Ignorant Historian

Friday blog reading should always be light, and in an effort to keep it so (yet fun), I’ve decided to find 5 random questions to answer on Fridays.  Some I might find on other blogs, and some I’ll find with the help of Google.  Not unique, but I hope it’ll be fun.  So, here goes:

1.  Have you ever peed your pants after age 8?

I believe I was 8 the last time.  It was 3rd grade on the bus.  We got evacuated shortly after boarding the bus home at the end of the day because of a tornado warning.  After that passed, we re-loaded the buses.  I was one of the last stops, and couldn’t hold it any longer, peeing my pants while we were just around the corner from my house.

2.  Would you date someone you met online?

Maybe.  But it’d have to be someone that I knew through someone I actually knew.  You follow?

3.  Do you wear deoderant?

Yes. Everyday, in fact.  Sometimes twice a day, if needed.

4.  How do you usually dress?

Work casual.  Though sometimes it’s really casual.  I do love to wear skirts and dresses, but that requires shaving my legs (which isn’t otherwise necessary as a single gal…).

5.  Ocean or pool?

Definitely pool!  Though I will get in the water at the beach, I can’t wait to get home and shower afterwards.

I don’t like Halloween.

I stopped Trick or Treating at 10.  I realized I could have more fun handing out candy at the door, and could still get the chocolate I wanted from my brother’s Trick or Treat pumpkin (he couldn’t have it…it wasn’t like I was stealing it).  I also realized that if I didn’t go by people’s houses, they wouldn’t feel compelled to try to scare me.

I think the people-jumping-out-at-you part is one of the major reasons I don’t like this holiday.  I just don’t get how that could be fun.  I actually dislike the whole concept so much, that I refuse to play hide-and-go-seek with any kids I babysit.

Another reason I dislike Halloween is the raunchiness of it.  In college, it seemed like Halloween was just an excuse to dress up extra-raunchy before getting wasted.  Somehow, that’s not appealing to me in the least bit.

Then there’s the whole darkness of Halloween: the witches, the ghosts, the ghouls.  Since I don’t think such things exist, I guess I just miss the point.

So, while others might enjoy the holiday, I must say that I just don’t get it.  That’s why Saturday night the only reason I’m going out is to serve the children at our church’s Halloween alternative.

Obviously not me, but I understand his read-anywhere attitude.

I’m a reader.

Not that that’s anything new to most people that know me.  After all, I’m the chick that carries a book with her everywhere she goes.  I’m the one who is always referring things back to one book or another.  I’m the one who would oftentimes rather be home alone reading than out with friends.

What I mean when I say that “I’m a reader” is something more than that.

If there is any writing within in my eyesight, I must read it.  That’s why it bugs me when they put signs on the back of bathroom stall doors.  Every time I go to the bathroom at work (and with the quantities of water I drink, that’s a lot), I have to read the paragraph about how one should flush the toilet and not make a mess of the bathroom.

If there’s a cereal box or other package on the table while I’m eating, I read it.  All of it, including the nutrition facts that I just might prefer to ignore.  I think this is why I know that a can of Dr Pepper has 40 grams of sugar.  I wonder if this is why my mom always put cereal in Tupperware containers.

Perhaps my tendency to read everything in site is why I prefer to have a book with me.  If the reading material around me is scarce (and usually boring), who wants to read it over and over again?

Photo by Jayel Aheram

Today’s Friday, and not just any Friday, the Friday before a holiday weekend.  For many, that means that today is unofficially a holiday too.

In other words, anything I say today will more likely be read by the rats and cockroaches skittering over sticky keyboards (not yours, mind you) than real, live human beings.

Still, I want to share a story.  A story about what I remember of Memorial Day growing up.  Because my parents’ anniversary is May 30th, my brother and I were usually shipped off to spend the holiday at my mom’s mom’s house, who we call G. Zoe.  She got that name because I couldn’t say “granny” when I was little and was smart enough to know “granny” started with “G.”  Okay, obviously not, but someone apparently prompted me to call her “G. Zoe” instead of the harder “Granny Zoe.”

I loved those long weekends visiting G. Zoe.  It was just me, my brother, and our cousin Ben hanging out in a house full of treasures from years gone by.  Ben’s between my brother, Riley, and I in age (and Riley and I are only 19 months apart), so there was much fun to be had.

I remember digging around in the backyard, finding bits of fishing gear from my mom’s childhood (or earlier) in the dirt of what was once the floor of a shed.  I remember sitting on that small town front porch next to hens and chicks with a notebook in hand, tallying the number of cars that drive by in each color, waving at the strangers inside.  I remember sitting around the kitchen table, eating toast made with a smiley face imprint.

I could go on, naming a dozen other memories from those weekends with G. Zoe.  I’m thankful for those tastes of life in a smaller town.  But more importantly, I’m thankful for having those precious memories with 3 grandparents, 3 grandparents that I still make memories with today.  Being the oldest granddaughter definitely has its perks.

This post is really part 1 of 2.  Back when I sought suggestions for celebrating my upcoming 3rd blogiversary, OneMom suggested I talk about my future dreams for 1 years, 5 years, and 10 years.  I thought it was a great idea, so here goes.

When people ask me this type of question, I never really know what to say.  There’s really two sets of answers: one with a husband and kids, and one without.  Today, I’ll give the first, and tomorrow the later.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a mother.  I remember creating elaborate pretend families with my friends, where we would talk about our half a dozen kids (each) and their names.  No husbands were involved in our fantasy worlds, though.  They had all been killed delivering pizzas (we must have heard about something of the kind on the news, as we certainly weren’t inclined to dark thoughts), and we were happily raising the kids ourselves.

As I got older, those dreams evolved.  Yes, I still want children, but I do want a husband.  Indeed, I believe I was created, as a woman, to be a wife.  I don’t buy into the philosophy that I must be married to be complete, but I do want to live life with someone.

With these dreams in mind, here’s my hopes for the future:

In 1 year, I would love to be dating and/or engaged to the man I would marry.  To be honest, I wouldn’t mind being married before a year is up, if it was right.  I’d also like to be completed with my first novel.  (While I’m dreaming, I’d also like to drop 20 pounds.)

In 5 years, I would love to married with a kid or two.  Ideally, I would be living here or overseas.  Either way, I would want to be serving Christ by being a supportive wife, a loving mother, and an active church member.  Of course, I want to be blogging still, catching up with you all who will be old friends by then.

In 10 years, I’d love to be married with a couple more kids; maybe 4 total.  I would be actively involved in the training and education of these children, whether or not that would include homeschooling, I don’t know.  I would still like to be actively involved in my church, whatever my role might look like then.

Tomorrow I’ll share my Plan B, otherwise known as my goals if Prince Charming doesn’t show.

It’s Friday, so let’s keep it light, why don’t we?  I have a test this morning to complete my training. (This very well might be the last one…it’ll be my fifth.  I don’t think I’ve had to take this many tests for any one of my classes!)

But the true test is how you grade me on my answers to these questions…

Rebecca Jo asks, “How old were you when you came to Christ?”

I was 10.  You can read my testimony here.

 Also, “What is your favorite childhood memory?”

Favorite?  Yikes.  I had a wonderful childhood (Amanda, this touches on your question, too…I’ll try to incorporate more stories of childhood in the weeks to come), so it’s hard to say what my favorite is as it’s not like I had one glorious trip to Disney World in the midst of an otherwise dull childhood.  Everything was great.

The memory that I always say is my favorite–though I don’t know that it is–is one time my dad was showing my brother and I a funnel cloud, pointing out where a funnel would start to drop from the sky as we were watching from our garage.  Sure enough it did, right when my mom started yelling for us to go inside.  Ahh, to grow up in Kansas.  It was this memory that prompted me to pursue meteorology, a thought I abandoned after realized I wasn’t that passionate for it after all.

And,  “What does the perfect life look like to you?”

Oh, I think mine’s pretty much there.  Just add in a smidgen more discipline, and probably a man (okay, definitely a man).  I suppose I should work on what I can do about the first…

I still plan on writing what my 1 year, 5 year, and 10 year outlooks on my life look like, and I’ll talk more about where I want to be heading (and yes, ideally it would have a man in the picture).

“…& let’s see… what’s your favorite smell?”

Apple pie.  Yum yum.  That said, I don’t really have a strong sense of smell, and there are few things I can identify without someone saying, “Hey, don’t you smell ________?”  Because of that, I’m somewhat afraid that I smell.  Recently, on two different occasions two different people said that I smelled good after hugging me, so that’s reassured me that perhaps I don’t have some major B.O. issue.

Jewel asked, “What books make you cry? Laugh?”

Several books have made me cry.  Recently, I’ve bawled at Richard Russo’s Empire Falls, Chitra Divakaruni’s Sister of my Heart, and Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (those links are to my reviews).   Books can move me to cry either when the main characters face a loss or come to some heartbreaking personal realization.   If a book makes me bawl (and not just shed a tear or two), I know that it’s really touched me, therefore kudos to the author.

As for laugh?  Oh, several books make me laugh.  Probably the all-time funniest book I’ve read is Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones.  It’s a classic that I hadn’t heard of before I picked it up at a used bookstore, but it’s hilarious.  I don’t really recommend it unless you already are used to longer, more difficult books like classics, as it certainly isn’t an easy read (I believe I have a pretty good vocabulary, but there were many words in there I had to look up!), but his sense of humor is right up my alley.  Dickens and Austen have also been known to make me laugh.

The book I’m reading right now, Special Topics in Calamity Physics is also definitely a humorous read.  I’ll give a full review when I’m done!

Joy asks, “What is your decorating style?”

Uhh, whatever looks good to me.  I like flowers and pastels, but not really into the shabby chic thing.  I also don’t like knick knacks.  Here’s pictures of my bedroom decorated in colors that never grow old for me, which’ll give you a sense of what I like.  I’ve never posted pictures of our living room as we’re still improving it (yes, we’ve lived here a year), but it’s done simply in a dark blue and brown.  My roommate likes darker, gloomier things (yes, that’s my opinion), so it’s hard to come up with a happy middle.

And, “What is your favorite food?”

I’d say Diet Dr. Pepper, but I don’t know that that’s technically a food. I love chocolate and ice cream, especially Coldstone’s cake batter with chocolate chips (or Edy’s chocolate chunk with chocolate syrup if I’m more economical). I also love Mexican (cheese enchiladas are my favorite) and Chinese (sweet and sour chicken and crab rangoon in particular). When I’m cooking for myself, I like to make fried rice (again with the Chinese), quesadillas (again with the Mexican), or casseroles.

Also, “When you were little were you a tomboy or a girlie girl?”

A girlie girl, but not overly so. I always have enjoyed wearing dresses and skirts, and loved wearing a hat and gloves as a girl. In fact, my first memory in fact was playing with my gloves at my uncle’s wedding when I was a flower girl (I would have been 2 1/2). I wasn’t really one to go outside and get dirty, and often my mom would have to make me go outside, where I would play school on our play set, ride my bike, or read while swinging (some things never change).

And again, “Do you listen to talk radio?”

What gave me away? I hope I don’t exude “talk radio junkie/nutjob.” Yes, I do, though not a ton. I really enjoy listening to a local show, Brad and Britt. They definitely take different positions on a lot of issues than I do, but they think through the issues more than pretty much anyone I’ve listened to on the radio, no matter what side they stand on politically. I can appreciate that more than listening to someone I basically agree with using inflammatory language and asserting their case rather than presenting it. I also enjoy catching a few minutes of Boortz or Savage if I happen to be in car when they’re on, but not when they’re in their ranting moods. As for the giants Rush and Hannity, I’d rather pass.

Julie also mentioned podcasts. I’ve never listened to one, but they’re really not my thing. I’m a visual learner, so I prefer to read (thus the blogging instead). I only listen to talk radio because I can’t read while driving, and I have no practical way of listening to podcasts while I drive. Believe it or not, I’ve survived without an iPod (though I do have an old mp3 player that I use occasionally on trips).

She also asks, Did you go to public school or private school?

Public. I went to a good public school, but I know that many weren’t as fortunate as I was. I had many teachers that truly cared about me and pushed me, and more importantly, I had one at home that laid all the groundwork and pushed me all the more.

And finally, “Do you recycle? (sorry,it’s earth day so I thought I would throw that in)”

I SO wish I could pass on this one, but this is all about being open and honest, right? Uh, I’m embarrassed to admit that I don’t recycle, even though I grew up with it. I’ve never had the facilities to do so, which is really a shame that they don’t have that for apartment dwellers here like they do for house dwellers (they get it picked up with their trash). You know it’s a big deal when someone as anti-big-government as I am thinks that the government should do something (though I am talking about the city or county, not federal)…

Earlier today I was just thinking that maybe I’ll take in the fifty bazillion plastic bags we have falling out from under our sink to the grocery store (I try to remember to bring my reusable bags to the store so I’ll stop accumulating them) so I’ll have room to store all the aluminum cans I generate (I go through two a day). I think there’s somewhere nearby that’ll take them. I’ll blog it when I do, so feel free to pester me until you see it, k?

If you’re out here in the Blogosphere all lonely, here’s something to read. Tomorrow I will be posting, and it’s actually a rather special post. I don’t expect you to take the time away from worship and family, but of course the post doesn’t go away at midnight, so it’ll still be there.

For today, here’s a Christmas meme that Carolyn (Ladybug) did a few weeks ago:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I prefer wrapping paper, but generally do gift bags for friends. You’re not supposed to wrap them before taking them through airport security, so I bum Christmas paper off my Mom instead of buying it here and traveling with it.

2. Real tree or artificial? Fake all the way. I think we had a real tree a couple of years when I was little, but there are too many allergies in our family. For myself, I don’t see that there is any extra beauty/joy from a real tree.

3. When do you put up the tree? Well, I just have a little one, and I put it up the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as that was the only time I had to do it. My roommate doesn’t really do Christmas, so we don’t put up a big one. She thanked me for that!

4. When do you take the tree down? Whenever I come home from visiting family and friends, usually the 2nd or 3rd of January.

5. Hot chocolate or apple cider? Hot chocolate. Have it all the time, especially while studying. (Guess I’ll be drinking a lot less now!)

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My favorite gift that I can remember is getting a desk for Christmas when I was 9. We had a lot of fun playing with them downstairs (my brother got one as well), and I put it to good use over the years as I would play secretary (yes, I did that a lot), design zoos, or write poetry.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, two. I bought one last year at Walmart that I really liked, and then this year my grandma gave me a ceramic one that she made back when I was little that was hers. Both my mom and my aunt have one like it, so it’s a special Christmas memory that I’m excited to have for my own.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My Dad. If he wants anything, he buys it. My mom can be difficult too, but since we have similar tastes I can usually figure something out.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My brother’s girlfriend. We have a lot of similar interests, so she was the first one I figured out what to buy for!

10. Worst Christmas gift ever received? One year when I was probably 11 or 12 my brother gave me a pack of paper. Plain, white paper. I did want paper to print stuff with, but fun paper, not plain paper. It just ended up going in the stack with my parents’ paper, since I was using theirs for free, anyway.

11. Mail or email Christmas card? Totally mail. It’s work, but so worth it. I love receiving cards in the mail!

12. Favorite Christmas movie? The new Grinch movie. I’m not a huge fan of Christmas movies, though I do have good memories of Rudolph and Frosty. We would watch one or two Christmas movies the night we decorated the tree growing up, and my brother and I finally convinced our parents to watch another movie when we were in high school.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? November, if not before. I try to know what I’m getting for everyone by Thanksgiving, even if I haven’t gotten it, yet. Online shopping is my friend.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don’t think so, but I have a birthday present.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Peanut clusters. My mom makes Christmas candy every year, and this is my favorite. I also love that my mom’s side of the family eats burritos for Christmas…they’re so much better than traditional holiday food!

16. Clear lights or colored? Clear, though I have colored on my small little tree.

17. Favorite Christmas song? “O Holy Night.” My favorite version is Collin Raye’s.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Well, you all know I travel. Since I’m single, it’d be awful lonely to stay home! For now at least, I’ll travel to my parents for Christmas, but that may change if/when I get married and have children.

19. Can you name Santa’s reindeer? Probably, sadly. I don’t even “do” Santa, but I’ve had enough of all that through the years.

20. Angel or star on top of the tree? Star. Though I have a bow on the top of my tree. My star needs to be polished or something, it’s looking pretty bad.

Merry Christmas!

Okay, more like: Happy April Fool’s Day!  I wrote this to publish on Christmas Eve, but didn’t publish it because I wanted to write about the will-I-ever-leave-Chicago drama.  I figured now is as good as time as any to post it.

Thank you for all the kind words on yesterday’s 600th post.  You guys had some great ideas for fun celebration posts, and it definitely gave me the idea that I will be using for my 3rd blogiversary coming up in mid-May.  In the mean time, some of your other great ideas will definitely have to come into play, so don’t be surprised if you see a post you inspired!

Evy at Yes, They are All Mine posted a call for interviewees, and she would give you 5 questions to answer on your own blog.  These are the questions:

I got so many comments about cherries, both for and against, that I realized I had to share my story about why I kissed cherries good-bye.  Except I wouldn’t kiss them, because that would require me to put them to my lips.

When I was young, probably 4 or 5, I was eating cherry cheesecake at a large gathering at the house of one of my dad’s work buddies.  We were all having a good time, until I bit down on a cherry with a pit still inside.

It hurt.  And I made a face.  And I probably cried for my mommy.  And all the adults in the room laughed at me.

Not yet being a woman of the world, I didn’t know that cherries naturally had pits.  All the cherries I had ever had always came in cans, probably in the aforementioned fruit cocktail.  Even now, I’ve never seen a pitted cherry unless it was fresh.

So then and there I gave up the cherries.  It’s not been hard and fast, as I enjoy the flavor of the cherry goo stuff that comes with the canned cherry cheesecake topping.  It’s just that cherries have a weird texture and well, they caused me to be laughed at.

So, a cherry made me a laughingstock, so I’ve left ‘em out in the cold.  I wonder when they are going to beg me to take them back?

This is my second to last school day memory, as I’m graduating Friday. I’ve saved something extra special for next Saturday’s memory and then I’ll be closing this chapter of my life.

I was somehow able to march all the way through my school years and pull out fun memories, but 6th grade was hard. It was a hard year to be a kid as it is for most. I think that’s why I love tweens so much: I remember how difficult it was to be that age. You aren’t really a child, but you’re not an adult, either. There’s all the questions about who you are and who you’re going to be. Peer pressure also seems to be especially strong those years, or at least it was for me.

Well, there is a memory that I can share that’s reasonably interesting. I’m sure you might have picked up on it, but I’m a good student. Always have been. I always (well, almost, anyway) did what was asked of me and I never turned in anything late.

One day in my reading class in 6th grade, I wasn’t feeling very good, so instead of working on our worksheet, I laid my head down on my desk. The next day I came to class and realized I didn’t have that worksheet completed to turn in, so I turned in what I had. I got an 18% on it, which warranted me a spot in lunch detention which was utterly mortifying for me.

Mrs. P. knew me to be a good student, so she told me that if I did the required lunch detention and completed the worksheet, she would average the 18% with whatever grade I received upon completing it. That was totally worth it to me, as I didn’t want that bad grade on my progress report.

So I did lunch detention, the one time I ever had any sort of detention, and Mrs. P. never gave me my points. Because of that, I got a B in reading, which was, as you can imagine, also rare for me. Needless to say, I didn’t care much for Mrs. P.

Tune in next week for the extra-special school memory!

Other School Day Memories:

Kindergarten and 1st Grade: Kisses and Skunks
2nd and 3rd grade: Spitwads
3rd grade: Laundry Chutes and Floppy Disks
4th grade: Watching Whales
5th grade: Bad Grammar
7th Grade: Teacher Review
8th Grade: 100 Marble Pick Up, Pink Jackets and Saxophones
9th Grade: Science Nerd
10th Grade: Playing in the Rain
11th Grade: Pink
12th Grade: Sleepovers on a School Night
College Freshman Year: My First Day of College, My Second Day of College
College Junior Year: Kidnapping and Frozen Custard
College Senior Year: Why Procrastination Might Not Be My Thing