Monday, May 19, 2008

I Ask, Then You Ask

I have a couple of questions, my friends, so naturally I turn to you.

First: Do you think I should change my avatar? I love the picture I have right now. "Breakfast in Bed" is one of my favorite Mary Cassatt paintings, and the little girl in the painting reminds me of Sally. However, I've seen a lot of cute new avatars from different bloggers recently and I'm wondering if I should mix it up a bit. I know myself, and I am a faithful student of the "If It Ain't Broke Don't Fix It" school of thought, but on the other hand, I have had the same avatar since I began blogging. What do you think?

Second: Do you tip people who do things around your house? I don't mean appliance repair people or other jobs of that nature. I mean like movers or the extremely nice Mennonite gentlemen who came to install the swingset we bought for the kids. These guys had the whole thing up in about thirty minutes. I can't even get takeout that fast. And they gave Fiver some Juicy Fruit gum, which he bit off in small bits, chewed with only his front teeth, and spit in the trash so he could take another bite. But still. We paid for installation, of course, but should I have given them extra? I really don't know since all of my social skills leak out of my ears and run down the street whenever anyone comes over to work on our house. I do not know what is wrong with me. I am a reject, help me.

And now, in addition to the answering, you get to do the asking. Lucky ducks.

I have seen this "ask me a question, any question" kind of post making its way around Blogville, and I have been wanting to try it. Then T and I were tweeting about trying it, one thing led to another, and we decided we'd both go for it (with a little encouragement from Fried Okra).

Frankly, I am worried that no one will have any questions for me because I am not all that exciting. I can't even stay up later than my Granny.

Plus, I check in with my Sitemeter, and I know I have readers from all kinds of little nooks and crannies all over the map, but I seem to have only a small core of commenters. I am cool with that, as I don't really blog specifically for the comments. I maintain this site for myself, and for my family and friends. The comments are pure gravy. Thick, delicious, rib-sticking, pour it over everything, fattening gravy, and I will admit that I enjoy the gravy.

And while I appreciate all the friends who comment regularly (I do, I really, really do), I just want the lurkers to know that I am happy to know that they are out there. But if you ever thought about commenting, this might be the time. You want to comment ask me something obscure about the third grade or how I used to pretend I was deaf when my brother was born. You know you want to hear that story.

So go ahead and do it. Ask me anything. I will try to be as transparent as possible.

12 comments:

  1. OK, here you go. What was your college major, and what jobs did you hold "before kids?"

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  2. Anonymous7:31 AM

    Okay, here goes... you get my fully functioning brain because (surprisingly so) the children are all still asleep!
    One- I love your avatar. I not only think it looks like Sally, it look like you too and it reminds me of one of the perks of being a mom.
    Two, I have been in the same situation with the tipping. I actually usually just offer them a soda or something when they are finished. Plus, we have lucked out in the "obligation" department in having people like our landscaper, fence installation, handyman, and yes, even our swing set installers (menonite gentlemen as well- where did you get yours?) get other jobs in our neighborhood because some of our neighbors tend to play "keeping up with the Joneses" (or Mirabellas as the case may be).
    Finally, here is a question- tell me a day when you are free for lunch and I will try to match that day. Okay, a real question- have you written anything for publication lately? ( I mean not that you aren't writing everyday!!!)
    Have a great one!
    Mirabella MOM

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  3. I wouldn't change the avatar. I like it. It is just "you."

    I think maybe you should have tipped the swingset guys, but I seriously doubt I would have thought to do it myself. I would have been so stunned that it went up so fast that I would probably have been a blubbering idiot.

    Here's a question: What's the meanest thing you ever did to one of your siblings? I've got a duesey answer for that one myself.

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  4. Anonymous9:17 AM

    I'll admit it was a bit hard to come up with something to ask since we've known each other for so long but after sleeping on it I came up with a few things. Answer as many (or as few) as you like.

    1) Tell us about your first real kiss - not your first kiss ever, I saw that one during the play rehearsal - your first "I'm in luv" kiss. Give up the who, what when, where.

    2) What is your favorite song to belt out when/if you get a chance to drive all by yourself (or in the shower if that's more your style)?

    3) How did you pick your blog title? If you had to change it, what would you change it to?

    4) Is there a food that you absolutely hate?

    5) For each of your children tell us one personality trait or quirk that they inherited from you.

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  5. Well who doesn't love and live for gravy?

    Questions... Think you'll work again when all the kids are full time in school? Ever consider homeschooling? Who mows the lawn at your house? How much grumbling does it involve? What was your reason behind the real names you gave your kids?

    Naw, don't change the avatar unless you get the rearranging bug. I get that feeling at times, hence the continual blog revamps... I can't move the actual furniture around here, but the blog?

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  6. I don't usually comment, but I will delurk to ask a question ....

    What do you feel your most shining moment as a mom has been? I won't make you share your worst. I'm trying to forget mine LOL

    Stephanie

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  7. Anonymous1:11 PM

    ok, so first off...don't change unless you really really wanna - the avatar I mean. I like it, it seems everbody else does, so go with a good thing here.

    second, i'm not really sure what to ask you, cause we're y'know related, so here goes: why don't you blog about me?!
    Lol...just kidding, NOT the real question...
    Um how about - (well besides that story about being deaf, I swear I never heard that one!) - have you ever considered trading places with one of your siblings? or, what's something that you haven't done yet in life, but always wanted to do? and something a lil more off the wall than a generic, say, skydiving...

    The Juje

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  8. Anonymous2:53 PM

    Have you ever gone to the supermarket in your pjs....? hehehe

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  9. Don't change the avatar - yours is one of my favorites. I lurve it. :)

    I, too, am a tipping dunce. It never occurs to me to do it unless I'm at a restaurant. I'd not be the one to ask.

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  10. My question: How is your weightloss going? And...who is your favorite saint and why? Sorry if I'm too late to get an answer, I've been...I don't even know.

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  11. I'm a lurker, but a faithful one. I will come out of the dark to ask a question:

    If you encountered yourself in an alternate universe, what would the "other you" be doing?

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  12. Hey, so I know this post is really old, but I just spent 7 hours (yes, 7 -- and I am not exaggerating!) catching up on your blog (and you thought you had trouble posting on a regular basis) and I have two questions for you.

    1) I want to hear about you pretending you were deaf when I was born -- because that sounds like an awesome story, and

    2) I am interested in who the person was that you were infactuated with at the start of college. You mentioned it in one of you love stories and I don't think I know about that.

    Anyway, it's 2:19 am and I have to be at work in 5 hours, so maybe I'll think about bed.

    ReplyDelete

Go ahead and say it. You know you want to.