Your Questions... Answered!

Good afternoon Humble Readers!

I had planned on giving you a run down on the vacation today, and as it's Monday, I also wanted to do a weekly Halfling update.  But... honestly, after spending several hours this morning catching up with many of you, I'm pooped! 

So, instead I'm answering your wonderful questions!  They were interesting, thought-provoking and fun!

Marianne asked: What is your fave Harry Potter book and why?  My favourite is not one of the common favourites.  I love love love Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I confess, the first time I read it, I had the usual response... Harry is whiny, mopey, and generally not the hero he had been up to this point.  But, upon rereading it, I found that I fell in love with Delores Umbridge.  She is the best un-bad bad guy I have ever read.  I can't help but love to hate her!  Her obnoxious pink and lace personality combined with her need to be in control makes my skin crawl in the best possible way!

Kakunaa asked: What is the craziest thing you have ever done on a dare?  Oh Kakunaa, have you forgotten that I am a hobbit (albeit three times removed)?  I generally stay away from dares, but sometimes adventure is thrust upon me.  Once, many many years ago, I went parasailing.  I'm not good with heights, and I'm really terrible when I can't have my glasses, so it was very nerve-wracking being towed along way up in the air like that.  Other than that, most of the dares I succumb to end up involving food... eating ridiculously hot wings, or weird stuff like chocolate covered ants. 

Amy asked: What were you "into" when you were a teenager?  I was a nerd.  A total nerd.  I loved reading (still do).  I loved cooking (still do).  I loved boy bands, particularly New Kids On The Block (still do).  My bedroom was covered in pictures and posters of them.  I actually have a box that full of stuff I had up on my walls, and some of my other memorabilia from that era. 

Kristin asked a ton of questions:  How did you and the mister meet?  We were matched on eHar.mony dot com on Valentine's Day 2006.  Yup, we could be on one of their commercials... and I totally endorse their process.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to reading?  Oooh that's tough...  I love rereading old favourites.  And I have a history of reading a lot of geeky sci-fi/fantay stuff.  But I guess my guiltiest pleasure is steamy romance novels.  Generally, regency era romances. 

Salty or sweet? Both, at the same time!  :)  I lean toward the salty side of things... but put a little bit of salty with my sweet and I am a happy happy girl!  The olive oil gelato I had at Otto (Mario Batali's restaurant) was a perfect balance of salty sweetness.

You mentioned your crazy family, what makes them so crazy?  To explain it all, it would take a separate post, which I will do sometime... but here are the basics.  My bio-parents were 'forced' to get married by their parents when my bio-mom got pregnant with me (mom was 17, dad was 20).  Two more kids and 9 years later, they split up.  My bio-dad remarried first, to a woman with three kids of her own.  My bio-mom went through several live in boyfriends before remarrying a guy with four boys.  We (the three kids) went back and forth between the bio-mom an bio-dad for a few years before things settle out with me with mom and my sister and brother with dad.  After she and her second hubby split, and a couple more boyfriends later, I decided that I had enough.  I moved in with my best friend and her parents... these are the people I am referring to when I make general mentions of 'mom' and 'dad' and 'my sister'.  I moved in with them just before my 17th birthday, and they have been my parents ever since.  There is some other craziness, but I don't want to overwhelm you all with too much Jerry Spr.inger fodder all at once.

When are you coming to North Carolina to visit?  LOL!  Well, the Carolina's are on my list!  Someday I want to do a road trip of the east coast, north to south. 

And last but not least... Cadnawes asked:  If you had had a bad day, what would be your ideal comfort-filled evening?  Hmmmm, I would want to come home to an already prepared comforting meal... like chicken curry or beef dips or an oven roasted chicken with the fixings.  After dinner, I would want to curl up on the couch with my Beloved and a good movie or a good book.  If I could, I would talk my Beloved into a foot rub.  Simple, but oh so restful!

This was fun!  If you have more questions, fire away... Now I'm off to continue on wading through my reader!