Saturday 9: Whatever Gets You Thru the Night

Saturday 9: Whatever Gets You Thru the Night

1. What helps you get through the night?  Romance novels. Sounds corny, perhaps, but on those nights where I have no reserves left, romance gives me a place to escape where I can *know* that things are gonna work out right in the end.

2. Do you ALWAYS keep an open mind?  I try. I may not always be as successful as I'd like, but I always try.

3. Who is the wisest person you know?  Sometimes, my 7YO son. Sometimes my mom. 

4. Who is the strongest person you know?  I have a friend who left an abusive husband, despite all the people telling her she shouldn't because "He's in the ARMY, he's a HERO, he couldn't possibly be bad!" She had two small kids, one with severe health issues. She put herself through college. I know how hard that all was because I was there with her, on the phone, for hours every day as she agonized over her choices, as she dealt with her toddler's health issues and an infant on top of that, as she worked with divorce lawyers and was shunned by people she'd grown up with for daring to not want to be married to a man who was emotionally and verbally abusive just because he was taking a paycheck from the department of defense. She's the strongest person I know.

5. How would we tell by your behavior if you are having a bad day?  If I'm cleaning like a crazy person, you should probably keep your distance (someone might want to clue my hubby in on this one!)

6. Does your ego sometimes get in your way?  I don't know. I think my shyness definitely does. 

7. Do you believe in Zen? If yes, can it be mastered?  I do and I don't. I don't thing that anyone can truly master anything. 

8. Do you believe you could teach someone, like your child, to be competitive?  I think that it's possible for children to learn to be competitive. Whether or not my children will learn it from me? I don't know. Maybe in parcheesi.

9. Do you believe home is not a place but rather a state of mind?  I think there can be elements of both. I feel that sense of HOME in my parents' house, in my own house, in my grandfather's nursing home, and most especially when I'm with my husband. I can't, in some instances, separate the place from the memories it evokes within me.

Saturday 9: 'Til I Hear it From You

I occasionally do this meme/blog hoppity thing (but don't usually link back to the original b/c I'm bad & I forget...

So, without further ado...

Saturday 9: 'Til I Hear It From You

1. If someone, that you trusted, told you that your lover was cheating, would you believe them or not? --Probably not, to be truthful. I know the DH & I don't think he could hide it from me.

2. What is something that you are disappointed about right now? --I'm disappointed that I felt too bad this afternoon to be able to load my kids up & make the 45min drive to go see a free concert featuring the Charlie Daniels Band (it's Friday night as I write this). But to be honest, the only song I'm familiar with is "Devil Went Down to Georgia," and I really *did* need to just stay home & try to relax a bit.

3. Jonathan Frid, who was the original Barnabas Collins on Dark Shadows from 1967-1971, passed away in Canada at the age of 87. Who is your favorite vampire? --ummm... can't actually think of one offhand. Not too long ago, I would have said Butch from J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, but I'm kinda off those at the moment. I enjoy Katie MacAlister's Dark Ones, but don't really have a favorite of the vamps (but love the Beloveds, especially Pia). And Angela Knight's -- which are all based on the King Arthur legends & personae -- are lovely, but it's been a while since I read any of them. I should consider re-reading.

4. Should there be age limits on social networking sites such as facebook? --Tough one. It's good for kids to learn how to interact safely online, but at the same time, they're not receiving as much supervision as perhaps they should. Ultimately, I don't think there should be age limits, partly because it's too easy for someone to lie about their age online, and therefor it'd be impossible to effectively enforce. BUT I think adults need to make more of an effort to supervise what their kids are doing online, and make sure they're interacting in a positive way.

5. Tell us about your pets. Do you have one that you wish would run away? --Sometimes, yeah. We have 2 cats and 2 dogs. The cats are Mouse, 3-ish and grey, and Mr. Fuzzybutt, 13-ish, white and deaf. They can both get irritating, but Mr. Fuzzybutt more so because he's getting crotchety in his old age, and he's LOUD! The dogs are both obnoxious -- Butters is a 2YO boxer mix who looks like a half-grown Great Dane. He's loud, energetic, and, well, young. He can do some damage without intending to, and even when he's just playing or being affectionate, he can be a bit...overwhelming. And the other is Ike, who's very young (we're guessing 6-8 weeks, although he was a stray, so until we can get him into the vet, we don't know for sure.) He has impressed or something on me, and clings like a little vine. He's not housetrained, and he destroys training pads. He's tiny -- possibly a chihuahua mix -- and drives me absolutely bat-shit crazy!

6. Do you ever have a hard time with morals? --Only in that I feel like morality is used to justify things that would be unpalatable if people actually *thought* about what they're doing. Also, morality is very much more a gray area than people want to believe it is, especially as society changes, and things that were once considered immoral are moving more and more into the public eye and being shown as ridiculous. Even if you believe non-cis, non-hetero sexuality is immoral, it is no less immoral to bully, beat or kill those who stray off your beaten path. If you're going to hold people up to a certain standard, you have to be sure you are meeting that same standard -- in this case, the one which says no sex outside of marriage, no sex without intent to procreate, no lustful thoughts about a person NOT your spouse... I don't believe there's many people in this world who could live up to that standard.

7. Did you make 'a plan' the first time you made love or did it just happen? --Oh, it definitely just happened! I don't do too well with plans -- plans are what you do while life is happening around you! ;)

8. Do you agree that fame is lousy or would you love to give it a try? Why? --I don't necessarily think it's lousy; there must be a few perks or so many people wouldn't want it! I mean, I suppose if you have a certain type of personality that needs that, it's probably got some extremely great moments. I, personally, though, would really rather not be in the spotlight like that. I have trouble not panicking when meeting with a dozen women I don't know yet but they're all spouses of men my DH is deployed with. So, y'know, they know what I'm going through, at least to the extend that they're going through their own version of the same thing.

9. Do you believe in forever, as in 'love forever'? --Yes. I know that, even though we're not together, I still have feelings for those of my ex-boyfriends I genuinely cared about. And I know I always will.

I have been a bad, bad blogger-girl...

Therefore, a meme...

Saturday 9: I Will Survive

1. Who or what bores you enough to mentally drift away? Oh, lots of stuff. My DH's endless Military Channel documentaries (well, most of them; every once in a while one will interest me despite everything), listening to my kids fight, sports...

2. How many members of your family not living with you do you see on during the holidays? It varies by year; this year my parents and sister will be visiting us.

3. When spending time with family, how long after you arrive do you begin to feel "antsy" about being there too long? Oh, pretty much immediately; I have a low tolerance for Too Much Togetherness, but most especially when there are lots of people in a small space.

4. Does your family more generally get along at a holiday gathering or are there generally arguments? We do pretty well, but we're mostly a bunch of introverts, with only the occasional extrovert, so it can make actual interactions difficult.

5. Are you ever embarrassed by your family around friends? I'm sure I would be, if I had a more developed sense of personal modesty. As it is...well, I've been desensitized.

6. Of the celebrities that died in 2011, who will you miss the most? Ummm... I am almost embarrassed to admit that I can't think of any of the names just at the moment.

7. When you watch a movie in a movie theater, do you like the theater filled to capacity, halfway full, or nearly empty? Does your answer change depending on the type of movie you're seeing or do you feel the same way regardless of the movie or genre? Nearly empty, because I tend to make snarky comments to my companions, and that's much easier when there's nobody nearby but us. I pretty much feel the same, regardless of movies, but I'm less likely to snark at certain types of movie.

8. What’s one really cool/useful/nice thing you purchased for yourself this year? ummm...new jeans? I don't really buy a whole lot for myself. We did buy me a laptop, but it's crapped out TWICE and now needs a new hard drive.

9. Are you in the holiday spirit yet? I'm getting there. I've done most of my Christmas shopping, so I can mostly relax on that front. However, I really really need to clean and I haven't done a crumb of baking yet, so there's that. And wrapping, but I really enjoy that...

Saturday 9--meme time!

Saturday 9: Against All Odds

1. Have you ever tried to rekindle a past relationship against the odds? Not exactly, but I have rekindled friendships with several exes!

2. Do you like your job, or daily routine?  Sorta, sometimes. I'm a SAHM; sometimes it's a bit much, but most of the time it's nice being able to pretty much do what I like. I would like a bit more adult interaction, however.

3. Do you find time to 'smell the flowers' so to speak?  I try to. That's one of the nice things about doing things at my own speed.

4. Do you have any problems thinking of things to write about in my blog?  In your blog? Not so much, no. In my own...occasionally. When that happens, I usually go with a book review (or just avoid it altogether--I should be better about that.)

5. Do others consider you well organized?  I really have no idea. It would be nice, but I know I'm really not.

6. Do you always have a “Plan B” just in case? No, I just kind of got good at going with the flow. I can adapt plan A on the run.

7. How do you find yourself adjusting to new situations?  Usually pretty well--as long as I have access to a method of communicating with friends and family, and plenty of escapist reading material, it's all good...

8. Are you happy with where you are in this point of your life?  For the most part. I also accept that the things I'm not happy with, it's up to me to change. And the things I can't change? Maybe I just need to alter my expectations of myself.

9. Do you find the aging process we all go through easy or difficult?  Honestly, my brain doesn't feel like it's changed that much. It's my body that's having problems...