Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Questions, Questions, Questions

Hey Humble Readers...
 
How are you all today?  Is the sun shining where you are?  It's bright and sunny here in the Shire today, and the good weather is supposed to stick around for a few days.  Hooray! 
 
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So, you remember the post I wrote recently about my final wishes?  Well, my lovely friend Good Timing sent me a link to this...

 
It's a biodegradable urn that you can use to plant a tree!  How cool is that???  Your remains help a tree grow.  I absolutely love it.  (I'm weird, I know.)  The ultimate in recycling.  Would you consider using something like this?
 
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I've mentioned here before that I am a fan and regular follower of the website "My OB Said What?"  For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a site dedicated to the ridiculous, funny, shocking, offensive, nonsensical things that are said by medical personnel to female patients, particularly surrounding trying to conceive, pregnancy, labour & delivery, and breastfeeding.  This site has encouraged and emboldened me to speak up for myself, to ask questions, and to seek out clarity when dealing with the medical establishment.  I will admit that sometimes the comments on MOSW can get a little polarized, particularly around hot-button issues like vaccinations and breastfeeding, but it is always eye opening and entertaining. 
 
They are currently seeking out new submissions for their site.  If you have a story about an insane or inane comment that a medical professional has made to you, please consider sharing with them.  They also accept submissions for Thoughtful Thursdays, one day each week dedicated to the great, wonderful, encouraging and understanding comments that doctors, nurses, and midwives give to their patients. 

Here's one of my submissions that they published just the other day.

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I'm working out my spring cleaning schedule that officially kicks in tomorrow.  My goal is to have it all done by Easter, tackling one or two things a day.  Tomorrow is the outsides and tops of my kitchen cabinets.  If you had one tip or trick for spring cleaning to share, what would it be?

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Our whole family is going for optometrist appointments this weekend.  My Beloved hasn't been since quite a while before I met him.  The glasses he wears now were originally prescribed to wear for driving and reading, but he's worn them pretty much all the time since we were married.  It's been a few years for me, seeing as most eye doctors won't treat you while you're pregnant (due to the changes in ligaments and the temporary effects of things like pregnancy induced hypertension and gestational diabetes).  The wee-lings are also getting their first eye exams.  Have any of you ever taken an infant or a toddler for an eye exam?  What should I expect?

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And since I've asked you all a ton of questions, what questions do you have for me?  Ask away, and I will answer in an upcoming post!

Some Answers... And A Shameless Plug

Hey Humble Readers...

Well, I'm beginning to feel more like myself.  I'm going to chalk my recent funk up to PMS/AF and move on.  Thanks for being patient with me! 

Before I get to answering your questions, I need to put in a blatant, shameless, self-promoting plug.  An old friend of mine is a blogger and he's just started a new blogging series.  Guest posts.  And he asked me to be one of his guest bloggers.  I'm totally honoured, and I would love it so much if you could swing by and check out Jason's blog, Memoirs of a Jason, and my post, Once Upon A Time: When Happily Ever After Is Hard To Attain. 

Ok... on to your questions!

Amy asked "Where do you see yourself in five years?"  Well, I imagine I will be coming to the end of my time as a SAHM around then.  In five years, Ginny will be starting school full time, and so I'll be enjoying a year of alone time with Pippin.  I'll probably be polishing up my resume, and trying to determine where I want to begin looking for a new career, as I am sure I don't want to go back into retail.  Hopefully, I will be quite a bit thinner, and perhaps be working on a rewrite of my first novel. 

In a round about way, Coco asked if it was too cold to grow anything here on the frozen flatland... Well, our growing season is shorter than that of our friends south of the 49th parallel, but for those without black thumbs, it doesn't stop them from growing beautiful veggies, fruits, and herbs.  My thyme, chives, rosemary, and tarragon are all doing very well.  I just managed to kill the two things that I REALLY wanted to grow this summer... my tomato plant and my basil.  ***sigh***  I guess there's always next year. 

~Maria asked "What do you look forward to most in the fall?"  I love the cooler days, before it gets too cold to enjoy being outside.  I love being able to cook my favourite casseroles and soups.  And TURKEY!!!  Canadian Thanksgiving is at the beginning of October, and as I usually start craving turkey about the second week of June, I begin my turkey day countdown right after the Labour Day weekend. 

Jjiraffe asked "What are your thoughts on the new Hobbit movie coming out?"  I'm super crazy excited!!!  A friend has managed to get us passes for the midnight showing and I'm over the moon.  I'm even not too put off by the fact that it's coming out in 3D (I usually can't abide 3D movies.  They give me a headache.)  But I must confess, I have purposely not seen the trailer yet, and I've avoided most news articles about it.  I don't want to have any preconceived ideas about the movie before I see it.  My only thought at this point is that I'm slightly disappointed that Peter Jackson has decided to make it into three movies.  I'm planning on re-reading the book in November so that I have it fresh in my mind, but not so fresh that I'm noticing every little variance.  You can see, I've given this a lot of thought. 

Kristina asked "What would you do if you had a day to do anything/go anywhere with your husband?"  First up, we would wake up in Manhattan on a beautiful autumn morning, in posession of a time-turner so that I could make the day as long as we needed it to be.  Our hotel would be located conveniently close to a fantastic bagel shop, so that I could have a bagel with cream cheese and lox for breakfast before we headed off to spend the day visiting museums that we missed last time, and of course I would have to go to the Top of The Rock again to find my happy place.  I would visit Ellis Island again, and spend a couple of hours just wandering through the Village.  We would have lunch at Bar American and dinner at Babbo.  We would have tickets to Wicked, and after the show we would go to Serendipity for frozen hot chocolate.  :)

justcyclingalong asked "What will you try to grow next?"  At this point, I think I will just try to keep my remaining herbs alive for as long as possible.  I would love to be able to keep them indoors over the winter.  I might try tomatoes again next year, but I don't know. 

And Stupid Stork gets the grand prize for making me laugh... her question was "Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and Dan Akroyd - You have to screw one, marry one, and kill one.  Go!"  LOL... ok, I would marry Dan Akroyd.  But Bill and Chevy are a tie for both screw and kill, and only because those are my only options.  I think in the end I would kill Chevy Chase, only because I am in the minority and really don't like the Vacation movies.  

And so I leave you for the evening.  Don't forget to pop over to Jason's corner of the blogosphere... and tell me, how would you answer Stupid Stork's question?

What Do You Wanna Know?

Hey Humble Readers...

I know I mentioned this a couple of days ago, but I have hit a big-time wall of BLAH. 

Blame it on the ever lovin' heat. 

Blame it on the fact that I somehow managed to kill yet another basil plant (what the h-e-double-hockey sticks am I doing wrong????). 

Blame it on AF... on potty-training challenges... on what appears to be a teething three month old. 

Whatever it is, my creative juices have been sucked dry. 

And so I am looking to you all, my regular Humble Readers, ICLW visitors, random folks who just happened to click through and landed here at my hobbit-hole to please help me. 

Do you have any questions for me?  Things you want to know about me?  My opinions?  Pretty much anything is fair game. 

I'll post my responses on Friday. 

Saturday Daydreams...

Hey Humble Readers...

I know I've been a little hit and miss this week.  I'm not feeling hugely inspired these days.  Maybe it's time for another Q & A post?  What do you want to know about me, my Beloved Ent, the wee-lings?  About  our life on the not-so-frozen flatland?  Let me know via the comment section below or via email.  I'll answer them as best I can in a post toward the middle of next week.

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I've been daydreaming a lot the last couple of days.

My Beloved is still looking for a new job, and a posting that came up this week would, if he were to get the position, give us a huge leg up financially.  I'm talking HUGE leg up.  I'm not counting my chickens before they're hatched or anything, but it certainly is nice to think about what we could do rather than what we can't afford to do. 

Like which debt would we pay off first?  Credit card?  Line of credit?  Car loan?

How much could we increase our monthly contributions to our church?  To the wee-lings' college funds?  To our (currently non-existent) retirement fund?

Could we buy a new house?  Something with three bedrooms, two baths, a finished basement with a comfy murphy bed for my mom, and a kitchen with an island and lots of cupboards?

Maybe we could even get cable tv again?

Could I afford a new bra when I need one?  ;)

Daydreams aside, if when my Beloved gets a new and better paying job, we have agreed that we will continue with our personal austerity measures until two of our three non-mortgage debts are paid off.  Our condo seems to shrink by the day lately, but there's no sense in trying to buy something bigger until our debt is better managed, and hopefully the condo increases in value a bit (yeah, we bought at the wrong time).

Some people say that daydreaming can be harmful.  That it leads to dissatisfaction with what you have now.  I disagree.  Do I like being broke all the time?  No.  Does the potential of a significantly increased income bring me pleasure?  Yes. 

But does that mean that I'm not incredibly thankful for what we have?  Heck no!  I have been in much more depressing states, financially speaking, in my lifetime.  And if I can't have my dream house, well then thank the good Lord above that I have my dream man and my two precious babies.  We are all healthy, and happy, and that's what makes daydreaming fun.  Imagining how the great things in our lives can only get better. 

What are you daydreaming about these days?

Q & A: 500th Post Edition

Howdy Humble Readers...

Early on last week I asked for some questions as prompts because I had hit a bit of a wall when it was came to what to blog about.  The August heat has melted my brain, and hence any and all creativity has been blown out the windows by the continually oscilating fans.  You lovely ladies came through with some doozies for me.  And I had no idea until I just logged into blogger that this is my 500th post.  How is that possible?  Who knew I could babble on that much?

On to the answers...

Kristin asked a whole bunch of stuff. 

1. How did you meet your beloved?  My Beloved and I were matched on eHarm.ony dot com on Valentine's Day 2006.  We went through their guided conversation process and then spent a couple of months just getting to know each other via email, instant message, and phone calls.  Due to some extenuating circumstances, we didn't actually meet face to face until June 12th.  We met in Banff for the day, which is sorta in between where we both lived (such a beautiful place for a first date), and I brought a couple of friends with me as back up, just in case.  My friend D later told me that he was just fine with my Beloved when my Beloved gave me a huge hug as soon as he saw me. 
2. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?  This is something that I am still pondering.  It would have to combine cooking (without the angst of working for a professional chef), writing, and being able to be Ginny's primary caregiver.  Any thoughts?
3. Do you support gay marriage?  This is a very hard question for me, without a clear answer.  Part of me wants to plead the fifth (except that won't work as I'm not American).  Is it possible for me to simply, respectfully say that I am still grappling with this?  My faith tells me one thing, and my heart tells me something else.  I realize that I am opening myself up for some potentially challenging responses here, but I am still struggling to reconcile the two.  At this point I'm going to say that if you want to continue this discussion, please email me.  I would just rather not do it here. 
4. Would you classify yourself as liberal or conservative or something in between?  Wow... another hard one.  The difficulty here comes in how you define those terms.  I consider myself conservative, but not ultra conservative.  I find myself frustrated and offended by the extremes of both sides, but in general I find myself resonating more with the mid-right (if there is such a thing). 
5. Where would your dream vacation be?  Autumn in New York.  A safari in Tanzania.  Summer in the UK.  A coast-to-coast-to-coast roadtrip across my beautiful country.  I'm not a 'lay on the beach' kinda gal, I prefer vacations where I'm doing and learning.  Something historical is preferred, but not necessary. 
6. Who is your biggest celebrity crush?  Without a doubt, Donnie Wahlberg.  (excuse me as I wipe the drool from my chin just from thinking about him)  Man oh man, when he tore his shirt off at the NKOTBSB concert I was at last month... yum yum!  And he's been number one on my list for many MANY years.

Rain asked a great question.

• If your could live in any time period in history (besides now), when would it be and why?  Just for the sheer romance of it all, I would have to say the Victorian era in England.  Of course, if I was to live in that time period, I would have to be someone with a fair bit of money (and also a heck of a lot thinner) so that I could wear the beautiful clothes.  But then, I have also really been intrigued with the early 20th century in both Europe and North America... the amazing leaps forward in science and technology, the Golden Era of North American culture, the clothes.  *sigh*

St. Elsewhere gave me a couple of great ones about Ginny.

1. What are some of your favourite products for Ginny?  I adore her Sophie the Giraffe teething toy.  It's on the expensive side for a teething ring, but it was a gift, and with the way my wee girl gnaws on that thing, it was worth every penny.  I also love her high chair.  Because of the limited space in our home, we couldn't have a traditional high chair, so this one that straps onto one of our kitchen chairs is great.  Easy to set up and take down when we need to, and super easy to clean.  Lastly, we were given this body wash/shampoo as a gift, and I love it!  You don't need to use much at all (we're still on our first bottle) and it doesn't dry out the wee girl's skin.



Pic was taken back in February

2. If there was one thing of Ginny (a toy, clothes, blanket etc) that you would like to keep forever, what would that be? Just one!  Yikes... that's tough.  I would have to say her green blanket that I knitted while I was pregnant.  She's slept with it pretty much every night since she came home from the hospital.

Well, those are all the questions this time around.  If you didn't get your question in this time, leave it in the comments and I'll make a note of it for next time around.

And due to some unforseen circumstances, Kym of TheSmartness has allowed the sign ups for Sock it To Me to continue until the end of today!  If you haven't signed up for the coolest blogosphere gift exchange around, why the hell not?  Use that groovy button up at the top on the right to learn more!

Q & A: Summer Doldrums Edition

Hey Humble Readers...

We've hit that point in the summer where my brain has officially melted.  It honestly hasn't been that terribly hot here this year but the humidity has been more intense than normal. 

SO, in all honesty, even tho I do have a few things on my 'to blog about' list, I'm looking for some input. 

If you have any questions for me, be they mundane or sublime, fire them away and I'll post my answers on the weekend.  Come on, you know you want to...

And because I want to, here's a sweet pic of our wee girl...

Cousin Thor & Ginny.  Sooo cute!

Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Blog Challenge Day 27, Q&A, and Other Stuff

Howdy Humble Readers...

I hope you are all cozy and warm wherever you are.  We had our first serious snowfall last night... about 3 inches.  Winter has been held at bay long enough I guess.  It's supposed to get frickin' cold later this week too.  Yuck!

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I had my weekly NST and Dr. U appointment this morning.  My blood pressure was up again, but not terribly high.  I'm pretty certain she used the wrong size cuff on me tho (if you are a plus size person, ALWAYS make sure they use the right cuff!).  Then I went over and saw Dr. U.  He did my GBS swab, and stripped my membranes.  It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but still pretty uncomfortable.  I'm feeling a little crampy now, but nothing unbearable.  He was very complimentary about my weight gain (or lack thereof) and how hard I've worked on my blood sugars.  Everything is on track for next week Thursday, and I have no more OB appointments.  It was so strange walking out of his office and not booking for next week.  Amazing!

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So, today's blog challenge assignment is to talk about my worst habit.  I'm sure that there are a lot of things that I could say here, but really, the one thing that I do that irritates ME more than anything, and it has to do with my socks.  I love socks.  I love having warm and toasty feet, and I have a big thing for stripey socks (I love how my feet look in stripes... weird, I know).  But every day I hit a point where I can no longer stand having my socks on.  They just start driving me nuts... my feet get too hot, or the socks feel too tight, and I have to take them off.  It's essential and immediate.  The bad habit comes in at this point.  I tend to leave my socks where they fall.  Beside the couch, under the bed, in the bathroom, between the couch cushions.  Sloppy and lazy, I know.

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I need to give a shout out to my long time IF/TTC message board buddy, Steggie!  She's had a blog for a while, but is just now getting into posting regularly.  She's getting into the swing of things by starting the 30 Day Blog Challenge.  Pop by and say hi if you have time.

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I'm way late in getting to this, but it's Creme de la Creme time again!  Stop by Mel's corner of the blogosphere to get all kinds of details about how the Creme list works... but the basics are that this is our chance to toot our own horns and put forward our best posts of the year.  Everyone in the ALI community is invited/encouraged to participate... so if you posted this year, then it's time to pick the best of your best. 

I'm a little stuck this year.  I can't decide which post I like best, so I'm enlisting your help... Which of these posts should I use as my submission?

My Memory Sucks
or
Riding the Bench
or
Remembering & Pondering

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I've had a couple of questions recently...

Amy asked about the picture over our couch.  It's "La Seyne-sur-Mer" by Roger Duvall.  It makes me want to write a story set in this village some day (cheesy huh?).  I love artwork that makes me ask questions about what's happening in the background.

image courtesy art.com

Kristin asked what I have been cooking and freezing lately... here's the run down: Cornbread stuffing, Beef Barley Soup, Italian Sausage & Tortellini Soup, Lasagna, Pasta Sauce, Beef Stew, Tomato Risotto, Cabbage Roll Casserole, Shepherd's Pie, White Chili, Chicken Curry, Lemon Dill gravy for Chicken.  Oh, and there are two dozen perogies from my last trip to the farmer's market in there too.  I think we are set for a while.

Do you have any questions for me?  I'll answer just about anything...

Randomness & August Q & A: Part the Second

Good Morning Humble Readers...

I hope you are all having a good weekend.  I'm off today and tomorrow so we have much on our to-do list.  Stove shopping, grocery shopping, dog-sitting (Sunny is with us again for a couple of days), and nursery stuff... like I said, much to do.

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So, earlier in the week I said I was going to answer questions on Friday... well, we all saw where my week ended up, so I'm a couple of days late. 

Wiseguy asked a couple of great questions: 1. What is that one dish you wish you could make better than you are already making?  There are lots of things that I don't make well... cream sauces (always end up lumpy), baking (mostly too exact for me), seafood (I'm getting better, but still overcook shellfish often).  I'm intimidated by making asian-style food (I really want to learn to make Thai food), but I really want to improve. 

2. What is your least favourite book (till date)? Oh that's hard.  There aren't many that I don't like.  I do remember hating "Animal Farm" when I was in middle school.  Most recently, I would have to say "The Passage" by Cronin... so many people were raving about it, so I tried to read it.  I got about 100 pages in and I just got fed up.  It could have been the vampire thing (I'm vampired out!), but I think it was just too slow getting started for me. 

JRS asked: are there any helpful books/website you are reading to help you care for the baby when he/she comes?  Honestly, I haven't started reading about what to do when the Halfling actually arrives.  I picked up the Dr. Sears baby book, and I'm planning on starting to read it once I'm on mat leave.  I have done some online reading about breastfeeding, and specifically about the challenges for plus-sized women and bf-ing.  I really like http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/.  Other than that, I've been focussing on reading about labour and delivery. 

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Something big in this hobbit's world... I discovered yesterday that Jean Auel, author of the Earth's Children series is FINALLY going to be publishing the sixth and final book in the series.  I have to wait until the end of March, but hey, I've waited for 8 years already... what's a few more months?  I'm glad I started rereading the series earlier this year. 

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I have added a poll to my side bar... :)
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A few shout outs to some bloggy friends... Ms. Dreamer sent me this link when I was feeling down a couple of days ago .  I love love LOVE these posters, and have told my Beloved that he can get me the "Shire" one for my birthday next month.

And Minta over at Life, Family, and the Pursuit of Sanity has welcomed Little G into the world!  The last couple of weeks have been rough for her, being on modified bedrest due to PIH, but now all is well!

August Q & A... Part The First

Good Evening Humble Readers...

(I started this post earlier this evening... please forgive the late posting)

Dinner is slowly coming together (pork souvlaki is marinating, greek potatoes are roasting, and salad will come together in a little while) and I was trying to think of something to post about.  My poor addled brain has been pretty darn tired the last couple of days, and my creativity is lacking. 

So, I thought I would go back and answer few questions that have come up in the last few weeks. 

Callista asked: What are you daydreaming about these days? Maternity leave... afternoons to read, time to prepare for this little Halfling's arrival, not having to work.  I've also been daydreaming a bit about Christmas.  Pondering what it's going to be like having a little one to play Santa for. 

Minta asked: who was/is your favorite New Kid?!?!?  Oh Minta... you ask a good question!  When I was in high school it was all about Danny (I loved those muscles!), but now as a grown woman, I have to say that Donnie could eat crackers in my bed any time!

Kakunaa asked: Is there going to be a theme (for the nursery)?  Yes!  Because we are not finding out the gender of the baby, it has to be something neutral, but I didn't want the usual shades of beige and brown.  I also didn't want to have the room decorated in anything licsensed (like Disney).  So I chose to go with an elephant theme.  I found some sweet elephant prints on Etsy, and I have some cute elephant stuffies.  The room will be a soft grey (a colour called 'timber wolf'), with white furniture, and apple green accents. 

Kakunaa also asked: have you picked out names?  Again, yes!  But I'm not telling!  (tee-hee)  I can, however, tell you our criteria for names.  For me, they had to be gender specific (I dislike ambiguous names having grown up with one myself), they had to be old-fashioned, and the first name had to start with a vowel.  I also didn't want them to be overly popular.  My Beloved's one criteria was that we incorporate some family names from his side. 

If any of you have questions for me, please fire away!  I'll post my answers on Friday.  I'll answer (just about) anything!

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!

Q & A With the Hobbit

Good Afternoon Humble Readers!

I'm going to be on my way home soon, and I thought it would be fun to do a Q & A post... you ask me the questions, and I answer them. 

Ask me about food, my crazy family, books, Broadway musicals, whatever!  When I get back I will answer all of them.  Nothing is off limits... within reason...

See you soon!

October ICLW - Q & A - Part 2

Hey Humble Readers... I hope you are all having a great day! It's been a pretty okay day here on the flatland.


So, you asked, I answer... (and by the way, you guys asked some good questions!)


1 - What is your favorite food and why? I have always preferred savory foods over sweet. I think I am too much of a foodie to have just one favourite, but I would probably narrow it down to one ethnicity... Greek! I love Mediterranean flavours, I love lemon, I love feta, I love lamb... need I go on?


2 - What is your dream vacation? It would be one of two places... first up, heading to the UK with the time and ability to do a whole lot of genealogical research. Second, to go to Tanzania, go on safari, and to work/help at the Masai Lutheran Girls School that my alma mater is affiliated with.


3 - what are is your favorite tea and what is your favorite herb? My favourite tea depends on the day. In general, I prefer spicy teas (chai, Market spice from Seattle, etc) over delicate herbal or fruit blends. That being said, I do have a big addiction to the iced green tea lemonades from St.ar.bu.cks. Favourite herb... that is really tough! As I mentioned previously, I love Mediterranean flavours, so things like thyme, oregano, and saffron are big time players in my cooking, but I use basil almost every day... and lavender is just lovely (altho I have yet to cook with it, except in herbs de Provence). And of the above, the only one I have been able to grow successfully is lavender.


4 - If you could sit down and have a conversation with anyone (famous or not, living or dead) who would you choose and what would you talk about? I would love to talk to my many-times-Great-Grandfather, Frederick Barnes. He is the maker of the heirloom violin I have, and I would love to talk with him about it, and the others he potentially made. He is part of the reason I want to go to the UK. I want to find something about him.


5 - Whats your favorite, can't miss an episode, TV show? Oh my kingdom for a DVR! Again, my favourites change with the seasons, but I tend to get most wrapped up in procedural dramas... Bones, Criminal Minds, CSI:NY (I've grown weary of the others). And of course, I do love the food network. Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives, Iron Chef America, Chef At Home... all have inspired different recipes. Unfortunately, with my ever changing work schedule, I don't always get to watch the shows I love.


6 - If you could be one of the LOTR characters, who would it be and why? Far too easy! I would be Rosie Cotton! She did get to marry my favourite hobbit, Samwise Gamgee! But if you are thinking of a character from the fellowship, then it would probably be Pippin. He makes stupid mistakes, but is ultimately able to redeem himself and shows himself as a loyal friend, a brave soldier, and a good, albeit flakey person. I see myself in him a lot, or more accurately, I see who I want to be.


7 - what is your very best 'no one makes it as well as me' recipe? Hmmmmm... I have to say, I am the only person in my family who can cook lamb. I have a few really good lamb recipes, including the one I used for this year's Easter Dinner. Lamb is a special occassion food for us, as it is difficult to get fresh except for in the spring (and I can't justify the cost of New Zealand lamb). I also make some pretty outstanding tilapia, if I do say so myself.

That was fun! I look forward to future Q & A sessions...