Meme-a-linga-ding-dong!

Madame Airam, teaching lady extrordinaire has tagged me for the meme below

INSTRUCTIONS: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot, like so.

A Blog of a Good Time
Classy & Fancy
[Cherry] Ride / 5of9er
Secrets Unzipped
... and hijinks ensued.

Select five people to tag:
I, of course, would love to find out about all of you, but I thought I would actually guilt-trip a few of you into action since I always avoid tagging-- and I also selected those I thought seemed likely to go through with it-- some of you appear less like meme-ing folk.

Ant -- Always hoping to get a few more witty observations out of him.
Crash Dummie -- I have a feeling in advance that her answers will make me smile.
iFreud -- There always seems a bit more to learn about this lovely lady.
LMizzle -- Because it's not like she's busy or anything-- I kid! Because she's good at these, and she doesn't have to care about spending her work-time productively anymore.
Heart of Darkness -- She's a delightful writer, and I still don't know very much about her!


What were you doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I would be a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed 15-year old just going into summer break after finishing Grade 10. I would have just told my jerk of a first serious boyfriend that I wouldn't take him back after the fourth time he had dumped me, and be just beginning my only summer fling.
I actually remember the summer of 1997 as one of the better ones in my life. I worked enough (mostly doing gardening, babysitting, and housecleaning) to have spare money, but not enough to keep me away from the beach for more than a few days at a time. I miss that sense of freedom with just enough responsibility for the contrast to make it seem that much better.

What were you doing 1 year ago?

Last June I was in full on conference mode. I spent a week in Calgary for CPA (Canadian Psychological Association conference, for all you non-psyc folk), then a week in Los Angeles for another conference, which was also my first completely solo real trip. Actually, it was another great taste of freedom. I was still living in the old apartment I came to loathe, with my (now) ex, slowly figuring out that I may have been a little mistaken about meant to be, and working on finishing up my Masters research.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Dill pickles
2. Cheese on pretty much anything
3. Pita with tzatziki or artichoke dip
4. A super stocked spinach salad- with lots of nuts, cheese (yes, again), and fancy veggies like artichokes and avocado
5. Homemade smoothies with frozen fruit- especially berries and peaches

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

1. Summer Lovin'
I love me some Grease.
2. Ain't No Fun
This is the most dirty and misogynist song on the planet, by Snopp Dogg and posse. My guy friends would listen to it in high school, and they would just roll their eyes if we protested the lyrics. So we decided if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, and took it upon ourselves to rap along loudly whenever it came on.
3. I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller by Skee-lo
Because, really, I do.
4. I Think We're Alone Now by Tiffany
My sister and I, now that we are "adults" and no longer easily embarassed, will demonstrate our choreograped dance to this song to anyone around when it comes on. We become especially vigarous with the "and you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground" set of moves when drinking is involved.
5. You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette
I challenge any teenage girl from the 90s who's been dumped not to have these lyrics permanently seared on their brains.

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Erase any and all debt that I, my parents and my sister may have.
I totally stole this from Airam. And I'm drooling thinking about my student loan magically disappearing.
2. Hire a cruise ship for the ultimate girls' party week in Mexico.
3. Pay the Duke's school a little extra cash to let him off of his Masters for another year or so while we take our so-far-just-a-dream trip to South America. And maybe hop over to Europe for a quick hello.
4. A few homes could be taken care of... including a giant heritage home in my current neighbourhood for the time being, and the log cabin by a lake for wherever I ended up settling. And a piece of property for my mom and dad.
5. Some serious and regular donations to worthwhile charities, including the SPCA, Amnesty International, and the United Way.
In all truth, I am getting exceedingly disgusted with all these shows like "The Fabulous Life of Donald Trump". I cannot morally support a man who owns fifty cars when the bulk of them are never used and are just there so he can say he owns 50 cars. One of those cars would buy food for a family for years. Some people's Oscar gowns could pay someone's entire university tuition!

Five bad habits:

1. Eating in bed
2. Hitting the snooze button... multiple times
3. Apologizing, even if something wasn't my fault, in order to avoid conflict
4. Gnawing on pens
Spare the oral fixation jokes.
5. Dropping random things and other assorted clumsiness

Five things you like doing:

1. Going to concerts
2. Random explorations of new places, whether in a different country or a few blocks from my house
3. Getting truly sucked into a book for hours at a time
4. Wine and board games nights with friends and family
5. Watching nature documentaries in my giant bathtub with my guy.
I did this for the first time last night and it was pretty much the greatest thing ever. I watched a seal and a penguin battle while snuggled up in bubble bath!

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Vinyl or animal print skirts
2. Dark brown lipstick
3. Pants five sizes too large
Getting a good picture of me in high school yet?
4. Spandex
Really, this should be on the list of things that no one should ever wear again. Although, I was in elementary school, so I figure a bit of a break is in order. Would you believe that someone actually stole a pair of my spandex pants from the school changeroom?
5. Clip-on earrings


Five favorite toys:

1. My MacBook
2. iPod
3. Boardgames- Boggle, Scrabble, Cranium, Taboo, Scattagories, Outburst-- I love 'em all.
Except for puzzles. Boo for puzzles-- unless they have less than 100 pieces. Seriously, does anyone really enjoy those 5000 piece puzzles? Is a schooner really worth all that effort?
4. Trampolines
Though I do recognize them as a form of a death machine, they are a damn fun death machine-- except when playing "crack the egg". That was a not-fun series of near-death experiences.
5. Bubbles
I found several bottles of bubble fluid during my last move, and took 20 minutes away from packing to blow bubbles on my balcony. It was fantastic.