Thankful Thursday

At the behest of Carole, I am jumping on the "Thankful Thursday" bandwagon ...

I am thankful for good friends. In the past year or two, I have learned how much I rely on my friends -- to celebrate with in times of joy and to lean on in times of sadness, to listen to and to listen to me, to give me a word of advice when I need it and a kick in the pants when I deserve it.

The best kind of friends are not necessarily those who I might have expected to walk into my life, but those who have changed my life in ways that I couldn't have imagined.



These flowers are from one of those friends. This summer, I spent a week in New York. When we got to the city, M (my friend and traveling companion for the week) decided we needed some flowers at the place we were staying, and left these on my windowsill. Sometimes, it's the littlest gestures that say "you are important to me."

To all of my friends -- including those of you who are part of my online world -- you are important to me, and I am grateful that I have you in my life!

You know, I kind of miss blogging, every once in a while.

I'm swiping this meme from Carole. Who knows? I might blog a bit more frequently in the next couple of months. Or not.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 4:55 am
2. How do you like your steak? I don't eat red meat
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Ummmm ... ? I guess it's been a while.
   
4. What is your favorite TV show? Law and Order
   
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? where I live now.
   
6. What did you have for breakfast? peanut butter and jelly sandwich
   
7. What is your favorite cuisine? French
   
8. What foods do you dislike? nothing, really. maybe tripe?
   
9. Favorite Place to Eat? any fine restaurant
   
10. Favorite dressing? blue cheese
    
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Honda Accord
    
12. What are your favorite clothes? sweats (for comfort), black pants and heels (for looking good)
    
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Europe ... all over.
    
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 1/2 full
15. Where would you want to retire? somewhere on the ocean
    
16. Favorite time of day? late night
    
17. Where were you born? Massachusetts
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? hockey
    
19. Bird watcher? no
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? night
21. Do you have any pets? nope
    
22. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share? nope - it's pretty quiet around here
    
23. What is your favorite childhood memory? Playing in the snow.
    
24. Always wear your seat belt? yes, always!
    
25. Been in a car accident? no
26. Any pet peeves? too many to list!
    
27. Favorite pizza toppings? mushroom
    
28. Favorite Flower? lilies
29. Favorite ice cream? anything with chocolate
    
30. Favorite fast food restaurant? Dunkin Donuts
    
31. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? none
32. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I have no idea!
    
33. Do anything spontaneous lately? Nope. And all of you who have met me will understand this :)
    
34. Broccoli? hell, yeah!
    
35. What was your favorite vacation? honeymoon cruise
    
36. Last person you went out to dinner with? my knitnight girls
    
37. What are you listening to right now? The sweetly humming a/c.
    
38. What is your favorite color? blue
39. How many tattoos do you have? none, and never will
    
40. Coffee Drinker? yes. iced, with milk and sugar, year round.
    

And there you have it. Did you learn anything new about me?

Elisa made me do it

Elisa posted her answers to this meme and, because she said that we are all fascinating, I got a big ego and decided that y'all needed to know more about me. So, here goes:

1. Where was I 10 years ago.
I was an undergrad at BU and living in Boston. I worked for the school's orientation program, so at this exact moment I was probably dressed in a red polo shirt and ushering entering freshmen round campus. Such a great job -- we worked nonstop for a 48 hour period each week, got paid pretty well, and got free housing. Fifty-odd sassy college students in an apartment building, working only 2 days a week. If you guessed that there was a lot of partying on the other 5 days, you'd probably be right.

2. Five things on today’s to-do list.
Meet a friend/former colleague for lunch/socializing/networking.
Buy food for dinner.
Revise my independent study syllabus. (Next on the agenda.)
Clean the living room. (Probably not gonna happen.)
Do laundry for tomorrow. (In progress now.)

3. Snacks I enjoy.
Chocolate. Fruit smoothies. Cheese and crackers.

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire.
Give money to my alma mater. I think I'd like a building named after me :)
Give money to my YMCA to build a new pool.
Take a really long vacation and travel.
Pay off our mortgage and Thom's student loans. (Sorry, my practical side is escaping...)
Buy a new car. A hybrid, most likely. Or a Volvo. I learned to drive on a 1975 Volvo, and I still have a soft spot for them. (Umm, yes, the car was older than me at the time!)

5. Places I have lived.
Massachusetts, all my life. A native Mass-hole.

6. Jobs I have had.
Lifeguard. Swim instructor. Synchronized swim coach. Babysitter/nanny. Orientation leader. Research assistant. Program assistant at a small academic institute at one university. Fundraiser at another university.

7. Who would I like to know more about.
As Elisa says, "Everyone. You're all just so fascinating. Seriously."