Random Dozen Hits Again

You know the Random Dozen drill. Lid asks the questions and we answer them to the best of our ability. Sorta like the SAT or ACT only you don't have to wait weeks for the results; people comment right away and let you know what they think of your answers. Also there's no scoring involved. Except some of us do count how many answer the same question the same way. But you don't get extra points for that, so don't go trying to figure out what the rest of us are thinking. No points taken off either, because we are a fun-loving bunch that doesn't hold it against anyone if you are too young to know who certain people are and make the rest of us feel like old fuddy duddies. No, we don't hold that against you AT ALL. Really.
 
1. So I was thinking about how Jon Bon Jovi never seems to age much. His hair is smaller nowadays, but he still manages to look like a boy somehow. And then that made me think of the story of Dorian Gray. Question: If you physically lock in one age for yourself, which would you choose and why? Early 30s after I finally joined Weight Watchers and lost all the baby fat accumulated from two pregnancies. I looked and felt the best I had in my whole life. By the late 30s gravity kicked in and...yeah, we won't go there. So, yes, definitely my early 30s; let's say 33 because I do like a symmetrical number. That was also the year I (finally) graduated from college.

2. What is the best dish that you cook or bake (your piece de resistance?) I asked my husband to help me out here and I swear this man could have been a diplomat. When he just looked at me blankly I said, "Yeah, nothing comes to mind, does it? I'm not that great of a cook." To which he quickly replied, "No, no, the problem is that you're so good!"  Bless his heart. Spoken like a man who has been married for 30 years (and has the battle scars to prove it). So anyway, the only thing that comes to mind is an oft requested dish by my kids: biscuits and gravy. Aside from that time I tried to multiply the biscuit recipe by a gazillion in order to serve over 100 people and they turned out like hockey pucks, my biscuits normally come out nice and fluffy. Being a southern girl, I was born with a spoon in my hands, ready to make gravy.

3. When you feel blue, what is one strategy you use to help yourself back to normal? Nowadays it's either read a really good book or spend some time quilting/creating in the sewing room. When we lived in the U.S. I would take a hot bubble bath, go to the library, or get together with friends.

4. When was the last time you danced in public? That would have probably been at a wedding. Or maybe it was when we took that dancing class at the senior center (open to the public, NOT just for seniors so stop your snickering) in a misguided attempt at becoming...you know, proficient. At least with that class the teacher didn't make us go to another section of the room away from everyone else (which is what happened the first time we took a dancing class). Probably because there were only a handful of students in that 2nd class and we had a really, really large dining room at the senior center to spread out in. 

What was the question? Honestly, it's been so long since I started answering it I don't remember. Oh yeah, dancing...well, with two left feet, dancing in public is best avoided so it's definitely been a while.

5. Do you consider yourself a realist or dreamer? Realist. Married to a dreamer. Just call me Debbie Downer.

6. As a parent, what is one thing that you have done well? They survived to adulthood, didn't they?

7. Which is your favorite character on the Andy Griffith show? Barney Fife. Gotta love a bumbling, affable, looney character. He makes us feel so much better about ourselves.

8. On a scale of 1-10, how much do you know about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Maybe a five? I was a child of the 60s but rather sheltered and didn't get to watch the news so what I learned was filtered through the classroom.

9. Have you never been mellow? Have you never tried … to find a comfort from in side you? (Sorry, Jorge was singing that song just now, and it just seemed to be perfect timing as I was creating this week’s questions.) REAL question: What is your #1 driving pet peeve? Mellow I'm not when driving! My answer is totally different here than it would have been in the U.S. Here the thing that annoys me most are the people who DRIVE DOWN THE MIDDLE OF TWO LANES and won't move over so you can get past them. That is SO common here. I don't know why they bother painting lines on the road since so few stay within their boundaries.

10. Which color best represents your mood today? Care to elaborate? Guacamole Green. Not really, but I'm sitting in the only room in the house that is a color other than white and we have dubbed the color guacamole green. I'm not awake enough to know what color I feel like today.

11. If your spouse were an animal, which would he/she be? A family friendly dog, like a collie. Friendly, playful, faithful, cuddly, brave, protective, courageous, beautiful.

12. What activity takes up the bulk of your time on an average day? Define "average". Is there such a thing? Oh, alright. Probably evenly split between studying Spanish and doing housewiferly stuff (is that a word? because if it isn't, it totally should be).

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A few people had asked to see the daughter's boots and purse (since I only shared a photo of her new leather coat in Sunday's post). Here they are in all their loveliness:

You can't tell by the photos but they're almost identical in color. The purse shows the truer color in the photo.

Is there anything better than the smell of leather? I used to walk into a Wilson's store at the mall just to inhale that lovely scent.

Oh, oh! I know what color I'm feeling today! I'm feeling that rich leather brown. Soft, supple but tough as toenails. Nobody better mess with me today. Grrrrr!

(I'm getting psyched up to tackle the storage loft area. It takes a tough woman to do that job!)