]]>What is the biggest lie you've told?
I've never lied. ;-)
]]>If you could leave notes for the future, what message would you have left in the past for today?
"Stop gritting your teeth."
]]>What was your random act of kindness today?
I did not knock my kids' heads together. (Not that I've ever done that on any other day, or that I ever will.... ;-)
]]>Where do you want to be in ten years?
Submitted by baby3194.In our own house.... We have owned in the South and the North East but never the far West, very different market out here! In my opinion, 1500 square feet would be plenty of room for a family of 5, with enough room outside for vegetables, fruit trees, some grape vines, and a cutting garden.
Disciplined writing every day, working for a publication, all kinds of those in the Bay Area.
Traveling by then, our youngest is four, so traveling very far doesn't feel like an option right now. Yosemite is about as far as we want to vacation right now. Preferably Great Britain, all over, and India, but 10 years from now, who knows what we'll have added to the list.
In ten years, we'll be sending our eldest to college. That's an exciting thought, seeing our children's education and life unfold. Savannah has always been intrigued by the idea of university education and life, the array of study choice, and living away from home. When she was 4, Savannah was sure she would still live at home during college, but now she knows about apartments and dorm rooms. She leans toward science and math. We will see. She's already had about 50 start ups.
"What do you do EVERY day to take care of the earth's environment? What could you do more of?"
1) No paper napkins, Last year I found some cloth napkins on clearance at Target and dug through our wedding box of dining room linens. We have about 50 cloth napkins now, plenty. I just throw them in the laundry with all the kitchen towels, so it doesn't amount to the work you might think.
2) I use plastic sandwich bags as a last resort but pack lunches in washable containers.
3) We filter our water through a Brita pitcher and often drink from fountains at the park. I occasionally buy water bottles to stash in the van. (I hide them so the kids aren't too quick to reach for them.) This summer we'll draw from the bottles I keep in the freezer, when we're out and about. It's going to get hot!
4) We live in a very walkable city, school, preschool, post office, groceries, coffee shop, farmer's market, swimming pool, 3 parks, a lovely bakery.... all within <25 minute walk one way.
5) In summertime, I run the dish washer and washer & dryer in the evening. Using in peak hours drains the source and causes more blackouts.
6) I bring my own canvas and paper bags into stores, (not quite an every day issue). Most grocery stores round here reward you in some way.
7) Keep a mending basket of clothes and toys instead of throwing them out so quickly. Always something to mend in this house!
8) Family of 5 owning one vehicle, a rare thing in this part of the world. I drive my husband to and from the train station 5 days a week, so he's not driving in traffic up to 3 hours a day. Also, much more affordable this way.
Would like to do more:
1) Bought clothesline, need to install
2) When we buy a home, I'd like to install solar panels and such.
3) Walking every day can be difficult with 3 children, especially in the rainy season. As their legs get longer, I hope to walk more. They love it, and so does my waistline.
4) I also pray about taking care of God's earth, about global warming. Isn't God supposed to destroy the earth by fire?
]]>What have you tried in life that you just weren't very good at?
Programming. When I was 15, Brad helped me write a program to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit in BASIC (for my computer class). I understood how we got the finished product, If/Then and whatnot..... but could not have gotten there on my own! I just don't think like that. I must get from A to B on the more meandering path :-)
On a related topic, when Brad went to Mississippi earlier this year to be with his family, he was gone one month. Eventually, about three weeks into his visit, all FOUR of our movie watching devices weren't working. Have you ever thought your home had an electronic ghost?
1)Arwen kicked the sound system (the one hooked up to the mac mini) and I couldn't get the sound back no matter what combination of buttons I pushed. Brad figured it out, but I don't remember what he told me. Sorry, Brad.
2) The monitor for the playroom dvd/vcr seemed fried. I changed the brightness/contrast/tint, also in all manner of combinations. (Turns out it was just on the wrong input. I watched The Devil Wears Prada with that awful picture.)
3) An old, but capable laptop that the children use just stopped working. Still not sure what Brad did to fix that.
4) Seth slipped a piece of craft felt into my laptop dvd. We never had to send it off for fixing because Brad bought the new Air and I'm using his hand-me-down.
I know I'm inept, but I have my guru back :-)
]]>Do you have a particular "catch phrase" for which you are known?
"What do you mean?"
]]>What are you ashamed of?
the times I hurry my children to bed so that I can sit down and watch tv. then I wonder, did I hurry them to bed for this?
]]>Which, ahem, "internets" clichés do you wish would go away already?
I except that language has to evolve. When Shakespeare had his heyday, our language saw all kinds of new words created like "critic", "circumstantial", and "hush". I like that. But I like old things.
I'll be glad when "whom" makes it's way out of the grammar book because so few people ever remember how to apply that word. It's not practical for me. Anything that would sound pretentious to my family members, I can't use it. And if I can't use it, I can't remember the rules for it. (I was relieved to figure this out because I'd thought I was just dumb.)
Most of our new words, I'm guessing, are being created in technology and medicine. That's necessary, useful. But there are new words on the internet, slang that hurts my teeth. "I has a cheeseburger." ?? "Woot" ?? I truly don't want this to get into the mainstream, face to face language. My internet friends do this. Good people. I like you all very much. Please stop!
]]>What's the biggest leap of faith you've ever had to take? We left comfortable Connecticut for California (with three little children still in car seats, two of them in diapers...... ) Brad came out alone to get a house in a good town with a good school, and I moved out though I'd never set foot west of Golden, Colorado.