Getting To Know Me, Getting To Know All About Me

I’ve received three of those “Get To Know Your Friends” email surveys in the last year – one just before Christmas last year, one a week or so ago, and one today. I thought I’d compile them and post the results here, sort of a quick and dirty ‘Less Than 100 Things About Me’ post. But as I was reading, I got interested in the questions that I’d answered more than once – on some things I’m very consistent, but on others my answers are all over the map. I'm all about multi-dimensionality, I am.

So here, for your illumination and entertainment, I present all 3 versions of me. Sort of a time lapse photo in words.

Can you juggle?
- No, but I can multitask

Cherry or Blueberry?
- Cherry

Chocolate or vanilla?
- Chocolate, both times I was asked

Do you like the person who sent this to you?
- Yes
- Yes, I do. He seems like the kind of person I'd hang out with if we knew each other offline.
- Absolutely!

Do you want your friends to e-mail you back?
- Most already have - I think this is the third time I've done one of these
- Not giving them the chance this time
- Well, I'm only sending this to one person, because the last time I did this, she was the only one who answered anyhow. And I already have her answers.

Who is most likely to respond?
- no one - I'm not giving them a chance this time
- Trick question, isn't it?
- Miko

Who is least likely to respond?
- See above
- Again with the trick questions
- The gerbils

Do you wear contacts or glasses?
- Contacts

Do you wear contacts?
- Only when I'm awake

Do you wish on stars?
- Once in a while (both times – at least I’m consistently vague)

Fall or Spring?
- Spring

Summer or Winter?
- Summer (although Spring is better)
- Summer

Favorite car?
- 58 Plymouth Fury
- I really can't think of one.
- I am required to say Ferrari, although I couldn't tell you which model. The cute blue one I saw last spring

How many cars have you had and what was the first?
- 5, the first was a black Chevy Corsica

What color is your car?
- green

Favorite day of the week?
- Saturday (x3)

Favorite day of the year?
- Any day spent with Dean
- Any sunny day with my family
- Hmm ... Christmas is pretty good, or any sunny day in the spring

Favorite drink?
- red wine (x2)
- Old fashioned cream soda

Favorite flower?
- sweet peas
- wild roses

Favorite food?
- depends on the day - salty snacks are always good, though
- Really good chocolate
- sea

Favorite month?
- End of April/early May
- May (x2)

Favorite smell?
- My children's hair and Dean
- vanilla, cedar chips, caramel

Favorite sport to watch?
- don't really have one - I'll watch figure skating and men's gymnastics if I have nothing better to do, but avoid the rest
- Formula 1
- does knitting count? If not, I guess Formula racing (Go Ferrari!!)

Favorite type of dog?
- I'm kind of smitten with whippets at the moment, for aesthetic reasons. Other than that, I like 'em all, large more than small.

Hair color?
- dark brown (for the first time in 20 years)
- Sort of plum/red

Have you ever dyed your hair?
- Every month or so for the last 20 years

How is the weather right now?
- cool and cloudy, with rain on the way
- Fall is in the air. It's about 18C right now, cool, and the first stars are coming out although the horizon is still light.
- Sunny (well, bright anyhow - the blinds are down so I can't really see)

How many cities have you lived in?
- 5
- 5 (technically North Van, Langley, and Delta are separate from Vancouver)
- Two - Vancouver and Montreal. Technically, I guess I've also lived in Delta, Langley, and North Vancouver, but I tend to think of them all as part of Vancouver.

How many states have you lived in?
- None. Two provinces, though. (x3)

How many countries have you lived in?
- 1

How many countries have you visited?
- 6

Your dream vacation?
- Backpacking through Europe, with enough money not to stay in hostels

How many years at your current job?
- 18 months

How old are you today?
- enjoying my last few months of 38
- 38 years
- 38 years, 6 days

Hugs or kisses?
- Kisses (x2)
- Both - can't separate the two

If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
- Maroon
- Crimson. Well, that's what colour I'd like to be. Really I'm probably more like cornflower.
- Crimson

Last movie you watched?
- The Cat Returns
- Pirates of the Caribbean (for the 48th time)
- Muppets Christmas Carol, on Disney

Last person you spoke to on the phone?
- Dean
- Umm ... it's been a few days. I think it was my mother, on Friday.
- Kevin - the guy who builds our displays at work

Living arrangements?
- Townhouse, 5 kids, Dean, me and the rodents

Are you happy with your living arrangements?
- A little cluttered, and another room would be nice, but the people are delightful

Number of keys on your key ring?
- 9 (x2)
- 8

Pets?
- 3 gerbils, aka The Java Boys, and 2 guinea pigs, Les Jolies Aubergines

Plain, buttered or salted popcorn?
- butter and salt
- butter and salt. Lots of both

Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers?
- Spicy.

Siblings?
- 2
- one of each, both younger

The email friend you have had the longest?
- Dean

Who is the friend you have had the longest?
- My sister

What are you afraid of?
- Losing a loved one. The possibility absolutely terrifies me.
- losing people I love
- something happening to my family

What are you listening to right now?
- my typing and the big printer next to my desk
- Dean in the shower and the hum of assorted electronic devices
- The hum of the printer

What color is the underwear you are current wearing?
- Boring white

What color pants are you wearing?
- Black
- Black swishy stuff - they make me sound like I'm wearing a snowsuit

What did you do last night?
- Took kids to gymnastics, sat through one class, came home with first child and had dinner, went back to retrieve second child, read first child bedtime story, surfed, cuddled with second child, put second child to bed, watched 15 minutes of PBS documentary on WWII, then went to bed
- Made curried prawns, ate dinner in front of TV, put the monkeychild to bed, gave and received some physical affection and went to sleep.
- Watched TV, put the monkeychild to bed, knit a while, scanned a bunch of pictures

What did you do on your last birthday?
- Worked, went home to dinner with Dean, the kids and my parents

What do you do to vent anger?
- talk to Dean, write
- Vent? No, I repress. Sometimes I rant, after repressing, if I can make it funny.
- Choke on it, then vent to Dean after

What inspires you?
- Dean, bravery & generosity
- My family and friends

What is on the floor of your closet?
- Shoes, laundry, Dean's weights, a couple of sports bags, homeless clothes, dog hair

What is under your bed?
- A mini basketball, a box of 30-year-old Christmas ribbons from my great uncle, a few books, lots of dog hair ... and other stuff I don't want to think about

What is your dream occupation?
- I'm still trying to figure that out. Permanent student sounds pretty good, but I hear the pay sucks.

What was the last thing you ate?
- cottage cheese & a bag of chips
- A souplike invention of Dean's - quite delicious.
- Chocolate hedgehog

What was your favorite toy as a child?
- Books (x2)
- Books and my chemistry set

When was the last time you cried?
- Sunday, briefly
- Trying to decide what to do with Miko's water dish.
- I do not recall the specifics - probably during some sappy scene in a movie (NOT the Muppets Christmas Carol, however). Possibly with laughter when the monkeychild told me to "Give it a rest, Mom."

Where were you born?
- Vancouver General Hospital

Where would you like to live?
- Fort Langley - close to the city but relatively rural and 'small town'


It occurs to me that few, if any, of these qualify as either deep or meaningful, so if there's something you're just dying to know about me, post it here and I'll do my best to answer (or make something up, if the truth doesn't cut it).