Well, my good friend Edna Lee has meme tagged me, so I really must spill my guts for you now.  Here goes…

The Rules

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ah…good ole’ 1998!  In 1998 I was sans kiddos, living in a cute little 2bed/2bath town-home and pining for something new & different in my life.   Dick was doing whatever it is that he does .  I was barely working as a marketing assistant at a financial services firm.  When I say that I was “barely” working, it’s because my job consisted mostly of web surfing and 2 hour lunches with my fellow marketing assistant - a stereotypical blonde, trust-fund baby with a 10-carat rock, daddy’s AMEX and a stay-at-home beefcake/husband.  Boy, we had some fun…  Yes, life was good, but I had grown bored of my home town and craved a change of scenery. When Dick proposed that we take our first real vacation - a road trip across the eastern seaboard - I was beyond thrilled.  It was during that trip that Dick and I visited NYC for the first time and fell in love with the city.  Strolling hand in hand through the diverse and historic neighborhoods of Manhattan, we knew we wanted to live there.  A mere 6 months later without even really trying, Dick was recruited by a small software company on Wall Street and the rest, as they say, is history.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list for today (not in any particular order):

I’ve ordered mine because they’re so routine: 

  1. Ask Adam to use his listening ears, please
  2. Remind Adam that he agreed to use his listening ears
  3. Warn Adam that he’s about to lose privileges because he’s not using his listening ears
  4. Send Adam to time out for not using his listening ears
  5. Repeat steps 1 through 5 until Adam’s 8:30 bedtime

3. Snacks I enjoy

For anyone who’s read Raw Drip regularly, you know that I enjoy snacks.  Clearly, I wouldn’t be in Weight Watchers right now if I were someone who didn’t enjoy food.  So I think the more interesting topic is “Snacks I Don’t Enjoy”:

  • Peas
  • Sausage
  • Spicy things
  • Sour things
  • Fake fruity things
  • Most stews (see peas)

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

  • Watch my back more closely.
  • Give away all but several million dollars to charity.
  • Buy Dick a fabulous loft in TriBeCa for our future retirement and a fabulous sports car for our future date nights.  
  • Make sure that no one I love EVER has worry about getting access to good medical care or basic necessities.  Why our government can’t sort out the logistics of fairly providing basic care for its citizenry is beyond me…
  • Take my family on a trip around the world.
  • Hire Candace Olsen from that HGTV show “Devine Design” to decorate every room in my home.

5. Three of my bad habits:

  1. Sometimes, on occasion, I have some minor difficulty arriving at the crux of my point and I can seem a bit meandering in my thoughts.  See what I mean?
  2. I’m lazy
  3. Lots of ideas/not much action

6. 5 places I have lived:

  1. Tustin, CA
  2. Aliso Viejo, CA
  3. Irvine, CA
  4. New York City, NY
  5. Sarasota, FL

7. 5 jobs I have had:

  1. Babysitter - When I was 13, I had a really good thing going with the next door neighbors until I accidently dropped the baby in front of them.  Literally, I was attempting to pick up the baby after my arm had fallen asleep and I dropped the kid right on the floor at their feet.  He was fine, but that was the end of that gold mine.
  2. Cashier – Initially, I worked at a children’s consignment shop that my mom co-owned, but soon I busted out into the lucrative pharmaceutical industry - by becoming a cashier at the local drug store.
  3. Receptionist - The high stress world of cashiering grew tiresome so I pursued a job as a receptionist.  I landed one at a small insurance brokerage owned by a philandering middle-aged guy who thought driving a white Corvette and calling everyone in the office “babe” was the height of originality.  Later I learned that “Steve” hired me because I was “nice on the eyes”.  I quit when I learned that he had bedded several of the better paid ladies in the office.  Yuck! 
  4. Expediter – This was the “official title” for my first post-high school night job in a micro-chip manufacturing plant.  For the record, the work of an expediter largely involves making photocopies and running them downstairs to the plant’s line managers.  Oh, and not falling asleep at one’s desk which is, let’s face it, not very expeditious.
  5. Sr. Customer Service Officer - Okay, okay, so I have a service personality.  That much is obvious by my list.  Go ahead and insert self-help book title here…

8. 2 People I want to know more about (originally, the rules were to list 5 people, but if I knew 5 people that would mean I have a social life - which I don’t. Instead, I’m a working parent.):

  1. Edna Lee at ReguritatedAlphaBits.com is a dear friend, a confidante, and my personal champion.  Don’t let Edna’s humorous prose fool you.  Behind all the self-depricating humor is a woman who is a sensitive, caring & passionately devoted servant of her students and I am proud to list myself as one of them, since I learn from her all the time.  Despite knowing her as well as I do, there are never quite enough hours in the day to stay in touch.  Thankfully, her highly readable blog gives me a little peek into her world and helps keep one of my most treasured relationships alive.  So, thanks for tagging me, Ed.  And, yes, I enabled comments on Raw Drip about 3 weeks ago so now all you loyal drips can share your perspectives with me.  Just click on the teeny-tiny, itty-bitty little “Comments” link at the bottom of each post if you’re so inclined.
  2. Tom Kuhlmann, host of The Rapid eLearning Blog is a witty writer and training professional who offers up great, easy to understand tips, tricks & ideas that help me look much smarter than I actually am.  On behalf of over-worked Trainers & Instructional Designers everywhere - Thanks, Tom!  We think you’re brilliant!  If that darn economic recession doesn’t completely wipe out my department’s travel budget, I hope to see you at next year’s “eLearning Guild” gathering.   

Of course, there are many, many more of you out there that I admire and want to know more about. 

Dick- I have no idea what you do for a living, but just keep bringing home the bacon, baby!  Mama needs a new pair of Choos (Jimmy, that is).

Svetlana - Like the someecards.com greeting said, “Your dating life is more important to me than my marriage.”  Let’s never drift so far apart again, okay?  Life is so boring without your adventures to keep me entertained.

W - You’re on the other side of the world - too far away for us to chat over the phone.  But I got your package in the mail the other day and it brought a tremendous smile to my face and a lift to my heart.  Thanks for being the kind, thoughtful and generous person that you are.  I hope we have many, many years of friendship ahead so I can continue to learn more about why you’re so darn wonderful!

And finally, loyal Drips, I want to get to know YOU!  What possesses you to throw away precious minutes of your life reading my blog?  Seriously, don’t you have some bees to save or some cancer to cure?