20 Questions: January 11, 2009

1. When I look down I see:
my bag. my sneakers (on my feet). the tower for my computer with my lunch bag on top of it. a power strip. my space heater (because they need to keep this office Arctic in temperature). a tub of Clorox disinfecting wipes (to wipe off my keyboard, mouse & phone every morning as a precautionary measure, because the sickies think nothing of contaminating my desk before i get in).

2. So, what 3 things do you think of when I say vinegar?
pickles. salad dressing. baking soda.

3. When is the last time you got lost and what happened?
oh man. i got so lost on my way to the company Christmas party! the dumb thing is that we had it the same place we had it the previous two, but we didn't have a Christmas party last year & i didn't help set up for it this year, so there i was, driving around an area i don't spend much time in, after dark. i kept thinking the turn i was looking for was *before* i reached the college. turns out it was after. i spent 45 minutes driving a two-mile stretch of road, looking for a street that was a half-mile further up. and i *would* have stopped to ask for directions if i had seen a single person.

4. Pick out the most important item in your wallet/purse and tell why it's important to you.
barring the obvious answer of "my cash," that would have to be my planner. i would be absolutely lost if i couldn't find that book. it has everything i need in it: birthdays, appointments, reminders, addresses & phone numbers, my budget. anything else in there could be replaced if it had to be, but not the planner.

5. When was the last time you went to a playground and swung on the swings?
a long long time ago. maybe ten years? which is a shame because the swings were always my favorite.

6. What would it take for you to reconcile with your greatest enemy?
an act of God, because that is about the only way this person could not be toxic.

7. What is something you swore you would never do in your youth that you are doing?
live outside New England.

8. 5 of your least favorite ice cream flavors.
maple walnut. pistachio. butter pecan. spumoni. anything with cherries in it.

9. Does time heal all wounds?
i don't know if it heals *all* wounds. i think some remain but we learn to carry on, despite their existence.

10. If you could choose one song NEVER to hear ever again in your life, which song would it be?
there are a bunch i'm not remembering, but that "I Kissed a Girl" song is right up there near the top!

11. Someone has hung a sign around your neck, and you have to wear it all day long. What does it say?
out of order.

12. If you had to be trapped in a TV show for an entire month, which show would you choose? Why?
Boston Legal. i think the character of Alan Shore was brilliant and i would follow him around everywhere. he was witty & clever & sarcastic. and wicked intelligent. perfect entertainment for a month, i would say. plus? hello! Boston!

13. What were the last five songs you listened to?
"Love Song," Sara Bareilles. "The Next Contestant," Nickelback. "Baseball Ballet," Terry Cashman. "Say You, Say Me," Lionel Richie. "It's Your Love," Tim McGraw. (yes, eclectic music taste, i know. that's what happens when i let my ipod shuffle my entire music library.)

14. What 3 things come to mind when you hear the word pink?
baby girls. strawberry Starburst. Piglet.

15. If you could be invisible for one hour, where would you go and what would you do?
i would need to travel through time & space, but hey, i'm invisible, so clearly we're not talking about reality here. i would want to simply travel from one person i love to the next, and simply be able to watch them, just for a moment, being happy.

16. You’ve just received the fantastic news that you and a guest have won an all-expenses-paid trip to Destination Unknown. The catch is: 1. You leave NOW. 2. You can only bring the clothes on your back. 3. You’ll find out where you are going when you get there. Are you going to go? What clothes will you be traveling in? And lastly, where do you secretly hope Destination Unknown is? Where do you hope it’s not?
well, i am in the perfect travelling wear: comfy pants, short-sleeved shirt, light jacket (layering is important!) and sneakers. and leaving NOW would be perfect since my motivation is minimal as far as work goes. i just hope my destination is somewhere on the not-so-cold side. and preferably somewhere safe. and not involving camping. an international Disney Park would be perfect!

17. How do you eat your M&M’s?
grab a handful but eat one at a time (except for the milk chocolate ones, those are two at a time, because they're small). great. now i want M&Ms.

18. Would you rather spend the night in an igloo in the freezing cold, or on a wooden raft in the middle of the ocean?
in the igloo. because at least i would be able to sleep without worrying i would roll off the raft.

19. What three sounds do you love?
baby laughter. the unmistakable sound of bat-on-ball when you *know* it's a home run. rain falling on a roof.

20. Describe the kitchen in the house in which you grew up.
i am going to go with my Gram's kitchen, because i technically grew up in two houses. it had this brick-colored linoleum floor (that apparently *everyone* had in their childhood homes??). there were two doors--one to the outside, which opened onto a little porch landing, and the other leading down to the cellar)--and two doorways that led to the living room & dining room. there was a breakfats nook with a sideboard pantry on one side that had lots of cabinets & drawers. my Gram kept all her drinking glasses over there, as i recall, and lots of old milk glass. the breakfast nook had two windows that looked out onto the backyard. the one on the left had a thermometer outside it & i remember checking it in the Summer to see if it was over 100 and sometimes in the Winter, it would freeze & not move. when i was really little, they had a metal and Formica table there, which they later replaced with a wooden table--the area was big enough to serve two or three people. at the same time, they also replaced the hanging light over the table. it had this big glass globe on the top & when i was maybe 10 or 11, i was clearing the table and i accidentally hooked my ponytail on the lamp, causing the globe to come crashing down, smashing into a million pieces. i cried & cried but my Gram understood it was an accident. i wasn't hurt and the globe could be replaced. i was always very careful after that. the walls in the kitchen were a sunny yellow and a country blue, and the curtains were white. the cabinets were wood with black hardware, and the counters were bright yellow Formica with stainless steel trim. there were lots of shelves & cabinets & drawers & counter space. there was a stove top built into one counter that had six burners on it & there was an island that extended out into the kitchen by the stove. across from the stove was the sink--stainless steel, one basin--with two windows that looked out over the driveway, and more counter space on either side. across from the cellar door was the double oven, and next to that was the refrigerator--a white side-by-side model was the newest one, preceded by an almond-colored freezer-over-refrigerator style, and i think a side-by-side before that in either a 70s green or mustard yellow (i would need to refer back to my old family photos to be sure). what i remember most about this kitchen, though, was that you could almost always find my Gram in it, cooking or baking or cleaning or ironing. it was a warm, happy place where i learned how to cook by her side, where we talked & laughed, where we would come in from the cold. it was truly the heart & soul of the home, and it is everything i would want in a kitchen--both the way it was constructed & the way it felt to be there.