Size Seven, If You Must Know

Bikini style or boy shorts. *Whew!* You people are SO nosy!

I'm flattered that you think I'm all that interesting, actually. I think I have enough blog fodder from these questions alone to last me until 2012!

I must admit, however, to a certain amount of trepidation upon reading some of your questions. You may not like my answers, frankly. You may be disappointed in me. You may decide to quit reading this trash and find someone really admirable to hang out with. The litany of insecurity goes on and on.

But I am determined to sally forth, and to be as frank and honest as everyone else on the internet is  the Good Lord requires that I be. If I take your rose-colored glasses and stomp them to smithereens, then so be it. Please accept my apologies in advance. Perhaps you could trade them in for a slightly-pink monocle instead.

How about if I warm up first with some of the easy ones, though? Just to get my feet wet? Something innocuous, maybe? A few people (Natalie, Shel, Linda Sue, Toni) asked me about my girlish figure (cough). How do I maintain it, and so forth.

Answer: My exercise regimen is as bipolar as my brain, folks. The pendulum swings from doing absolutely nothing (usually during the seasons that I am both pregnant and homeschooling; the energy and time is simply not there) to frenetically biking and running as though fleeing something with very sharp teeth (usually during the non-pregnant, non-homeschooling seasons, which are admittedly short-lived).

I used to do aerobics to video tape in my living room, but as more and more small people were in danger of getting trampled, I had to give that up. And so I limp along with my hit-and-miss schedule, trying to make up for the lack during the times of abundance, and somehow it all evens out. The rest of the equation can be summed up in one word: genetics. I inherited some pretty sturdy abs and a bitchin' pair of biceps* from my Dad, and that goes a long way.

Soliloquy asked a couple of questions that I found especially ~fun~, the first being "How has your blog and its purpose evolved?"

Answer: This is the second blog I have had. The first was begun after Toby's birth, and I maintained it for about 6 months, I think. I don't remember what I called it. I don't remember why I stopped it, either. I think I need to stock up on the ginko-bilboa. Anyway, after I had my second miscarriage a little over a year ago, I needed a place to just spill my guts and work through what I was feeling and what the Lord was saying to me.

Very quickly, however, the blog began to be a bit of an unhealthy obsession. I almost shut it down a few months in because I was far too focused on saying everything perfectly and worrying about what other folks were thinking. Upon reflecting, I was able to refocus and I realized that I wanted to keep the blog because I STRAIGHT UP LOVE TO WRITE and I stopped fretting so much and just had fun with it.

Now, looking back over this steaming heap of thought-compost, I am so grateful that I kept it up. I have such a wonderful record of God's goodness, and of my own journey, that I never would have had otherwise. I have grown much simply by seeing my own thoughts, good and bad, right in front of me. Sin has been exposed to be dealt with, and God's truth has at times hit me upside the head. It's all good.

Her second question was "Where did you get that freakin' vocabulary??"

Answer: I love words. Love. Them. Words are just so much fun. When I was in high school English class, we used a little curriculum called "Word Wealth" that was a vocabulary strengthener, and I was the weird kid who thought it was So Much Fun. Nowadays I subscribe to A Word A Day and all kinds of new words just show up in my inbox, like "kerfuffle" and "jobbernowl" which, besides building my vocabulary, are just plain fun to say. Don't know what they mean? Look them up! Impress your friends!

Minnesota Mom also asked some intriguing questions. She asked "Were you homeschooled?"

Answer: No. I went to parochial school until 6th grade, public school from 7th to 9th, and halfway through 9th grade moved to Norway, where I went to a hoity-toity private school just especially for the fat cat oil company brats and any Norwegian who could afford it (IOW there were no Norwegians attending). Interestingly, my youngest brother was homeschooled through late elementary/jr. high years (after my parents and he moved back to the USA) and my mother and I enjoyed comparing curriculum and teaching frustrations for a while before he went to public high school.

She also asked: How did you meet your husband?

Answer: Ahhh. If I am not careful this might turn into a novel similar to Pioneer Woman's "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" in length, but I'll reign myself in. For now, anyway. Basically, My Beloved was a senior in high school in that Norwegian-but-really-American high school when I moved as a freshman. He was not really on my radar at all until I began, as a sophomore, dating his best friend (a year behind him) and we met when he was home on Christmas vacation. I thought he was just about the most delicious slice of bow-legged, crinkly eyed-smiling sweetie pie I'd ever seen.

Annnnnd: What's your favorite dessert?

Answer: Didn't I just answer that? heh heh. Oh, you mean actual food. Uhhhh....I'm pretty partial to a box of chocolate-coated caramels, actually. The chewy kind, not the gooey kind. I also like cookies that are almost burned. And the corners of just about any sort of dessert that occupies a 13x9 pan. And anything that includes "lemon" or "key lime" in the description.

I'm horribly picky, as you can see.

And finally, for the last question o' the day: If you had never had kids and were unable to adopt (for whatever reason), what would be your dream job?

Answer: I think the dreamiest possible job would be writing for travel books like Lonely Planet, as long as I got all the beach gigs.

To be continued...

*did you notice? I resisted! I resisted linking to my post about slugs and biceps! Aren't you proud of me?

Comments

[Johanna]

Re: your favorite dessert - ROFL! Now we know why you have 12 children!! Before I went sugar-free, chocolate covered caramels were a big staple in my diet!

[Minnesotamom]

I DID notice you refrained from linking to the slug post. That alone lets me know that we're charting new territory here.... :)

Thanks for the answers! I'm going to have great fun reading the rest, too!

[Bekki]

Oh yummy..I love the corners and almost burnt cookies. I like the corners in casseroles too...crunchy goodness! Wierdo that I am!
This is gonna be fun!!

[Sandi]

'nother AWAD subscriber here! I find some of their words a bit bizarre to try to legitimately fit into a conversation, though. Do you really try to actually use all of them?

Both my parents and two siblings are bean poles; I inherited the genetics of my rotund grandmother. Figures. some people have all the luck! :)

[Christine]

Dang, I was hoping you'd answer that question about cussing first!

[Vicki Arnold]

I love the post. You are really brave to take on some of the questions that were asked.

Good luck!

P.S. I don't own rose colored glasses. ;-)

[Soliloquy]

One more question. For now at least.

Who knows about your blog and reads it in your personal life?

Parents, in-laws, hubby, children?

[Joanne]

LOL, this is great stuff! I gotta go back and ask my own questions.

[Lanxi]

If I can ask one more - as a sister of someone with 13, do you have siblings (especially sisters) that get asked "Are you going to keep up with your sister?"

[At A Hen's Pace]

Hi Jenni--

I am taking a break from my packin' like a maniac--we are moving this Saturday! Just wanted to let you know I received the Wizard of Oz DVD. Thank you so much!!!

Also will mention that I read all the way back to here--where I left off reading last time, before the packing mania set in--because your answers to all the wonderfully nosy questions were so entertaining! And made me feel so much better about my own FBTSOMP ways.

Thanks so much for your honesty!

:)

Jeanne