ABC’s of Me

 

Baaaaa. <----- Me as a sheep. You see, I’ve not only written this post just because I saw others doing it (ok, it looked like fun, I love these memes), but I’m posting it today, even though I already have a blog post today, and even though I planned on posting it next week, JUST ~ BECAUSE ~ EVERYONE ~ ELSE ~ RECENTLY ~ POSTED ~ THEIRS!

A. Age:  33! It’s one of those years where I have to think for a minute – I want to say 32, but that seems wrong, then I want to say 34, but that seems wrong. Must be 33. And am I the only one who, when seeing the word “must”, thinks, “I Must, I Must, I Must Increase My Bust!”? THANK YOU, JUDY BLUME. FOR NOTHING BUT A LIFETIME OF TORMENT BECAUSE THE WORD MUST IS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

B. Bed size: Queen. Somehow I get edged into using only about 6 inches of it, I spend all night almost falling off the side. My husband is bed-greedy, but it’s when he’s asleep so there’s not much that can help.

C. Chore you hate the most: Putting stuff away. I will happily scrub, launder, iron, sort, clear out . . . but once something is all sparkly & ready to go, I’m gonna need you to put it away for me. Or it will sit there in the laundry basket or the dish rack or on the couch. Forever and ever, Amen.

D. Dogs?  I enjoy them think they’re great companions. For someone else. AND NO IT DOESN’T MEAN I HAVE NO SOUL OR HATE ANIMALS. Just don’t want to live with them. (Can you tell people have said these things to me before?)

E. Essential Start To Your Day  Reading a few tweets on my phone while I pee before getting in the shower. At work, coffee. Weekends, sleeping well past the start of the day.

F. Favorite Color  My long-time favorite is RED but for a while now I’ve been in love with various shades of aqua. And I love those together. My wardrobe, however, has lots of black, white, charcoal, with colorful cardigans.

 Chalcedony and Garnet Necklace by Karina Grace Jewelry on Etsy

G. Gold or Silver Silver. I do think rose gold is pretty on occasion.

H. Height  4'10" – Yes. I am really, really short. I rarely notice it and have decided it’s because I look in people’s faces when I talk to them. If I constantly looked at their abdomen/chest, I might notice it more. I get surprised in mirrors & windows when standing next to people who are lots taller than me. “HOLY CRAP, DO YOU REALIZE HOW SHORT I AM?!”

I. Instrument You Play Piano, but I rarely play anymore, mainly because I have a keyboard WITHOUT weighted keys and no pedals and booooooo. Real pianos rock. I played clarinet in junior high but gave up band to be a high school pommie (practice was at the same time, I’d have done both if I could’ve). I can play a couple chords on the guitar and am always saying I’m going to learn to play it for real, soon.

J. Job? I have a low-totem-pole job in a high-totem-pole department in a graduate school. My job is to support my boss in his endeavors (he is overflowing with endeavors) and to be a know-it-all so I can alert people to problems and how one decision will impact something else.

 Merchandise Mart in Chicago, by re4mado at Etsy. See the dark building on the right edge of the coaster? That’s where I work.

K. Kids: I have 3 kids, ages 11, 9 and 3. They’re beautiful, smart, talented, funny and kind. I feel like I won the kid lottery and am scared of what horrible episode of Law & Order: SVU might become of our lives because really? They can’t stay that awesome forever, can they?

L. Live? I live in suburban Chicago in an area that is mixed re: class, race and ethnicity, which is important to me.

M. Mom's Name? Peggy.

N. Nickname: No matter where I go, people end up calling me A-Ray. Sometimes Ash and sometimes AshRay. One co-worker calls me AshBoo. Also, “going A-Ray” on yourself means to cut your own hair.

O. Overnight Stay At Hospital? 3 Kids, 3 overnight stays for their births.

P. Pet Peeve  General rudeness. Not holding doors open for people, not saying “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, “excuse me”, not returning your shopping cart to the cart corral. OOHH!!! When people are jerks to waiters or other service providers, because they’re seen as “less than”.

Q. Quote From a Movie: “I HATE YOU AND I HATE YOUR ASS FACE!” Corky St. Clair, *Waiting for Guffman* (best movie eveeeeerrrrrrrrrrr). Also, “You’re bastard people!”

There should be a needlepoint with that line. I would insert the picture here. Instead I’ll give you a photo of Corky in his memorabilia shop. Not shown is his Remains of the Day lunchbox.

R. Right or Left Handed? Right. No good stories about this.

S. Siblings? A plethora of steps and ex-steps and Halfs-I’ve-Never-Met. The two that are still around: Andy & Mike.

T. Time You Wake Up First phone alarm: 6am. Second phone alarm: 6:09. Third phone alarm: 6:20. Occasional fourth phone alarm: 6:40.

U. Underwear Yes. I have unnerwears (as my 3 year old calls them) and I wear them.

V. Veggies You Hate: Cooked greens. Brussel sprouts, spinach, cabbage, collards, BLECH. I can deal with that stuff IN stuff, like spinach in lasagna, cabbage in Bierocks or eggrolls. But on it’s own? Stinkey grossness. EW. Also, no one up here in Chicago has ever heard of a Bierock (BEER-rock). What the hell, dudes? It’s a hot pocket of beef & cabbage from Eastern Europe, how does Chicago not know this??

Ze Beirock

W. What Makes You Run Late? Getting involved in something and zoning out and losing track of time. Sorry, y’all.

X. X-rays You've Had Broke my pinkie as a kid, sure I had one then. Various teeth x-rays. Sprained my big toe really bad during a Grease teaser for the local high school, got one then, couldn’t believe it wasn’t broken because my whole foot was so swollen and purple/black. Also, when my son had to go for various scans due to his brain cysts (long story, he’s fine), I had to hold him and get scanned myself because they needed him perfectly still but the sedation wouldn’t work and he’d only be still if he was sleeping on me (he was a baby). So I went in the MRI tube with him laying on me.

Y. Yummy Food You Make? I make a mean turkey and green bean casserole. Invite me over for Thanksgiving.

Z. Zoo Fun, I love the big cats, apes, otters, penguins . . . but I feel bad. I don’t know much about zoos, I assume they’re not as bad as circuses, and maybe zoo save animal lives, but I still feel bad. The life in a cage or exhibit isn’t what they’d have in the wild. Eh.

Also: I’m tired of my bangs so I’m not wearing them anymore. A plus to curly hair is that it’s easy to make stuff blend.

 Taken in my regular portrait studio – the office bathroom.