Question Meme

Rules
1. Tell me a random fact about you in the comments section of this post.
2. I will then ask you five questions
3. You propagate the meme when you post your answers in your own blog and invite others to tell you a random fact about themselves.

Here are Ingrid's questions for me:

1- You mentioned that you used to want to be a medical examiner. Tell me more about that; what appealed to you about it.

First of all, I LOVE biology. It was always my favorite class. The human body is amazing and I love to learn about it. When I was in high school I would actually sit down and READ Gray's Anatomy. I even got some college level anatomy coloring books that I loved to work with. I took AP Bio my senior year and that is the only class that I never ditched! Plus, I love mysteries and criminal justice. I've always been pulled to that type of book and show. Patricia Cornwell is my all time favorite author. I wanted to BE her.



Life got in the way and I couldn't go to college right from high school. When I started at age 20 I went into criminal justice. I didn't think I had the money or time to actually go to medical school. But, I did intern with the medical examiner for one summer. It was so fascinating. I am 6 credits shy of a degree in Crime Scene Investigation. I've thought about going back to it, but with the kids it doesn't make sense. It doesn't pay much and the hours suck.



2- You are a rocking babywearer. How did you get into babywearing and how many of your kids have you worn?

I actually got started babywearing when we were on the Babycenter board. Lisa B. showed a picture of a beautiful Sachi MT and I was hooked. Once I tried it I realized that is was SO helpful to have a sling. And you get a lot of attention when you wear a sling (and I sure love the spotlight)! They are so cute that I needed one to go with every outfit. Xander LOVED to be worn. I wore him until I was 7 months pregnant with Jocelyn. She on the other hand doesn't like it so much. She would prefer to be on the floor with the kids. But, she will tolerate it when we're out and about. I WISH I had known about babywearing a lot sooner. I would have loved to have worn the older two. Now it is my mission to make sure that every mom at least KNOWS about babywearing. If they choose to do it, good for them.

3- What is special to you about each one of your children?

Carissa- She is my first born. She'll always be special because she really made me wake up and become and adult. I was 19 when I had her. And immature. Once she came into my life I really straightened up. I am forever grateful to her for that. And she has such a fun spirit. A little frustrating at times, but she loves to have fun. She's very creative and of that, I'm jealous.

Robert- He is my quiet old soul. He is much wiser than his years. He is shy, but super smart. He can drive me crazy because he treats me as an equal (since he thinks he's an adult), but I love to see him soak up new things. He has a memory like a safe. I swear he remembers things that happened years ago!

Xander- My truly free spirit. I just love his zest for life. He is constantly on the go (and usually naked). And he is truly a momma's boy. He gravitates to me like none of the other children do. And he is SO loving. He always wants hugs and kisses. He has a smart mouth on him though (I don't appreciate being told to "shut your piehole"). He picks up on things in movies really quickly! And he loves the Pirates movies. He loves Captain Jack just as much as I do!

Jocelyn- She's just now getting a stronger personality. I love the way she loves her Daddy. She is definitely a Daddy's girl. She will go straight for him the minute he walks into the room. And she has a silly streak too, always trying to get a laugh. I love how easy going she is. She just goes with the flow. She has been the easiest child by far (that may be because we're so worn down by now).

4- Tell me, how is it working for a judge?

That's an interesting question. I would say it depends on the judge. Previously I worked for a judge that had an ego problem. She was very demanding and overbearing. I liked the job, but she was difficult to work for.

My current judge is a dream. I wish she wouldn't retire. She doesn't micromanage, gives praise, backs up her staff and is super easy going.

The work isn't too bad, but I've only worked on the Juvenile bench. The Civil bench is a lot more demanding. Working at Juvenile has its disadvantages, though. We get all of the CPS cases. And they are heartbreaking. To see 1,000 new families get their children taken away every year is hard. Sometimes I wish I didn't know that people did these things to their children. It's so, so sad.

On a day to day basis I get the judge's files ready for court, manage her calendar, type correspondence, orders, rulings, coordinate with attorneys, bailiffs, court staff, handle calls from the public (these provide my entertainment for the day). I actually like the work a lot.

5- If you could take your dream vacation, where would you go?

A trip around the world? Seriously, there are so many placed I'd like to see.

When we retire we plan to take a 14 day cruise from FL to Barcelona. From there we will take a 7 day cruise through the Mediterranean. And then take the 15 day cruise back to the Dominican Republic. I cannot wait! Can you tell I love cruising?

Now, play along. Post a random fact about you in the comments section and I'll ask you 5 questions!

In other news

If you've read this post you know that it doesn't take much to amuse me.

But, I am so excited! I WON something! I won the solarveil ring sling from Elizabeth at The Whole Family! It will go to good use here in Arizona! I can't wait until our pool is completed so that I can try it out in there. Thank you so much Elizabeth!

In unrelated news, I am moving Picture Wednesday to Saturdays. (But, you must check back because I did get pics of Jocelyn and Xander cosleeping. They are adorable!) I just cannot upload my pics during the week. It's too time consuming and I can't do it from work. For some reason we don't have memory card readers on our computers. Geez!

Some other happenings with us:

Jocelyn is almost one! Her birthday is less than three weeks away. I am SO sad that my baby will soon be a toddler and that I won't have any more babies. Sad beyond belief. Maybe we should have had five children (or eight or ten). And my friend Stephanie is making Jocelyn's birthday dress. Isn't it to die for? I am in love! Stephanie has the BEST taste and extraordinary sewing skills. She makes all sorts of stuff. Contact her if you want anything.

Unfortunately, the party is going to be held off until our pool is completed. I'm hoping it will only be a two week delay. They were moving so quickly, but we've been at a stand still for three weeks because our tile is stuck in customs! I want to go pick another one, but Robert doesn't. He's hoping it will get here this week. They cannot do anything else until they install the tile. Ugh!

Carissa and I are going to The Melting Pot with her friend and her mother on Saturday. I LOVE The Melting Pot! And it'll be a fun Girl's Night Out!

Speaking of Girl's Night Out, we had another Mom's Game Night this last Saturday. I must say that I haven't laughed like that in awhile. We played Cranium, Catchphrase, and Scattergories. It is fun to see how different the games get as more alcohol is consumed. We were in tears. Such fun!

My kids go back to school on the 16th! Can you believe it! And Robert is going to be in a 1st/2nd combo class because he's such a smarty pants. They are putting the smarter Kindergartners in that class with the slower first graders from last year. Hopefully it will challenge him enough. He gets so bored. And he'll be going full day this year. Yay! It's so hard when they go for half of a day and you have to pick them up after three hours. Not really enough time to get anything done. I love year round school. They get a short summer, but they get three weeks off in both October and April. It's a lot of fun taking our vacations at those times when others are at home. A lot less tourists to deal with!

Lastly, I've gotten on Emily's bandwagon and started Body for Life. I'm in my second week and I really like it. I have a ton more energy and feel a lot better and stronger already! I am hoping to lose 10-15 pounds and firm up in general. The eating plan is really easy. Even when we eat out I don't find it too hard to stick with. And the weight training is definitely working. My legs were SO sore after the first workout. For cardio I walk around the block (1 mile) while pushing the stroller. After only the third time I was actually able to RUN part of it! I NEVER run. I cannot believe it! I really like the 12 week challenge part of it too. It gives me a definite deadline. Of course you still need to stick to it after 12 weeks. But, I like being given a time frame as to when I should expect results. I've done other diets, but haven't seen anything after four weeks and give up. This gives me a deadline to reach. Although, I am disappointed that I haven't lost a single pound yet. But, AF could have something to do with that. And if I feel better I don't really think the number should matter.

So, that's what's going on in my world! How about you?

FUNNY stuff!

So, you may have noticed that I added Site Meter to my blog. Really just to see if people are actually reading at all or if my thoughts are just floating around in cyberspace. Either is really ok with me. A lot of times my verbal words are just floating around in the atmosphere because people get sick of hearing me talk!

One of the neat features of Site Meter is that it will tell you how people were referred to your site. Whether from a link on someone else's site (thanks friends who link to me) or from a Google search or other various places.

Some poor soul was referred to my site from a Google search for: Alektra Blue gone naked! (She's a porn star, in case you didn't know.) When I was tagged I had chosen Alektra's birthday as one of the ones I listed. How funny that now my blog shows up when people search for her.

Those poor, poor horny men that think they are going to be looking at a hottie end up at my mommy blog!

Entertaining to say the least! (For me, not them!)

Tag!

Mandy has tagged me!

ON THIS DAY - Go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (only the month and day). Choose and write down 3 events, 2 births and 1 holiday. Then tag 5 friends.

1909 - Alice Huyler Ramsey, a 22-year-old housewife and mother from Hackensack, New Jersey, became the first woman to drive across the United States. With three female companions, none of whom could drive a car, for fifty-nine days she drove a Maxwell automobile the 3,800 miles from Manhattan, New York, to San Francisco, California.

Wouldn't that be fun? I'd love to throw three of my friends in the car and drive cross country! Oh the trouble we'd get in.

1934 - Donald Duck debuts in The Wise Little Hen.

Donald is my husband's favorite cartoon character!

1978 - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens the priesthood to "all worthy men", ending a 148-year-old policy excluding black men.

It's about freakin time! Although I don't think I've seen many black Mormon priests.

1983 - Alektra Blue, American porn star
I believe they got the date wrong. I was born in 1975!

1963 - Johnny Depp, American actor
We ARE soul mates!

1956 - Patricia Cornwell, American author
My absolute favorite author!

The only holiday
Roman Empire paganism - third day of the Vestalia in honor of the goddess Vesta

Question Meme

If tomorrow you woke up with amnesia:

What do you think you’d do firstly?
Probably scream. And cry. I'm not sure what else I could do. Maybe find someone and see if they knew me.
Would you trust the first person who tells you, about you (like a family member)?
I think I would have to. It would be the only information that I had. And I'm a pretty trusting person to begin with.
You found out about a bad past.. would you still want to know who you really are?
Hmmm, maybe not. Depending how bad it was I'd probably just want to start over. I had a really shitty time in high school and moved after I graduation, I pretty much rewrote my life. Nothing is the same now as it was before (except my family). I guess I take opportunities like this to turn over a new leaf.
You fell in love with a foreigner from another country. would you take off with him/her and move on with your new life?
If I was truly in love, probably. Although, if I had any inkling that I had had children before the amnesia I probably wouldn't leave until I found out for sure.
Your memory’s back! would you go back to old habits, or start your life afresh?
Depdends what my committments were. If I had a husband and children then I would go back to them. If I was just a single person and had started this great new lift then I'd continue on that path.

If you are so inclined, answer these same questions in the comments or on your own blog.
Grey's Anatomy girls I EXPECT YOUR ANSWERS!