How could I not, when asked by Linda?

I just love it when friends' wives become friends in their own right. Linda has always made an effort to keep in in the loop of my college pal Matt's life, and in so doing I know probably way more about Linda than I do now about Matt. *skwunches Linda* So when she tagged me to bore you all with info about me, how could I resist? Looks like I get to tell you about myself in threes.

Joys:

1. Children. I have, and do, give up so much for these sweet young ones of mine. I do so willingly. I love to see smiles on their faces, listen to their laughter, and share their lives.
   And husband. You know why women read novels containing romance? To see unconditional, consuming, supportive, redeeming love. Like Blaine has for me, completely evident to anyone who cares to notice it. I'm so lucky.
   
2. Rare personal time. Which I often spend reading, or outside walking/jogging so as not to let my first joy interrupt my second. ;)
   
3. Food. I have to eat three times a day, I might as well freaking enjoy it, right? Nom nom.

Fears

1. Injury/death of children or husband.
   
2. Personal failure, not achieving all I can do in my life on earth.
   
3. Leaving my children motherless.

Current Obsessions:

1. Physics. It's our physics year in homeschool W00T.
   
2. Muse. It's really, really saying something when a single group comes out on top of my huge "favorite music" list and stays there as long as Muse has.
   
3. I'm sort of back to Twilight for the moment, having just completed what's available of Midnight Sun yesterday. But definitely reading in general is an obsession, and always has been.

Surprising Facts:

1. It's only the second week of school, and already I'm an hour late starting the school day. What's up with that?
   
2. I have almost no pictures or art up around my house. Took 'em down to paint, never bothered to put 'em back. I guess we'll have to call those sofas "art".
   
3. I love clogs more than any other sort of shoes. It's lucky I don't need good arch support right?

----------------
Now playing: Duncan Sheik - In Between
via FoxyTunes

A handful of fives

I just remembered Lillian tagged me to speak in fives. Here goes!

The rules:

1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
   
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
   
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
   
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.

In a meme about the number 5, doesn't it seem there should be one more rule?

What were you doing five years ago?

In summer of 2003 we went on a trip to the panhandle of Idaho to visit the family cabins on Priest Lake, after which we took a detour into BC, Canada to visit a friend. I was pregnant with baby #6. My eldest was just nine years old, and I had no built-in babysitters.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?

1. Exercise. (done)
   
2. Get application over to Wasatch Academy. (done)
   
3. Check at post office for misdirected package. (done)
   
4. Get white sandals for next week's wedding.
   
5. Make time-consuming lasagna for dinner.

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Tofu cut into cubes with a drizzle of soy sauce
   
2. Smoothie
   
3. Apple
   
4. Celery and refried bean dip
   
5. Almonds

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?

1. Landscape my yard, home improvement projects
   
2. Buy a new Suburbuan
   
3. Travel—show my children my favorite places, get away with Blaine
   
4. Let's be honest—plastic surgery to make my chin a single, and vision correction surgery on my eyes
   
5. Help other families with lots of kids accomplish little dreams

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Wasting time on computer doing nothing of importance.
   
2. Not starting dinner until after 6:00 p.m.
   
3. Jumping to the ceiling when I see spiders. (Hello, I'm bigger! What makes them so scary?)
   
4. Procrastinating.
   
5. Forgetting to sprinkle the lawn on our day.

Where are five places where you have lived?

1. My mother's belly
   
2. Salt Lake City, Utah
   
3. Provo, Utah
   
4. Sendai, Japan
   
5. Fairview, Utah

What are five jobs you've had?

1. Selling vacuums door-to-door
   
2. Pressing cleaned clothes at a dry cleaner
   
3. T.A. for Physics 122 (Electricity and Magnetism) at BYU
   
4. Japanese language teacher at MTC
   
5. Full-time mom and teacher to seven great homeschooled kids

I don't think I even have five people who read this blog! o_O So if any of you want to pick this up and do it, I'd love to read your answers in your spot.

Q & A

My excellent friend Lillian has tagged me for two memes, and I'm going to tackle them both here. Gather 'round the fireside and Learn More About Al. ;)

Making a difference

1. In your opinion, what does it mean to make a difference?
It means to change the world, even in a small way—to do something that simply wouldn't be done if it weren't for me.

2. What is an example of a unique way to make a difference?
I wish I knew! Ah, I struggle to really reach out; it is so much more natural for me to hang around home here and immerse myself in this life. But I do know from experience that it is the littlest things—the seemingly innocuous and insignificant ones—that end up meaning something.

3. Who has made a difference in YOUR life this week?
So many people, I hesitate to choose just one. But I'll say Blaine's biggest client, Cindy. She thanked him in a tangible way for what he does, and it made me so happy to see him realize/acknowledge the worth of what he does all day every day.

4. If you didn’t have a blog, would you still be making a difference
Ack, I'd make a bigger difference if I weren't so addicted to my darn laptop, blogs included. :D

5. What is your favorite thing about the internet?
Information. So much learning at the tips of my fingers! And the downside: it's hard to know when enough info has been gathered, and it's time to stop surfing.

Seven Things

• Share seven random facts about yourself, in your blog.
• Include these rules.
• Link back to the person who tagged you.
• Tag seven more people and list their names & blogs. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged.
  

1. I can resist chocolate, I can resist cake and pie, I can easily turn down ice cream, but cookies own me. I just... must. eat. them.
2. Favorite book: Pride and Prejudice. (Even as wild as I am for the Twilight series, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet are the bomb. They pwn. Srsly. :D
3. I love music. I love it so much, not being able to listen to music of my choosing was my One Major Concern about serving an LDS mission. I just didn't see how I could possibly not listen to my favorite bands for 18 months!
   
4. What I would do with my time if I didn't have all that other stuff going on: writing. I plot a new novel virtually every day. Think how many books I'm saving ya'll from reading simply by having all these children and homeschooling!
5. Though I'd never eaten one until I was 30 years old, I adore red bell peppers. Yum!
6. Someday I hope take up snow skiing again. I was just remembering, today, the good old days when Solitude was $10 for a day pass, and Alta was feeling pricey at $15. Thank heavens I cut school so much to ski back then. *tee hee*
7. Because my babies all slept in my bed with me (and because I so often got up quietly in the morning and left them there sleeping, and even put them down for naps in my bed) I have been about 10 years out of the habit of making my bed in the morning. Perhaps "make the bed" will be my January resolution!

Um, I'm treating rule #4 as optional, since I don't even know seven people here at blogspot. So if you'd like to join in and tell your blog readers about you, please consider yourself tagged!

Thanks for letting me play, Lil. *hug*