First Random Dozen of 2010

With the "Thanks, Not Cranks" challenge Linda has accepted (21 days complaint free) her questions have taken a turn toward how we deal with those curve balls that life throws at us. Are we a cranky bunch? Or a thankee kindly group of people?

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you? "I don't want to tell" *whine* "Do I have to?"  Does that answer your question?

2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response? Since I don't even know what people are saying 82.6% of the time, how can I possibly be thinking about a response?

3. I just deleted 1062 messages from my email account. Do you have any plans for a clean sweep this month--of anything? Having just observed a frog take refuge from the storm outside by seeking shelter behind my built-in kitchen cupboards, I'm busy formulating a plan to eradicate him from my cooking zone.

And now, here are some brilliant questions from a gal named Angie at at Angie's Ad Lib who graciously offered to let me borrow her brain. Please go over and see Angie because it was so nice of her to help me out. Thank you so much, Angie!

4. Tell us about your perfume. Was it a gift? What does it remind you of? Do you have a signature scent?  No perfume; it gives me headaches. If I were to wear anything it would have to be a VERY LIGHT floral scent, nothing musky or intense. My olfactory senses would revolt and it wouldn't be a pretty sight.

5. What is your best organizing tip for the new year? I've seen jars (jelly jars, spaghetti jars, any kind of jars) used to organize everything from nuts and bolts in the shop to craft materials to office supplies. I like the idea of reusing and repurposing rather than creating more garbage.

(from flickr: repurposing a jar set by Saganaga)

6. What is your favorite comic strip? Family Circus is the first one that pops into my head, although I'm a big fan of Dilbert too. Of course I haven't seen any except those posted on blogs in almost a year in a half.

7. Do you sleep with a fluffy or flat pillow? Fluffy, por favor, so that I'm not flat the next morning.

8. What color is your kitchen? Why did you choose that color? I had nothing to do with the color of my kitchen. We live in a rental with dark wooden cabinets, a black tile floor and dark paneling that goes 2/3 up the wall all around. Think Dark Shadows kind of kitchen. The kitchen I created at the parsonage was white, white, white (cabinets, closet, trim), with a little light tan (countertop and mottled pattern on the linoleum floor tile) and pale gray (backsplash) thrown in to keep it from being too boring. Oh, and soft yellow walls. White brightens and the yellow with splashes of blue kept it from being sterile. Not my dream kitchen but one I spent many happy years cooking in and cleaning.

9. What’s the most interesting bumper sticker you’ve seen? "Behind every successful man is a very tired woman" My husband saw this one recently here in Argentina -- in English. Not sure if the car was imported, if the owner is an ex-pat or just someone who knows English.

10. Do you prefer an expensive writing tool or whatever is lying around? (Are you a Montblanc or a Papermate?) I'm cheap; give me a Papermate and color me happy. Although I did have, use and love a thinline Cross pen for many years before I finally lost it. It was a college graduation gift in '92 and I lost it maybe 2 years ago. Sadness ensued.

11. What chore doesn’t feel like a chore – you just enjoy it (at least most of the time)? Laundry. I enjoy it 99.6% of the time. I like all aspects of it too: sorting, washing, hanging, folding and putting away. The orderliness of the process fills me with great joy. The only time I don't enjoy it is when I'm backed up due to weather inclemency. It's one of those chores I like to stay on top of -- I do NOT enjoy seeing piles and piles of laundry waiting.

12. If your parents often repeated themselves, what is something one of them said more than once? Can't think of anything specific off the top of my head. My mom's been gone for 21 years and my Daddy Bill for ten. But in general my mom was all about treating everyone equally, showing no partiality whatsoever. She despised gossip and didn't tolerate us kids saying anything derogatory about anyone. Daddy Bill was a man of few words; he was always tinkering, fixing, inventing things from little-to-next-to-nothing. A frugality I attribute to growing up dirt poor in Tennessee during the Depression.

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Thanks to all who prayed for Ivan yesterday! He's feeling much better but still pretty weak and sore. Now you can pray for me as I try to keep him "down" long enough to fully recuperate  :-)