Five Question Friday

1. What were your school colors?

Elementary and Junior High were both blue and gold. I'm not talking nice subtle navy and tasteful, warm goldenrod either. I'm talking bright aqua blue and don't-look-directly-at-the-sun gold. High school colors were green and white. I can live with that. Go Colts!

2. What is the best compliment you ever received?

I think one of the greatest compliments I ever received was from my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Duke. She told me I was a very conscientious student. I would like to think that to this day I'm still "careful to do what one knows is right; controlled by conscience." Come to think of it maybe it wasn't a compliment after all. Maybe I was the class snitch always writing the "bad" kids' names on the board in the teacher's absence...Actually, I think it was more of a "self-fulfilling prophecy" sort of thing. I didn't even know what conscientious was in the 6th grade. After I figured out how to spell it and looked it up in the dictionary, I tried to remember to be honest, scrupulous and careful in all that I do.

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?

I buy whatever is on sale or whatever I have a coupon for. Charmin Basic has fit both categories for the past couple of shopping trips--don't you just love double whammies: on sale plus a coupon?! I learned a while back that cheaper doesn't always turn out to be less expensive. Some of the off brand or store brands are so flimsy that you use 3x as much--where's the savings there?

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?

OMG! My sister has caught me twice with the surprise party business. Ever heard of the saying, "Caught me once shame on you, caught me twice shame on me"? The first time around wasn't a monumental birthday or anything which is probably why I was so surprised. Little did my sister know that she should have coached my Hubby better about how to get the guest to the party on time. I was supposed to be going to my sister's to "watch a fight" with a bunch of friends. Okay, let me tell you a couple of things about myself that are quite significant to this story: (1) I'm not a big sports fan, especially not boxing!; (2) I do not shop unless absolutely necessary--as in the kids' toes have popped completely free of their shoes or they cannot button their jeans at all. So, I was taking my sweet time about getting home after whatever activity the kids had going on that afternoon. I had even taken the kids shoe shopping, which I rarely do. My husband was trying to hurry me along once I got home, but I was tired and didn't want to go at all. I kept telling him to go on by himself that I really wasn't interested in watching a fight...When he kept persisting, I finally folded, huffed into jeans and a blouse and stormed to the car. I was in a foul mood! We pulled onto my sister's street going on 9 p.m., and it was wall to wall cars. My thought, "Great. There's nowhere to park. Someone else must be having a fight party, too." When we arrived and all of my friends and family shouted "surprise" I was truly taken aback and sincerely surprised (and still peeved with the Hubby for making me late to my own surprise party)! The surprise was almost on them :-). You can read all about the sort of surprise party I threw for my cousin in "Shhh...be very, very quiet" (June 2010).

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
Although I love my computer because I can type faster than I write by hand and because I can find stuff super quick on it, I'm pretty much a dinosaur when it comes to technological advances. My sister put me on her family plan and presented me with a cell phone a few years back because I didn't have or want one, but I was taking care of her child, so she wanted me to have the cell phone. It's nothing fancy (she did upgrade it to one with a camera which I don't know how to use). I don't text or tweet. I just answer it, check messages and make the occasional call. I still don't know where it is half of the time. It is not a part of my person at all times.
I would have to say my Bible is one material possession I "can't live without." As much as I would like to think I know it word for word all by heart like Denzel Washington in The Book of Eli, I admit I have to refer back to the Good Book all of the time.

Well, folks, that was a lot of fun...a little more time consuming than I thought it would be, but that's the sign of a good blog entry: the opportunity to remember and reflect and laugh at the past. If you'd like to participate click on the "Five Question Follow" button on the right hand side. It will take you to the blog where you, too, can pick up the button and get the questions. Until next time...