In Which I am Interviewed

Lara, over at Life: The Ongoing Education (isn't it, though?!) invited me to take part in an interview meme. Here (finally -- sorry, Lara!) are my answers to her questions:

1) What do you think is the scariest thing about being a "grown-up"?
The scariest (and yet the best and most rewarding) thing about being grown up is parenting! As I joke with my kids, "this is all one big experiment; I'm just crossing my fingers..." The responsibility of raising kind, thoughtful, well-mannered, involved and compassionate members of society sometimes feels daunting! Our approach has been love, trust and honesty. We figure that if we give it, chances are pretty good that it'll be returned... and so far that seems to be the case.

As Aleks and Kat are immersing themselves in college applications (the stress around that is huge!), I am beginning to immerse myself in the aspect of that process that's my responsibility -- the FAFSA (financial aid) stuff. The stress around THAT -- around finding a way to help three more kids through college -- is also huge! Oh, and did I mention that Elisabeth is going to GRAD SCHOOL next year? Yup -- we'll actually have FOUR kids in college next year! But the kids know that they're responsible for finding their own way through grad school. Fortunately, Elisabeth has all but finished paying off 35K in undergraduate college loans (paid off in ONE year!), so by the time she starts grad school she'll start with a blank loan ledger (and fill it up quickly, no doubt).

Oh yeah -- one more scary thing: finding my own job and being responsible for supporting a family. Yeah, there's that little ditty too...

2) What is your "comfort food"?
Creamy, pasta-filled casseroles. And after answering question #1, I feel like I need one!

3) If you won a free vacation to any era of history (in a time machine, of course), where - or when, rather - would you want to visit?
We were just discussing this one at dinner the other night! There has been more change and innovation in the past 50 years than any other time in history, and that's pretty exciting (and scary), so I think that right here is a pretty amazing place to be.

That said, I think I'd love to VISIT (I'd have to be able to blink myself back!) the American "covered wagon" days. I'm sure it was nowhere near as romantic as its depiction on Little House on the Prairie, but since reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, I've always thought it'd be cool to live in her young shoes for a bit.

I also think it would have been pretty dang cool to have been 0h, 19 years old... in oh, 1924... in oh, let's say high society Boston! Flapper, baby!!

4) Why do you think so many full-grown adults still laugh at fart jokes? Do you?
Nah -- but the rest of my family does. Personally, I don't get that one. But I do still laugh at a really good dirty joke. Know any?

5) What was your favorite board game as a child and why?
When I was about 10, my family was playing The Game of Life. One spin brought me TWINS! Boy/Girl twins! I was so absolutely thrilled at this that I started CRYING! Like really crying because I was so amazingly happy to have "spun twins." Little did I know then that I really WOULD "spin twins" -- boy/girl twins, even -- in real life 23 years later!

That was my best memory of a moment during a game. But my favorite game was called Trouble. I can't even remember how the game was played, except that it had this cool plastic dome called a "pop-o-matic" in the middle of the board. To roll the dice, you just pressed the pop-o-maric and the dice would be rolled under the dome!

I know... I was pretty easily pleased.

So... since the whole idea of a meme is to keep it alive, let me know if you want me to interview you (include your e-mail address) and I'll send you five questions created just for you!