Random Dozen -- the first of 2010

1. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a cranky-baby-hissy-fitter, how much of a complainer are you? I go through spurts – sometimes I get as high as a 9 and sometimes I’m a 1. That averages to 4, but the reality of when I’m pitched at a 9 is, of course, much worse.

2. When someone else is talking, do you listen, or are you thinking about what you're going to say in response? I REALLY try hard to listen, but I do lapse into the habit of thinking about my response – partly because I’m deathly afraid that my middle-aged brain will not be able to come up with any response at all when the person actually stops talking. (It has happened.)

3. I just deleted 1062 messages from my email account. Do you have any plans for a clean sweep this month--of anything? I just moved over 1,000 messages from my inbox the other day, too. Must be something in the air. Seriously, I don’t have any specific plans but since my husband is on the verge of finishing the basement, I’ll probably do a clean sweep in those rooms (family room, my office, my craft room, and the new bathroom).

And now, here are some brilliant questions from a gal named Angie at Angie's Ad Lib who graciously offered to let me borrow her brain. Please go over and see Angie because it was so nice of her to help me out. Thank you so much, Angie!

4. Tell us about your perfume. Was it a gift? What does it remind you of? Do you have a signature scent? I don’t wear perfume. I occasionally have worn an essential oil blend that includes patchouli, but even that is seldom. I got out of the habit of wearing perfume or cologne when my asthma worsened about 15 years ago, and, even though my asthma is much better, I’ve just never resumed wearing a scent.

5. What is your best organizing tip for the new year? “The Daily 7” from Stephanie O’Dea. Following this list of seven daily chores really works to provide a basic structure for running my household. I’m just sorry I didn’t come up with it myself, it’s so simple and ingenious in its approach to organization.

6. What is your favorite comic strip? Mutts – I love Mooch!

7. Do you sleep with a fluffy or flat pillow? Fluffy-squishy, because I like it to well up around my ears and my jaw when I’m lying on my back.

8. What color is your kitchen? Why did you choose that color? Our kitchen is cream and amber with accents of amethyst. Sounds awful when I say it that way, but it’s not. When we redid the kitchen in 2008, we were looking for a color scheme that would open up our small space. I found a cabinetry finish of cream (painted wood) with an amber glaze, and I fell in love with it, so we had our cabinets finished that way. We chose the floor tile, countertops, and backsplash to go with the cabinets, and we ended up with a very subtle amethyst shade of solid surface countertop. The whole combination works really well, and it did accomplish our purpose in opening up the room. Here's a pic taken right after it was finished but before I'd actually moved stuff into it:

And here's the before pic:

9. What’s the most interesting bumper sticker you’ve seen? Boy, I seldom remember those, even when I think they are laugh-out-loud funny. Ah, okay – there is one that I saw some time ago: a drawing of the planet Earth next to the words “Wish you were here.”

10. Do you prefer an expensive writing tool or whatever is lying around? (Are you a Montblanc or a Papermate?) I always lose expensive writing tools, so I just use Papermate. But I must say that writing with an expensive pen is really a treat.

11. What chore doesn’t feel like a chore – you just enjoy it (at least most of the time)? Cooking dinner pretty much from scratch, pretty much every night. I love to cook and I like the satisfaction of providing my family with a good meal.

12. If your parents often repeated themselves, what is something one of them said more than once? “It builds your character.” That was the stock answer to any complaints about chores or anything else we were required to do.