Saturday 9

Saturday 9: Friends

1. How many of your friendships have lasted more than ten years? Which of your current friends do you feel will still be important to you ten years from now? I currently have about six friends -- and by friends I mean people with whom I share more than annual birthday or Christmas wishes -- that have lasted more than a decade. I expect to carry all of them forward, plus my current best friend.

2. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what’s the first thing you look at? The shape of my face -- which is very round.

3. Who was the most recent person on your missed call list on your cell phone? What’s your relationship with the person? The dispatcher from the local cab company was calling to tell me the cab I requested had arrived. I didn't pick up because I was already getting into the cab when the call came. I don't consider the dispatcher and I as having a relationship ...

4. What did your last text message you received on your cell phone say? It's gobbledy-gook, a confirmation message from my bank that my cell phone can receive their texts.

5. How would you “label” yourself? Highly individual and difficult to label.

6. What was your favorite age that you’ve been? 35. I felt very sexy and womanly.

7. What is your current desk top picture? What’s its significance? These two photos rotate. Believe it or not, Jackie O is under a great deal of duress in these shots. I keep them on my desktop to remind me to keep my head, no matter what. For the full story behind these photos, click here.

8. What was the last thing you said to someone that you‘d like to take back? Oh, Lord! I seem to forever being putting my foot in it! One recent thing was telling my oldest friend that I believed that, if we were living out The Golden Girls, she's be Rose and I'd be Sophia. I meant that she was very sweet. It wasn't until I heard myself say it that it hit me -- she could think I was calling her "stupid."

9. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to go back in time and fix all your mistakes which would you choose? ALL my mistakes, not just one? Hell, I'd jump at that!

August Happiness Challenge 2010 -- Day 6

Summer hours. From Memorial Day through Labor Day, our office closes at 12:30 on Fridays. Everyone starts heading out as soon as the clock strikes 12. It's a lovely perk.

Mostly this summer I have used the free Friday afternoons for appointments -- vein treatment, hair cut, massage, pedi. Today I designated it for lazy. Got home, watched the Cub game, and then headed over to the library book fair (see post below). It was a very good use of my time. Doing nothing suits me, and I feel very relaxed right now.

Frankly, my dear ...

We no longer give a damn.

Tonight kicked off our community's book fair, a 3-day event to benefit the public library. Every year there's a book that you'll see time and time and time again. The book that many locals enthusiastically bought and then decided (almost in unison) that they were done with it and would never read it again. I always make a mental note of the title that wins each year's dubious honor.

In 2006, it was The Corrections.
In 2007, The Nanny Diaries.
In 2008, The Da Vinci Code.
In 2009, My Life by Bill Clinton.
This year, Scarlett, the Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with The Wind.

This surprised me, since it was originally published in 1992. It was reissued in 2007. Maybe it's that more recently issued edition that's decorating the tables at the book fair.

Now let me make a note of all I picked up, for the princely sum of $5.00:

For me --
Killer Smile by Lisa Scottoline
Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen
Size 14 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
The Careful Use of Compliments by Alexander McCall Smith

For the troops --
Ocean's 11, a novelization of the movie
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
When the Wind Blows by James Patterson

I'm pleased by how gently used these last three are, and I like thinking of the escape they will provide three of our soldiers.

Yup, I agree

Though I'm not so crazy about standing out in a crowd …

You Are Independent

You are fiercely proud of who you are, and you're not about to change for anyone. You hate it when people try to control you. Responsibilities tend to bum you out. You like to stand out in a crowd and you definitely turn heads. You are fun and fearless. People envy your courage.

What's True About You?

My tummy hurts!

I'm taking it easy this morning, consuming only Pepto Bismol and Canada Dry Ginger Ale. I want to feel better -- fast! -- because today is our village book fair, the big fundraiser for the public library and the perfect opportunity for me to score some paperbooks for the troops. I'm thinking John Grisham, Nora Roberts, and JD Patterson are rather universally liked authors. And, since it's a charity event, I am raising my self-imposed "No New Books" ban. Especially because any books I find will be used.