What's That You Say, Mrs. Robinson?

The Interview

A busy, but not abnormal weekend. 3 ball games, a birthday, a school event and a kid's project to work on. Just finished cleaning up a bit, wishing I had a little more time to do something fun.

As I was poking around the blogosphere this morning, I ran across one of my favorite bloggers, Stargazer, who has a great way for folks to get to know each other...it is an interview process where you ask 5 questions of someone and then others can asked to be interviewed also (see the instructions below). If you would like me to interview you, please follow the instructions at the end of this post. Here I go...These are questions that Stargazer asked of me:

Question:  What are you the most proud of in your life?

Is it a cop out to say "my kids?" They are clearly what I am the most proud of. They are where most of my energy goes and where my heart lives. Other than the two kids, I'd have to say the life I built for myself and the choices I had to make to get me here. I chose a great husband (or he chose me?), and together we have done very well for ourselves through a combination of good luck, hard work and smart decisions.

If you were to ask me this question while I am in a bar, I would say that the thing I'm most proud of is my ability to tie the stem of a marchino cherry into a knot with my tongue.

Question:  What television program or movie would you like to star in?

TV SHOW: The West Wing. I would love to appear as smart and quick witted as they do.
MOVIE: Bull Durham, cause I'd love to be the cool baseball chick like Susan Sarandon

 

Question:  If you could have anyone as President(living or dead) who would you choose and why?

JFK, he didn't get enough time the first time around.

Question:  What's your favorite dessert?

Cheesecake with lots of grahm crust

Question:  What technological/electronic tool could you never live without? (or would you like to get rid of)

Can't live without: tie between my iPod and my laptop with wireless high speed connection
Would like to get rid of: Speaker phones

Here are the rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I
get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the
questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to
interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you
will ask them five questions.

Kristine Needs...

Here's an interesting meme for you (taken from my pal Mom o Matic)....google your name + needs and see what comes up...here's what comes up for me (I used "Kris" first, but apparently there is a British author whose name is actually Kris Needs so all of the searches had to do with her...so I used my formal name instead):

Kristine needs....
a mentor
a guy (I have plenty of those in my day to day life, thanks anyway!)
sleep (duh)
to find out how Texas deals with child molesters
to organize these files
a sub (sandwich or marine vehicle????)
to come out (WHAAAAA?????)

What do you need?

50 things about me

This meme is courtesy of Debra Roby, my sister in skinny pants...I had fun reading hers and thought I would pass it along...if you want to do it, too, please leave a comment with a link to your post! Sorry for all of the crazy font changes, not sure what happened and don't have the energy to fix them. Here goes:

1.Whats your name spelled backwards?

sirk nosnibor 

2. What did you do last night?

Picked my kid up from baseball practice, ate dinner (thai peanut chicken pasta), watched the Giants game and then American Idol. Read my book, set my alarm and fell asleep.

3. The last thing you downloaded onto your computer?

A video of Bill Clinton accepting the TED prize.

4. Have you ever licked a 9 volt battery?

What the hell?

5. Last time you swam in a pool?

At the Outrigger Waikiki last July

6. What are you wearing?

Jeans, a Washington Huskies sweatshirt and my fave tennies

7. How many cars have you owned?

I have had in my possession 8 cars. I've only actually owned one of them (the one I have now). The rest were either owned by my parents or the bank!

8. Type of music you dislike most?

Bluegrass 

9. Are you registered to vote?

Duh, of course. 

10. Do you have cable?

Nope, satellite

11. What kind of computer do you use?

I have a Dell PC at home and use a Mac Powerbook G4 at work 

12. Ever made a prank phone call?

Of course! Is your refrigerator running? 

13. You like anyone right now?

I like a lot of people...I agree with Debra, the person who wrote these questions was 12

14. Would you go bungee jumping or sky diving?

bungee, no way....sky diving...heck ya!

15. Furthest place you ever traveled?

Hawaii and Boston

16.Do you have a garden?

I try

17. What’s your favorite comic strip?

I know...totally boring, but "For Better or For Worse"...I just love that family.

18. Do you know all the words to the national anthem?

I go to a lot of ball games, I know my National Anthem!

19. Shower, morning or night?

I prefer night, but that almost never happens anymore

20. Best movie you’ve seen in the past month?

Haven't seen any this month I don't think...but the best movie I saw recently was The Departed

21. Favorite pizza toppings?

Sausage, onions, garlic 

22. Chips or popcorn? 

Chips, Sweet Maui Onion please

23. What cell phone provider do you have?

Cingular/ATT

24. Have you ever smoked peanut shells?

What the hell?

25. Have you ever been in a beauty pageant?

Again, clearly a 12 year old, and um, no way! 

26. Orange Juice or apple? 

Orange, no strings pulp

27. Who were the last people you sat at lunch with?

Christine, my coworker

28. Favorite chocolate bar?

Oooh, um, Cadburry with carmel? Or a Twix, does that count? Maybe a Snickers even

29. Who is your longest friend and how long?

Becky, Katie, and/or Deidra (sorry, Kelly, I don't think I knew you 'till later)

30. Last time you ate a homegrown tomato?

I can't even remember...isn't that sad?

31. Have you ever won a trophy?

Heck ya! Only I didn't "win" it, I EARNED it, baby. I got a trophy when I made the 13 year old Bobby Sox softball All-Star Team!

32. Favorite artist?

Oh, that changes depending on when you ask me. Right now, Paul Nzalamba, I have several of his prints

33. Favorite computer game?

Any race car game...a girl can dream

34. Ever ordered from an infomercial?

Does QVC count? 

35. Sprite or 7-UP?

Neither really, but 7UP if I had to choose

36. Have you ever had to wear a uniform to school/work?

I wore a uni when I worked at an ice-cream store. It was yellow, pink, brown and white. Seriously. And it was polyester.

37. Last thing you bought at the store?

French bread for dinner tonight

38. Ever thrown up in public?

Dude, I went to Chico State, are you kidding?

39. Would you prefer being a millionaire or finding true love?

Already found true love and I wouldn't give it up for being a millionaire!

40. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Not really...lust yes...love takes a lot of time and work

41.Can exes just be friends?

Not so much 

42. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital?

My Grandfather

43. Did you have long hair as a young kid?

Fo sho

44. What message is on your voicemail machine?

Totally boring..."You have reached the voicemail of..." yadda yadda yadda

45. Where would you like to go right now?

Napili Bay, Maui

46. What was the name of your first pet?

My first pet is one of the ones I have now...Smokey!

47. What kind of back pack do you have, and what’s in it?

Can you say...12 year old? I actually have a BlogHer/Google backpack! Great Shwag! Nothing is in it. It is sitting empty in my closet for now.

48. Last incoming/outgoing call on your phone?

Hubby telling me he is coming home from the freezing cold game and asking if he should pick something up for dinner.

49. What is one thing you are grateful for today?

My bed at the end of the day!

50. What do you think about most?

My kids

Meme time

Haven't done a meme in a while so here goes (taken from Table for Five):

1. What time is it?  9:14 pm
2. What is your full name?  Kristine Mary Robinson
3. What are you most afraid of?  Violence
4. What is the most recent movie that you have seen in a theater?  Pirates of the Carribean II
5. Have you ever seen a ghost?  No, but I wish I had
6. Where were you born?  Berwyn, Illinois
7. Ever been to Alaska?    No
8. Ever been toilet papering?    Yep, both as a kid, and as an adult!
9.Loved someone so much it made you cry?  Yes
10. Been in a serious car accident?  No, thank goodness
11 Do you plan to have any more Children?  NO! I haven't dealt with diapers in 10+ years!
12. Favorite day of the week?  Saturday
13. Favorite Restaurant?  Chili's
14. Favorite Flower?  All of them
15. Favorite color? Purple
16. Favorite sport to watch?  Baseball
17. Favorite Drink? Vanilla Latte or Long Island Iced Tea
18. Favorite Ice Cream?  Pralines and Cream (depends on which day you ask me)
19. Favorite fast food restaurant?  Yo quiero Taco Bell
20. What color is your bedroom carpet? Purple!
21. How many times did you fail your driver’s test?  0
22. What do you do when you are bored? Read, books or blogs
23. What time is your bedtime?  Sometime between 10 and 11
24. Favorite TV shows? American Idol, West Wing (*sigh*), Little People, Big World, What Not To Wear (the British version)
25. What are you most grateful for?  That my husband loves me and treats me well, and that my children are happy and healthy.
26. What are you listening to right now? The Golden State Warriors on TV
27. How many pets do you have?  Two, one Dalmatian, Smokey and one Chihuahua, Ronaldo
28.  Which came first the chicken or the egg? The egg because they are quicker to cook
29. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Kayak with the Orcas, sky dive, hold a grandchild, spend months with hubby in Italy and Greece, start and finish a decent sized quilt.

Meme's the word

Decided to help out a newbie blogger, Andria, and take on this meme. She didn't assign it to anyone, just asked for volunteers. Not being one to back away from a volunteer opportunity (and because I just thought this one looked like a lot of fun), here goes. This time you are supposed to pick 3 of the following prompts and finish them:

If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an innkeeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a backup dancer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be a midget stripper...If I could be a proctologist...If I could be a TV-chat show host...If I could be an actor...If I could be a judge...If I could be a Jedi...If I could be a mob boss...If I could be a backup singer...If I could be a CEO...If I could be a movie reviewer...If I could be a film maker...If I could be a sherpa...If I could be a ninja...If I could be a cab driver...If I could be a secret agent...If I could be a hobbit...If I could be on Michael Jackson's jury...If I could be President...If I could be a disc jockey...If I could be Celine Dion...If I could be a blackjack dealer...

IF I COULD BE A LINGUIST...something I actually aspired to be at some point. I'd love to research how  slavery effected language in our country. There were many words, phrases, and ways of speaking that were heavily influenced by slavery. I'd like to trace the way the language changed over time and identify what aspects of our current language originated during slavery. I know, I'm a geek.

IF I COULD BE A MOVIE REVIEWER...I get hella fat on buttered popcorn and soda and candies. I would see many more indies than I do now and I would bitch-smack the hat off of Jan Wahl.

IF I COULD BE A PROFESSOR...I would be one of those hippie types. I would have an office with books piled so high, I'd be dead meat in an earthquake. I'd flirt with all of the cutie (but legal) college boys. I'd be a lit professor who dabbled in linguistics (see above) and art appreciation. On Thursday nights I'd hang out at the local pub with the kiddos. I'd hang out with the Poli. Sci. profs as much as possible and you'd have to kick my ass out of the library every night (except for Thursday nights when I'd already be tanked at the pub).

Ok, let's see, who to do this next? How about...Catawampus , Stargazer, and SoCal Mom.

Meme time for me

Ok, Grace, you squeezed one out of me. Keep in mind that I'm at work and not at home with my great fiction collection. Here are the directions for the Meme that Miss Grace has bestowed upon me (I'm highly flattered by the way!):

Grab the closest book to you. Resist the urge to get hold of one of the cooler, intellectual ones! You've gotta be honest. Turn to page 123. Go down five sentences, and then post the next three sentences in your blog. Simple.

"Another reason the gardening metaphore is appropriate for describing healthy community intitiatives is that the process takes time. It is not a quck fix, and it can't be rushed. Rather, like the gardener who tills the soil in the spring in order to have a harvest months later or years later in the case of perennials, so must community leaders commit to action in hopes of a harvest in the  future." ~ From "All Kids are Our Kids - What communities mus do to raise caring and responsible children and adolescents" by Peter L. Benson.

OK, Becky, Jo, and Faith...now it's your turn!