March 22, 2017

A very long survey.

(Copy/paste is not my friend today. So this is blue.)

1. What are your nicknames? What you do like to be called? I have no nicknames. Most often I just hear Mrs. Darhower over and over (and over) again all day long. 


2. What books are on your shelf begging to be read? Red Rising. Been sitting there since Christmas. Also, Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst. 


3. How often do you doodle? What do your doodles look like? I don't really. There's an interesting answer. 


4. What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep? Toss and turn? Try to get up and do something productive? I read and that puts me to sleep real quick-like. Or I online shop and/or get up and do something productive. I rarely allow myself to toss and turn, but that almost never happens anyway. One problem I don't have is a sleep problem. 

5. How many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it? Probably awhile, having been through several deployments and I spend all my at-home time mostly alone. 


6. Do you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away? I'll save them for a month or so until I start going through paperwork and then I toss them. I'm not making a binder full of Christmas cards. 


7. What is your dream career? Eh. I want to say I'm doing it? But I always wanted to be a college professor. Professional dog-petter probably isn't a thing. 


8. When making an entrance into a party, do you make your presence known? Do you slip in and look for someone you know? Do you sneak in quietly and find a safe spot to roost? Stay as unassuming as possible and desperately look for someone I know. And usually I dread the party for the three days leading up to it and try to think of a way to get out of it.


 9. What is your strongest sense? If you had to give one up, which would it be? Smells really bug me so that probably is my strongest. Other than that, you can't taste if you can't smell, so...I'll say what Angi said and give up my sense of direction. It's practically worthless anyway. 


10. How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? Several. But just because I stand in front of people all day and like to know that I (kind of) look okay. But if I'm at home, rarely.


11. What’s the strangest thing you believed as a child? That thunder was the sound of clouds hitting together. I just assumed that for an embarrassingly long time. 


12. What is one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up? Blogging. Or candy corn. Or Rose Gardner mysteries


13. Who performs the most random acts of kindness out of everyone you know? My husband. He insists we buy dinner for random people in restaurants. That's the kind of person he is. 


14. How often do you read the newspaper? Which paper? Which sections? I don't read a newspaper. I watch the news like a fiend though. This is why I won't give up cable. It plays from 5am-7am and from 5pm-7pm every day in the background.


15. Which animals scare you the most? Why? Rattlesnakes. Self-explanatory.


16. Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage it head-on? I like to do my research and prepare in advance. 


17. What was the most recent compliment you’ve received and savored? Well, I cheated and asked my husband. He said I'm a good dog mom, a good cook, and a good house cleaner because I get "all the crevices". There we are. I know things would not run in the household without me. Scott can deploy and I can manage but I don't know if it'd work the other way around. He takes care of a lot of things, but food/cleaning/laundry is all me.


18. What is something about yourself that you hope will change, but probably never will? I've been trying to convince myself to start getting my brows shaped. I like my thicker, more natural eyebrows and I'm always afraid someone will ruin them. 


19. Are you a creature of habit? Absolutely yes. 


20. Are you high maintenance? Explain. Absolutely yes. This would take too long.


21. When was the last time you really pushed yourself to your physical limits? A few weeks back when I had to help more the old furniture out of the living room. It wasn't pretty. Also, when Scott made me help him lift the 400 pound double-oven into place. Or when I had to help haul a refrigerator down the flight of stairs and then haul another one up the same set of stairs. 20 open-air deck steps that are wooden and wobbly.


22. Do you have a whole lot of acquaintances or just a few very close friends? Why? Both. I have a few friends I talk to every day, both via text and online. Other than that, I have acquaintances all over the world thanks to the army, but it's hard to keep in touch. . 


23. Are you more inclined to “build your own empire” or unleash the potential of others? Who wouldn't want to build an empire?


24. What’s a strange occurrence you’ve experienced but have never (or rarely) shared with anyone? I don't know what kind of answer is expected here. 


25. What do you think about more than anything else? Currently...a few things. But I've really focused in on not trying to play God in my own life. It's a struggle. More often than not, though, I'm thinking about my dogs. So much so that my coworker tried my dogs' names as my computer password at work one day when I wasn't there. (My password is not my dogs' names.)


26. What’s something that amazes you? How life moves along and a lot can happen without you even realizing how much you've gotten through and accomplished. 


27. Do you prefer that people shoot straight with you or temper their words? Tact goes a long way. As does professionalism. Also, if it's not helpful, it's usually hurtful. 


28. Where’s your favorite place to take an out of town guest? Ha. To our home on the prairie. 


29. What’s one thing you’d rather pay someone to do than do yourself? Pedicures. 


30. Do you have a catchphrase? Not really. I say "indeed" and "ah, got it" a lot. And my dogs know my voice when I say iloveyoumylittlefluffernutter. I say that a lot. 


31. What is one of your most cherished memories? Any homecoming ceremony after a deployment. 


32. How and where do you prefer to study? Let's call this "grade papers". I grade papers between 5-9am, always with coffee and a good show on in the background. 


33. What position do you sleep in? My side.


34. What’s your all-time favorite town or city? Oooo..tough. We were really fond of Palmer, Alaska. Alaska was an inconvenient place to live, yes. But that small town was nice. I love Boston though. 


35. What are the top three qualities that draw you to someone new? When they do what they say they're going to do, when they ask questions as well as talk about themselves, when they're generally kind and friendly to everyone (not just me).


36. How has your birth order/characteristics of siblings affected you? First-borns are thought to be high-achieving and I struggle with perfectionist tendencies. Also, I've always been bossy, but not particularly independent. I've gotten better at independence, but I'm also introverted in that I like being alone (and I'm 99% sure I have one of those highly-sensitive personalities), so independence has grown on me. 


37. If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be? I plead the 5th on this.


38. If you could restore one broken relationship, which would it be? Probably childhood friendships that went by the wayside after high school and college. I'm generally pretty good at making friends where I am and I love my Co Springs friends, just like I loved my Alaska friends and my Missouri friends. The army has done me a service by bringing these relationships into my life. 

However, it'd be nice if I had the kinds of friends back home that Scott has. I do have friends in PA that I love to see when I can but we'd have to go home for that and we've not done that for awhile. 

39. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? I never wanted a different name because I figured I'd never settle on the perfect one. People do spell it wrong and that's annoying. 


40. Do you believe ignorance is bliss? Why or why not? I kind of learned that the last deployment. There were things Scott and I didn't tell each other because him knowing that the township in Pennsylvania was threatening to fine us over "too high weed-growth" outside our house there...or me knowing that something else went wrong in Afghanistan...none of that moves the needle. I believe there's things we just need to absorb and get past on our own.

And yes, sometimes there's things I'd rather not know.
For example, I don't check my work email on the weekend. 

41. What do you consider unforgivable? Using the last K-Cup. Eating my leftovers. Taking food off my plate.





42. Have you forgiven yourself for past personal failures? Sure. I don't like to dwell on things that can't be changed.


43. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize? I think the issue is that the person doesn't believe they have anything to apologize for and that's not anything I can change. I can usually forgive ignorance, if this is the case. 


44. Do you hold any convictions that you would be willing to die for? Indeed.


45. What three fictional characters best represent you? I'm really not sure. If you have any ideas, please send them my way. 

46. In what area of your life are you immature? I'm bad at money or dealing with things I don't want to do. I will put off phone calls for eternity. In fact, there's one I've been avoiding for 2.5 years now. 

47. What was the best news you ever received? Getting my first real job. I remember the phone call well. 


48. How difficult is it for you to be honest, even when your words may be hurtful or unpopular? I don't go out of my way to tout my opinion about things that may hurt others. It's just unnecessary. However, I've never really cared about being popular, so if someone doesn't like me over the fact that *insert whatever here*, that's not something I can change. I'd like to think that we can find other common ground, though. While I don't want to be actively disliked, I've never felt a compulsive need to be liked. 


49. When did you immediately click with someone you just met? Why? Well, my husband was like-love-engaged-married at first sight. A friend here in CO because we hate the same things. And blog friends are really easy to sort into "yep we click" and "no we don't click" pretty quickly. 


50. When do you find yourself singing? Never. 



Feel free to copy/paste! I got the survey from Angi.

5 comments:

  1. I'm with you about not having a sleep problem. In fact, my latest post states that I can sleep anywhere, anytime.
    I use old greeting cards as bookmarks. It's a way to see something from a loved one while participating in a pastime that I love.
    Your husband buying meals in restaurants made my heart leap.
    I agree about knowing if I'm clicking or not with a blog friend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Most of the time I don't have sleep problems either. There are times here and there when I can't get work related stuff off my brain in the middle of the night and that's annoying. I don't really doodle ever either.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm glad you did this!

    I can never think of fictional characters that represent me, either. There are a lot I WISH I could be.

    I wonder what people would try if they were trying to guess my computer password...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Haha professional dog-petter sounds like the best job ever! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. oooh this is a fun survey.
    your party answer would be mine.
    i have no desire to make a christmas card (or any card) binder, but i have a hard time letting go of them. i can throw out most everyone's except cards from my mum, nana or KC. KC and I have been together for 7 years and I have gotten 3 cards, so it's not like they are taking over the house lol.
    i had to laugh at #24. seriously though, no idea.

    ReplyDelete

Comments make my day!