Saturday, June 16, 2007

LALOLKFATYK

Learn a Lot of Little Known Facts About Those You Know -- heck of an acronym in the title there.

Acknowledgement goes to Babs. And to today's meme addiction.

Okay, and we're off!

1. Were you named after anyone? Yes, my maternal great-great grandmother.There weren't too many Amanda's back in the 1800's. Heck, there weren't too many back in the early 1970's. Now? They're everywhere. I was the only Amanda in the school most of my student life, but flash-forward into my teaching years and I was one out of five.

2. When was the last time you cried? I got a bit misty-eyed this past week on vacation when my cousin and I were discussing our mutual grandmother who passed away in November of 2005.

3. Do you like your handwriting? Depends on if it's legible. It's a weird mix of my mother's and father's handwriting styles. Half printed, half cursive. Legible, it's cool looking. Illegible, it's scary chicken-scratch.

On the plus side, I don't cross every letter that crosses the center line of my writing, unlike some fathers I could mention...

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Greasy, drippy burger meat. Preferably smothered in cheese.

5. Do you have kids? Yes, two. Boys. Ages 8 and 4. I'm hopelessly besotted, except when I look at their bedrooms. Then I just cringe.

6. If you were another person, would you be friends with you? I figure I'd either love me or hate me. Dry sense of humor, sarcasm, occasional flashes of wit, more frequent bouts of extreme density... it's either engaging or highly annoying.

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Me? Sarcastic? Nah. (Please see #6)

8. Do you still have your tonsils? Nope. Had 'em out back in 1974, when they weren't doing tonsillectomies on a regular basis anymore. I had tonsillitis so much they deemed it better to put a four-year-old under general anesthetic than for me to retain possession of 'em.

Don't miss them, either.

9. Would you bungee jump? Uh, no. At this point, I wouldn't even make it up to the platform. Me + vertigo = bad.

10. What is your favorite cereal? Froot Loops. This is a surprise?

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? One word: Birkenstocks.

12. Do you think you are strong? I hoist forty to fifty pound deadweights (my sons) regularly. And the cats, one of whom appears to be in a race with the human children for highest weight.

He's losing, but he's a determined little cuss.

13. What is your favorite ice cream? Eggnog. Bastards only make it around the winter holidays, for which my waistline is eternally grateful.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their eyes. My husband has the most beautiful brown-gold-green heavily-lashed eyes. Stoopid sigh.

15. Red or pink? Depends on the shade. Orangey-reds and I don't mix. Blood-reds and bluish-reds kick ass. Pinks also need to be more bluish.

16. What is the least favorite thing about yourself? This smoking shit. It has got to stop. That and the charming saddlebags I have that remain no matter how little I weigh. I had pneumonia when I was 16 and dropped to 108 pounds. I was hollow cheeked, flat chested, and STILL these buggers hung on.

Unbelievable.

17. Who do you miss the most? My grandmother, referenced in Item #2. She was the sheltered daughter of a physician and my great-grandmother. Then my great-grandfather died when she was just eight years old (Bright's Disease). My grandmother was the original latchkey kid. She grew up, got married, had two wonderful kids (my uncle and my mom), then left the abusive bastard she'd married. Tossed his ass in jail when he wouldn't pay the child support, too.

Remember, this was the 1940's. Divorce simply wasn't done. Nor was throwing one's children's father in jail. But the man never forgot the child support again, nor did he forget the $1.00 per month alimony payment.

She went back to college, finished her degree and student teaching in one year, then proceeded to teach first grade for thirty years and put her kids through college, with the help of her mother.

When her grandchildren arrived, she was in her element. We got ditto sheets mailed to us, which we'd mail back and she'd then return to us, graded. And when we visited, she had a wonderful make-believe land called Lizardsville set up off her back patio, where Lenny, Rodney, and assorted other rubber lizards relaxed on Moss Rock and gathered around the little margarine tub she'd sink into the ground, filled with water colored blue with a drop of food coloring.

After she retired, she became The Cruise Queen. She sailed across the Atlantic on the QE II, cruised the Mediterranean, the Pacific coasts of the U.S. and Canada, the Caribbean... she used to joke that she'd fallen in every major European city.

Never broke her hip, either. Good bones, that woman.

She was amazing.

When she died, she left behind a son, a daughter, their spouses, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. That number has since swelled to eleven. Not a bad legacy for an only child.

18. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Pink jammie pants, no shoes.

19. What was the last thing you ate? Baked Lays Sour Cream and Onion potato chips.

20. What are you listening to right now? Men in Black. Hee.

21. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Is fluorescent white a color?

22. Favorite smells? Pot roast cooking in the pressure cooker and apple cider simmering on the stove.

23. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? My husband, asking him why a simple trip to the store was taking three hours (he'd run into a friend... and some men think girls talk too much!)

24. Favorite sport to watch? Sumo wrestling. No, I'm not kidding.

25. Hair color[s]? Brown with gold streaks, courtesy of my stylist. It's either that or muddy brownish-grey. I'll take the chemical colors anytime.

26. Eye color? Blue-green-grey. Depends on my mood and/or what I'm wearing.

27. Do you wear contacts? I tried, once, about twenty years ago. Gas permeable lenses, due to my severe astigmatism. I've checked since then, and it's still the best they can do given my need for good visual acuity.

Felt like I had tin can lids in my eyes. No thanks.

28. Favorite food? Cheese, in all its many glorious forms.

29. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings. Real life is realistic enough. I'll take my fantasy where I can get it.

30. Last movie you watched? At home, Men in Black (viewing currently). In the theater, it would be the latest Pirates movie.

31. What color shirt are you wearing? Pink. Matches the jammy bottoms.

32. Summer or winter? Winter. I live in Florida. I get enough of summer.

33. Hugs or kisses? Both, from all three men in my life. The rest of the world? Hugs are okay, depending on who you are. Side-arm is most likely safest, if you value your limbs.

34. Favorite dessert? I'm really not big on sweets. But if I need something sweet, it better be gooey and chocolaty.

35. Most likely to respond? I have no clue. I generally don't tag folks. Angel might cave, though. Heh.

36. Least likely to respond? Again, I have no clue.

37. What book are you reading now? When I Fall in Love, by Lynn Kurland. It's a time travel romance. I like the paranormal stuff.

38. What is on your mouse pad? Stonehenge.

39. What did you watch on T.V. last night? Alton Brown, Good Eats. The milk episode. Cooking for nerds... love it!

40. Favorite sound[s]? My sons' laughter.

41. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Billy Joel or Jimmy Buffet.

42. What is the farthest you have been from home? Japan. Yes, you can blame the answer to #24 on that.

43. Do you have a special talent? I type over 100 words per minute. I'm popular at deadline time, what can I say?

44. Where were you born? At a USAFB hospital in Marin County, California.

45. Whose answers are you looking forward to getting back? Anyone who manages to get this far in the answering!

6 comments:

Rural Felicity said...

I loved the part about your Grandma. She sounds wonderful. I miss my grandmas the most, too. They died within six months of each other, and they are deeply missed.

I enjoyed learning more about you! :)

Amanda said...

Thanks, Rural Felicity :)

My maternal grandmother is the one who's passed away. My father's mother now resides in the apartment Mom's mom used to live in, attached to my parents' house. She has 24-hour caregivers, due to her various health issues and her apparent desire to remain as inert as possible.

Grandma has been trying to die for about eight years, following the loss of both her younger brother and her husband within eight months of each other. She hung in there for about six months, but pretty much threw in the towel. She is very different from Mom's mom (who remained active and cruising until the stroke took her -- she was to leave on a cruise to Alaska the same day of her memorial service), but I remember her making chocolate chip "cowboy" cookies every time we came to visit, the smell of bacon, eggs, and sausage cooking in the mornings, her sending me back to college with multiple loafs of zucchini bread, and the way she made clothes for my dolls and a dress for the lizard Mom's mom had crocheted.

The lizard was naked, which was apparently disturbing. She created the pattern, and Lisa the Lizard wears it to this day.

I remember going to stay with her at her condo when Granddaddy was in the hospital with a broken hip, and arguing with her about her cooking dinner. We finally agreed that she'd cook, but I'd clean the kitchen. And the next morning she packed my lunch for me before I left for work.

I miss her, and she's not even gone. Just as I miss my grandmother who has passed.

Sometimes this whole getting older thing stinks! :)

The Rainbow Zebra said...

I've done this in email, but not on my blog. I'll get to it this week to get my mind off the tooth and the rash ;)

Amanda said...

Cool, Angel :)

Your Mother said...

Who knew? Japan is the furthest I've been from home, too. You inspired my 48, here.

Amanda said...

A Mom, cool! I'm running over to read right now :)