11 Questions

I saw this blog tag questionnaire on a blog I follow called Maybe Matilda. I haven't done one of these in awhile. So, here are my answers to Maybe Matilda's 11 Questions.

1. Celebrity crushes past and present:

Past: There are 2: Rob Lowe and Ricky Schroeder. At our house on Frank Street, I had two window shades at the head of my bed. They were covered with pictures from Teen Beat (and all those similar publications that make me shake my head now) that I'd cut out. One shade had Rob Lowe pictures. The other had ones of Ricky Schroeder. Be still my preteen heart.

Present: Well, I have the freebie list posted on the left side of my blog for a reason. ;) Harrison Ford, Colin Firth, Michael Ball, Alec Baldwin, and Andy Garcia. In that order.

2. Favorite book: My all-time favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird. I read it to my 8th grade GOAL kids every year, and I have yet to do it without crying. Especially when Scout's innocence singlehandedly diffuses a lynch mob. Powerful stuff.

3. 5 favorite TV shows: I don't watch all that much TV anymore. But some shows I enjoy, both past and present, are:

Smash

Downton Abbey

The Amazing Race

Sex and the City

30 Rock

4. Guilty pleasure: Easy. Cadbury Mini Eggs. It's the danger season, folks. I cannot resist these babies for the life of me.

5. Goals I'm currently working on: Well, I'm very close to having my garage cleaned out. That's a big one. I'm able to park in it which is more than I've been able to say for 10 years. I still have some to do though. My current goal (that kind of goes along with the garage) is to get my house refinanced, and my dear Andrew has been helping me with several projects to make sure that happens.

6. Any trend of style that I've wanted to try, but been scared to: There is a big part of me that wants a tattoo. I think I'll always be too chicken though.

7. A skill that I'd love to learn: I'd love to learn basic carpentry. Watching the guys put in my laminate floor and fix my ceiling... well, I'd love to be able to do some of that myself. I just have no idea where to start. I'd like to be handier around my house, in general.

8. If I had a day with unlimited money to spend and no obligations: Easy. Broadway shows. As many as I could cram into a day. Then, I'd eat in a fancy restaurant and stay in a luxurious hotel.

9. A person (living or dead) I'd love to meet: I'd love to meet Maya Angelou. Her words have had a serious impact on my life, and I'd like to meet the woman behind the words.

10. If I weren't doing the career I'm doing now (teacher), what would I want to be doing instead: Egyptologist or Broadway Diva

11. Names I want/wanted to give my kids: My boy's name is Samuel. Girls' names change, but some names I currently like are: Phoebe, Hope, Elizabeth, Caroline, Joanna, and Harper.

I'm not going to actually tag anyone in this blog. Maybe that's missing the point, but, oh well. If you're so moved, answer these questions on your own blog. Leave me a comment with the link so I can read what you wrote!

And the moral of the story is...

Don't pick a zit. Actually the moral is don't pick at anything above your lip line. Ever. Especially when you still have some infection rolling around your bod from a case of pneumonia. If you pick that zit, and you still have some infection rolling around your bod from a case of pneumonia, guess what happens? Well, first, said zit gets infected. Red and angry and swollen infected. Second, by the time you go to bed that night, your glands & lymph nodes on the zit side of your head and neck will all be swollen. Third, by the time you wake up, you can't even lie on your pillow on that side of your head because the swollen glands by your jaw will be too sore to touch.

Better go to the doctor, right? Not so easy during Iowa standardized tests, but if you have a great principal like I do, you can make it work. Then the doctor will take one look at it and write a prescription of 4 horse pills a day for 10 days (it looks like I buy my antibiotic in bulk at Sam's Club). You then get a lecture about picking stuff on your face. Great. You also are told that if you are not noticeably better in 24 hours, you are to come back for an antibiotic injection, and if that doesn't work, you're getting put in the hospital.

All from picking a zit.

Luckily, I'm better, but take my advice. Don't do it.

Smash

I have a new show. It's called Smash. Have you seen it? It makes me ache and tap my toe and get goosebumps. It touches that musical theatre place inside me, that wild, gypsy place. I love this song from the end of this week's episode. Thank God even crazy dreams come true.

My February Goal

I always have good intentions about writing letters. Now, I'm giving myself more incentive to follow through. I'm joining the Month of Letters Challenge. I will write a letter for every day in February that there is postal service... 24 letters. I'm excited! Want to join me?

Update: I wrote my first two letters today. The first one was to my church board (more on that later), and the 2nd one was to a cousin in New York. Haven't mailed them yet, but they're written. It didn't take long, and it feels great!