Ten Year Meme

I’m crawling out from under the plaster dust to do a Ten Year Meme as requested by Pirate Steve. I’m sorry I haven’t been doing the rounds, lately, but with the house purchase came the promised cycle of destruction. Last week we moved all our belongings into two small rooms and jammed in the attic the few items that would fit up the narrow staircase. As I type I’m sitting in what once was our bedroom. Right now it resembles some sort of bizarre antique shop/flea market with a desk and a computer jammed into an impossibly tiny corner (everywhere we go, we walk sideways). Anyway, just as we were getting into some very productive smashing, my organizational skills were urgently called for (I’m the rock star of clutter control, apparently) and I left the Architect buried under a pile of ceiling tiles while I went away for four days. Today is my first day back at home without anything specific to do, so Steve gets a granted wish; he (and the rest of you as a result) gets to find out how spectacularly boring I really am.

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was living in an apartment in a fairly unspectacular area about fifteen minutes outside D.C. I was almost two years into my marriage to the Architect–the best thing that ever happened to me. At that time in my life I was in a dead-end, unhealthy job and for all my searching I couldn’t find my Way (or even see in what direction it might have headed). As a result, I was an angry, unhappy, fairly unpleasant person to hang with. It took me a couple more years to get over all that.

Five things on your to-do list for today

Mop the plaster dust off the floors, counters and kitchen walls.

Water my sadly neglected herb garden.

Take a fast trip to the beach with the Architect and get Anthony’s roast beef sandwiches and Dickie’s frozen custard. Yum!

Hang out with the kitties.

Flip through the cool occult books recently loaned me in exchange for my organizational skills.

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Panic. I’m horrible when it comes to dealing with money. Copious amounts of it would most likely worsen the situation.

What are three of your bad habits?

What? Only three?

1. Obsessing. Constantly.

2. Never trusting anyone’s motives.

3. Homering Out when people are talking.

What are some snacks you enjoy?

1. Kashi’s version of Mini-Wheats with fruit and agave syrup.

2. Raw veggies and hummus (I’m working on perfecting my recipe; rice vinegar is amazing instead of lemon juice, if anyone cares).

3. Anything that resembles a confection or pastry. I’m totally with Steve on the Baby Ruth bars.

What were the last five books you read?

1. The Orphan’s Tales, by Catherynne M. Valente

2. Outrageous Fortune, by Tim Scott

3. The Book of Lost Things, by John Connolly

4. People of the Nightland, by W. Micheal Gear and Catherine O’Neal Gear

5. My homeowner’s insurance policy. Okay, it’s not technically a book, but close enough.

What are five jobs you have had?
Hah! Ready for this litany of achievement?

1. Day Camp Leader (I used to like kids).

2. Receptionist/Secretary (the locations varied, the work, sadly, did not).

3. Lifeguard at an indoor community college pool (I hate the sun).

4. Dermatologic Medical Assistant (hated the sun even more after that).

5. Easter Bunny. Yep, the dork in the suit. But, only once. Usually I was the dork taking the pictures of the kids sitting on the lap of the dork in the suit.

What are five places where you have lived?

Here’s where it gets truly boring. I’ve only lived in Maryland, so we’re splitting hairs.

1. Waldorf. Not home to the salad, but home to the poseur band, Good Charlotte (stab me in the eye).

2. Burtonsville (wide spot in a now wider road).

3. Greenbelt (not very green, but right inside the Beltway, so at least part of the name is accurate).

4. Salisbury (wide spot in the road with a beach at the other end).

5. Baltimore. Catonsville, actually. For all of three semesters.

See, what did I tell you? Pretty lame.

I’m not going to tag anyone because…well, because I suck.

Sorry.