The Plink & Link Version of Random Dozen

We arrived home at 9 p.m. last night. I have lots of stories to share from the last ten days; our travels to Uruguay and Buenos Aires provided plenty of blog fodder! But I am beyond tired this morning and am just happy to be back to the internet and playing the Random Dozen meme today. So stay tuned in the coming days for photos and funny anecdotes (like the night we found ourselves downtown after the subway had stopped running).

Linda is calling this week's RD the "Plink & Link!" Catchy, huh? I didn't know plink even had an honest-to-goodness definition until I read it on Lid's blog. Until then I just thought of it as onomatopoeic [the formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent] -- cutlery against a plate (plink!), raindrops on a metal roof (plink!), coins in a vending machine (plink!)... So thanks Lid, for adding a word to my vocabulary!

But how do you say it in Spanish?

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet? I honestly don't know. I have a pair of dress shoes I wear maybe once a year that I bought at Goodwill years ago. My feet prefer Reeboks® Princess style tennis shoes or Earth Spirit® sandals from Walmart so I only wear the dress shoes when I wear a dressy dress. I don't think I've actually worn them at all since we moved to Argentina. My default for "dressy" is a long, layered skirt and sleeveless blouse that I can wear with my sandals. 

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety? Oh, how I wish! I dream of Thin Mints, Samoas, Peanut Butter Patties and Peanut Butter Sandwiches. I hope y'all have been eating one or thirteen on my behalf.

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to? We'd love to be able to dance gracefully and elegantly across a ballroom. Attempts have been made, classes have been taken, hopes have been raised... but the truth of the matter is: Four left feet do not a dancing couple make.

In our first class the teacher made us go far, far away from everyone else in the class. The other students were tired of being bumped into constantly by that couple who kept doing the opposite of what the teacher said. When we were taking the second class our daughter had a friend over one day while we were practicing. We had shoved all the furniture back against the wall in the living room and were attempting to recreate the steps from last class. The girls were back in Tina's room and, hearing our bumps and loud noises, her friend asked, "Are your parents fighting?" to which Tina replied, "No, just dancing."

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager? Excessively. I was a mother hen with my younger sister and I started working part-time when I was 14, always giving the bulk of what I earned to my mom to help with groceries and things we needed. I remember hearing there was going to be a pinto bean shortage (don't ask why, I have no idea!) so I used my very first paycheck to buy 80 lb. of pinto beans. Those beans saw us through a tough winter when we ate beans and cornbread every day. I still love "soup beans" but now I like to doctor them up by serving with a dollop of sour cream, chopped onions and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see? I had to google the list of nominees since I had no clue. We saw "Up" and "Blindside". Had not even heard of most of the others.

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself? Just get it done myself. But I don't watch! God gave us necks that swivel so we can turn away.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why? Monday, because it's generally a bit slower paced and restful. I think it's probably the day most pastors and missionaries take "off".

8. Do you miss anyone right now? Only my kiddos, my sister, sisters-in-law, good friends...

9. Do hospitals make you queasy? Absolutely. It's the smell.

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you. It would be a toss-up between Barnes & Noble and Ikea.

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items? Hahahahaha... I'm still figuring out the system here. I've discovered one brand of canned goods I will NEVER BUY AGAIN but mostly it's a hit and miss thing. Once I've found something I like, though, I do stick with it.

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels? Both are SERIOUSLY UNCOMFORTABLE. Why are you asking me these things? At least I don't have to look you in the eye while I answer.