What is your reaction to waking up and seeing snow? Well, I live in San Jose, so my reaction would probably be... "What the hell???"
What's your favorite dessert to order out? to make at home? I like different things from different places. I like tiramisu, chocolate anything, things with berries, and always - ice cream. At home - ice cream.
Do you file your taxes early or late? Early
Do you usually get a big refund? If so, what do you do with it? Usually a couple thousand, and we usually buy things we've gone without all year - like underwear, haha. But no more!!!
How do you handle your bills? Are you really organized, really laid back or somewhat in between. Describe. Now that we have money I pay them the instant they come in. Bill come in, Bill go out.
How important is money in terms of your happiness? A lot is not important. Having ENOUGH is important and relieves so much stress. Money may not buy happiness, but you certainly need enough to pay bills.
What did your parents teach you about money? Unfortunately, not much. I think they though sheltering us from what they went through was helping us. Not really.
What do you wish your parents had taught you about money? Um, how to budget, save, make enough, the evils of credit cards.
What are your plans for the weekend? NO SCHOOLWORK, going to the gym, reading, watching movies, sewing, cleaning house. Or maybe I'll just be a bum.
bonus question. Jimbo and Megs want to go away for an extended weekend somewhere within driving distance and not too much money (but nice!). Where do you suggest? I suggest they drive their butts back to California so I can see them like I wanted to but didn't get to last time.

From Megs:

1. What was the last thing you made from scratch? I'm not sure, I haven't made much of anything in a while. I haven't baked in AGES, and it certainly wasn't from scratch. But I make some great noodles - cook up some thin fettuchini, toss with olive oil, add chopped garlic (simmered or raw), chopped roma tomatoes, fresh basil, possibly some additional garlic powder (I always do, you can't have too much garlic) and then cover with fresh grated parmesan cheese (NOT the fake powder kind!!!). I don't know if that counts as scratch, but that's about as far as I go.

2. List your top five indispensible web sites/utilities.
TelevisionWithoutPity
GoFugYourself
Netflix
Diaryland
Amazon.com

3. What nice thing did someone do for your this week?
Mimi sent me some really lovely smelling products from... I don't have the box here, but it was Bed Bath & Beyond, or someplace like that.

4. What nice thing did you do for someone else this week?
I took my Aunt Roxie out of my mother's house where she was stressed from keeping an eye on my sister and her three misbehaved children, and took her to lunch at The Red Lobster.

5. List three great things about this past week.
Well this is awkward, isn't it?
Um...
1. The Memorial Service went really really well.
2. I figured out how to drive the Prius and no longer have to worry about the Jeep breaking down.
3. I got to see a lot of family I haven't seen in many years at the memorial service and I really liked that.
4. I got some nice items of furniture and jewelry form my mother's house, although I would much rather have my mother.
5. I enjoyed having my mother's ashes at work yesterday. (I left her at home today, she's currently on a shelf in my bookcase, safe from cats and children)
(Oh, that was only supposed to be three? Well, I guess the week was better than I thought. Right.)

6. In what zip code did you lost your virginity?
I believe it was probably 95135, although it was quite an unincorporated part of my city at that time.

7. What are your plans for the weekend?
Go to my Spanish Review Saturday morning, Go to Scott's house, celebrate my pre-birthday, pack up more things from my mother's house, try to catch up on anything to do with school.

From Megs!

1. What's for dinner tonight? I had a bowl of Alpha-Bits
2. What is the first movie you remember seeing? Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (the original)
3. Are you more likely to stop at an accident or drive by? Drive by
4. What are you going to be for Halloween? What was your favorite costume as a child? I don't think I'll be anything, I haven't dressed up for years. When I was a kid my mother made our costumes, and my favorite was a cowgirl, and an ice skater.
5. I hear the stores have Christmas stuff up. What do you think of that? I HATE that.
6. Elvis: Love 'em or leave 'em? Leave 'em.
7. What is your favorite sport and why? Swimming

Happy Sunday Morning!

That's right, I have not started my history studying yet, give me some time to drink some coffee first.

Okay, first off, go welcome Lanie back to Blog-Land and leave her a photo-posting comment.

Second, Miss Bonkrood has been posting again recently and I didn't even know it. That's what happens when you go to school full time AND work full time, you don't always notice the happenings on the computer, but as a fellow worker/student, I know Bonkrood understands. At any rate, she found The Friday Forums which are like the Friday Fives, but, you know, not. Any way, they have some pretty good questions, so I'm going to copy Bonky's last two postings and answer those. And then maybe everyone else will start answering them too.

Here we go:

1. What qualities in a friendship are most important to you?
They have to be able to laugh at themselves as much as they laugh at me. They have to think everything in this world is funny. They have to be somewhat dorky. And they have to have their own lives apart from me so they don't call me every day and need to see me every day, heh.

Who is your oldest friend [in terms of how long you've known the person]? Who is your newest friend? How did you meet both of them, and why do you get along so well?
Charleen. Friends since we were 14 (actually I was just 13) which was way back in... let me think... August 1980. And we have stayed friends exactly because she matches the answer to Question #1.

Have you ever met someone, become really close friends with them, and then drifted apart for some reason? How did it happen, and did you ever try to get back in touch with that person?
Ya know, I always make really good friends with my office mates. Like most outsiders assume we're Best! Friends! Forever! But as soon as they leave the company, I never see them again. Oh, it's not *their* fault - again, Question #1, I don't have time to spend outside of work to hang out with people.

Do you feel that men and women can be good friends? Why/why not? Do you have any close friends of the opposite sex?
Absolutely! Although... now that I think about it... My best male friends *used* to be boyfriends, heh... Jeff and Will are both very close, Ken at work I consider a very good friend. I have no problem making male friends.

Do you tend to make friends easily? Why/why not? Do you have many online friends? Which of your friends lives the closest to you?
Yes, I make friends easily. I just don't ever want to hang out with them. I suppose it's not really a matter of having time, it's a matter of I want to be alone and do my own thing. So, like with Charleen, we keep in touch with what's going on, we meet for special occasions like birthdays, Christmas, parties, but that's about it. I'm not a weekend going out kind of person. I'm not a shopper. I'm not social. Give me a book, my computer and my dvd player and I'm happy.
Plus, ya know what? I love spending time with my kids. Those two are probably my best friends.

Okay, and here's her next set of Questions:

1. Starting with your head down to your toes, what health/beauty products have you used/applied to your body so far today? [For example, shampoo, toothpaste, makeup, cologne/perfume, nail polish, etc.]?
Today? Um, today is Sunday. I rolled out of bed and sat in this chair. I washed my hands and put in my contacts, that's it. Yes, bad breath and all, don't get too close to your screen, heh.

2. Do you have a ritual when you take a shower, such as washing your hair first or maybe even brushing your teeth in the shower? If so, what? Do you prefer baths or showers, usually?
I get in the shower, wet my little wash scrunchie thingie with soap, wash from my neck down. Shave my legs if I'm doing that that morning. Wash my face with Oil of Olay soap. Wash my hair. Put a little conditioner in. Done. Like Bonkrood I dry off in the shower.
I take baths maybe once or twice a year.

3. How do you get yourself up and going in the mornings? Coffee? A hot shower? Breakfast? Would you consider yourself a morning person at all? When do you usually get up?
If it's a work day I go straight to the shower, then make coffee and sit at the computer while waiting. I am a morning person so I am wide awake by the time I get in the shower.
If it's the weekend I just make coffee and sit by the computer.

4. Do you normally eat breakfast? What do you usually have? Do you usually make it at home or go out for breakfast, or do you prefer not to eat breakfast?
On work days I make a bagel and take it with me. On weekends I don't usually eat breakfast unless I'm in Aptos, then it's off to the coffee shop for a coffee and bagel.

5. What does your alarm clock sound like? A buzzer, music, or something else? Do you ever set your clock fast so that you push yourself to get ready sooner? Are you usually on time, late, or somewhere in-between?
My alarm clock is set to a non-threatening easy rock station so I don't wake up with a headache. It's set pretty low because I wake up easily. I'll hit the snooze a couple times, but I get up pretty fast.

Friday Five ala Reality

1. What kind of car do you drive? A 1994 white Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. And I have a white 1990 Chrysler LeBaron convertible sitting in the driveway hoping the car fairy will come fix it.

2. What kind of car do you wish you drove? A new convertible that works a bit better. I'm not really picky on what kind, heh.

3. What's in your car? Oh, lots. Soooooo many books, bills, puzzles, coffee mugs, my winter jacket.

4. What are you doing this weekend? Going to Aptos! We're going to work around the house, watch The Cooler on dvd, eat good food, sit in the hot tub, I'm hoping to go to downtown Santa Cruz, and just Relax.

5. Do you have vacation plans this summer? Whatcha up to? The swim meets will start in a couple weeks, so there's always that. Otherwise no plans. Lots of beach trips, I'm sure.

Mocksie's choice:

1. What did you want to be when you grew up? A musician or a writer.

2. Do you have any nicknames? Just the common nickname for my real name, and also "Myrtle" for awhile. In a moment of stupidity one day at 14 I refused to tell some friends my middle name, and since they knew it started with M they decided it was Myrtle.

3. If you could change something about yourself what would it be? Ya know, I kind of like myself. But I wish I could lose some weight. I wish I had TIME to lose this weight, actually.

4. Have you ever bought anything from an infomercial? I bought a dog training course on tape for like $50. I used the first tape, but our dog was borderline retarded and I never put much effort into it.

5. How do you plan to spend your weekend? At 2pm we're going to the baptism of Corina's baby, a big party at a ranch in Morgan Hill with lots of homemade mexican food. Tomorrow we're going to church for a special thingie going on, otherwise it's movies, yard work and relaxing.

1. What do you do for a living? I do Accounts Receivable, liening houses and ruining credit reports across California. And I love my job.

2. What do you like most about your job? That I'm appreciated there, I LOVE the people in my own office, my bosses treat me like family, Scott works there so I get to see him every morning.

3. What do you like least about your job? When really stupid people call and yell at me for FOREVER about not owing any money when they know damn well they owe money.

4. When you have a bad day at work it's usually because _____... Some idiot has kept me on the phone for a very long time yelling in my ear - I can't really hang up on them unless they start cursing at me, but on days when I'm irritated I have been known to be something of a bitch.

Don't get me wrong, if you don't have any money then you don't have any money - *I* understand that. If you call and try to work something out with me I am the nicest collection officer in the world (and I know, I've talked with a lot of them myself). But don't treat me like shit or lie to me or make shit up or act like *I'm* the stupid one, because I WILL put a lien on your house and file foreclosure on your ass, don't think I won't.

5. What other career(s) are you interested in? Personal trainer for kids, or a leading a group thing for kids, organizing running clubs for kids.

Because it's my blog and I can do what I want to,
Meg made up her own Friday Five, and I'm going to do that one too.

What's your favorite flower? The tulip. Pink especially, but I love them all. I wish I could grow red tulips in my garden year round.

What are you most looking forward to about spring? Nice weather. Californians whine so much about the rain, but it never really gets cold here. It does get hot though. So I love Spring and Fall, when it's just right, and sunny and breazy. No need for heaters or air conditioners.

What five things make you the happiest?
My Kids
Getting packages in the mail
Paying my bills
Reading books at the coffee shop with Scott
Seeing Scott's face every morning.

If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be? I'm pretty happy with myself. Right now the only thing I'd change is to make myself thin and in shape again, that's about it.

If you could make one wish for someone else what would it be? For both my kids, I just want them to grow up Happy. I would give up anything for that.

No Friday-Five today so I'm borrowing the list Mocksie chose to do:

1. What is your current occupation? Is this what you chose to be doing at this point in your life? Why or why not? I am in Accounting, doing Collections and other more technical but boring sounding stuff. No, I would have bet a million dollars I wouldn't be in accounting when I grew up because I HATE MATH. And I'm not good at it. But my particular stuff doesn't involve a lot of math, so anyway, here I am. It's a job and it pays well.

2. If time/talent/money were no object, what would your dream occupation be? I'd probably be back working in the Plant Nursery. Or I'd be a Movie Reviewer. Or write a newspaper column.

3. What did/do your parents do for a living? Has this had any influence on your career choices? My dad retired from the Navy, went to work in electronics as an engineer, then had a heart attack and retired. My mom was a full-time mother until I started high school, then she went to college and has been a 1st grade teacher ever since. They had no influence on me whatsoever.

4. Have you ever had to choose between having a career and having a family? Yes, and I couldn't give my baby to someone else to raise. I stayed home and was poor, only returning to work after the divorce. I don't think I could ever have a baby if I had to give him to someone else during the day.

5. In your opinion, what is the easiest job in the world? What is the hardest? Why? I don't know about the easiest - probably those people who test video games and such. But the hardest is probably being a police officer. Yeah, there are bad ones, but overall they're good people who put up with a BUNCH of CRAP from really stupid people, while putting their lives on the line every day to protect us.

1. Dragon:: Tales
2. Molecule:: Microscopic
3. Tire:: Swing
4. Mighty:: Mouse
5. Octane:: High
6. Troll:: Bridge
7. Atmosphere:: Ozone
8. Guide:: Sherpa
9. Leash:: Muzzle
10. Dustmite:: DustBunny

It's not good to do this 5 minutes after waking up.

1. Ignore:: The phone
2. Death:: toll
3. Missy:: Elliot
4. Ballet:: dancer
5. Guest:: speaker
6. Campus:: librarian
7. Lonely:: hearts club band
8. Company:: Go home!
9. Commercial:: break
10. Sterile:: cottonball

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first? My kids, then Charlene then Scott

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself? a car, then a house

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else? a car for Scott

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom? I would give a lot to my church because I know they'll do something good with it (they've given enough to us over the years), I'd give some to Corina, and some to a food bank.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how? I would invest in property. Houses.

1. Berry:: Jelly
2. Fiendish:: dastardly
3. Bar:: drink
4. Frank:: Berry (10 points if you know who that is)
5. Bend:: it like Beckham
6. Fanatic:: lunatic
7. Belch:: fart
8. Flagrant:: violation
9. Burden:: carrying
10. Flimsy:: nighgown

Okay, this is the first time I've ever played:

1. Mitchell:: Margaret
2. Mercury:: Planet
3. Cycle:: Period
4. Engagement:: RING
5. Alternative:: Medicine
6. Gang:: Bang
7. Emotional:: Wreck
8. Skinny:: Minnie
9. Hypochondriac:: Mother-In-Law
10. Insecure:: Not me.

I never remember to do these so I'm doing this one late:

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not? I hate to shop. I hate crowds, I hate walking around crowded stores, I hate parking and traffic. I like to know what I'm getting ahead of time, go to the store, get it and purchase it, and go home.
2. What was the last thing you purchased? For me? All those books from Amazon that I hope arrive in today's mail.
3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why? ONLINE. For all the reasons listed in Question 1.
4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it? I got One Dollar every other week. And I could not wait to spend it. Fortunately, in the late 70's you could actually walk to Albertsons and get some junk toy for a buck. Or if I actually saved TWO DOLLARS I could buy an oil paint by numbers set - Holly Hobbie and Horsies were my favorite.
5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing? That laser level. I don't think he liked it, but I'm not sure. But there just wasn't time or money to get anything else.

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