1. Have you ever been to the US capital-Washington DC? If so, what's your favorite site? If not, what would you most like to see on a visit to that city someday in the future? Is it even on your list of places to visit?
Yes, when we lived in North Carolina, and my dear hubby was going through Air Force training for the F-15E, we weren't sure how long we would live there. And, I was very very pregnant with our third Little C. So, we couldn't exactly fly home (to the west coast) for Christmas. So, we had a small intimate Christmas celebration with just our little family, and then drove up to D.C. for a few days, to take advantage of being so close. It was wonderful... it was a whirlwind... I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with a sick 2-year-old and 5-year-old... give me a break! I remember having to tell my DH to slow down a bit, and not run everywhere, because, well... I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with a sick 2-year-old and a 5-year-old! :-)
I did make a second trip up there with our squadron spouses - a completely different trip, complete with a desperate search for a bar at midnight through the streets of DC, a friend who wanted us to go into a Goth bar but I refused because I was wearing pink cashmere and thought I would get shunned... and another friend who didn't know what a Gentleman's Club was but thought it sounded nice and respectable! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! On a more serious note, though, we did get to go to the White House, which was a.ma.zing.
So anyway... if I could go back to DC, I would desperately want to see the WWII memorial. It was under construction when we visited, and I will always remember interviewing my grandfather for a jr high history project and hearing him tell me stories about fighting at Iwo Jima. He is my hero. WHY did it take this country so long to erect a monument honoring our WWII vets? Sigh...
2. When did you last attend a wedding? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? Were you a summer bride? If you're single, is summer the season of your dream wedding?
The last wedding we attended was for two of the Sunday school teachers at our church in Pensacola. My daughter was the flower girl and my eldest son was a groomsman... gorgeous, if I do say so myself!
And yes, this Saturday my DH and I will celebrate 17 years of marriage - we had a beautiful wedding at my home church, and a garden reception at a friends' home. I had NO idea when we married that we would change careers completely and that 17 years later we would be celebrating our anniversary apart as he fought in Afghanistan on a war against terrorists. Amazing where God leads you. I love you hon... always and in all ways.
3. What is your favorite way to eat strawberries?
Either covered in chocolate, or with champagne... YUM!
4. What is one thing you are especially looking forward to this summer?
I am looking forward to this next month... the kiddos and I are traveling to California for a few weeks, and we will have a good time with friends, family, the beach house, sleeping with the fishes (literally - we aren't a mob family or anything - my dear SIL and BIL work for an aquarium and we get to spend the night next to the shark tank, which my Little C is ecstatic about.) My saintly MIL will be joining me for the last part of the trip, helping with the driving and restoring my sanity somewhat... it will be fun, but I'm sure I will also be ready to be home when all is said and done!
5. Do you use/like the self checker at the grocery store?
Definitely a love/hate relationship. If I truly only have a couple of items that I needed to run in and grab, then its great. But if said items are, say, greeting cards, which weigh almost nothing, and so don't register on the scale, and so you get berated by the computer voice (who yes, sounds crankier and crankier each time they repeat "Please place your items in the bag. Ma'am. MA'AM. YOU!! PUT YOUR ITEMS IN THE BAG SO THAT I KNOW ALL ITEMS ARE PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR AND YOU AREN'T TRYING TO STEAL A $2.00 GREETING CARD FROM WALMART!"
Sheesh.
6. Share a favorite piece of common sense advice.
Life is short. Just treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself, with dignity and respect.
7. Barefoot, flip flops, tennis shoes, sassy sandals-your first choice for summertime?
Ugh - no tennis shoes, I get enough of those in the winter. Definitely flip flops or barefoot, with cutely painted toes, of course!
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I take my job at motherhood very seriously. And I think I do a pretty good job. And ye, In the past week, I have been accused by my daughter's best friend's mother of being over controlling and uptight.
I prefer to think that I am teaching my children that life is not a free ride. That there are responsibilities that need to be met before fun and games can commence. (Hence, the chore chart from last week). And while I may allow one sleep over per week, it will not be an every night deal. Why is this so hard? Does this make me a tight wad? I don't think so... in the end, my children will know how to eat sensibly, to get enough rest most of the time, and will know that bathrooms don't magically clean themselves, nor do clothes get themselves put away...
Perhaps my children will rebel a bit as they get older and spread their wings. Who doesn't? But I refuse to let my children flounder now, without boundaries or expectation, in fear that if I say "no" now, they will go off the deep end in college. There has to be a middle ground somewhere.
Right?
