Would you rather...

Tag post! The wonderful Georgina of coffretgorge tagged me {thank you!} to answer some interesting questions--a long time ago. I bet she thought I forgot! But I was saving this until the time finally came that I had nothing to say!!! That time came a few days ago and it took me a while to accept that it happened--I always have something to say!!! Anyway, I have two more I can do next if I continue to have writer's block--and nothing interesting happens to me. Where's a crazy truck driver when I need one??? ;P

Rules:
1. Copy this picture & put it into your own post
2. Answer all questions (I deleted a few instead)
3. Tag others

I want to pass this on to a few new followers so I can learn more about them: Karen of cfbeauty; Kristie of North Of 49; Stephanie of Life in Pink; Oliver of Overville; Eureka of Winter Eve.

Here we go...

Be extremely beautiful or extremely intelligent? If I choose extremely intelligent, how not beautiful would I have to be??? LOL, jk, I go with intelligent. People who matter won’t care what I look like and my friends are already stuck with me.

Go without brushing your teeth for or washing your hair for a year? Without washing my hair—eventually the itching will stop, right?

Be rich or famous? Rich and anonymous so I can do whatever I want.

Be able to sing or be able to dance? Dance! If I could sing, I might get famous, don’t want that. But being the best dancer in the room could be fun.

Be stranded on a Desert Island or in the Desert? Would I be alone in both places? Usually desert island questions involve a girl. But either way, I’ll go with the desert island. A tropical beach sounds better to me.

Have a computer or a TV? As long as I have a working internet connection, I’ll take the computer.

Wear spots or stripes for the rest of your life? No solids??? I don’t like this game.

Drink out of a teacup or a mug? A mug.

Receive a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates? Chocolates! Any will do, but I have a fond memory of dark chocolate w/almond @ orange.

Have a hug or a kiss? I prefer a nice, warm hug. Both are good, unless it’s one of those fake kisses on the cheek.

Wear Converse or Stilettos? CONVERSE!

Be a fairy or a mermaid? Yep, I don’t like this game! :D

Coffee or Tea? Iced tea…or Coffee ice cream.

Live somewhere sunny or somewhere cold? I prefer changing seasons, but I’ll say sunny.

Have an amazing house or an amazing car? Just a nice house—with a fully equipped Bat Cave underneath.

Be kind or funny? Kind and a bit funny (Georgina’s answer)

Be hated or be a hater? I'd rather be hated and not know about it. It takes too much energy to hate someone.

If you had to choose, lose your sight or hearing? Hearing, but could I just get a hearing aid that I can turn on and off, as needed?

Have lots of money or lots of friends? Would the friends be willing to loan me money? No? I didn’t think so, but I’ll take the friends anyway.

Love or be loved? Love. If I didn't love, would I care if I was loved???

What did you say???

Since we cannot read minds, it can be a challenge to ever be sure we are effectively communicating. You could write or say something and mean it one way, but have it taken another. And sometimes, individual words can be misunderstood.

I had lunch at my desk today and a friend called to say hello—we had a brief chat about our weekends. She and her husband are volunteering at a senior center in Rockville on Saturday. I’d heard a restaurant near there was running a promotion during September and shared the info.

Me: There’s a nice tapas restaurant in Rockville that’s offering an all-you-can-eat special during September. It’s $20 for lunch and $30 for dinner.
Friend: Hmmmm.

It was weird she didn’t ask about the food. Normally she would, so I decided to talk about it.

Me: Not all of their dishes are great, but their vegetable and seafood dishes are really good. $20 is a good deal—you get to try a wide selection of their small servings.
Friend: I wouldn’t go there even if the food was free!!!
Me: Why not?
Friend: I would NEVER go to a topless place!
Me: Tapas! Tapas! T-A-P-A-S!!!
Friend: Ahahahahahaha!

We both laughed for a long time, but…friendships can be ruined and wars started that way. I was surprised my friend didn't question what she had heard. I asked her what she was thinking and why she didn’t speak up immediately—for all she knew I was having a personality-changing stroke and needed medical attention!!! She said it was so out-of-character and unexpected that she was just too shocked to say anything. I'm glad we cleared up the misunderstanding and had a good laugh.

So, the next time someone says something completely out-of-character, make sure you heard him/her correctly. If you didn’t hear it correctly, you can laugh about it. But if you did, well, maybe only men work at that topless place. LOL!!!

PS – In defense of my friend’s listening skills and my enunciation, I AM stuffy today. But unlike Becks who very cleverly wrote, “I hab a code” earlier this week, my yuckiness is due to allergies. Hope you feel better now Becks!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Bad Dad???

When my daughter was first learning to sit up, she heard machine gun fire on TV and started giggling and flapping her arms up and down excitedly-she liked the sound. Several years later, she liked the explosions in Bond movies—edited for the Family Channel!!! When she and I were in the car together, I would pretend we were driving a “Bond” car—and the cigarette lighter was the missile launcher. She wasn’t in the front seat often, but when she was I would let her start the launch sequence by pushing in the lighter. When it popped out, the missiles launched (and dad provided sound effects)—always in the name of saving the world.

One September Sunday we were driving to our annual family reunion. We had to take so much junk, my daughter was in the front seat with me and my wife was following us in her car. I usually stay within 5 to 10 miles of the speed limit and my wife…well she drives faster. Anyway, my daughter and I were playing our game and she pushed the button. A few seconds later my wife pulled alongside, waved, and passed us. Then she got back in the right lane—right in front of us!!! My daughter and I looked at each other, I said “abort, abort”, but it was too late. The button popped out and the missiles launched. And then we both laughed hysterically. I’m not sure why, maybe it was just that our game had taken such a shockingly unexpected turn.

The first thing my little angel did when we got out of the car at the picnic was to shout, “Mommy, we blew up your car!!!” I had a LOT of explaining to do. LOL!

The positive side of this was that it gave me a great opportunity to talk with my daughter about being careful when we set things in motion. Whether you’re throwing something, saying something, or firing imaginary missiles, you can’t control what happens next—you can accidently hurt someone.

But I do worry that I shouldn’t have played that imaginary game with her. We weren’t blowing up people for driving like idiots (although, now that I think about it, I may try pushing in my lighter the next time it happens) and we were clearly just exercising our imaginations. Was it a bad thing to do??? She is a sweet, mild-mannered girl.


Next "Bad Dad" topic: How I got my son to start voluntarily making his bed.

Guest Post @ BaaB

My friend Dawna at Beauty and a Budget asked me to write a guest post on what makes someone beautiful. I started to just write "I do" because if I think someone is beautiful, what difference does it make if anyone agrees with me??? Although, I'm almost positive I think you are beautiful (unless you're a male follower--see the post!) and it would be really nice if you agreed with me on that.

Just don't ask me to explain what makes someone hot...or lovely--my rarest compliment!

Have a great weekend--after you go there and comment!!! ;P


PS - Of course, I do know guys who are beautiful people!!!

Just My Imagination

Okay, a few days have passed and I'm sure it was all in my head when I felt cuts from the glass (previous post). It was just my imagination. And speaking of imagination, over the weekend I heard an old song by the Temptations--Just My Imagination. I've heard it before, but forgot how much I like the first 20 seconds or so of music (the music starts at the 10 second mark). It's very cool. Usually I'm a sucker for acoustic guitar, but I really like the sound of the electric guitars in this. Plus, how often do you hear a xylophone? I'm linking a video for the first time--so you can hear that intro and maybe hang around a little longer to take a look back at how "boy bands" dressed way back when. LOL

In addition to that great intro, there's an amazing line in the song:

"To have a girl like her, is truly a dream come true."

Also very cool--just like my readers! It's too bad the guy in the song isn't doing anything to meet the girl. "Faint heart never won fair lady." Right?

Extra Crunchy Ravioli

I had supper at the Olive Garden on Sunday--it was a family thing. The toasted ravioli in the appetizer was okay, as was the calamari. I ordered the Shrimp & Crab Tortelli Romana--it's crab and smoked mozzarella-filled ravioli, topped with sautéed shrimp in a three cheese and sun-dried tomato sauce. It was surprisingly good. Until I found the hidden prize.

I was 3/4 of the way done when I felt a disturbing "crunch". I thought I broke a tooth. I had no choice but to spit everything out into a napkin. After removing the food, I found four or five little pieces of tempered glass. On the bright side, I was almost finished when it happened; I was not hurt; and I saved $27 (the cost of the ravioli and appetizer). But I don’t think I’ll be going to the Olive Garden again--and maybe you shouldn't either!!!

Two funny things: 1) when I picked up the biggest chunk of glass to show the manager, he took it right out of my hand and started examining it--even though he knew I had just spit it out of my mouth. Yuck!!! 2) Halfway home I started imagining I could feel tiny little cuts on my tongue. There are none--it was just my imagination. Wait, I think I feel it again now! :P

Back to School

Do you remember your very first day of school? Is there one thing that really stands out? I have one memory that overshadows everything else.

An aunt who lived nearby was driving her daughter (3rd grade) to school and offered us a ride. My mom went to make sure I ended up in the right place on my very first day of school ever. My older brother rode along too. Once we were in the car, my cousin started crying. Then she started screaming--she was a nervous child, very high-strung.

I sat there quietly in the backseat, next to her. My brother was on the other side of her. I think my aunt wanted her in the middle so she couldn't try to get out. I tried to make eye contact with my brother, but he was looking out the window. I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, "Where are these people taking me???" I wasn't afraid when I got in the car, but once she started screaming I was terrified. Everything was fine at school and I got over that first day scare within...oh, maybe a month or two. She really screamed!!!

At the start of the next school year the aunt offered us a ride again and again we accepted. My cousin was a year older and I was sure she wouldn't repeat the terrible scene from the year before. I was wrong. I think she was worse.

At the start of the 3rd grade it was raining, but I refused the ride and walked to school. I could hear my cousin screaming as the car pulled off. Thankfully she grew out of her 1st day jitters before she got to high school.

So, any significant memories of your first day of school? Were you a first day screamer?