Anyway, here’s the Monday Quiz About Me for this week:

1. Finish this sentence – The last movie I saw in the theater was…

WOW. It was a long time ago. I think it was Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. You can guess how long ago that was. Before then, it had been another 10 years since…

2. Do you have any idiosyncrasies?

Hello, do you READ my blog?!

3. What is your favorite clothing store to shop at?

I am not much of a shopper. It takes me a LOT of momentum to even go out to get groceries. So clothing is even less frequent. If I could shop for clothes anywhere…. I don’t know what my favorite store would be. I usually buy my stuff at Walmart (not that I like the stuff there). You know where I’d really like to go to get clothes, though? ThinkGeek.com. I love the t-shirts.

4. What fun things do you have planned for the week ahead?

Uhhh. Fun… fun things….. well, I’ll be blogging, that’s fun…. I’m reading ANOTHER book about medieval England, that’s fun…. maybe the weather will be warmer and I can sit outside in the grass, watching the little birds and enjoying the day. That would be fun. I don’t have anything planned, though. Yep, considering all my idiosyncrasies, I have a pretty boring life. Just the way I like it!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand now it’s time for the other Monday meme!

What is it with all this planning? lol. Tomorrow I am … working part-time hours, doing the laundry, helping my son memorize vocabulary, doing paperwork, cooking dinner, …. and collapsing into bed at about 11pm.

2. When is your birthday?

This year.

3. What are you currently excited about?

Getting dinner and dinner cleanup over with. LOL. After that, I have prayer time with the kids and then I can snuggle in bed with my books.

4. Do you have any secrets?

Of course.

5. What do you normally eat for lunch?

Nothing. I am very bad– I usually eat one meal a day (dinner). I know that’s supposedly very bad for you but I am much too busy during the day to stop to eat meals. I guzzle coffee and — Lord willing that there’s one around — I may grab a quick banana.

Whoops! My “few minutes” are up! Thanks for reading.

Here’s my Monday meme question for you:

What kind of computer are you using to view this (manufacturer brand, operating system, whatever)?

Have a great week!

1. Finish this sentence – I am glad it’s Monday because…

It’s a fresh start. I like fresh starts.

2. Where did you spend your last vacation?

Very few of my vacations are any longer then a day. So my last road trip was to The Cloisters in Manhattan. The museum is SIMPLY AMAZING. I wrote about it with photos on my other blog, if you are interested: The Cloisters, Washington Heights, New York City, Part 1.

The last overnight vacation was in Cobleskill, New York. My kids got to see Howe Caverns for the first time!

3. Who is your favorite author?

I’m a horribly fickle reader. I don’t think I have a favorite author. I guess I like C.S. Lewis, his stuff is very readable with a touch of humor. I like Mark Twain, for the same reason. I can’t think of anyone I follow.

4. What other Memes do you participate in during the week?

I participate in Meet Me on Monday pretty regularly when it’s available. Sometimes I do the Friday Fill In, and other times I do Wordless Wednesday. Meme participation really depends on my schedule. Wednesdays and Fridays are very busy days for me, so I don’t always do them. Mondays, on the other hand, are more relaxing.

Now it’s time for the other meme, Meet Me on Monday!

Weeding the garden. It’s… pretty weedy.

2. What is your current weather?

Pouring rain. Chilly. I don’t mind the cold but I have had this phobia about pouring rain ever since our property flooded in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010! We have had way too much rain in the northeast.

3. What is the nicest room in your house?

The kitchen. I renovated it in 2010. There are parts still not done, but it is so much better now!

I also renovated my dining room, too. I like the red walls.

This year, Lord willing, I hope to make my office/study the nicest room in the house. I have plans to redecorate it with a built-in shelving unit, new curtains, etc.

4. What jewelry do you never take off?

I rarely wear jewelry anymore. When I was younger, I loved the big bangle earrings. But I had little children who loved to pull on them– ouch! So I became accustomed to not wearing jewelry anymore.

5. Do you eat a snack before bed?

Nope. Sometimes I drink water or have tea. Big mistake.

As part of the Monday Quiz About Me, I get to ask YOU a question! Here it is:

If you got (another) pet, what do you think you’d name it?

So now it’s time for…. Meet Me on Monday!

This week’s questions are very thoughtful ones. And not one about food, yay! LOL

1. Did you prank, get pranked or ignore April Fool’s Day?
I ignore it. I always have. In school, there were always the jokesters (aka, mean people) who saw April Fool’s as an excuse to be cruel to people under the guise of a “joke.” Even my pig-headed brothers never liked pranks, which is amazing considering what jerks they were. ;) When we wanted to be mean, we just beat each other up and were done with it. Simple as that.

2. What is the most unusual thing you have in your pantry or refrigerator right now?
Uh. Probably the spinach-artichoke hummus?

3. If you were in the “Miss America” (or another) talent competition, what would your talent be?
Well that’s a big, big “if.” God gave me some nice talents: singing, drawing, building things. But I look dang-awful in a bikini, so, not a chance.

4. What is one thing you miss about being a kid?
Not being weighed down by cares. Of course, kids DO have cares. I was a worrier, anyway. I was small for my age and wore thick glasses, so I had my share of worrying about Big Bad Bully Bertha, and I worried about my mom dying, and I worried about my creepy neighbor, and …. come to think of it, I’m LESS anxious than I used to be! But that’s because I have peace with God through Jesus Christ. He healed my anxious way of thinking. Oh, I also miss being able to ride a bike wicked-fast up a mound of dirt and go flying over the hill.

5. If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to?
Quantasia Anastasia Dominique DuPont.

What?

Friday Fill-In is middle-aged, now! Woo hooo!!! Let’s cut to the chase. I am in a no-nonsense mood today.

1. ____ is my ideal winter night.

Lights out.
Fireplace lit.
The scent of spicy Chai tea in the air.
All chores done.
Pets all quiet.
Nothing to do.
I’m at peace.

…I really, really need to get a fireplace….

2. I don’t remember the last time I ___ but, I really want to.

Really, really relaxed. I mean REALLY. If you’re a mom, you know what I mean. If you’re a working mom, double that. I’m always wind up as tight as a watch, it seems. I keep waiting for that *perfect* some time when I can just totally relax but i haven’t found it yet, consistently.

3. I will never turn down __________.

An emoticon. I love them. :bananaguitar: I use them every chance I get.
They can express my utter joy so easily.
When I’m mad, I can blow off steam.
:explode:
When I’m frustrated, I can bang my head without getting hurt.
:bangwall:
I can crack really dumb jokes and they are still funny because I have this icon:
:groucho:
I love emoticons.

4. To save money I like to ____________.
….. uhhh………. work more. Although, saving doesn’t seem to come into the equation, even then. I am a terrible saver. If I’m not throwing as much money as I can at my renovation debt, I’m giving it away to people. I pray that when the time comes when I am in need, God remembers me. “Cast your bread upon the water, and after many days you will find it again.”

That’s all she wrote. The End.

Questions:

1. Tomorrow I’m going to _________?
Work. WORK WORK WORK. I write articles, and last month I BARELY made my quota. For the next week or two, until Christmas vacation when I intend to slack off like a Mexican under a midday summer sun, I have to chug out those articles. I’ve come across some really tough ones lately– how to build a wooden deck from scratch in 10 easy steps. Yeaaaahhhhhhh, RRRRIGHT. These suckers take me HOURS and I wonder if it’s worth it at all. Sadly, writing articles isn’t the most lucrative of jobs (but HEY I get to stay at home so it’s cool). Blogging is what makes me the money, but the opportunities are few and far between. I wish I had more business in that. Anyway, that’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow. I’m going into my hidey-hole away from the children, the pets, the telephone, the front door… gonna write till my fingertips bleed. Thank God we caught up on the laundry!

2. Pudding or Jello?
Pudding, definitely. Jello gives me the heebie-jeebies. Just thinking about the cold, slithery goop in my mouth makes me shudder. LOL

A brain made from Jello. *wretch* Ya can't do that with pudding....

3. What book are you currently reading?
Well, I FINALLY finished my book about William the Marshal (a 13th century knight who became regent to the king of England, eons ago).

Portrait of King Stephen, 1154... yyyeaaaahhh, OK. I was always a supporter of Matilda....

And I also just finished a book called A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute– an amazing book that I couldn’t put down! I have a few I’ve been working on but am not too excited about yet….
To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine by Christie English…
When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman. The title refers to the very distressing time in 12th century England when Stephen and Matilda (Henry I’s nephew and daughter) battled for the crown of England, devastating the country in civil war for 19 years.
Famous Men of the Middle Ages by John Henry Haaren. So far, a lot of it is about the ancient Celtic mythology that goes back to Odin and Thor and such.
What is HTML 5 by Brett McLaughlin, a rip-rousing tale of how HTML 5 will eventually destroy Flash and conquer web browsers everywhere….

… hey, you still awake? :blink:

4. What is the first concert you went to see?
You know, I have only been to a total of 4 concerts that I can ever remember… the first one was more like a pageant. My parents took us to Hill Cumorah in Palmyra, NY, to see the Mormon rendition of the Easter pageant. I visited the Hill again last year and blogged about it on my travel blog, if you are interested. The first *real* all-music concert I saw was the Star Wars Laser Light Show in Philadelphia. I was living there at the time. The concert was in the park next to Independence Hall. I had NO IDEA it was Independence Hall until much later. Now, history buff that I am, I kick myself for sitting and listening to dumb old Star Wars music when I could have been walking the same rooms as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton!

5. What is your current weather?
30 degrees, clear as a bell. There’s no accumulative snow, but a tiny icing of snow flakes sprinkle the frozen grass and the tops of the cars. They say we won’t get any snow any time soon. It will rain later this week. Such weird weather, I don’t ever remember snow being delayed for so long. I miss it a little, but not a lot. It would be nice to have a white Christmas, but I’m happy with a moderate winter. It means lower heating bills!

Have a happy Monday, friends! Let me know what your answers would be to these questions, I’d always like to know what you’re up to.

1. When I ___ I feel that ___ paid off.

When I am tired or very busy and the kids pitch in with the housework or renovation work, I feel that all that childrearing paid off. I had all four kids in my 20s, a kid just about every other year. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh it was tough. But now that they are older, it was SO worth all those pukefests, dirty diapers, baby food slinging, and 3am feedings. Well… the 3am feedings and pukefests weren’t so worth it. But I survived!!!!!

2. I just realized that____.

I just realized that it’s Friday. ON Friday. Kind of a big deal for me. It’s like a whole extra day!

3. My _______ come from _______.

My ancestry comes from England, Scotland, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands. I am a true melting pot, American mongrel mix. Where do your ancestors come from?

4. If I had _____, I would ______.

If I had more money, I would pay off the debt IN A FLASH. I hate reading the news headlines because they make me SO nervous about the economy. I know God will provide- He’s never let us starve!- but I hate the debt. Can’t wait to have it paid off.

That’s it for today! How’s your Friday going?

Questions:

1. Monday’s are _________?
Terrific! I love Mondays. I like the fresh start to a new week, I like being encouraged and energized after Sunday’s church service. Because I work at home, however, I sometimes get a late start on Monday. Ooops, hee hee.

2. What is your favorite kind of milkshake?
I don’t often drink milkshakes. If I did, I guess I would say vanilla. I mean, what else is there beside strawberry and chocolate, right? Why don’t places offer other flavors, I wonder? And those weird, plasticky “shamrock” and “pumkpkin spice” shakes don’t count! How about a raspberry shake– one that tasted like raspberries and not “artificially flavored goop”? That might be a favorite.

3. What monthly bill do you most dislike paying?
Do I have to choose one, lol? It would definitely be the credit cards bills. :-p I hate being beholden to them. But I used a bunch of them at 0% interest to pay for my kitchen and dining room renovation. Yeah, I’m STILL paying that off. About half way and it’s been over a year!!! At times, I wish I had saved up the money before starting the renovation and paid that way, but I know that my kitchen would never have been renovated if I did that. Plus, the ceiling was falling down and we had no electricity…. I can’t wait til all those bills are DONE.

4. How many email addresses do you use on a regular basis?
Wow, good question. I’d have to say….. 7 right now. I also have a couple for my Instant Messengers that I use for my mobile devices, but I don’t include those.

5. What color lights are on your Christmas Tree?
I don’t have a Christmas tree. I do, however, want to hang white rope lights throughout the house. I have very high ceilings and the rope lights would look so purdy up there. Somehow, I gotta get my husband to do it.

So how would you answer these questions? Have a great week, friends!

We visited Howe Caverns in Cobleskill, NY. It was fabulous.

Photo taking was tough. The place is dimly lit and my great lack of photography skills is showing….

We went on a boat ride on an underground lake!

The beautiful Schoharie Valley.

OK, enough photos, lol. I’ll be posting about the amazing Howe Caverns as well as narrating some of our usual crazy and quirky stories that always seem to be happening with us…..

Questions:

1. I really need to clean my _________?

Um… house. :duncehat:

2. What food makes you think of Christmas?

Anything cinnamon. I sometimes boil potpourri with cinnamon sticks to manufacture that nice nostalgic Christmas-y feel.

3. If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, what age would it be?

Tough one. I guess, like everyone, I’d like my 18-year old body back but I’d like to keep my 40+ wisdom, experience, and temperance. Funny how when we’re young (mid 20s) we think we are SO mature, SO experienced. Get to 40 and that’s nothing, baby. NOTHING.

4. What was your first paying job?

When I was a kid, my stepdad needed nails picked up from the driveway. He’d renovated a big barn and had scattered a ton of old nails around the property. No one wanted to do it. So my stepdad said he’d pay us a penny a nail. That was very inspirational, and me and my brothers went out to do it. The boys gave up after a day, as it was late October and bitterly, bitterly cold. I still remember that extremely painful feeling of my fingers freezing from clawing the mud for old nails. I was determined to make some cash (it was scarce and we never got allowance money back then). After a few days of my persistent digging and running into the house to thaw my hands and then running back out to dig again, my stepdad felt sorry for me and gave me a huge horseshoe-shaped magnet to collect nails. I tied a string to it and swung the magnet back and forth. I think I eventually got every bitty nail in the yard. I can’t remember how much money I got, maybe around $5.

5. Have you read the Twilight series?

Nope. I never will. Right now I’m reading a biography about William the Marshal, a medieval dude who served as regent to a few kings of England. It’s cool!

Have a great week, friends!

Weird! Unfortunately, I have a whole slew of things to do on the computer today. I’m going to have to cancel my writing assignments, RATS. Do you know anything about bloodshot eyes when you wake up in the morning? All I could find was conjunctivitis and I don’t think I have that….

Questions:

1. I wish I had more time to _________?
Relax. I am a busy person by nature, and I can never be idle for long. I am always inventing things to do! But then I get exhausted from the overwork and it seems I just chug, chug, chug.

Another thing I wish I had more time for is travel. Ooo, I am really enjoying traveling lately! That probably falls into the category “I wish I had more MONEY,” though, lol.

2. What is your favorite kind of soup?
I am not a soup eater. I like to either drink or chew my food, and soup is a bothersome inbetweener. So I suppose the best soups are those I can either DRINK straight or chew up…. I like cream of broccoli. I like my recipe for Manhattan Clam Chowder. Chicken broth is good when I don’t feel well… that’s all I know because I haven’t tried a lot of soups.

3. Where will you eat Thanksgiving dinner?
At my own dining room table. It’s a quiet holiday. We exchange a simple gift that day.

4. What is your favorite time of day?
Probably right before I go to bed or right when I wake up. I just love the enormously satisfying feeling of going to bed — lying down on my cushy mattress surrounded by my pillows — after a long day. In bed, I can do my own thing: read and relax.

Morning are nice, too, because I like the sunshine and the new start and the possibilities.

5. Did you start Christmas shopping yet?
No. We don’t celebrate Christmas. Some of you have asked why we don’t so I’ll leave a quick version here. When my husband and I first married, he worked in retail and I worked in radio- these jobs don’t pause for the holidays and we were always working on Christmas. Our kids never went to public schools or watch TV and didn’t get caught up in the commercial Christmas hype like we did when we were kids. We tried Christmas for a few years when they were older, but after going into debt to buy toys and finding out that Jesus was probably born in spring time (Christmas was a Christianized form of Saturnalia worship, and the pope combined the two holidays to make people in his churches happy) we decided to skip Christmas for a more quiet and meaningful holiday. Thanksgiving is more like Christmas to us. We give thanks to God and each other, give ONE nice gift and keep everything simple.

It was hard at first, for me. I didn’t mind skipping the debt and the hype of Christmas, but I like the colorful lights, the pretty wrapped gifts, the festivity of it all. It held a nostalgic flair to me. On Christmas Day (since we do have the day off, now), we just relax. I might put on A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott or play the radio station Christmas songs. I’d still like to hang lights because winter can get so dark and the lights make everything better but I haven’t gotten around to it since we renovated the downstairs…. anyway, that’s what we do. We celebrate Jesus year ’round. His big day is Resurrection Day for us.

Have a great week and a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving, friends! We have much to be thankful for.

I’ll have more photos and some interesting stories on my travel blog, New York Traveler.net. I have about 200 photos and 20 video snippets to hash through yet. :blink: But today, I have to work and catch up on stuff I missed from yesterday, UGH.

Ah, but first things first– Meet Me on Monday… Tuesday edition!

Questions:

1. The best part of waking up each day is __________?

…Folgers in your cup….

2. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

I’ve always looked young for my years. Up until I was in my late 30s, I couldn’t buy a bottle of wine without being asked for ID. But I aged, suddenly, just a few years ago. I had herniated disks in my spine and was in a lot of pain for a long time. I took a lot of wacky drugs to help with the pain and I think that stuff, plus my very strenuous jobs while renovating my rickety old house, aged me. All of a sudden, my skin was saggy, my hair was limp and turning white… weird! But I am on my way back “up” again. I’m starting to feel stronger and have more energy, thank God. So I guess I am probably now looking my age, which is mid-40s.

3. Red or Green Apples?

Red.

4. Do you forgive easily?

Yep. By the glory of God, I do. I wrote about forgiveness in one of my posts: Forgiveness, Or He’ll Give Ya POWAH.

5. If you could live in any home on a television series, which would it be?

Gosh, I have no idea. I don’t watch television. I’m trying to remember some of the old TV shows I used to watch as a kid… hmmm…. maybe Grizzly Adams? LOL. Or…. uhh… I can’t think of anything! I’ll take one of those log cabins from the DIY Network, definitely.

Have a happy week, friends!