20 year torture

Ladies and gents, boys and girls (a la Sweeney Todd)... B is napping, Jeff is strapped to the machine, someone else is doing my yardwork. I somehow justified that if I do this quiz, I will simultaneously work up the energy to conquer cleaning the floors and kitchen. That is quite ambitious and more than a little redundant considering I am tripping over an extra dog this weekend (mom and dad entrusted us with their other child while the vacation in Alaska). There is nothing remotely groundbreaking in this superficial getting to know me quiz. Enjoy if you will.


20 years ago I was
1. 7 years old
2. living in Mesa, AZ
3. reading any book I could get my hands on
4. going to Madison Elementary
5. wearing hyper-color clothing, leggings, and jellies if I could get my hands on them
6. sitting underneath the fire engine on the playground using as many cuss words as possible

10 years ago I was
1. 17 years old
2. living in Mesa, AZ
3. going to Mesa High hockey games
4. splitting time between drama and band
5. trying to figure out where I was going to go to college
6. writing horrible short stories and making a lame attempt at meaningful poetry

5 years ago I was
1. 22 years old
2. living in Mesa, AZ or Brighton, England
3. newly engaged to Jeff
4. teaching at Kino Junior High
5. living with Rika and Jeff in our rental house on Harmony… good times!
6. reading a ton of books… I was averaging two books a week

3 years ago I was
1. 24 years old
2. living in Mesa, AZ
3. married for a year
4. decorating our new house
5. still reading a ton of books and attempting to write again
6. not even thinking about getting pregnant

So far this year I have
1. only read three books
2. loved every minute of being a mother
3. been published in a literary journal
4. continued my second graduate degree
5. created our family blog (I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel here, guys)
6. embarrassed Jeff more than ever with my public singing and joke telling

Yesterday I
1. moved the blog from one site to another
2. waited and waited for B to wake from his marathon nap
3. didn’t get to go with Mollie or Bonnie to look for wedding dresses
4. ok, this is a good one… bought a food scale, an ice cube tray (new dessert recipe, don’t ask), and salad Tupperware-ma-bob
5. read ONE chapter from a book…woohoo!
6. stalked a bunch of old friends’ blogs

Today I (it’s only 10am, so nothing impressive)
1. am getting the back and front yards dolled up
2. might take B swimming
3. will finish that book… only 30 pages left!
4. am going to beat Jeff on Wii tennis, if not, boxing
5. am going to make a killer dinner as opposed to reheating leftovers
6. clean my dirty dirty house

Tomorrow I
1. am taking Jeff to his follow-up appointment
2. will go with Hannah to pilates
3. will continue to stalk new blogs
4. am thinking of making Jeff grill some burgers
5. will get B back on his schedule… napping an hour after one wakes is a luxury, not a necessity, but at least we get to do stuff before it gets too hot
6. plan not to do any laundry, though the basket upstairs is taunting me

In the next year I
1. get to have “conversations” with my son
2. will plan a vacation with the boys
3. continue to exercise…even when school starts
4. will read more books
5. commit to my writing
6. get a new camera, because my current one is jacked