
What fun to read your questions! So here goes...with a couple of random bits thrown in too:
Favorite books are Fall On Your Knees, The Time Traveler's Wife (made me cry!), The Art of Racing In the Rain
If I had to pick two books I'd tell everyone to read, it would be Full Moon Feast and The Gift
Favorite food is rice pasta, preferably with homemade pesto. It used to be pizza before the gluten-free thing, and pizza still is my favorite food but I can no longer eat it!
I am starting to work part-time at a local natural food's co-op in September. More on what the little one will be doing later.
In the garden this year: winter squash, pumpkins, zucchini, summer squash, a TON of basil, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, snap peas, shelling peas, green beans, lots o' lettuce, carrots, onions, and beets.
Favorite movies: Off the Map, Amelie, Napoleon Dynamite (seriously, the first scene with the trapper keeper and I knew it was a winner...), and Charlie Bartlett
Favorite spots in Maine: Popham Beach, the Old Port in Portland, but pretty much any quiet place outside around here. I love fields. I could lay in a field all day and just watch the birds dancing across the sky.
I say "dude" a lot, and whenever the little one says "mama?", I respond with "yo." She finds that hilarious.
I will spontaneously break into dance or song at any given time during the day.
The best night of my life was when I played with Dave Brubeck. I will never, ever forget how I felt being on stage with him and having a whole auditorium packed full of people on their feet clapping. It was amazing and I'm pretty sure I will die a happy musician because of it.
My biggest fear is throwing up. I avoid it at all costs. I think I'm so afraid of it that my body refuses to, even when it could probably do me some good.
I have a bit of an OCD problem, but it's much better than a few years ago. I have a whole sequence of steps I go through to clean the bathroom, and water marks and crumbs on the counter drive me insane. Oh, and dog hair on the floor.
I still believe everything has feelings: inanimate objects, trees, stuffed animals, etc. It was so strong as a child (I was extremely sensitive) and I thought it would go away when I got older, but no...I still feel it. So when the little one is rough with her toys, I often find myself feeling sorry for them and telling her to be gentle because "you don't want to hurt the book/doll/block!" Yes, indeed. I am crazy.
I became a total hippie after working at a funky coffee shop for a couple of years in Portland. I decided to become a vegan there (that lasted until my 8th month of pregnancy), wore hemp sandals that have since been composted, switched to only organic food, realized my dream was to live without electricity and live off the land while growing all my own food, and just basically switched my former lifestyle around completely.
I took ballet for 12 years and figure skating for 2. (I LOVED figure skating but we couldn't afford it anymore.) I find that I often start doing a skating move, or ballet pose, or some crazy stretch while I'm standing around. This usually happens when I'm standing in a group of people and I get all kinds of crazy looks until I realize my foot is higher than my head.
My favorite smell is lilacs. We had so many lilac trees around the house I grew up in.
The one thing I would change about myself is not being so sensitive. Someone can just give me a weird look and I feel like I want to cry. It was so bad when I was little. I have a good sense of other people's energies too, so if I feel like someone is stressed, or mad, or upset, I usually take it on myself.
The greatest challenge I find about being a mother is the monotony of it all. Waking up and knowing you're going to have to go through the same routine day after day. There aren't many chances to be spontaneous anymore, and I really admire those parents that are able to do that. Oh, and I really miss being able to make dinner in piece and quiet. I long for the day I can try an involved recipe again. Everything I make now is easy and quick because it's "meltdown time" for the little one.
The only reason I started playing the trumpet was because my mother couldn't afford an instrument for me. Her friend had an old trumpet up in her attic and let me borrow it until I finally got my own in high school. I would have chosen the saxophone. Music was my whole life until I graduated high school. I would go early to school just to practice, stay later, practice during my lunch, during study halls, sneak out of class early to practice, then went home to practice. It's literally everything I thought about for so many years. When I finally got my own trumpet, I slept with it next to my bed so I could wake up and see it. I was so happy.
I really, really, really want to go to Italy and work on a vineyard. My friend introduced me to WWOOF, and I'm pretty sure I could be insanely happy living my life going from country to country working on farms.
And I thought I'd end with this lovely question: "
So if you've made it through this insanely long list of random things about me, congratulations! And don't forget that I'm willing to do a post just for photography questions, so leave any if you're interested.
I love the blue one with the birds. They are all so special!
Thanks for the chance.