Tagged

Alrighty Sarah, this one's for you.. ;)

10 Years ago...

I was a senior in high school, close to turning 18, and probably a little nervous for the changes about to ensue once I graduated and headed off for college. I wasn't much of a socialite in high school - surprise, surprise haha - and pretty much preferred being home over going out because I wasn't a drinker. Hmm, not much has changed!!

Things on my to-do list today:
* Get Jack showered and ready for his "date" with Grandma
* Bank Deposit
* Go to the grocery store
* Get windshield replaced (big ol' mystery crack appeared this week and kept growing)
* Read to the kids
* Look for flights
* Find a baby gift for a friend

What would I do if I became loaded:

I think about this a lot. (Then again, most of us probably do!) Though I haven't seen Oprah's show, "The Big Giveaway" I like the concept. First, I'd hire an accountant and financial advisor to help me invest so the money I start with could stretch as far as possible and continue to grow. I would give money to family and friends for sure -- enough for them to do the things I know they'd like to do: retire, pay off debt, take a vacation, fix stuff that needs fixing, ect. Within that realm (family/friends) I would also buy my Dad a new car since it's running rough & the seats are tearing, I'd buy Jon M a new car because his has about 300k miles on it & I'd make sure the new one was great on gas mileage for his daily commutes, I'd buy B. a sweet camera for her Hawaii trip, Sarah - I'd get you a replacement for Loretta :) that was family-friendly, I'd arrange an adventurous trip for Ken to see Europe and/or New Zealand, I'd plan a giant family reunion somewhere cool, I'd pay off my sister's house she just built, buy my brother a house, buy land for Pete & Sara and let them build their dream home, pay for grad school for Ken, I'd give money to the Church, and I've always thought it'd be cool to just randomly go out on the town to administer random acts of kindness pertaining to finances: take the homeless shopping, pay for someone else's dinner (or maybe even everyone who happened to be dining at that time) at a restaurant unbeknownst to them, cover someone's grocery bill, take all my friends with young kids on a Mom's & Kids mega shopping spree! :) and as for me -- I'd buy a treadmill, a sweet playscape for the kids, pay off my college loan, buy land to build on in the country - a longtime dream of mine, and build our (modest) dream home. (See "Designer Dreamhome One Story" home magazine, Winter of 2007 edition, pg. 15 for details) :)

Three of my bad habits:
(Just three??) Yikes, hard to narrow!
* Wearing sweats/warm up pants and comfy clothes almost every day of the week - Seinfeld would call my type those who've just "given up" hahah. I don't think I've given up, I'm just practical when I'm home with the kids most of the time, but, wish I took more time to dress up so Ken could be more excited about my wardrobe
*Snacking... I'm not very good at the 3 square meals a day thing, I'm more like the constant-grazer
*I can be stubborn and too critical at times and also pretty hard on myself

Five Jobs I've had:
*Laundry girl for the Baylor soccer team
*Manager for the Baylor volleyball team
*Temp
*Sales Associate at WAMU doing home loans
*Being a Mom :)-- my fave by far!

5 Things people don't know about me:
*I can't stand having long nails, so I cut my nails - and the kids' nails, almost every other day. I am utterly disgusted by the thought of the gunk and dirt that can get under nails, especially with little kiddos
*I have a "zipper" scar, from having open heart surgery as a baby. (when I was pregnant with both kids, between that scar and the pregnancy line I got each time, my abdomen looked like a giant teddy bear with the seam down the middle! Ugh!) ;) haha.
*I love salmon and a lot of fresh fish, but totally can't handle the texture of certain kinds of seafood: like oysters, scallops, lobster ... squishy/rubbery stuff like that
*I'm grossed out by pets, and pet dander (boy, am I not miss positive today, or what? haha).. that said though, I do like animals on a case-by-case basis, I just prefer them not to live in my home!!!!!!!!!!!!
*I'm terrified of cougars. I don't know where this came from, but single-handedly, they freak me out more than anything else that would be a threat in the wild. Yep, I'd rather encounter a Python than a cougar! (Meeting neither is my preference) ;)

Alrighty, there ya have it. Do you now know something you didn't know before? :) I am going to tag: Darcy, Julie, Amy Hook, Jill S., and Jami. Cheers!