Five Question Friday 05 November 10

Anybody ever heard the saying "better late than never"? Well, that's the principle upon which I'm operating this evening as I submit this post.  This morning, my "plan" was to deliver kids to their appropriate schools, then drop some clean laundry off at my FIL's place in time to go with him and my SIL to see where his new dialysis center is located.  And, finally, back home to bake a cake a toss a pound of beans in my crock pot for after my nieces memorial service tomorrow.  (And squeeze in a nap and clean my toilets.)  Well, I called to let my SIL know I was on my way.  As we exchanged the expected pleasantries, she told me she wasn't too good because her dad (my FIL) had fallen last night and they were taking him to the hospital.  I told her I'd meet them there.  So, that's where I ended up spending my day...until my son called to say he missed his bus.  I picked him up on the way from the hospital; then the Hubs picked up Alisa from school.  Somewhere in the midst of all of this my mom called to say my 5-year-old niece needed me to check out her heart because when she took a deep breath something had popped.  Once I made it home, I grabbed my stethoscope and mosied over to my mom's to see about my niece who was snacking on apple slices and running around the house.  She turned out to be just fine.  We read a couple of books she'd purchased at her school's book fair, then I left to pick up my son's friend and get home to get Alisa to dance class.  I called the hospital for an update on my FIL, and he was still in the ER!  They were waiting for a bed to on the telemetry unit (once a heart patient always a heart patient, I guess).  I just delivered my daughter to dance class and now it's finally time for 5QF!  Whew!  How dare I think I'm going to make it a quiet movie night at my house!  You can visit Mama M at My Little Life if you'd like to get the rules/questions or just see who all else is participating this week.  I'm guessing it's not too late to link up until midnight.  We'll see...

1. If you could have any talent and turn it into an occupation, what would it be?


Once upon a time ago, a professor explained in his lecture that people would lose interest in their favorite hobbies if they had to do them for money. Back then I begged to differ. My thinking was that would be the perfect partnership: getting paid for what you love to do. Nowadays, however, I think I have a better understanding of what the prof meant. There’s something about deadlines and expectations and such that take the fun out of doing what you love. Having said all of that I would have to say, if I could get paid to do something I feel like I have a little talent for, it would be blogging. I would have to be able to do it on my own terms, though.

2. Would you rather have a house at the beach or a cabin in the woods?

I think my husband and I would both choose a house at the beach—we’re sun, surf and sand loving people!

3. Is there any meaning or reasoning for the names you chose for your child/children?

Oooh, I love name stories! I’ve got to hop around to hear about everyone else’s. Here’ how mine goes… When I met my husband I think he already had names in mind for his future children. Prentice for a boy (after an uncle); and Ashley Nicole for a girl (just because he liked the name). I didn't like either one. I could see Prentice being teasingly called "princess"; and it seemed that every 3rd female child born in the 90's was named Ashley. I had a cousin named Ashley Nicole and our friends had just named their daughter...(you've probably guessed it already) Ashley Nicole. Our son was born first and didn't have a name for the first few days of life. I kept asking him, "What is your name, Sweet Baby Boy?" but he didn't answer. When the midwife returned for a follow up visit we needed a name for the birth certificate. I chose Aaron (b/c it's one of the first listed in all the baby books I thumbed through over and over; and b/c my grandmother had a friend by this name, and I thought it was a great "old man" name, too). The hubs agreed without a fuss, and we used his first name, Michael, for the middle name.

Since I named the firstborn, the hubs had dibs on baby #2 who turned out to be a girl. I didn't really want Ashley for a first name even though it is a pretty name, but it was the hub's final decision. We had a short list of first names: Elena (After Aunt Helen), Alana (after my mom), Elizabeth (just liked that one), and Aliya (hubs didn't care for this because of the singer by this name but spelled differently). Even though I hoped he would come up with something other than Ashley, I was okay with either of the above names with Ashley as a middle name. When I gave the final chin-to-chest push and baby girl entered the world, all eyes were on the hubs. He proudly announced that her name was Alisa Ashley. Everyone did sort of a double take, but it is what it is-no coming back three days later to fill out the birth certificate.

4. What is your guilty pleasure? (I know we've done this one before, but I'm guessing people's "guilty pleasures" change frequently. At least, mine do!)

I should ask for clarification on this question, but if we’re talking about sweets, then my answer is Bridge mix. I love that it’s a variety of centers dipped in chocolate, so it’s like a box of chocolates only in bite-sized pieces. There are chocolate covered peanuts, raisins, almonds, filberts, crème centers, caramels, toffee, etc. Walmart used to sell the “movie theatre” boxes for a dollar, but I haven’t been able to find them recently. Hobby Lobby sells bags of bridge mix near their check out counters. I only bought one bag because I had a 40% off coupon, and I ate the entire bag (over several days, mind you).

5. Do you live in a house that is deep cleaned or straightened?

Neither. Enough said.