still manages to be 100% engaged with our kids and me. Whether it's making dinner, doing dishes, taking charge of homework and bedtime, we are a team... and many nights when I am feeling Very Pregnant, HE is a team and gets all that done by himself!

8. I love musical theater. The theater group I am involved with now is The Village Players. It's a great bunch of fools (in the  best way possible) and I am lucky that I showed up one day in 2002 for auditions and they offered me a role! (Tuptim in The King & I). I have been privileged to do all kinds of tasks associated with shows and I hope that it will always be a part of my life. Some of my "holy crap how did I get here?" roles include Maria (The Sound of Music), Babe (Pajama Game), Agnes Gooch (Mame), and Peter Pan (Dream Girls.... Just kidding. Though I really did play Peter Pan when I was 17).

9. I spent a few years in public broadcasting and I would love to get back into that game someday. In addition to a slightly less "sexy" paying job at Albany's PBS/NPR station, I was an intern at Fresh Air, with Terry Gross during and just after my senior year of college. That's one thing that, no matter how old I get, will NEVER go off of my resume! In fact my first job in public schools was made possible because the building principal wanted to interview someone who "knew" Terry Gross! (See #4)

10. Oh yeah. Which reminds me. I was a classroom aid and an elementary school teacher for several years. I don't know if I was no good at it or if the circumstances were just not in my favor. I DO know that by the end I was feeling exceptionally inadequate and miserable. So... I won't be a classroom teacher again. (See #4)

11. I am woefully and embarrassingly untraveled. While I have been to Mexico and Canada, my feet have never left this continent. Shame. Shame. Shame!

Lisa's questions for me:

1.  If you could change your first name, what name would you choose? Harper (after the author Harper Lee)

2.  Do you have siblings?  If so, how many? Seven siblings (the accumulation of which is a 4-part miniseries!)

3.  What's your favorite flavor of ice cream? Death by Chocolate (but anything chocolate-based will suffice)

4.  Milk chocolate or dark chocolate? Used to be milk... now dark chocolate all the way!

5.  What's your dream job? As expressed in my list, I have no clue. I would like to get paid scads of money (though I would settle for a modest sum) for just being awesome and writing about it from the comfort of my own home. But so far no one has offered me that job.

6.  Do you take compliments well? I'm learning. That's one thing my mom never did well, even though her every move was compliment-worthy. I learned to deflect praise from Her Modesty the Queen but I am getting better.

7.  What is your favorite physical attribute? Of myself!? Eek! Right this second it's probably my boobs because I actually have them! But post-partum I'd say I am pretty proud of how well my legs have held up for an old lady.

8.  Which article of clothing do you own that always makes you feel beautiful? Sheesh. Looks like I oughta invest in one of those! Don't think I have one. Any suggestions?

9.   Dogs or cats? Dogs. Not that we have one. Too much work! But since I am allergic to cats, I guess we'll go with dogs.

10. Have you broken any bones?  Which ones and how old were you? I broke my elbow when I was 2, almost 3.

11. Absolute favorite vacation spot (or dream vacation spot)? We've been saving $20 a week for 5 years or so in order to take our Dream Vacation (sans kids). Sure thought we would have taken it by now! We still haven't set the destination and we have, on occasion, had to steal from that account to pay bills, but SOMEDAY we will go. It will be someplace warm, with a beach, a nearby metro area and a beautiful scene for running and recreational activities. Any suggestions?!

My 11 questions:

1. Dr. Seuss or Maurice Sendack?

2. Coke or Pepsi?

3. Broadway or Hollywood?

4. 5K or marathon?

5. Wool or fleece?

6. Ebooks or paper books?

7. "Live" broadcasts or Hulu?

8. MASH or All in the Family?

9. AM or FM?

10. Watch the State of the Union or catch the highlights?
11. Patriots or Giants?

As for who I'm going to tag... well, heck. This turned out to be a little more work than I thought it would be so I'm not going to hand out any assignments. I would love any of my Dear Readers to participate in this project. Did you notice how I tried to make my questions really straight forward!? So, if you wanna do it, do it! If you don't, carry on, my child. You are forgiven.