8.19.2007
Survey fix... ahh
1. What bill do you hate paying the most?
Credit cards. Clothes and shoes and bags and haircuts and pedicures should be free.

2. Where was the last place you had a romantic dinner?
Well, considering my feelings on romance, it was probably forever ago. The fancy brunch we went to at the Lakehouse in Hew Hampshire was pretty sexy, in a bedhead and raw bar kind of way.

3. Do you regret losing your virginity to whom you lost it?
No. It was kind of the best way. I wouldn’t want it to be all puppy love and nervousness and weeping with joy and relief afterwards.

4. If you could go back and change one thing what would it be?
I would have waited to buy my car until it had the MP3 jack.

5. Name of your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Landry. I remember almost nothing about first grade, except that velour was in.

6. What do you really want to be doing right now?
Relaxing poolside.

7. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Teacher, writer, artist. My sister wanted to be a school bus driver for a while.

8. How many colleges did you attend?
One. By sophomore year I wanted to transfer to BC, but my parents talked me out of it and sent me abroad instead.

9. Why did you choose the shirt that you have on right now?
It was in my pajama drawer.

10. GAS PRICES?
They’re actually not horrible right now. I used to seethe when it hit $40.00. Now I can fill up for $38.50.

11. If you could move anywhere and take someone with you, where would it be?
Joe and I would move to Seattle or Portland. This would be in a non-children-having parallel universe.

12. First thought when the alarm went off this morning?
It didn’t; today’s Sunday.

13. Last thought before going to sleep last night?
Oh well, guess I won’t find out how the Bourne Identity ends.

14. Favorite style of underwear?
The tag says Hipsters, which I guess means they like to hang out in Williamsburg, smoke American Spirits, talk about their screenplay, and wear nerd glasses and corduroy.

16. What errand/chore do you despise?
Laundry. Fucking laundry!

17. If you didn't have to work, would you volunteer?
Well, I didn’t when I was unemployed, so probably not, but I’d like to think that if I came from wealth and really didn’t need to work, I’d pick up all sorts of eccentric hobbies, and volunteering would probably be one of them.

18. Get up early or sleep in?
I love getting up early. I also love sleeping, so that sort of presents a conflict, but in general, I’ll pick getting up.

19. What is your favorite cartoon character(s)?
Randy from South Park. Oh I’m sorry, I thought this was America!

20. Favorite thing to do at night with a girl or guy?
Sit primly at opposite ends of the divan, talking about how we’d like to take things slow. The fuck?

21. Have you found real love yet?
Yes.

22. When did you first start feeling old?
Yeah, it was probably when younger people started showing up at work. We have summer interns who are TWENTY.

23. Favorite 80's movie?
Either Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Back to the Future.

24. Your favorite lunch meat?
I like turkey and ham. Mmm, monte cristo.

25. What do you get every time you go into Sam's Club?
I’ve only been to Sam’s once. A friend of mine in college worked there. He used to buy us big boxes of Swedish Fish.

26. Beach or lake?
Both.

27. Do you think marriage is an outdated ritual?
No, but the pressure shouldn’t be so high to hurry up and do it.

29. Favorite guilty pleasure?
Bad TV and snacks.

30. Favorite movie you wouldn't want anyone to find out about?
Nah, I’ll tell you if I like something even if it’s lame. Blown Away with the Coreys and Nicole Eggert? There’s a hot sex scene in that.

31. What's your drink?
Usually vodka mixers. Or beer. I’m not a wine lover. I like it, but only one or two glasses.

32. Cowboys or Indians?
Whatever.

33. Cops or Robbers?
Robbers.

34. Who from high school would you like to run into?
Charleen W. I’m curious what became of her. Did she even make it to high school with us?

35. What radio station is your car radio tuned to right now?
Probably FNX… 101.7

37. The Cosby Show or The Simpsons?
Simpsons. Cosby was kind of annoying.

38. Worst relationship mistake that you wish you could take back?
I‘m cool with my mistakes. They don’t need to be taken back.

39. Do you like the person who sits directly across from you at work?
Heh. Yeah?

40. What famous person would you like to have dinner with?
Ed Vedder.

43. Have you ever had to use a fire extinguisher for its intended purpose?
Nope.

44. Last book you read for real?
Harry Potter.

45. Do you have a teddy bear?
I have one Amanda gave me for my birthday a million years ago, called Muffin. And Olivia has a few.

46. Strangest place you have ever brushed your teeth?
I dunno, someone’s house probably. With my finger.

47. Somewhere in California you've never been and would like to go?
Wine country.

48. Do you go to church?
No.

49. At this point in your life would you rather start a new career or a new relationship?
Hmm, neither.

50. Just how OLD are you?
29


8.13.2007
Someone's got to break the cycle, but it's not going to be me!
What did you do over the weekend?
Kept it pretty low key. Friday night Red came over for calzones and a Dane fix. Saturday we went off on one of our random driving adventures. This one took us up Rte. 125 into New Hampshire. We tooled around UNH, drove up to Durham Point, stopped at a café in Exeter, and came home through Hampton Beach. Very random and fun. Yesterday morning we went food shopping early in the morning, came home, gave Olivia a bath, and all took naps. Last night we did exactly what you should not do on Sunday night: sat around, did laundry, and groused about having to go to work today.

What did you last cook?
I wouldn’t call it cooking, but the last thing I chucked into the oven was pierogies and chicken tenders.

What is your salad dressing of choice?
At home, Ken’s Italian with Aged Romano. Out, I love Chili’s avocado ranch.

What is your favorite restaurant?
Dali in Somerville – godDAMN that honey-fried cheese is good. Camp in Meredith, NH – bonus points for getting the ambiance just right. The Hardcover up the road in Danvers for amazing steak. Fresh City – good, and good for you.

What is your favorite ice cream place?
Richardson’s. Homemade ice cream, mini golf, batting cages, and a driving range, five minutes from my house? What’s not to love?

What are your pizza toppings of choice?
On a regular pie, pepperoni. On a fancy pie, spinach, prosciutto, and fresh tomato are good. On a white pie, there has to be ricotta in addition to mozzarella.

What is your favorite type of gum?
Orbit Mint Mojito is good.

Number of contacts in your cell phone?
Some.

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
No!

Is love for real?
OK, we were talking about this the other day. I am a skeptic when it comes to romantic love and people’s expectations of it. It’s lovely at first but it isn’t sustainable. Passion fades—it’s meant to—and what’s left is how you treat one another every day. I look to my grandparents to see what love is. They’ve been married for 60 years. Love is making sure your 87-year-old husband eats a whole banana per day, not just half.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I wouldn't. I give all the names I like to my imaginary future children.

Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?
OK. No press though.

Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
Der, yes.

Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
Er, no. Especially not if I’ve already walked naked down the street.

Would you never blog again for $50,000?
Gladly.

Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
Exactly: what magazine? And yes, there will be retouching?

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
I’m leaning towards yes. It would suck but $1000 is $1000.

Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
Whose life? I feel like I could be talked into this one.

Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?
Yes. That would be a very interesting experiment. I’d be far healthier for it, mentally and physically. Of course, nobody is offering me $25,000, so I guess it’s back to rotting my brain with The Two Coreys and Scott Baio is 45 and Single.

Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
Totally – clever and offbeat is the best kind of humor. You try making something so absurd appeal to a mass audience. Plus, it’s eminently quotable.

Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
Both.

Could you live with roommates?
God, roommates. I wouldn’t want to but I guess I could. It’d be fine if we each had our own kitchen, bathroom, and TV. But I guess that would make us neighbors.

Season?
My favorite one is fall, if that’s the question.

Where were you at 6 AM today?
Cuddling Olivia and watching BBC World News.

Where were you at 9 AM?
That’s right now. I’m doing this.

Where were you at noon?
That’s in the future. I guess we’ll never know.

Are there any friendships you regret losing?
There are a few I wish I had given more time to, so we wouldn’t have to be like, “Hey! It’s been forever! We suck,” whenever we got around to talking, but you know, people are busy.

Are there any relationships you regret losing?
No. I wish I still talked to a couple, in part because I’m nosy about their lives but also because I think we could be friends, but whatever.

Are there any games you regret losing?
There is still an aching, bitter place in my heart for this one game of Uno that went horribly, horribly wrong. I was up by like 300 points and I LOST the championship hand when my friend kept slapping me with reverse, reverse, reverse, skip, skip, skip, skip, draw two, draw two, draw two, draw two, wild draw FOUR, uno!, dead. And yes, we do enjoy Uno tournaments. Shut up.

Are there any people you regret sleeping with?
No. The fact that I met Joe so young makes me glad I got in as much experience as I did. If anything, I wish I’d slept with more people.

What can you not wait to do?
Go home.

What's the last movie you saw?
Mean Girls. It was on TBS last night.

Are you a friendly person?
Yes, dammit.


8.10.2007
OK, that was weird, well, not really weird enough to blog about, but whatever
This morning I was listening to my iPod on random on my way to work. Out of my 2800+ songs, iPod picked 3 in a row that all start off with the click-click-click-click of drumsticks:

Hotel California - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Pizza Cutter - Letters to Cleo
Sanity - Bad Religion

It was kind of awesome, in a 7:15 a.m. kind of way.


Surveylicious
How do you like your grilled cheese?
I’m a grilled cheese equal opportunist. I love a gorgeous grilled challah with a four-cheese blend, but Friendly’s white bread and fake orange cheddar version is A-OK too.

Where was your last vacation?
My last real, week-long vacation was Aruba in 2005.

Who are your godparents?
Aunt Julie and Uncle Johnny

How long has it been since bought a new tooth brush?
I use an electric toothbrush. I put a new head on it maybe 3 months ago.

Where are you at noon everyday?
Monday through Friday I’m at work

How many speeding tickets have you gotten?
A few, in four different states: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey. But they were all a long time ago.

Do tarot cards tell the truth?
Blah, who knows?

What was your favorite movie in Junior High?
Let’s see, I was how old in junior high? Like 12, 13… and that was New Kids mania time, so my favorite movie was probably….. Pretty Woman?

What is the last thing you said out loud?
Good morning, John.

What do you think of the iPhone?
I WANT IT

What is the weirdest thing in your bedroom?
Ahh, probably the pygmies who play Dungeons & Dragons under my bed. Those guys are weird.

Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?
At Macy’s. This used to be my favorite shirt; in fact, I wore it on my first day here. Don’t ask me why I remember that.

Do you use a plan book?
I’m not a teacher.

At what age do you plan on having kids?
Oh, how about 28.

When was the last time you swam?
Last Saturday

What do you order at Subway?
I hate Subway. You hearing this, Jared?

Do you keep your closets organized?
Somewhat, but they always get messed up and I keep adding more stuff.

How do you make headaches go away?
Sleep.

Have you owned a betta before?
A what? I owned a Jetta for a while.

If you moved out of state, what state would you move to?
Washington state or Oregon.

How old is your best friend?
32

Did you attend preschool?
No

What do your shower curtains look like?
The upstairs one is off-white, crinkly, and sheer, with two horizontal panels of embroidered flowers. The downstairs one is striped: aqua, green, yellow, and coral.

Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?
No

How do you make eggs?
Scrambled with cheese. I love omelets when I’m out, and of course eggs Benny.

Where do you wash your clothes?
Downstairs.

Which parent do you look most like?
Both, but I seem to have gotten more from my dad’s side.

Who are the neighbors who live to the right of you?
There’s a young married couple, I forget their names, but they are nice and the woman has red hair. There’s also the awesome guy who plows our driveway in the winter.

What are your thoughts on Tom Cruise?
He’s a freak. His teeth are off-center. I haven’t cared about anything he was in since A Few Good Men.

What is the next vehicle you wish to buy?
Maybe an SUV. Not a huge one, a normal sized one.

Do you pay bills online or by mail?
Joe’s the finance manager in our marriage. But I would pay as many as possible online.

What would be the best gift someone could get you right now?
An all-expenses paid trip to somewhere awesome.

What is something stressful you will deal with next week?
Getting a handle on my new job.

What is something in your home that you collect?
Only my random assemblage of matchbooks.

How far north have you been?
From the map, it looks like Edinburgh, Scotland is the most north I’ve ever been. The most north I’ve been in North America is Prince Edward Island.

Where did you last get gas?
At an Exxon near work, this morning. $39.90.

How do you take your coffee?
Lots of cream and one Splenda. Two Splenda in my iced coffee.

What is the oldest thing in your fridge?
Some unfortunate thing way in back, I’m sure.

On your keyboard what key is wearing out from pressing it so much?
Probably Backspace.

Where do you put your keys when you come home?
On the counter.

Where do you go for Thanksgiving?
My parents' house.

How old will you be in 2010?
I’ll be 32 for most of the year, but I’ll turn 33 on December 27.

What actor/actress would play you in a movie?
This is a tough one. Crash is right, Aida Turturro is too old. I was looking for someone loud and busty. Or I could pick someone hot and badass, like Jessica Alba. But in reality, I don't know, Sandra Bullock? She's old too. This is hard.

How much cash is in your wallet?
Like $16

Would you have a one night stand with your favorite movie star?
Of course, it’s an inalienable right. My pursuit of happiness includes a night with Christian Bale.

What color is your house?
Taupe, specifically Benjamin Moore Briarwood.

If you were starving to death would you eat a pet?
I don’t have any pets, but if I were starving to death, I’m sure I’d wish I had a pet chicken, or a pet pepperoni pizza.

Ever been to Alabama?
Nope, not yet.

What kind of accent do you have?
Not much of one… general northeastern U.S., not too Boston-y.

What kind of alcoholic drink could you come up with in your fridge right now?
There’s some white wine, a few Corona, a few Coors, one Wachusett blueberry, and some blue pineapple colada wine coolers that somebody brought to Olivia’s birthday.


8.01.2007
200th post! And of course it's a survey
1] What is your middle name?
As if I needed further proof that I do too many surveys. Anne.

[2] What color is your mailbox?
Black

[3] Last time you had sex?
That would be last night

[4] Have you ever hit a deer?
No, fortunately. I love catching a glimpse of them, but then I think, “You’re too close to the road. Run away!”

[5] Do you have to drive over a bridge to get home?
Nope. There is a bridge over the highway at my work exit that has been under construction for fifty million years with no progress, but I don’t cross it.

[6] Do you get the paper delivered to your house in the morning?
No. The newspaper is a dead medium.

[7] Who checks the mail in your house?
Joe does, mostly. I come home with Olivia and all her stuff, so I never think about it.

[8] Do you have a small driveway?
No, it’s pretty big. You could fit maybe 6 cars.

[9] Do you know anyone with the same ringtone as you?
Nope. My ringtone is an 80s sounding chime, like a cross between the one in Pat Benatar’s “We Belong” and the one in Journey’s “Separate Ways.”

[10] What do you do first in the morning?
I sneak out of the bedroom quietly, so as not to wake Olivia, but she always hears anyway and starts crying, and I have to leave her in there until I get out of the shower.

[11] What brand is your printer?
It’s an HP.

[12] Do you enjoy fighting with people?
Enjoy? Of course not. I’ve learned that it’s necessary sometimes, and that you learn in the process whether the relationship is worth preserving.

[13] Is your hair naturally straight or curly?
Straight with some wave if I let it air dry.

[14] Who was your kindergarten teacher?
Mrs. Goldberg. Then I had her husband for eighth grade homeroom. He used to tell us, “I am not a human repeating machine” pretty much every day, so he was a liar.

[16] Are you taller than your mother?
We’re the same height, but I usually appear taller because of my shoes.

[17] Do you have a favorite word?
I like a lot of words. Fledgling, copasetic, brioche, solipsistic, cordial, algorithm, cardamom.

[19] What do you do to get over a broken heart?
Talk, talk, talk, drink, drink, drink, cry, cry, cry, write a you-suck poem.

[20] Do you have a deep dark secret?
No. My biggest secret used to be lying about how I lost my virginity, which was lame.

[22] Do you enjoy writing in colored pens?
Yes, but I mostly use black ink… I like a particular type of rollerball pen that my old old boss turned me on to.

[23] Does anything hurt on your body right now?
My pinky finger, where I bit it too much.

[24] Do you often cry during movies?
Not often.

[25] Do you hate your life?
No, I love my life.

[26] Do you get mad easily?
Stupid little things tend to make me mad faster than big issues. Joe can tell you what happens when I’m driving and he starts dozing in the car.

[27] Do you drink to get drunk?
Yes, a buzz is my objective when I drink. It isn’t for the taste… lots of stuff tastes good.

[28] What is your biggest pet peeve?
Listening to other people cough. I don’t know why, but it kills me.

[29] What is your away message?
It’s whatever is standard: “I am away from my computer now.”

[30] Do any of your friends have kids?
Yes. I can think of three little girls in our extended circle.

[32] Who should pay on the first date?
Whomever asked for the date.

[33] How many years older than you are you willing to date?
I’d probably go 5-7 years older.

[34] Do you have any friends?
Ouch, survey, that hurt.

[35] Do you have any mean friends?
No – I don’t have the time or energy to waste on mean people.

[36] What is the ugliest color in your opinion?
Mustard yellow. Especially on a T shirt.

[37] Have you ever liked someone who all your friends couldn't stand?
I don’t think so. There was once a guy in my life that my friends didn’t like, but hey, neither did I.

[38] Have you ever felt like driving off a cliff, seriously?
Ha, no. I was telling my friend the other day, when I was a teenager and wrote a check out of my parents’ account to cover a huge phone bill and the phone got shut off and they busted me, I remember wondering whether it would be easier to kill myself versus take the heat, but of course I was never serious, and anyway, I never considered driving off a cliff.

[39] Have you ever been fired from a job?
Yes – my very first job at Walgreen’s. I got fired for my drawer being off by $2.14. Everyone else I knew got fired for stealing.

[40] What year was your house built?
1991.

[41] When was the last time you slept in someone else’s bed?
Hmm. If hotels/B&Bs don’t count, and we’re talking about a bed in someone’s house, it might have been when Joe and I visited Red’s parents’ Cape house. It wasn’t recent.

[42] What brand are the pant/jeans you're wearing right now?
INC, from Macy’s.

[43] How tall are you?
I’m 5’6”

[44] What is the closest green object?
A green post-it displaying a phone number.

[45] What is on your feet?
Trouser socks and brown pointy boots.

[46] Do you always wear underwear?
Yes – I prefer it.

[48] Do you want to have kids?
Well, I sure as shit hope so.

[49] What is the brightest color you're wearing?
I guess my underwear, which is pink. The rest of my outfit is shades of brown.

[50] Who is the last friend you have, that you would never expect to be gay?
What? This is phrased strangely, kind of a double negative. I know my friends’ leanings, so I don’t expect any of them to be gay, unless they are/were. I don’t expect Joe to be gay!

[52] What's your mother's middle name?
Claire, which I’d like to use as my daughter’s middle name if we have another girl someday.

[53] Stupidest movie you ever saw?
The Matrix. And that futuristic one with Gwyneth… Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. LAME.

[54] Do you collect comic books?
God, no. And if you have such a collection, sell it now. Start a stereo store and marry your hot grandma.

[55] Do you look like your dad?
Yes, somewhat. I have his facial structure, his chin and his coloring.

[56] Do you have any TV shows on DVD?
We have 24, Family Guy and the Clerks cartoon series. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t have any DVDs.

[57] Are you wearing makeup?
Yes: eyeliner, mascara and strawberry Softlips lip balm. Usually I also wear Bare Escentuals mineral veil.

[58] Do you have a tattoo?
Nope. In college I got as close as going to the place and picking out a pattern (a tribal sun kind of like the one on the Alice in Chains Dirt album) but then I didn’t do it. I’m glad now.

[59] Are you happily in love?
Yup.

[60] If you won the lottery you would:
Sock most of it away for college and retirement. Buy a bigger house with a pool and home gym. Hire a housekeeper and a lawn service. Give a chunk to my sister.

[61] Is there something you want to tell someone, but you haven't?
No – I’ve said everything that I’ve needed to say, and now I’d like to not say anything for a while.

[62] Do you know how to draw?
Yes. I haven’t sat down to draw something in a long time, but that isn’t the kind of thing that goes away.

[63] Who is your hero?
I don’t know, but it isn’t anyone rich or famous. There is plenty of inspiration to be found in the people you know personally.

[64] Who'd you last IM?
Red.

[65] Do you work a lot of hours?
40, give or take. For a while there it was between 50-60.

[66] What do you do when you are stressed out?
I withdraw and stew about it, then I talk about it, then I do what I need to do and the stress usually goes away.

[67] Who was the last person that called you?
A work person.

[68] Is there anything you regret?
Not really, no. I regret not keeping it up when I had a good diet/exercise/weight loss thing happening, but what are you gonna do?

[69] Do you know where your family name originated from?
It’s Italian. I think the translation is Cut Mountain, so maybe my people were miners or jewelers or something.

[70] Are there any animals that creep you out?
I hate snakes. HATE!


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