What's the best beauty advice you've ever received?
A few years ago, my good friend LeAnn told me, "Some days you just need false eyelashes to feel like a woman".
So true.
From six weasels
(I wrote this on Sunday morning which I only mention because otherwise I think certain answers won't make sense. or am I overthinking this?)
What kind of soap is in your shower right now?
Dove is the soap of choice for all of us, as well as various Clinique facial scrub-type products.
Is there watermelon in your refrigerator right now?
No, it's the middle of winter. And even if it weren't, I doubt there would be. Watermelons always seem like a good idea when you're in the store. Then they take up room in the fridge for a week before they go bad and you throw it out. Or is that just me?
What would you change about your living room?
More furniture would be nice. It's very minimalist right now. Todd likes the roomy, Spartan feel. I want comfy armchairs and more lights. But we do have a beautiful re-finished floor now.
Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty?
Ummm -- thinking -- dirty I think.
What is in your fridge?
The usual: milk, bread, yogurts, spinach, carrots, red onion, steak, eggs, etc. Not a whole lot actually. Todd has taken over the role of grocery shopper for me, and he usually goes on Saturday but yesterday was nuts (due to a trip to Indy and going out with friends in the evening) and it didn't happen.
What is on top of your fridge?
Leftover Papa John's pizza from last night (ordered for the kids and the babysitter), put up out of the dog's way.
What color or design is on your shower curtain?
It's white and has pineapples on it. It's less garish than it sounds.
How many plants are in your home?
Two tiny cacti. (We used to have three, but one died. I didn't even know you could kill a cactus.) I like the idea of plants, but having to remember to water them is just one more thing I don't need in my week.
Is your bed made right now?
Possibly, but I came downstairs while Todd was still sleeping. He's up now and it's likely he made the bed.
Is your closet organized?
Yes. Tops on the top rail, bottoms underneath. Bottoms organized into skirts and pants (then sub-organized into long and short). Tops organized by colour (used to be by sleeve-length).
Can you describe your flashlight?
It's a Mag Light, the kind designed to assault someone with. What can I say? My father-in-law's an ex-cop.
Do you drink out of a glass or plastic most of the time at home?
Always glass.
Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now?
Nope. Iced tea is gross and I wouldn't drink it if you paid me.
If you have a garage, is it cluttered?
Yes, I have a garage and no it's not cluttered; it's super organized. (See: Is your closet organized?).
Curtains or blinds?
Neither really. We have a lot of huge picture windows which are totally open. But failing that, blinds. With curtains over the top.
How many pillows do you sleep with?
It depends how many I can wrangle away from my kids and husband. Fortunately, I like the hard ones and everyone else likes the soft ones.
Do you sleep with any lights on at night?
Yes, I sleep with my bedside lamp on, and usually the hallway light too.
How often do you vacuum?
Never. I have a cleaning lady that vacuums for me. If it needs doing inbetween her weekly visits, Todd does it.
Standard toothbrush or electric?
Standard for me, electric for everyone else.
Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch?
I have a doormat, but it doesn't say "Welcome". It's stripey.
What is in your oven right now?
Probably crumbs and little bits of burnt cheese.
Is there anything under your bed?
Shoes. We have a little shoe system going on.
Chore you hate doing the most?
Cleaning bathrooms or mopping floors. It's a toss-up. Nah, floors wins.
What retro items are in your home?
None.
Do you have a separate room that you use as an office?
Yes, Todd and I have an office that we share. Our desks face away from each other which is probably a good thing because I'm easily distracted enough as it is.
How many mirrors are in your home?
One in one bathroom, two in the other, and the doors of ours and Jesse's closets are mirrors. Todd hates mirrors.
What color are your walls?
Vomit in our bedroom
Green in Libby's room
Red in the exercise room
What does your home smell like now?
A Christmas candle that's been burning to try to cover the smell of the poo that Francie laid down on the kitchen floor.
Favorite candle scent?
Pomegranate.
What kind of pickles are in your fridge right now?
Yuck. I do have pickled onions in there though.
What color is your favorite Bible?
Like I have a favourite Bible?
Ever been on your roof?
Nope, and with luck I never will.
Do you own a stereo?
Yes. I'm not very likely to use it though. Todd and the kids are the ones that put CDs on. Sometimes at about midnight I'll hear the Hairspray soundtrack come on and the sound of little feet dancing above me.
How many TVs do you have?
Todd's baby,
plus one in our bedroom, one in Libby's bedroom, and one that used to be in Jesse's bedroom but was never used and was moved into the storage room. So that's four, but we don't have cable and consequently watch NO television.
How many house phones?
Just one that we use, but we do have others that aren't plugged in. We all have cell phones. Yes, the kids too. Yes, I'm one of those parents. It doesn't bother me, don't let it bother you.
Do you have a housekeeper?
A live-in housekeeper would be great! I just have a cleaner that comes once a week.
What style do you decorate in?
Minimalist, by default of sheer laziness.
In case of fire, what would you grab if you could only make one trip?
Presuming all the people and animals were already safe...I have no idea.
From lozzykiwi
1. Who is your man?
Todd (aka Dr. Brilliant, Mr. Hannahbanana)
2. How long have you been together?
We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary in November.
3. How long dated?
We met in April, we got married in November.
4. How old is your man?
31
5. Who eats more?
Who knows? In one sitting, probably me. Throughout the day, probably Todd.
6. Who said "I love you" first?
I honestly can't remember. Which makes me feel kind of sad because that feels like something you should treasure in your memories. Oh, wait! I think it's coming back to me...
7. Who is taller?
Todd is 6', I'm 5'. In our wedding photos the height disparity is especially obvious.
8. Who sings better?
Let's be honest here. Me.
9. Who is smarter?
Todd, by a loooong way.
10. Whose temper is worse?
I would say I'm much quicker to lose my temper than Todd, but when he does lose his temper it's worse.
11. Who does the laundry?
Me. Not because Todd isn't willing to do it (and he does try to sneak loads in) but because I'm not willing to relinquish control over the way I want the clothes washed and dried.
12. Who takes out the garbage?
Me, because Todd is never around to do it.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Me when Todd's out of town, him when he's home.
14. Who pays the bills?
I do, with the money that Todd earns.
15. Who is better with the computer?
Todd definitely knows a lot more than I do, but I'm catching up.
16. Who mows the lawn?
Jesse
17. Who cooks dinner?
Me. Here's one of the things (among many) I love about Todd. He has no expectations of me as a housewife, including dinner preparation. When the kids were younger and I was stretched so thin with homeschooling, coaching soccer, running them to a million activities, volunteering here, there, and everywhere, Todd would come home from 15 hours in the lab (PhD students never rest, yo!) and pour himself a bowl of cereal or make a sandwich. There was never a word about the fact that I hadn't made a proper dinner for about, oh, three years.
Now I love to cook. I'm always trying new recipes and spending a lot more time over meal preparations than I really have to give. So Todd is constantly buying frozen meals at the store that I can just stick in the oven to make my life easier.
I guess what I'm saying is that Todd doesn't cook, but he doesn't expect me too either.
18. Who drives when you are together?
It's usually a fight to see who can get to the passenger's side first. Neither of us wants to drive. Although the driver gets to pick the music so that compensates.
19. Who pays when you go out?
I always physically pay because I earn points when I use my debit card, but the money comes out of our joint account. Todd worries that it makes him look cheap.
20. Who is most stubborn?
Him. Of course.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?
Me. Of course.
22. Whose parents do you see the most?
Todd's, because my parents live in England and never come to visit.
23. Who kissed who first?
I don't understand this question. Usually kissing involves two people so I'd have to say we both kissed at the same time.
24. Who asked who out?
It wasn't really like that.
25. Who proposed?
There was no real proposal. One night we were sleeping out under the stars in a canyon in Utah. Todd said, "I'd marry you if I had enough money" and I said, "What does money have to do with it?" From then on it was just a given that we were getting married. Todd bought me a ring before I went back to England.
What does money have to do with it??? Pffffft! I was so naive!
26. Who is more sensitive?
Me. I've got a sensitive little heart.
27. Who has more friends?
Todd doesn't have time to make friends. I make friends and then they become Todd's friends too when we all do things together.
28. Who has more siblings?
We are both the middle children of five. We are also both classically "middle child" if you believe in birth order personalities, which I kind of do.
29. Who wears the pants in the family?
I think in relationships the balance of power can swing to and fro depending on many things. I've seen that shift in our relationship quite a few times. I think we're a truly equal partnership that respects the other.
from mcco12
Two names you go by
1. Scooter
2. Moot
Two things you are wearing right now
1. Spotty Vans
2. Pyjama bottoms
(Despite my post last week, guess who wore her pyjamas out of the house today? That's right, but only in the car! I realized at 7:35 that Libby, who was still asleep in my bed, had French Club at 7:45. Would you believe we made it on time? We did!)
Two things you want very badly at the moment
1. To use the bathroom
2. For a brilliant essay on Wordsworth's London to write itself for me.
Two things you did last night
1. Homework
1. Homework
2. Read to my children
Two things you're going to do tonight
1. Make the risotto I've been craving
1. Make the risotto I've been craving
2. Read more Wordsworth than I ever wanted to (which was none to begin with)
Two things you ate yesterday
1. Steak
1. Steak
2. Chocolate chip pancakes
Two people you spoke to last
1. Todd, who's lying on the couch in the next room calling, "Scooooooter"
1. Todd, who's lying on the couch in the next room calling, "Scooooooter"
2. My friend Melissa, who just called
Two things you're doing tomorrow
1. Meeting my professor in Einstein's bagels
1. Meeting my professor in Einstein's bagels
2. Meeting friends at a new coffee shop
Two longest car rides
1. Driving from Idaho to Illinois when we moved to the Midwest
1. Driving from Idaho to Illinois when we moved to the Midwest
2. Driving from Indiana to Idaho for a vacation -- which, don't get me started.
Two favorite vacations
1. New York state
1. New York state
2. Edinburgh
Two favorite beverages
1. Soda water
1. Soda water
2. Diet cherry coke
Two things which make you happy
1. Getting packages in the mail
1. Getting packages in the mail
2. Oh yeah, my family I guess ;)
Two favorite places you like to hang out
1. My bed
1. My bed
2. Nine Irish Brothers
Todd's awesome new t-shirt
You know you're a grown-up when you ask for a Tiffany's bracelet for Christmas, get a chest freezer instead, and love the freezer way more than you would have loved the bracelet.
You know you need to start preparing more meals when you tell your son to stop eating chips and he says, "But Mum, I can't eat cereal all the time!"
You know when it's cold? When it's MINUS EIGHTEEN DEGREES, people!
You know your husband travels too much when you don't know which city he's in from one day to the next. And when you decide to take an interest and ask him, he says, "I'm in Detroit right now. I have a meeting in the morning, then I'm driving to Ann Arbor for another meeting, then I'm flying into Chicago to drive to Wisconsin" and then you know that you will never keep track of his whereabouts.
You know what's not a fun Thursday afternoon activity? Washing a dog in a bathtub.
Libby: Abby [best friend] used to want seven kids, but she's changed her mind.
Me: How many does she want now?
Libby: Two
Me: And how many do you want?
Libby: Two
Me: Two's a good number for you, eh? I want more than two kids.
Libby: WHY?
Me: Because I love my kids so much
Libby: But you can barely look after the ones you've got!
Ouch.
(I could stop there, but it doesn't seem fair to Libby to portray her as someone who would deliberately say something hurtful. So I asked her for clarification and she said, "I just mean, you have loads of homework, you have to help us with our homework, and me and Jesse fight.")
Next time, bring a Snickers bar.
Also, I am sure that at least half of the deforestation in the world is due to educational institutions.
Also, Todd and Libby are picking me up for lunch because when all you can think about is wings from Nine Irish Brothers you can't concentrate on anything else and keep reading the same paragraph again and again.
I'm in the library on a Saturday morning. Every weekend without fail I promise -- swear to myself! -- that this weekend will be the most productive ever! I will do absolutely everything that I need to do for my classes, I will get ahead on my readings, I will do research for my essays, I will make my notes look orderly, I will write sonnets that will knock your socks off.
By three o'clock on Saturday I usually realize that the only thing I have actually accomplished is to wash my hair and take a nap.
But not this weekend! Oh no! I am true to my word. I am camped out here all weekend, and Monday if need be. Of course, the fact that I'm blogging instead of studying...well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Baby steps, right?
Since when did it become acceptable to wear your pyjamas out in public?
Oh yeah, it didn't.
Seriously dude, if you had time to put on your jacket before you left the house this morning, you had time to change out of your Pillsbury dough boy pyjama pants.
I'm just saying.
Some time last week when I was talking to Esther (I believe I had called her to say that I had got to level seven on Tile Towers because, yes, we really do share all the minutia of our lives) my niece, Ebbie, talking in the background, wanted to know if I'd posted anything new to my blog since she'd last checked it the day before, and would I just hurryupandpostsomethingnewalready? Thus I learned that Ebbie checks my blog daily ("So watch your language" warned Esther) and is almost certainly my youngest reader. Now when I don't blog I am conscious of the fact that an eleven year-old is waiting for me to say something new. So here I am.
1. Heroes is thoroughly addictive. Much of the communication that exists between Todd and myself for the last week has been along the lines, "Don't watch ahead! Make sure you don't watch ahead without me. You watched ahead, didn't you?" (Fortunately for Todd I can't watch ahead without him because I am that much of a chicken that I get scared.)
2. Some people think that one of the appealing qualities of Petsmart is that they allow -- nay, encourage -- you to take your pets into the store with you.
Some people have obviously never been shopping with Francie.
I mean, why?
Why would I want to take my already socially unaware puppy into a place with toys, treats, and other animals, none of which she is allowed to put in her mouth?
3. I have changed my major.
Look Hannah, I said to myself, Aristotle may have been an innovative philosopher, but do you really think that you're going to get through another 100 pages on his thoughts about rhetoric without wanting to blow your brains out? Or at least stick a Q-tip in your ear really hard?
No?
So don't then.
I have switched my major from Professional Writing to English Literature (still minoring in Political Science) and I feel better for it. So much better.
Tagged by Kelly
1. Grab your nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag 5 different people.
Wikinomics by Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams (Haven't started reading it yet, but it just arrived from Amazon, so is sitting on my desk.)
"But in-house innovation alone will not be enough to survive in a fast-changing and intensely competitive economy. The days when companies divided the national pie in a wading pool of well-mannered rivalry are long gone. Today's global firms sink or swim in an ocean roiling with cutthroat competition. And plummeting collaboration costs enable them to reach outside their boundaries for talent. Throwing more money into internal innovation will deliver fewer and fewer breakthroughs as the costs of R&D escalate."
Pretty exciting stuff, eh? It's a required read this semester.
I tag: essiequard, bethanydee, cori, ashbychick, steve the champ.
