Saturday 9: Just Like Me

Link up with Crazy Sam if you're playing along today!

1. Who in your life do you think behaves and thinks the most like you do?

Probably my daughter, Chloë, which is not necessarily a compliment to me. She has been emulating me in a lot of ways recently, and one of them is yelling. It's brought the need to stop being a yeller to my attention, among other things, and I'm working on it now.

2. As a kid, were you ever wrongly accused (and punished, if it went that far) for something you didn't do? If so, what was it? What happened?

OMG, yes, time and time again by my evil ex-stepmother. It was the story of my life. I really don't want to go into details of it, though. It's too painful to bring up that stuff outside of a therapeutic environment.

3. What about as an adult, were you ever wrongly accused for something you didn't do?? Do you think it's worse to be accused as a child or an adult? Why/why not?

When our son Jack was 2, he fell and, unbeknownst to us at the time, cracked his skull. We didn't discover that there was a serious injury until I was drying him off after a bath two weeks later, and my thumb squished in the side of his head. I called my husband at work, and he came home and rushed him right to the ER. From there, things went insane, as we were accused of some pretty horrific child abuse. We were interrogated separately by police, and Child Protective came in and threatened to take our 3 kids away. We had to be "babysat" by our (very wonderful) friends and family members for nearly a month, before the forensic pediatrician corroborated our story of what must have happened during that fall, and we were exonerated. It was one of the most absolutely awful things I have ever experienced, and I would not wish it on anyone who didn't deserve it. 

3. What’s the scariest weather situation you’ve experienced?

In December, 2002, we were living in Guam. I was pregnant with the twins, and we had one-year-old Chloë. Then SuperTyphoon Pongsona hit the island; it was the worst typhoon on record. It made me so nauseous, all that pressure change and whatnot. I took a Phenergan (anti-nausea med) and passed out during much of the storm, but the aftermath was pretty terrible. We were without power for weeks; some people lost power for, I think, 62 days? There was no gas on the island, thanks to fires at the ports, so we couldn't even run the generators we'd bought in advance.  We couldn't cook or do laundry, and the temperatures were sweltering.  It was a pretty rough time, but we survived it. We moved here to Virginia in March, and less than half a year later, Hurricane Isabel hit. We went through many of the same conditions for the second time in 9 months, and I went through a little bit of PTSD with that. Thankfully, the living conditions to which we were/are accustomed were restored after about 10 days that time, but both storms really made me cognizant of what people in Third World nations deal with on a daily basis, and worse. We should truly be compassionate toward those people.

4. If you could wake up tomorrow morning in another country, where would you want to be and why?

Australia or Japan. I've been very interested in visiting those countries especially, for a very long time, although I would like to travel everywhere eventually! If I won a free trip to either of those two countries, though, it would be an extremely difficult decision for me to make. I'd have to throw a dart!

5. Instead of going to work Monday, if you could spend the entire day doing something else - any one or two things that you absolutely love doing - what would you do?

I don't "go to work" on Monday or any other day. I stay home and homeschool my children, and I'm enjoying it so much that that is really what I would like to spend my Mondays doing, thanks!

6. What sites (other than meme sites) do you use most to help you post on your blog?

Use? For my blog? Uh... none, I guess. I just type what comes up in the ol' brain.

7. Check out a post on your blog from six months ago (March 2010) and tell us what is different now about your blog and/or life?

Well, I went and looked back here, but I'm feeling too lazy to read all that stuff, so I'll just say the obvious: we're homeschoolers now! And honestly, I'm not just blowing smoke, but it's fantastic. We should have done it from the beginning. Woulda, shoulda, coulda...

8. What was the last photograph you took?

This one, of the sand art Sophia made the other night when she stayed up late with me. 

9. Which fashion trend do you believe is the most horrendous and why?

I'm torn between the obvious (saggy pants with underwear sticking out on 'urban' young men) (did I just say that? I'm all of 34 years old, but that just made me feel ancient!) and the one that drives me most crazy: young girls and women who apparently don't possess a full-length mirror, because they wear clothes that are way too tight, especially jeans, and their chubs hang over the top. And then they wear a tight shirt, or a cropped shirt, so you can see that nice muffin top. I mean, really, why? Why do that? It does NOT make you look more attractive, or skinnier, to have your blub on display. Go up a size or two, ladies!!! (And yes, I can talk.)

Fin.