meme. the old skool way

Shawnee, who is full of Utterly Brilliant Thoughts, agreed to interview me for the meme that's making the rounds.  This particular meme has a special place in my heart.  Nearly two years ago, I'd been blogstalking the Woman Formerly Known as Coffeegirl (aka Solistella, aka Pixelgirl, aka Krystyn) for awhile.  When she opened the floor to an interview, I jumped.  Lucky for me, she didn't stick up her (very cute) nose and refuse to interview some crazy chick in Tennessee.  It was that interaction that opened the door to some of my favorite online peeps, many of whom are still blogging and a few who have since left the 'sphere. All because of a meme.  They have the power to change the world!

Anyway, thanks for sharing that little trip down memory lane with me.  Here are her questions and my responses.

Name five "luxury items" that you could not live without.  (i.e., not necessities such as food, water, air, margaritas or George Clooney.  Although that last one may just be me.)

1. My computer.  Obviously.
2. Catwalk "Curls Rock" hair goo.  It is the only product I've ever found that keeps my gnarly curls           somewhat under control. 
3. Diet Coke, with cherry if I have my druthers.
4. Cute notecards.  I have an addiction.  Cannot. resist. cute. notecards.
5. Ice cream.  Currently loving the Skinny Cow sandwiches, as they are yummy and easier on the waistline, but if I could eat without consequence?  Ben and Jerry's Phish Food.

What surprised you most about pregnancy, labor / delivery & motherhood?

I had a pretty smooth pregnancy without a lot of surprises.  Labor and delivery went ok too, but I will say that I underestimated my own physical recovery.  Part of that was because I had a Caesarean section, and part of it was that I was unprepared for the hormonal shift, stretched out skin, and engorged boobs.  They aren't kidding when they call it the "fourth trimester": those first three months are killer.  As for motherhood, no one ever told me how much you could love another person one second, and want to squeeze her little head off the next.  That was, until I started reading mommyblogs.

You've done a lot of traveling - what was your favorite place & where would you most like to visit next?

Ooooh.  Difficult to choose.  My favorite vacation ever, though, was in Vieques, Puerto Rico.  We went before it even had a resort hotel on it, and stayed at a privately-owned apartment rented out by some New York couple.  The daily schedule went something like this: wake up, shower, cover myself in sunscreen, go to the beach, have lunch, siesta, get up, go back to the beach, read a book, have dinner, relax.  The neighbors had chickens and roosters that would force us to rise early, and we woke on more than one morning to find some of the wild horses that roam the island in our front yard.  Unspoiled beaches, laid-back locals, and a kayak trip through a bioluminescent bay.  It was gorgeous.  No hurry, nothing to see or do, all relaxation. 

As for my next trip, I've been itching to get to visit some friends that live in Jakarta, Indonesia.  If anyone has frequent flier miles they'd like to donate toward that cause, e-mail me. ;)

If you could live anywhere, where would it be?

This is the question of the moment.  Although our move to Charleston is not complete, we know that we'll be moving again in June 2008.  The nice thing is, this time we'll have a choice.  The hard thing is, we have no idea where we want to go.  We've narrowed it to the Western half of the U.S., including the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.  I'd add Texas but Ron declined.  We're looking for a good-sized city (but not too big) with an excellent public school system, reasonable cost of living, and easy access to the outdoors.  Four seasons are preferred, though I'm not a huge fan of snow.  Any suggestions?

What are your five favorite non-blog websites?

www.google.com (which includes access to my gmail and feedreader!)
www.etsy.com
www.craiglist.com
www.slate.com
www.youtube.com

Want to play? Here's how it works:

• Leave me a comment requesting an interview.
• I will email you five questions. I get to pick the questions. BWAHAHAHAHA.
  
• You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
• You will include this explanation (or a reasonable variation) and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
• When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

You'll notice that my first call for others to interview back in 2005 got NO RESPONSE.  Please don't let that happen again.  PLEASE.

[And, I'm issuing a special invitation to those who read here but have been too shy to comment.  I've been there (see above).  I don't bite.  I see you out there on my statmeter.  Yes, you -- Jump in and play with me!]

Comments

[Steph.]

Wait. You stalked Krystyn too? Huh...maybe that's how I found you, actually. HA!

I'll play if you are interested...although I'm not a shy lurker on your site usually!

; )

[beautifulmess]

don't invite me to play & then expect me to sit on the sidelines. i'm in, babe.

[Sonja]

You should come live where I live - we got it all, except for the "reasonable cost of living" part. It is Southern California, after all! ;)
And of course you should interview me!

[christa]

I spent my childhood living in Bellingham, WA. I loved living there and I remember the schools to be awesome. It would be a stretch to call it a city though. The city that I lived in for college, and would be happy as a clam to return to is Portland, OR. Lots of people with children seem to like the town I did grad school in...Eugene, OR, but I found it be be a tad dull. All of these places are pretty rainy.
Please interview me.

[Morag]

Bring it!

[Colleen]

Ask away. I'm an open book. Um. Mostly. Hmmm. What have I gotten myself into?

[Shelley]

Ok - I'm one of those lurkers, but I would love to jump in the deep end and play.

[CPA Mom & Soccer Mom Angela]

Please interview me!!

Colorado sounds good. SJ (All the Jones Men) and Audrey (Sangria Lover) live there and could fill you in on all the ins and outs.

Washington - Hola, Isabel and Mrs. Flinger. 'Nuf said.

Of course, VIRGINIA is the THE state to live in. For the cool cats.

And motherhood surprise - yes, how can I love them SO much and yet, want to drop them off with their grandmother and walk away?

[Hallie]

You'd love Utah County, in Utah. About 30 miles south of Salt Lake City and east of Utah Lake. Lots of great opportunities for boating (Deer Creek Reservoir, Strawberry Reservoir, and Yuba Lake, just to name a few.) You're no more than 20 minutes away from the Wasatch Mountains and zero civilization. Aspen trees and, higher up, pine trees that will take your breath away.

If you're in the mood for the desert, Moab is about 5 hours away and in the wintertime you can find sunny warm refuge in St. George- also a short drive.

You really do get four seasons. (Sometimes within a week's time!) The people here are predominantly Mormon, which is a pretty decent lifestyle, and the non-Mormons are really fine folk, too. You'll develope a liking for Jello and Funeral Potatoes (yes, they really call them that) and an understanding that nothing is open on Sunday.

The schools are good, the crime-rate is low, the fishing is great, and a cup of sugar is only a holler away. Let me know if you decide to spend some time here.

[tihopilik]

Hello

I can't be bothered with anything these days, but shrug. I just don't have anything to say recently.


Bye