Ten on Tuesday (Take Eight, on a Monday)

Courtesy of Roots and Rings.

1. When you were a senior in high school, what career did you think you’d choose? Did you? Why or why not? For years I imagined I'd be a veterinarian. That was cured by a career field trip my parents set up for me at the local vet. Ten minutes after I walked in I was in an operating room with a German Shepherd on the surgical table, a tube down her throat for anesthesia, her pink tongue lolling out. The vet grabbed a scalpel and cut in. Blood ran out of the incision. I promptly blacked out. That was the end of that. It turns out that I am pretty much my father's daughter when it comes to blood.


2. What one thing about the “real world” did you find most surprising once you were on your own?
I was surprised by how little free time I had. My first year in the "real world" I was a graduate student working two jobs to help pay rent. By the time I had gone to Job #1, class, and Job #2, I had barely any time to cook dinner and fall into bed, much less exercise, see Daryl (only my boyfriend, at the time), and keep up with friends.

3. Name 3 things you think your closest friends DON’T like about you.
1) I'm a really awful phone person. I'll call people back, of course, but I'd always rather meet in person or email instead of call. 2) I can be annoyingly cheerful at times. Not on purpose, I just have a certain bounciness of spirit that can get on people's nerves if I'm not measured about it. Hmmm... is it bad I can only come up with two? Help me out, folks... I know there are more things!

4. In order to sleep, do you need background noise or absolute quiet?
Reasonable quiet, but more importantly than that, absolute darkness. I'll wake up if there's even a little bit of light, like the glow from a cell phone from across the room. A little noise doesn't bother me, but a little light does.

5. Why do you choose to reside in your current city? Yes, you have a choice.
For now, I live in Princeton, NJ because my seminary's here. In two months I'll be a Nashvillian (or Nash-Trash, according to my friend Heather), because my husband's graduate program is there. It looks like I'll be there for at least 4-5 more years, and we're open to settling there permanently if it's a good fit for us. Otherwise, we choose our cities based on their school programs, for the most part. If you build a good institution of higher learning, we'll probably live in your city. That's how we roll.

6. Are you close to your parents?
I am. We see each other every three or four months, and I always, always, always love going home. Dad calls it "my cocoon," and it really still is. I'll crawl into that guest-room bed and feel like all is right with the world. Then I wake up in the morning, go upstairs, and Dad already has the kitchen going with eggs and pancakes. Mom is always waiting with an art project, or to help me use the sewing machine I'm still learning to use. I love my parents.

7. What is your favorite fiction book? Poem? Blog?
I cannot possibly name just one fiction book. I have different favorites at different times. Here are a few I never tire of: East of Eden (Steinbeck), The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis), The Anne Series (Montgomery), Moth Smoke (Hamid), Interpreter of Maladies (Lahiri), Wuthering Heights (Brontë).

I love T. S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday." It speaks to my soul, in part because of its nonsensical, fragmentary bits.

As for blogs, I've taken to visiting the blogs I list on the right side of this one pretty often. I'm a sucker for "Beauty Tips for Ministers" (this lady cracks me up), in particular, as well as for my blogging friends who inspire me (IttyBittyImpact, The Outdoor Wife) or make me laugh (TheKlines, Confessions of a Bunn Girl, The Drurys in New Jersey).

8. Do you enjoy cooking or is it a chore?
I love cooking, but I don't particularly love cooking just for myself. If Daryl is around or I have friends over, I'll happily cook for hours. I'm still learning to  be good at it, however. There are still relatively frequent culinary disasters in my kitchen... Are these rice noodles supposed to be crunchy? Sigh...

That said, I made a killer (and very delicious!) apple pie for Easter, and I'm still riding high on the glow from that particular culinary success.

9. Be honest. What one thing would (the majority of) your blog readers be shocked to find out about you?
I listen to "Adventures in Odyssey" pretty regularly. It's a kid's radio show produced by Focus on the Family. Focus does some good work, but I disagree fairly strongly with some of its theology. Yet this children's program is almost always really wonderful. The stories are fun, the characters are memorable, and it manages to relay Scriptural truths without being heavy-handed. I'm a sucker for a good story, and when my life gets hectic and crazy, it's really relaxing for me to listen to a 20-minute story where everything is wrapped up at the end, and Jesus is mentioned in positive ways.

One of the sweetest moments in my dating relationship with Daryl was when he sheepishly admitted to me that he still occasionally listens to Odyssey. He expected me to laugh. Instead, I lit up. "Really? Me too!" I chirped. That pretty much sealed the deal for both of us.

I also listen to loads of NPR, especially "This American Life" and "Car Talk." One of my dad's claims to fame is that he was ON car talk a few years back, asking a question about his turn signal. If you're interested, leave a comment and I'll send you the link.

10. If you were given your own national holiday, what would you require people to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner on the Day of You? Would there be a parade? Greeting cards?
On the "Day of Me" the first order of business would be sleeping in, followed by a yummy breakfast of gf pancakes, waffles, and/or French toast. The rest of the day would be spent relaxing, but not alone. It would be a day for friends and families, gathering in parks, playing Frisbee, playing music, and eating good food. It would resemble my family camping trips to McLaine State Park in Michigan, where whole days are spent walking the shores of Lake Superior, eating food straight off the charcoal grill, and dancing in and out of Lake Superior's icy waves. It's glorious, and I miss it.

Feel free to send me questions for future "Ten on Tuesday" updates. I'll answer them all, to the best of my ability...