House Owners; plus Earth Day and other thoughts

Yesterday we bought our first home! (Well, technically financing should finalize today.) We’ll get the keys on Monday (giving current residents the weekend to move out). Thank you to my Mom, for watching B yesterday. It was nice not having my attention split. We took her out to lunch at Chili’s after.

 

This month will be busy with packing, transitions, and giving the new house some TLC. Moving date is set for Saturday, May 23. So much to do before then. You should see our needs and wants lists for house stuff to buy. I swear it grows every time I look away.

 

Writing, submissions, and queries should pick back up in June.

 

Yesterday was Earth Day, and this is still Earth Week. Some of these 5k Qs are appropriate for the occasion (namely 644 and 655).

 

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

641. Do you remember Crystal Pepsi? no

642. When was the last time you spent a night away from home? In the hospital after giving birth to my son. Wow, that was over five years ago. I need a vacation...

643. Some people say that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Is that true? Yes. There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.

644. What is the most interesting TV channel? Discovery Channel. Have you seen Planet Earth? It is spectacular. Our planet is such a beautiful, amazing place. Well worth saving.

645. Name one song you could live without hearing ever again: "Hot Chocolate" from the Polar Express soundtrack

646. Do your pets understand you when you talk? Don't currently have a pet, but I believe pets understand to a degree. Even if they don't understand the words, they do understand the emotion.

647. What are three things you HAVE NOT done that might surprise people? 1. Owned a credit card. 2. Driven a car. 3. Walked on a beach (despite being in San Francisco and seeing the ocean. school trip, so no one was allowed on the beach).

648. Have you ever had a secret admirer? yes. I got a secret valentine my senior year in HS, and never found out who it came from.

649. Have you been to a museum this year? No

 

650. Do you ever watch porn? No. Sounds like one upstairs sometimes though...

651. Do you think that it would be a good idea if people served in the army, navy or air force for a while before they were allowed to vote? no.

652. If you were required to do this to vote, would you? no. the armed forces wouldn't make me more aware, it would break me. I'd probably be less likely to vote, not more.

653. Do people often give you weird looks? not that I've noticed

654. Do like Japanese cooking? I like the dishes at Teriyaki Stix. That's Japanese. What doesn't appeal to me is sashimi, or any seafood for that matter.

655. Do you care for stray animals? I want to. But feed them and they are yours. And I can't save them all. I really admire organizations that save strays, such as local shelters (where we will be getting a kitty when we move), and the Egyptian Mau Rescue Organization.

Magic and Mentality

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

546. What would you like to protest against? Black Friday

547. What or who do you support? Obama. He looks to be a very promising President.

548. If you found out you were pregnant today, would you have an abortion? No. I really, really, really don't want to be pregnant again, but I would never snuff it out if it was obviously meant to be. Though there would likely be much stress and panicking. (Praying this scenario doesn't actually get played out.)

549. Do you like picking out greeting cards or would you rather write your own? Greeting cards! Just cause I write, doesn't mean I can think of something warm or witty to say every time, and why should I when someone else has already done the work.

550. Do you like to be thought of as mysterious? No. I'm not against the idea, but I certainly don't promote it or get a thrill off it. I don't know that anyone has ever described me as mysterious...

551. What is the most magical thing that has ever happened to you? A mere few days after blogging about a lack of books to read, a package with an ARC magically appeared on my doorstep. So much better than being notified of winning a drawing through email. Just BAM, there when you most need it.

552. How would you tell your friend his or her fly was open in public? I'd whisper "your fly is open." Though I am not the most observant person, and would more likely be on the receiving end.

553. Does a good friend tell you you've got something in your teeth or pretend not to notice it? A good friend would tell me, to prevent further embarrassment.

 
554. The world has many secrets. Have you learned any? Will you share it? Life is all about belief. Each person has a different reality, tied to their perception of the world. The important thing is recognizing the existence of these realities, and not discounting someone because theirs is very different from your own.

555. Are there any bands you like so much that you want to get their music video collection on DVD? no. even when using YouTube for music purposes, I usually have it in the background, listening but not watching. I'd much rather have the CD.

At long last, more of the 5k Qs

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

501. If you could rename yourself what would your new name be? as a teenager - I wanted to be Daphne Starlight

 

502. What is your Glam Rock name (the name of your first pet plus your street name)? Sailor Plumtree

503. Have you ever created your own 'what ___ are you' quiz? nope
If you did make one what would it be about? Which Fey are you? (from EotF world: sylph, djinn, dryad, or undine)

504. What is your favorite song from the 70's? Love Story. My husband gave me a dove music box that plays the song.

505. What do you feel like complaining about? the good shows getting cut (current culprit, NBC with "My Own Worst Enemy". I'll be watching up to the last episode they show. Still edge-of-the-seat awesome.)

506. What do you feel like celebrating? life, family. How could I not with my birthday and Thanksgiving coming up.

507. Have you lost touch with anyone you should call? my college sister. but I've tried getting in touch with her to no avail :(

508. Deep in thought do you forgive everyone? forgive them, yes. excuse them, no.

509. Can a person speak out against their government and still support their country? yes. that's what democracy and freedom of speech is all about.

510. What do you have faith in? God, the good in people, my family

Early Christmas, mistakes, and the future

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

471. What is one interesting fact you know? The twelve days of Christmas technically starts on Christmas Day and ends on January 5th. January 6th is Epiphany, the celebration of the Wise Men bringing gifts. For some it is a tradition to give gifts on all of the twelve days. The 12th day of Christmas, the last day of Christmas, is January 5th.

 

472. Do you talk to yourself? All the time.

Do you talk to your pets? I'm sure I would if I had one.

473. Do you believe that humankind has a future in space (will we live there some day)? We are living in space. We are not outside space. I don't know if we'll survive to explore and live on other planets.

474. Would you rather wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty or more delicate outfits? Comfort is more important that dirt or delicacy. Since I'm not one for delicate outfits for that reason (not as comfy), I'll go with the former.

475. How do you 'live life to the fullest'? Don't let obstacles stop your dreams. Keep striving, be yourself, be happy.

476. Are you sloppy or a neat freak? sloppy

477. Would you rather have a trunk full of nickels or half a trunk full of dimes? half a trunk of dimes. dimes are smaller, so it would be more money with less actual coins to put in the coin machine.

478. What is the worst mistake you've ever made? Basing my self confidence off my relationships. I made plenty of mistakes during the HS/dating/relationships phase. I hurt a lot of people. I was so clueless and selfish.

479. Are you in good health? well, I'm not in bad health

480. Are you patriotic? yes, but not overbearingly so

Hello Autumn

+ school starts next week

- will have to wait for the bus

- allergy season

+/- lots of awesome games coming out (too many to get all at release)

+ days and nights getting cooler

+ pretty fall colors

- lots of wind

- lots of tv interruptions by election updates

+ fall tv season begins, with lots of interesting new and returning series

 

Haven't heard from B's bus driver yet. Last year they didn't call until the day before school started, so not too worried. B will be going four days a week instead of two, which is exciting. He has the same teacher as last year, so that should be really good for him. He already knows his numbers 1-9. I've told him that school starts soon and that he'll get to ride the bus. He jumped up and down in excitement.

 

At the end of October, P will be getting a younger sister and I should be getting a couple months off while their mom takes time off work. Yay! That will also mark the beginning of serious potty training take 2.

 

My birthday is also in autumn. I need to update my wish list.

 

What do you like and dislike about the season?

more 5k Q

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

 

341. Would you benefit from a wilder existence? physically, most likely. mentally, no. I like my culture and modern amenities.

342. Does it seem to you like the range of socially acceptable behavior is getting smaller or larger? definitely larger. quite sad really. there are behaviors (such as smoking) that are less acceptable, but far more that have become more lenient. Just look at how movie ratings have changed over time.

343. Have you ever fired a gun? No. haven't even held a real one.

344. Are people becoming more afraid of each other? more afraid of the world in general. there's a lot of crime reported on the news, and that's just a portion, the "newsworthy" stuff. I'm certainly afraid of letting my child play outside alone, or let him out of site even in a children's section at the bookstore.

345. If you had to choose the percentage of freedom vs. safety what ratio would you decide on (ex: 100% free 0% safe)? 60 free, 40 safe

346. Does safety stifle you? that would depend on the form of safety

347. Who or what needs to be stopped? spam - email and phone. most of our calls our recorded messages, usually scams, but spam nonetheless. very annoying. at least I can easily throw away junk mail and most junk email is filtered, but even if I let the answering machine pick up, the phone still rings...

348. Are human beings becoming more domesticated? in the sense that we are completely dependant on other human beings? absolutely. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.

349. Do you follow the lives of the British Royal Family? no

350. How did the death of Pope John Paul II affect you? who?

New words for Pres. Bush

5,000 Questions... My answers so far...

Revising one of my answers, in light of a stupid move by Bush:

When President Bush unveiled his proposed budget for 2009, one of the first things that jumped out at book lovers was the elimination of funding for the Inexpensive Book Distribution program at Reading Is Fundamental (RIF). According to Carol Rasco, the nonprofit's CEO and president, "Unless Congress reinstates $25.5 million in funding for this program, RIF would not be able to distribute 16 million books annually to the nation's youngest and most at-risk children." The cut would seem particularly misguided given all the hoopla raised throughout 2007 about the importance of getting (and keeping) America's children passionate about reading.

37. What country do you live in and who is the leader of that country? USA, President George W. Bush

If you could say any sentence to the current leader of your country what would it be? "I respect you and your position, don't envy your decisions, and know you are doing the best you can with the present situations." "It would be a very bad move to cut this program; kids need to be encouraged to read!" I'm sure there are other, better, places to cut the budget. Even reducing funding for RIF would be better than eliminating it completely.