ABCs of me

When I saw Tina’s post on this subject over at Faith, Fitness, Fun, I knew I had to steal her idea. I hope she won’t mind.

It seemed like a fun way to share a few little-known factoids about myself. Here goes.

A = Age: Old enough to know better. No, seriously. I’ll be 40 in October.

B = Bed size: Queen

C = Chore you dislike: What chore don’t I dislike? Umm … my least favorite would have to be scooping the litterbox. Why can’t my cats learn to use the toilet like Jinxy in “Meet the Parents”?

D = Dogs: I have one, Cocoa, an Australian shepherd mix. In the photo below, she was recently home from the vet’s after having had surgery on her knee.

E= Essential start to your day: I wish I could say “yoga” or something active, but it’s usually a couple of taps on the snooze button.

F = Favorite color: Now that’s a toughie. Purple, I guess. But I also like pretty  much every shade of blue … and peach.

G = Gold or silver: Silver, definitely

H = Height: 5’10″

I = Instruments you play(ed): Flute

J = Job title: Journalist/aspiring romance novelist

K = Kids: Just my fur babies right now (and yes, I know the clock is ticking).

L = Live: Northern Arizona

M = Mom’s name: Jan. Sadly, she’s no longer with us. She died in 2003.

N = Nicknames: It’s tough to shorten Arlene. My parents used to call me “Leenie Beanie,” and when I was 2, the neighbor kids called me “Pickle” because Mom and Grandpa were canning pickles and I apparently ran around saying, “Pickle, pickle, pickle” all day. Hmm … with so many food nicknames, you’d think I might love veggies. (I do love a good pickle.)

O = Overnight hospital stays: None that I remember. I had to stay in the hospital when I was born because I was premature. They put me under some weird lamp (I have photos to prove it, but none that I can upload right now.)

P = Pet peeves: Pokey drivers in front of me when I’m trying to get somewhere quickly (which is most of the time).

Q = Quote from a movie: Jeez. I love movies. How can I be drawing a blank on this one? I’ll go with “Carpe Diem” from “Dead Poets Society” for now.

R = Righty or lefty: Righty

S = Siblings: One younger brother who’s about to make me an aunt for the second time. Here we are at a spring training game in Phoenix a couple of years ago (when I was near my goal weight)

T = Time you wake up: Anywhere between 8 a.m. and noon, depending on how late I went to bed the night before. Working the 3-midnight shift sucks.

U = Underwear: Depends on how I feel. Sexy = thong. Fat day = Granny panties all the way.

V = Vegetables you don’t like: Kohlrabi. What do you do with one of those?

W = What makes you run late: Most often, oversleeping. But there are times when I get wrapped up in what I’m doing and forget to look at the clock. Why doesn’t that ever translate into forgetting to eat?

X = X-rays you’ve had: My back, after my Nissan got T-boned out by the mall.

Y = Yummy food you make: That’s a tough one, because I love to cook — I just don’t do it as often as I should … and I rarely create my own recipes. One of my all-time favorite recipes is Broccoli Crunch Salad.

Z = Zoo animal favorites: Pandas. I saw the baby at the National Zoo in D.C. right near his (her?) first birthday. I think this photo was of Mom or Dad, though.