Questions Megan Tagged Me With, and Questions For You!

(First of all, I want to apologize for how the words are squished together on here - if you can tell me how to fix this, I would love and adore you! It drives me mad how my blog ignores my input and does that.) Secondly, I am answering the call from Megan to do this question and answer activity: Rules Post 11 random things about you, along with a picture. Answer the 11 random questions you've been tagged to do. Make up your own 11 random questions and tag others.

Here, above is a random pic of me, and here are 11 Random Things About Me: 1. I feel wide awake most nights, even when I stay awake all day. I think it's related to neuropathy, but haven't figured it out yet. Conversely, I am so sleepy some days (unrelated to my sleep the night before) that I spill what I'm drinking or eating all over me, falling asleep unexpectedly. This is really becoming a problem! 2. I used to love animals soooo much. I even had a pet fly. My sister, Sandy, and I used to catch lots of grasshoppers and spiders, etc., along with baby birds, wasp nests (which we hatched out), worms, tadpoles (we raised them to frogs), fish, and turtles. Anything alive qualified as a pet. 3. I have to use lists to remind me of everything. I look at them to get some idea of what my life is all about, and I have to have projects and books, etc., out where I can see them, in order to remember that they even exist! 4. One of my all-time favorite books is called The April Rabbits. If you find a copy, buy it for me, 'kay? It's a kids book. 5. I just printed "f" for the number 5 on this line. I have no idea why I did it, and I just happened to notice it afterwards. Weird! 6. I always want to compete, not with others about looks, money, or power, but just for fun. I love playing Trivial Pursuit, entering pet shows and costume contests, and I used to be up for any physical challenge like arm wrestling, which I was very successful at, informally. : ) 7. Two things I HATED, until I was older, were gardening and crafts. I also didn't like little kids. Now I love them (all except things made with styrofoam)! I also couldn't STAND onions, cheese, cream cheese, or food that was a concoction of items, like a fruit or vegetable salad. 7. I believe in fairies, but not ones that look like insects. 8. I have a sister I've never met. She was the firstborn in our family, and I was the last. Her name is Donna Muezet, and she lived for 10 days. I feel her presence on occasion, and I really, really like her. She reminds me of Mom. 9. I've always loved being a mother. 10. I like too many things. 11. I wrote an essay in Sophomore English that said I'd found out I was part-black. I meant it satirically, to hi-light how silly it is to make racial distinctions. but I also wanted my teacher to believe it was true. My teacher never commented. Okay, now to Megan's questions:

1. If you had one month of free airline travel, where would you go? I would go to a deserted tropical beach and just lie there for a while. Then I would visit the tide pools on the coast of Oregon and Washington. I would visit Holland and Scotland, Ireland and England, to do geneology. I would visit Australia and Israel, and then I would go where I could dig up gems or try for gold. I would go rock hunting, too. And then I'd go where there was great fishing, and I'd just sit and fish the rest of the time away. 2. If you could be the creator and CEO of your own company, what would your company be? A think tank 3. If you were known for one obvious character trait, what do you think it would be? Cheerfulness 4. If you had to be a teacher for the rest of your life, what subject and grade would you want to teach and why? Freshman Literature 5. What is your bedtime routine? Do you read, listen to music, kick the covers off, use ten blankets? I take my test and my pills and drink Relive, and then I get in bed with Mark and we watch two King of the Hill episodes that play back-to-back on our local station. Then we watch Conan's monologue and say our prayers. Then I usually get back up and visit the computer, since I'm instantly not sleepy! 6. What is your biggest fear? That I will somehow forget what is sacred to me, that I won't be loyal to what I love most in this world and Heaven, and that Mark or my children, or anyone, will suffer some loss of joy and light because of it. 7. How much money would someone have to pay you to catch and eat a spider? What about to eat someones toe jam? Or their ear wax? Gross! There isn't enough money in the world to make me eat things like that because, for me, it would be breaking the Word of Wisdom. 8. If you could be amazing at one sport and on your way to compete at the 2012 Olympics, what sport would you pick? Definitely an equestrian event - the Three Day Event, which combines dressage, jumping, and cross-country. That would be an awesomely wonderful experience. 9. If you could live anyone else's life for one month, fully experiencing their daily joys, sorrows, successes, and failures, whose life would you choose? I would want to live Pres. Uchtdorf's life, to experience all of his responses to life. I would learn so much! (I was going to say his wife, but I was afraid you would think my motives were suspect!) 10. Suppose you owned a large home in the country with a large circular drive. If you could place any one thing in the center of that circle to greet your guests as they approached your home, what would it be? A fountain with changing colors on it, like they had in Decatur when I was little. They still have the fountain (in the park right uptown), but I don't think they shine colors on it anymore. (If anyone knows differently, I'd like to know.) I remember that and the Nelson Park Rock Garden so vividly. 11. If you could avoid one household chore for the rest of your life, what would it be? (Questions 9, 10 and 11 taken from The Conversation Piece book.) Well, I AM avoiding most household chores nowadays, so I would pick using a lint roller on our bed covers and clothes. Since Tut somehow missed out on "Bathe Yourself" training as a kitten, we have to look after any of his hairs that jump ship, and, believe me, there are many! Thank you for tagging me Megan. That was fun! Now my own 11 questions to ask, and some of them will be very probing: 1. How much effort do you put into your appearance most days, and how far should that go? How attractive should we try to make ourselves (excluding being prideful about it)? 2. How do you set priorities in terms of savings, life insurance, medical and dental care, charity donations, making your home attractive, planting flowers and beautifying our outdoors space, food and emergency storage, education, health care options such as health treatments, health foods, etc.? I understand the idea of doing things as inexpensively as possible, but beyond that, what do you think? 3. How many family get-togethers and events are good to have, before you're just going too far with the travel and time out just celebrating? And do you add in vacations too? I know people who take their families on two-month vacations. If you go to every birthday party and blessing and holiday event, besides other recreational get-togethers of all kinds, plus date night and extended family reunions, and EFYs and Education weeks and Scout Camp and Girl's Camp and so on, when do you have work time or down time? Or, if you have a family, then family service time or down time? I'm just curious. I'd really like to know your thoughts on these things that I observe. 4. Lessons - Music, athletic pursuits, language, art, theatre, dance, and so on - add those into the mix, plus dates and interviews with individual children, family home evenings, temple attendance, and self-enrichment: What are your thoughts on how you add those things into your life and/or your family's life? Please give me your thoughts. 5. What is your greatest fear? 6. Do you dream in color? And do you have places you re-visit in your dreams? Do you see things that don't exist in life? Or that haven't been invented yet? 7. When you awake in the morning, do you remember what you were doing the day before? 8. Do you want to live a long life? 9. What would the title of your autobiography be? Any chapter headings? (Are you thinking about writing a book? Am I the subject thereof? ;) 10. Do you continue to hear something after you hear it (at least for a short time)? Is that how you remember phone numbers to dial them? Or do you see the numbers inside your head? 11. Do you watch "movies" in your mind during the day? Do other people's words create pictures in your mind? I tag Phillip, Bonnie, Tamathy, Megan, Haley, Melinda, Ben, Misty, and anyone else who reads my blog! Who is brave enough to look inside? Bwahahah! Really, though, I would so enjoy reading your answers. Please do answer! Again, here are your rules: Post 11 random things about you, along with a picture. Answer the 11 random questions you've been tagged to do. Make up your own 11 random questions and tag others. Thank you! xoxoxo