Monday, May 11, 2009

Meme-type thing

The very cool Beth from BurkinaMom in France tagged me to answer this set of random questions. So, here goes:

1.
What are your current obsessions? Trying to get enough English in my daughter's head before she goes off to French kindergarten and reading up on beekeeping and gardening. I inherited a sad-looking little orchid and am trying to get it to grow another leaf or root, or at least perk up a little.

2. Which item from your wardrobe do you wear the most often? Jeans. They no longer fit, but I'm waiting to go home to buy more.

3. What's for dinner? Leftover lamb, cake riche, and cauliflower and potatoes. Plus wine and cheese, of course.

4. Last thing you bought? Paint -- we're in the middle of ripping out more ugly wallpaper and slapping coats of white up on the walls. Though today my husband and I teamed up and finally chose our first colors...a very bold yellow for the kitchen accent and a soothing green for the veranda one.

5. What are you listening to? I did most of the work on the water closet (trust me, "closet" is the word for this particular room) to disc 2 of the Crosby, Stills and Nash box set. Good stuff.

6. If you were a god / goddess what would you be? Can I pick 2? I'd be the Goddess of Good Intentions and work as an elevator operator in a fancy hotel. You'd stroll in after starting that enormous cross-stitch project for a friend's baby, and see me standing there in my matching hat and gloves. I'd smile perkily at you, push the button for the basement and BAM! You're in hell, rushing around trying to buy a last-minute baby gift that is just as thoughtful as that unfinished cross-stitch would have been.

Second pick: a Japanese kami from Shintoism, most definitely! I'd hang out by my rock or tree, drink the free sake and watch people try not to piss me off. Not sure if that is more of a "spirit" or a "god," but it's so much more me than being living up on Mount Olympus. Too much happening up there.

7. Favourite holiday spots? In France, I loved visiting Burgundy and Bretagne. In the US, I loved camping along the Blue Ridge Parkway plus skiing in Colorado. Anywhere, Japan is pretty great and I am also partial to St John.

8. Reading right now? Robbing the Bees by Holley Bishop. I highly recommend it!

9. Four words to describe you? At the moment: wired (too much coffee), tired (not enough sleep). In general: shy, loyal.

10. Guilty pleasure? It used to be reading US magazine weekly (online) until the whole Elizabeth Edwards thing disgusted me and I quit cold turkey. Then it was la Nouvelle Star, until our TV broke. I'm currently in the market for guilty pleasures -- suggestions are welcome.

11. Who or what makes you laugh? Total cliche, but my husband and my daughter are at the top of my list right now. Then there's Chris Rock.

12. Favourite spring thing to do? Uncurl myself from the fetal position, spit out the chicken bones, stand up, and see some blue sky. Winters here are tough on me.

13. Planning to travel next? Home, baby, home -- Blue Ridge Mountains for a month in the summer.

14. Best thing you ate or drank lately? I'm going to have to copy Beth and say that Speculoos spread.

15. Last time you were tipsy? Ooooooh now, let's see...I think it was during our lovely trip to Provins, what with the free booze and lovely bottle of wine. Though I have to admit I'm pretty much a lightweight.

16. Favourite ever film? Singing in the Rain, I think, though I adore lots of other musicals. My daughter and I could watch the "Good Morning" song-and-dance every single day. She even hauled herself up in her crib the other morning when I went in to open her window and said something along the lines of "Good morning, Momma! It's great to get up late!" which is the version I usually sing to her.

17. Biggest life lesson you've learned from your kids? That apparently I can learn to monitor the things that come out of my mouth. She hasn't said "Oh, shit!" in a long time!

18. Song you can't get out of your head? At the moment, it's "Meunier, tu dors," a French kiddie song that Mamie and Papi have been singing to Stinkerbella. It's cute -- apparently some miller falls asleep at his windmill and it starts turning too fast, so you can imagine the corresponding gestures.

19. Spiders -- do you squish or relocate? I try to relocate but in all honesty it depends on how big the spider is and if it was silly enough to intrude on my personal space. If it's just hanging out in the corner I will go to great lengths to find it a new home, but if it wanders onto the couch next to my leg...I'm not promising anything.

I'm now tagging my homegirl Kathy, my e-friends Michelle and Angela, and double-tagging Reb since I've missed seeing her around.

(Rules of the meme: Respond and rework. Answer questions on your own blog. Replace one question. Add one question. Tag 8 people... or whatever. )

2 comments:

Beth said...

This is great!! I love reading this stuff.

'Singing in the Rain" rocks!

Reb said...

Thanks PMF... I swear I will get cracking on this. I miss being around and miss keeping up on my favorite blogs. work+house+pregnancy+toddler is just too much for my little self to handle at the moment. Vive prolonged maternity leave and French doctors who believe that getting rest is more important than making money...!