Randomness rules

This survey’s been making the rounds on the blogs I read — and you know me: A sucker for a fun survey.

So without, further ado, I bring you 11 random things about myself, 11 answers to random questions (borrowed from Tina at Best Body Fitness) and 11 questions for you to answer if you’d like to play along.

11 Random Things About Yours Truly

 1. As a band geek, I have a soft spot for Michelle from “American Pie.” No, nothing that interesting happened at my band camp.

2. I have three bathrobes: One flannel, one soft and fuzzy and one silky. They’re three different sizes, too, but I still wear them all.

3. I can crochet, but pretty much know only one stitch: the ripple stitch. My grandpa bought me a book with instructions/patterns for a bunch of different stitches, but I couldn’t decipher those things if my life depended on it.

4. There are two kinds of almond milk (unsweetened chocolate and unsweetened original), along with unsweetened coconut milk and heavy cream in my fridge, awaiting the urge to make a homemade frappe to rival the ones from Starbucks.

5. Somehow, I still have a subscription to Weight Watchers magazine even though I no longer do WW. Not sure how that happened, but I haven’t paid for it lately. And it still has some good advice. I just can’t do anything with most of the recipes.

The (as far as I know) elevator-less Olmsted Hall.

6. I can’t give blood because I spent a semester in England in 1992. Apparently, I could come down with Mad Cow Disease at any moment.

7. The first blog I started reading was Roni’s Weigh. I still read it regularly.

8. My favorite color is purple, but red is a close second.

9. I was a Girl Scout from second grade through my sophomore year of high school, selling countless boxes of cookies. A couple of years, I even sold enough to go to camp for free.

10. With my musical tastes all over the map, I’ve seen a diverse range of groups/performers in concert: Depeche Mode, Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage, Chicago, Manhattan Transfer, Kenny G, Bryan Adams, Journey, Def Leppard (twice), Lynrd Skynrd, Aerosmith and Motley Crue.

Not even close to my entire collection of pens. You can see one of my ripple stitch afghans in the background, though.

11. I can’t stop buying pens — especially those with colored ink. I have more pens than I can possibly use.

11 Random Questions to Answer

1. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate

2. What would you do with 1 million dollars? At the University of Evansville, many of my journalism classes on the fourth floor of Olmsted Hall — a building with no elevators. We always said the first one of us to make a million dollars had to install an elevator.

3. Where is your favorite place to buy groceries? Safeway. I wish I could say Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods, but we don’t have either of those in Flagstaff.

4. What is your biggest fear? Abandonment. When I was about to start fourth grade, my dad drove off one night and ended up getting in a bad car accident. He was in a coma for a long time, and when he finally woke up, he was changed (no short-term memory). For the longest time, I hated  it every time Mom left the house. When it seemed she’d been gone too long, I’d wait by the window, watching for her to come home. Even now, if I’m expecting someone to call or be somewhere, I start to worry if they don’t make it when I think they should.

5. What is the last book you read? “Winning the Wallflower,” by Eloisa James. It’s an utterly delightful historical romance novella that makes me want to pick up “The Duke is Mine,” a full-length novel featuring the best friend of the heroine from “Wallflower.”

6. Favorite movie? Do I have to pick just one? Yikes! Not “Red Dawn.” Something funny, for sure. Maybe “Robin Hood, Men in Tights.”

7. What do you see yourself doing in 5 years? I’ll be a published author, scheduling well-attended book signings and tapping away on the keyboard to write my next novel.

8. Romantic or comedy movie? Romantic comedy — it’s the best of both! (Not to mention being what I write.)

9. Last dream you remember? Apparently, I was at the drive thru with the Boyfriend, because I said “pass the hamburger.” Out loud. He woke me up to bug me about it.

10. Have you ever been in a car accident? Two. A few months after I started driving, I rear-ended someone because I was too busy looking in the rear view mirror to pay attention to what was in front of me. In 2005, my paid-for Nissan got T-boned out by the mall. It spun me around so I was facing the opposite direction in the next lane. The car drove okay, but it was declared totaled.

11. What is the longest friendship you have ever had? I’m still in touch with my best friend since kindergarten, mainly via Facebook. Met the friend who’s now my roommate my sophomore year of college, when she was rooming with a friend of mine.

11 Random Questions for you

1. What was the first blog you started reading?

2. Favorite book or author?

3. One beauty product you can’t live without.

4. Silk or flannel?

5. Are you crafty?

6. Favorite exercise?

7. Cat person or dog person?

8. Veggie you can’t stop eating?

9. Cake or ice cream?

10. iPhone or Android?

11. Accomplishment you’re proudest of?

Answer one or two in the comments. If you decide to answer all of them in a blog post of your own, let me know in the comments.