Question 67 & 68

OK, so here we are at Day 3 of the staycation (love that word, by the way, Terri, thanks!)- no casualties yet. I do, however feel like I have been hit by a bus. I woke up at at 6:30am (didn't oversleep this time!) for the last day of the garage sale. It was pretty much a bust today, but Saturday was productive.

This was not a money making venture- it was a 'get rid of shit' venture. Mission accomplished. I priced nothing over .50- seriously, I had people telling me that I was too cheaply priced- at a garage sale!

If I had been paid minimum wage for every hour I spent working on this thing, I certainly would have made more money (we already blew the money on a cheap vacuum since mine shot craps.) BUT I got rid of a bunch of crap and I get my garage back. I boxed up the remnants and will be awaiting the Goodwill truck tomorrow! Yippee!

As promised, I've slacked and not come up with anything to write about today except to answer your questions... here goes...

Christy's Question:

if you could read a friend's diary (that held all of their deepest, darkest secrets, completely unrevealed to anyone) w/o them finding out, would you?

- At the risk of losing any friends that I might have gained from this-Absolutely! I'm a total voyeur... I would love to be a bug on the wall ANYWHERE! I like to know what people think and I am an open book, so it's hard for me to comprehend offending someone by reading deep dark secrets(kind of pathological of me, isn't it?). I also feel that people hold back because of fear of being judged for having those feelings- and I am not a judger, again hard for me to comprehend.

Scarletvirago's Question:

If you could have lunch with any one person, dead or alive (except they'd be in their alive" state for lunch, otherwise rotting corpse might turn off your appetite), who and why??

-I'm not a fan of "past"-history and what have you, so this won't be one of those deep answers like Lincoln or Susan B. Anthony. That said, please accept my apologies for the long windedness, this is one that requires explanation.

I had an Aunt that was one of the greatest people I have ever known. She was kind, generous and her happiness was contagious- everyone loved her. Unfortunately, she married a man right out of high school that no one was ever fond of- she defended him and everyone accepted him because that's what she wanted. He was rude and untactful and we all thought he was crazy, too.

They stayed married 25+ years because she was the type that tried to "make the best of it". She never complained although we all knew she was unhappy. Through the years she gained a lot of weight and had become quite uncomfortable. (This was before the gastric bypass craze- I TOTALLY wish she could have taken advantage of that!) Her husband was mean and insulting about her weight which just made it that much more of a struggle.

In 2000, she had surgery for a back problem (related to her weight) that she had been dealing with. My mom, her only living blood relative, besides her son, talked to her and visited her during her recovery period. She was doing well and getting along much better than before her surgery and things were looking up.

On a Tuesday afternoon, just 2 weeks after her surgery, I got a phone call that my Aunt had died. That was hard. The news that she had shot herself was harder and incomprehensible. She put a positive spin on everything and was quite religious. We had and still have a hard time wrapping our head around her taking her own life, even with the difficulties in her life.

Her husband never showed sadness after her death. He was in law enforcement and seemed very intertwined with the detectives at the crime scene. He remarried shortly after her death.

As a family, we did follow up on his alibi and forensics, which all pointed to a clear cut suicide and no foul play, but we all truly feel that there was some kind of cover up there.

I would love to be able to sit down with her and ask her if she did intend on killing herself. If so, did he have anything to do with taunting her towards it(the only way that it makes any sense to us) or was she just in that much pain in her life and felt trapped otherwise.

Sue's Question:

Is it terrible that the biggest reason I plan to take them on outings like the Aquarium is that it might provide blog material?????

I'm quite certain that this was a rhetorical question, but I needed to lighten the mood... so... Yes, it is terrible and it is the exact reason why I will put myself through the torture of a trip to the zoo. We are awful parents and are using our kids as pawns in this blogging game, big deal! Don't forget to put Bathtub Gangsta in that purse that you bring to the Aquarium!

Deb's Question:

what do you think of your name? Would you have given yourself your name, and if not, what would you name yourself

I like this question! You see, I have a unique name that most do not know- unless you went to school with me and payed close attention on the first day of school roll call. 'Athena' is my birth name. 'I go by Tena - T - E - N - A 'is what I said, verbatim, every year, every class, when they would call my name and that was it for Athena- until the next year with a new round of teachers.

My paternal Grandmother hated the name Athena and she was a bit of a controlling woman and my mom was 16 and a totally non-confrontational pushover (I, however, would have told her where to shove it!) Somewhere along the line the compromise was TENA!

Growing up, I hated the name (thus the robotic response to my teachers) because kids don't like to be "different" and stand out. I thought, no, knew, my mom and dad were hippy freaks and that they just liked the name, but longed to be a Jennifer or Michelle back then.

Now, even though Tena has stuck, I do embrace Athena more and appreciate its uniqueness.

Mrs.4444's Question:

If you could only choose one, which would you choose? Looks, Brains, Wealth

It sounds sooo shallow, but I think I would choose wealth- you can buy looks (plastic surgery) and brains help you make money, but if you don't need money... who cares? In my defense, though, if happiness was a choice, I would choose that over anything!

Tiffany's Question:

Which do you hate more? Elvis or the Grinch??

My first instinct would be Elvis- I've NEVER been a fan. However, that original Grinch cartoon is pretty bad, too. Close call, but I'm going with Elvis.

Jill's Question:

Where are you going in October?

We try to go annually to Gulf Shores, Alabama, nothing fancy but the folks flip the bill and we stay at their place- this will be the 6th year. Growing up, making a trip to Kansas City, MO, Hannibal, MO or Branson, MO (each only 1-3 hours away) was as much of a vacation that I ever had (we were po!) It was always a delight for us to just be in different surroundings and stay in a hotel (I love hotels!). So I have never been much of an exotic traveler and am thrilled to be able to see the ocean once a year!

Let's pause a moment for Jill who is in between homes and her husband is off of work for 8 WEEKS during the relocation- making my 15 days look like beans!!!! Good luck to you, my good woman!

Terri's Question:

If money were not an object, what would be your choice for a dream vacation?

Again, not much of a traveler, but here's my list:

any quaint Italian village

I've been told that Hawaii is a must, so that would be on my list.

I would also like to go to New York (I always imagined me living there as an adult before my life took the grown up route) and stay in a fabulously extravagant hotel.

I would like to visit California before I die, too.


AAAh. well that was fun! Thanks so much for the material!