Saturday 9 - The Way We Were

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: The Way We Were

1) In honor of Valentine's Day next week, what's the most romantic movie you can think of?  I actually addressed that very question on THIS post.  Read No. 2. 

2) The Way We Were was a tearjerker. Do you think that most real-life love stories end in heartbreak? Or do you believe in happily ever after?  I would like to think that there is such a thing as "happily ever after."

3) What's your favorite love song?  I don't do favorites.  I have a few favorites, however.  

Etta James "At Last"


Uncle Kracker "Smile"


Eric Clapton "Wonderful Tonight" has to be up there.  

Peter Gabriel "In Your Eyes"

Nora Jones' "Come Away With Me"

Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"


Bruno Mars "Just The Way You Are"


Percy Sledge "When A Man Loves A Woman"


4) In 1993, Barbra Streisand married actor James Brolin, who first became famous as Dr. Steven Kiley on Marcus Welby, MD. Who is your favorite TV doctor?  Why, Dr. Noah Drake, of course.  [wipes drool off chin]

5) In 2012, Streisand renewed her contract with Columbia, where's she's been recording since 1963. So she's been with the same label for fifty years! Where have you worked the longest, and how long was that?   Being a mom, of course.  13 years and counting.  That's the HARDEST JOB IN THE WORLD.  Plus, it encompasses SO MUCH MORE than just "being a mom."  See?

6) Sam Winters once worked as a hostess in a chic bistro in Worcester, PA. That's why she frequently gets frustrated by bad service in restaurants -- she's certain she could make it run more smoothly. Where do you find yourself getting annoyed most often?  I'm a perfectionist so I must *obviously* stay annoyed by this conclusion.  

I think I get more annoyed that people only do only enough to get by.  They don't try to go above and beyond or even to strive to do their best which is tragic.  Because of this, people just sustain.  They don't challenge themselves.  How BORING!

That being said, I am a word-nerd.  Grammatical errors in professional publications annoy me.  Almost every eating establishment I have patronized, I have found errors on their menu.  It's a curse.  It truly is.

7) Have you ever taken a polygraph test?  Yes, I've taken two.  

8) Crunchy, smooth or organic peanut butter?  I can answer this in ONE word:  Yes.  You see, I LURVE PEANUT BUTTER!  LURVE IT.  CRAVE IT.  WANT IT.  NEED IT.  

That being said, I am attempting to clean up the old diet.  Therefore, I will only buy peanut butter that is made of peanuts and ONLY peanuts -- nothing else added.  I mean JIF peanut butter has an ingredient list containing: ROASTED PEANUTS AND SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT.

and Skippy has:  ROASTED PEANUTS, SUGAR, HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (COTTONSEED, SOYBEAN AND RAPESEED) TO PREVENT SEPARATION, SALT

I'm not sure if you take notes but HYDROGENATED is BAD!

I also have decided to decrease the fat intake from said peanut butter by eating PB2.  I LOVE THIS STUFF!  

9) Describe your favorite sweater.  I love cold weather.  I love sweaters.  You think I have a favorite?  SHEESH!  I DON'T PLAY FAVORITES!  Don't you GET IT?  

I love fishermen sweaters... big chunky ones with turtlenecks.  I have a grey one, an ivory one and a chocolate brown one.  I also love my old ski sweaters I purchased from Abercrombie & Fitch YEARS ago. It's a men's sweater and fits big, but I love it and I don't care.  My favorite one is similar to this  

Five Question Friday

Welcome to Five Question Friday hosted by My Little Life!

1.  What holiday do you wish did not exist?  

Hmmmm…. You know, I could probably create a list of them.  On the horizon we have Valentine's Day.  V-Day is a rather stupid celebration in my opinion created by the confectioners across the country.  Oh, and the Hallmark Corporation... maybe American Greetings, too.  

Women bitch and complain about our weight... only to have our significant others buy us a ten pounds heart shaped box FULL of chocolate.  

"Here, honey, I love you. Eat this.  I’m sure you’ll ultimately gain 15 pounds.... and I will no longer find you even remotely attractive… but you’ll remember just how much I love you on THIS day… because… well… it’s VALENTINE’s DAY!

Cards.  The price of a card is like $4 each!  EACH?  And that is a median price. 

Don’t even get me STARTED on the cost of flowers!  JIMINY CHRISTMAS!!  I’m almost OFFENDED that someone would feel SO compelled to give into a ridiculous tradition that they’re mindset is that of a drone “must please the Mrs.  Must buy overpriced everything so she feels loved and validated.”

If you have to do THAT to make someone feel loved and validated, you need to step your ass up to the plate because you’re severely lacking!  One day a year isn’t going to cut it!  She should feel loved and appreciated and desired and sexy and wanted and needed – EVERY SINGLE DAY!  Don’t bring flowers because you’re OBLIGATED by corporate pressure to prove your love…. Bring flowers because you LOVE her and want her to know that it doesn’t take a date on the calendar for you to want her to know how much she is cared for. 

 

Now, if you’re one of those that DOES do it all the time but still WANTS to do it on Valentine’s Day, too, then have at it.  Spend triple the going rate for flowers to prove your love.  Ga’head.  (You may do that knowing that makes me think you’re still an idiot.  No hard feelings.)

2. What is your favorite romance/love movie?

Anyone that knows me knows that I don’t have a “favorite” (singular) of most anything ever.  That being said, however, “The Notebook” is ONE of my favoriteS for sure.  I love the idea that she was willing to risk unfavorable opinions, hard feelings, broken hearts, and lose everything to be with the one man that truly completed her.  Their love story, to me, is amazing. 

3. Do you make a big production out of celebrating Valentine's Day?

I would think by reading my answer to No. 1, you’d know better.  I will make a steak dinner for the family and prepare them something sweet.  That’s about it.  I will get the boys a little something to put at their place settings at the table but… Josh is 13… he doesn’t want crap.  Drew is 8… he doesn’t want crap…. Benji is almost 3… he will throw crap – that I don’t want to clean up.

4. What is something weird you did as a child? (or even now!)

I used to clean and reorganize the junk drawers when I couldn't find what I want because there was so much junk there.  I would also clean/reorganize my grandmother’s pantry and bathroom cabinets.  Sometimes I got paid.  Sometimes we just went to Braum’s for an ice cream.  Just an example of how my perfectionist anal-retentive OCD started at a very early age.  I like things to be precise, perfect, exact.  Always have.  My standards are very high... sometimes to my own detriment.  It is what it is.

 

5. What makes you love your husband, really LOVE him, you know since Valentines is coming up?  

He makes me laugh.  He admits when he is wrong (we won’t go into how often that is…)  He is a good father and provider for our family.  He eats whatever is put before him without complaint.  He knows better than to argue with me.

Friday Fill-Ins

And...here we go!

1. In New England I hear they're going to get a lot of snow.  I think it's awesome.  It seems them... notsomuch. My little sis lives in Boston.  I can't wait to get a full report from her!

 

2. I love LOTS of snow probably because I live in Texas where "lots" means anything more than 2 inches.  Isn't that sad?  I miss Colorado.  I would love to have some freak snow storm drop a foot or more here.  THAT would be SO COOL.

3. Ahhhh, I love scenes like this.  Where we had a deer lease growing up there was an orphaned fawn that they took in.  It was SO SWEET... would come and nuzzle on you just like this.  They had given it a harness with jingle bells so that no one would shoot it. 

4. Sleeping is my favorite thing to do nowadays. I'm not sure if that's good... or bad.  

5. Last night, I had a dream about something I'm sure because we all dream, right?  Meh, maybe not.  If I did, I just don't remember it. 

6. Do you want to know which is the perfect way to be healthy?  EAT A CLEAN DIET!

 
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Sleeping (you weren't expecting something else were you?  I mean, you DID read my answer to No. 4 above, right?, tomorrow my plans include taking Drew to his basketball game, hitting the gym hard for leg day and then chillin' with the two younger ones while Josh plays in a scrimmage and Sunday, I want to hopefully do something creative, something productive and maybe see Josh in another scrimmage!

Saturday 9 - Aida

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Aida

1) Have you ever been to the opera?  Yes, and I didn't enjoy it one iota.  I'm not opera material.  I appreciated it, don't get me wrong... but I am definitely not the audience for that type of performance.  I prefer a beat, something you can sing along with... screaming fans... a laid-back environment... I want to be able to have a conversation and not have to sit in silence the entire time.  

2) Maria Callas was often called a "diva." Is that a compliment or a criticism?  I would be inclined to believe that would be a relative and subjective term that could both be used as a type of compliment but ... directed at a different subject COMPLETELY critical.  In calling Maria a "diva," I would believe it were a compliment.

3) Aida was composed by famous Italian Giusseppe Verdi. In addition to opera, what else can the world thank Italy for?  Marco Polo... isn't that like THE first swimming game kids learn?  How about... DaVinci?  He was a multi-faceted individual of many talents... the entire Renaissance can be encapsulated in some of his works.  Brilliant man.  Galileo, of course, who helped pioneer the way for Newton... (and food...but that rather goes without saying!)

 

4) Verdi was Italian and Callas was Greek. Would you rather vacation in Italy or Greece?  Yes.  :)  

I pine for a vacation in Italy.  I would want to visit the truly "touristy" spots.... because you have to just say "I've been there."  Like... Sicily's Valley of the Temples, Cinque Terre, the Colosseum, Pompeii, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Fontana di Trevi (among others)...those are just top on my list.

   

Greece would beckon me to visit the Parthenon... This area of the world is so rich in history and artifacts.... I truly would geek out at the opportunity to be among such amazing collections.  I would love to be in the presence of the Temple of Poseidon or the Meteora.  I'd walk along the beaches in Crete or visit the Delphi Ruins.... Again... history geek loving adventures... 

   

5) The Marx Bros. starred in A Night at the Opera. What's the funniest movie you have ever seen? I don't really "do" favorites because it's all so subjective based on  personalities... Trying to consider a movie that I have truly laughed out loud on -- I think the list would be small.  In the top 10... Dumb and Dumber.  Yes, I realize that I have probably lost many a great friend at this very moment, but you have to be who you are... and I am a fan of Dumb and Dumber.  The Jerk is another one that truly had me going.  Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler... and by that train of thought Billy Madison and Waterboy... and Coming to America. I really loved Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in Rush Hour.  Jim Carrey's antics in Liar, Liar always get me rolling as well.  All that being said, however, it would be impossible to pick a favorite.

       

6) What's for dinner tonight?  Who knows!  It will be a surprise.  

7) Are you wearing any jewelry right now?  Nope.  Rarely,if ever, do I wear jewelry.  Buuuuut... HE does!  Wasn't Mr. T so cool?  

8) Sam Winters has a scratchy throat and watery eyes. How do you treat the common cold?  Personally, I probably only buy extra boxes of Puffs Plus with Vicks.  Addressing your most annoying symptoms is seemingly the only thing you can do to "treat" a cold since they are viral.  

9) Do you need your glasses (or contacts) when you drive?  Nope.  I had LASIK years ago. It's still so creepy to think I let someone LASER MY EYEBALLS!