Midlife Natalie

So I’ve been interested in blogging more lately which is evident by the fact that I’ve been blogging more lately.  Funny how that worked.  Today I was trying to decide what I wanted to blog about and found these questions.  I decided to post them all here and choose some to answer every now and then.  Here’s the link to the website where I found the questions if you’re interested in reading more about it.

ϟ What’s the best compliment you’ve ever received?

ϟ What’s one thing you’re deeply proud of — but would never put on your résumé?

ϟ What’s the most out-of-character choice you’ve ever made?

ϟ If a mysterious benefactor wrote you a check for $5,000 and said, “Help me solve a problem — any problem!” … what would you do with him or her?

ϟ What’s going to be carved on your (hypothetical) tombstone?

ϟ What are you FREAKISHLY good at?

ϟ What’s one dream that you’ve tucked away, for the moment? How come?

ϟ What are you STARVING for?

ϟ If you could have tea with one fictional character, who would it be?

ϟ Do you have a morning ritual?

ϟ Do you believe in magic? When have you felt it?

ϟ Is there something that people consistently ask for your advice on? What is it?

ϟ Have you ever fantasized about changing your first name? To what?

ϟ When was the last time you astonished yourself?

ϟ What’s your personal anthem or theme song?

ϟ Do you ever yearn for your life, before Facebook?

ϟ What’s your definition of an ideal houseguest?

ϟ If you had an extra $100 to spend on yourself every week, what would you do?

ϟ If you could sit down with your 15-year old self, what would you tell him or her?

ϟ What are you BORED of?

ϟ What’s the best birthday cake you ever ate?

ϟ How do you engage with panhandlers on the street?

ϟ Do you think LOVE is chemical, intellectual, spiritual — or completely undefinable?

ϟ Have you ever dreamed about starting a business? (Or if you’ve already got one — a new business?)

ϟ Are you afraid of flying in airplanes? (How come?)

ϟ What’s your most urgent priority for the rest of the year?

ϟ If you could master any instrument on earth, what would it be?

ϟ Have you ever been genuinely afraid for your physical safety?

ϟ What are you an expert on? Is it because of training, lived experience, or both?

ϟ Has a teacher ever changed your life? How so?

ϟ Are there any household chores you secretly enjoy? Which ones — and why?

ϟ How do you reign in self-critical voices?

ϟ If you could custom blend a perfume or cologne, what would it include?

ϟ What does FEAR feel like, in your body?

ϟ Do you think you’re currently operating at 100% capacity?

ϟ What do you value most: free time, recognition, or money?

ϟ If you could save one endangered species from extinction, which would you choose?

ϟ Are there any laws or social rules that completely baffle you?

ϟ Would you like to write a book? (About what?)

ϟ If you could choose your own life obstacles, would you keep the ones you have?

ϟ Have you ever SCREAMED at someone? (What did they do?)

ϟ Do you think there’s going to be an anti-technology whiplash, in our lifetime?

ϟ Where + when do you get your BEST IDEAS?

ϟ Have you ever met one of your HEROES?

ϟ What’s in your fridge, right this moment?

ϟ Can you tell when someone is LYING?

ϟ Can you tell when someone is telling the TRUTH?

ϟ Have you ever pushed your body further than you dreamed possible?

ϟ Are you living your LIFE PURPOSE — or still searching?

ϟ Have you ever had to make a public apology? (How come?)

ϟ What’s the WORST piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

ϟ Do you think we’re designed for monogamy? (Why or why not?)

ϟ How do you CELEBRATE your victories?

ϟ Would you consider yourself an introvert, extrovert, or ambivert?

ϟ Do you ever hunt for answers or omens in dreams?

ϟ Do you think everyone has the capacity to be a LEADER?

ϟ Is WAR a necessary EVIL?

ϟ Are YOU a starter, a finisher, or an implementer?

ϟ Have you ever unplugged from the Internet for more than a week?

ϟ Do you think we should live like we’re dying?

ϟ Do you have any habits or quirks you wish you could ERASE?

ϟ What was the most AGONIZING hour of your life?

ϟ Have you ever dramatically changed a habit, or gotten yourself out of a rut? How’d you do it?

ϟ Would you rather be a lonely genius, or a sociable idiot?

ϟ How would YOU fix the economy?

ϟ What was your very first JOB?

ϟ What brings you SHEER DELIGHT?

ϟ Are you highly useful in a CRISIS?

ϟ Do you like to be SAVED — or do the saving?

ϟ What’s one mistake you keep repeating (and repeating)?

ϟ If you were heading out on a ROAD TRIP right this minute, what would you pack?

ϟ Do you have any irrational fears?

ϟ When you see peers + competitors getting things you want, how do you react?

ϟ If you were to die three hours from now, what would you regret most?

ϟ What’s something you’ve tried, that you’ll never, ever try again?

ϟ If you could enroll in a PhD program, with your tuition paid in full by a mysterious benefactor, what would you study — and why?

ϟ Have you ever had a complete + total nervous breakdown? (How did you recuperate?)

ϟ Have you ever set two friends up on a date? (How did it go?)

ϟ Have you ever questioned your FAITH — or lack thereof?

ϟ What’s your recipe for recuperating from extreme heartbreak?

ϟ Have you ever had a psychic reading? Did you believe it? Was it accurate?

ϟ Have you ever (actually) kept a New Year’s Resolution?

ϟ Have you ever met someone who was genuinely EVIL?

ϟ Do you believe that everyone deserves redemption + forgiveness?

ϟ What was the BEST KISS of your entire life?

ϟ Do you secretly miss Polaroid cameras?

ϟ Do you have any physical features that you try to cloak or hide? How come?

ϟ What makes YOU so special, anyway? (No, really.)

ϟ What’s in your pocket (or purse, or man-purse) right now?

ϟ Ever fantasize about being in a rock band? What would your group be called?

ϟ What’s your guiltiest of guilty pleasures?

ϟ Who’s on your panel of imaginary mentors?

ϟ Have you ever stolen anything? (Money, candy, hearts, time?)

ϟ When was the last time you saw an animal in the wild?

ϟ What’s the hardest thing you ever had to write — and why?

ϟ Who’s the last person that deeply disappointed you? (What happened?)

ϟ Have you ever won an award? What was it for?

ϟ How long can you (comfortably) go without checking your emails or texts? How do you feel about that?

ϟ What do you deserve + get to receive, no matter what?

ϟ What are you ready to set into motion, today?

Recently I was offered the book, Suburban Underbelly, by Michele Theron as a read and review project.  I decided that it sounded like a fun story and took it on.  The story is about three women who feel somewhat trapped by the rituals of the typical suburban lifestyles they lead.  While lamenting over their lost freedoms since husbands and kids, they decide to take the term “playdate” to a whole new level.

The following contains spoilers so read at your own risk.

The characters Lucy, Quinn, and Jill all have believable stories, and I could relate to each one of them at certain points in the story.  Lucy has a perfect husband, child, house and longs for excitement.  Quinn is non-confrontational, coexists with her husband, and tries to be the perfect mom.  Jill is recently divorced and trying to figure out how being gay works. They meet once a week for a 3 hour playdate for their children and discuss what’s going on in their lives.  One week they decide to up the ante a bit and indulge in playdates for themselves as well.  Quinn offers to keep the kids and let the other women have fun.  She just wants to hear all about their adventures.

Lucy immediately hooks up with her neighbor, Brian, who she has been flirting with for some time.  Week after week they meet at one of their houses to have raucous sex.  Lucy reports her doings back to the other women at a weekly coffee date.  I guess this type of thing happens in real life, but I did have a few issues with this.  I can’t imagine good friends allowing/encouraging another friend to cheat on her husband and beg for details.  Especially a good guy.  If he was a jerk to her or neglectful or something I could understand it a little better, but even Lucy says he’s a great guy.  I’m sure it has more to do with my upbringing and sense of right and wrong.  I guess I felt like the friends should have encouraged her differently.

Jill meets and gets involved with a woman.  I could relate to her and her hesitation concerning the idea.  She knows it’s who she is and what she wants, but figuring it out isn’t so easy.

And Quinn…she was probably my favorite character.  She is the watcher.  The thinker.  The writer.  She tries to see what is happening underneath it all in her own life as well as the lives of her neighbors.  I felt like she has a lot more to say and look forward to the sequel to see where Theron takes this character.

All in all this was a good book.  The characters push boundaries as they try to capture what made them interesting before kids.  It was a quick and easy read and for only $2.99 (digitally) it is worth it.

Tyfanny from Come What May tagged me in a post way back at the beginning of August and because I’ve been a completely lazy blogger/blog reader lately I’ve just noticed it.  She awarded me the Liebster award which sounds very similar to the Biebster award which makes me question the origins of this award.  I scoured the internet (spent about 2 minutes looking) and discovered it’s German for dearest and is supposed to be awarded to bloggers with less than 200 readers.  Shoot…I have no idea how many readers I have, but judging from the comments, I would say the number falls at just under 5.  That being said, I qualify, so here goes the meme!  I think I’m also supposed to grab the award picture and post it here, but please refer to the lazy blogger line above.

I’m supposed to answer some questions about myself and then tag others to do the same.  Here goes…

What food does your family eat often; either because it’s a go-to, easy food, or because it’s a favorite?

Food around here is complicated these days!  My oldest and I are doing protein shakes and while they taste good the thought of chugging them some days gets the gag reflex going.  As far as other food goes, nobody has the same favorite so we tend to mix it up a lot.  For my crew Chicken Spaghetti is a favorite, but Sweet Tea and her daughter only tolerate it.  They love meatloaf which my kids like ok, but it’s not my favorite. We’ve eaten fish tacos and pork tacos quite a bit this summer…maybe that’s the best answer.  Something we buy and buy and buy because they are always eaten are those Totino’s frozen pizzas that cost $1.25.  The kids eat them for lunch/snack/breakfast/whenever.  We still need to get back into the swing of “regular” meals, evenings, habits now that school has started back up.

I am a big fan of Mexican food.  Other than one Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada that seemed to be covered in white biscuit gravy instead of a sour cream sauce, I don’t think I’ve ever really had a complaint.  Even then, I just needed to rename it Granny’s Chicken and Gravy Roll-up and it tasted great.  Some Mexican meals were definitely better than others over the years, but even when they weren’t great I still ate them.  The only thing that ever really keeps me from eating Mexican food is how spicy it is.  I used to do spicy with no problem, but for some reason I can’t handle the heat like I did in my younger years.

The other day I had a craving for MexiDips and Chips from Taco Bueno.  Since the closest Taco Bueno is in Austin, I figured I would have to make some myself.  My freshman year of college I made frequent trip to the Taco Bueno across the street from my dorm.  It was there that I discovered the amazing idea of multiple dips and chips as a meal!  Yum!

Anyway…I made some.  I ate them.  Craving satisfied.

Now I’m craving a hamburger from Fuddruckers.  It’s been a few days since the craving started, but there has been no time to venture over to Fuddruckers.  At least there’s one fairly close to me though.

1.  Some flavors of gourmet jelly beans do not go well with other.  When I wanted to try a strawberry and lemon together to see if it tasted like strawberry lemonade I accidentally ate a cinnamon and a lemon.  Not a good combination.

2.  Many people have no idea what celebrating 4/20 means.  I didn’t know the meaning of 420 until 2009 and this year, for the first time, I heard people actually talking about celebrating.  Most days I still wish I was clueless about some things.

3.  I AM able to start a fire from the banked, almost out embers of a fire from the night before after much coaxing, smoke inhalation and 30 minutes.  I refused to give in to the lighter, matches, and lighter fluid.  And I conquered!  (We went camping.)

4.  I do have some class.  The other day in the drive through line at the pharmacy I was dressed in sweat shorts and a t-shirt the same shade of heather gray as the shorts.  I was starving and had gone through the drive through at KFC a few minutes before.  I decided to chow down while I waited my turn in line.  Just before I lifted the hot wing to my lips I glanced over at the car next to mine in line.  Mercedes, dressed for success woman, hair perfected coifed, staring straight at me.  I smiled and slowly slid the fried hot wing back into the bag and held out until I was driving away.  I didn’t make it all the way home before I cleaned that wing though.

5.  I love Shakira.  I always liked her before, but I am enjoying her immensely on The Voice.  She just seems like a fresher version of Christina, who I also enjoy.  And I love the singer Caroline who was on Team Blake but has now become part of Team Adam, who I also love, by the way.  Lots of love over here!