Hiya, and welcome to another edition of Answer Me This, the internet's favorite virtual cocktail party, where we all answer the same six random questions and get to know each other a little better.
And "virtual" cocktail party is going to have to do it for me. Usually that's no biggie, but today is the last day of the
2015 Edel Gathering, a weekend of fun and fellowship for Catholic moms in Charleston (this year) that I was very much looking forward to attending until it turned out that I was going to be 38 weeks pregnant and all the way on the other side of the country in Los Angeles this weekend.
So . . . I kind feel like this:
While also, of course, being very happy for everyone who did get to go. If you do the social media thing, check out #edel15 to see all your favorite Catholic bloggers and Catholic blog readers having a fabulous time in Charleston. And check out #insteadofedel to find out what the best of the rest of us have been up to this weekend.
And now for THIS WEEK'S questions, to answer THIS WEEK . . .
1. At what temperature do you keep the thermostat set? Summer, winter, day, night?
This question is here as a result of a discussion in a Facebook group I'm in. It's amazing to me how much variance there is in what people consider an ideal indoor temperature.
Since we are in California, it almost always cools down enough to open the windows in the evening and overnight. But since there is a mountain range between our house and the beach it is almost always really REALLY hot during the day (in the summer). It's pretty routinely above ninety here, and occasionally it gets above 110. Before there was air conditioning pretty much the only people tough enough to live in the San Fernando Valley were American Indians and Jesuits.
Like this lady, I really appreciate having air conditioning. Unlike her, I don't usually get quite so dressed up to gaze adoringly at the air conditioning unit.
Most of the year the outside temperature is quite pleasant. But for a couple of months in the summer, we need the AC, and for a couple of months in the winter we need the heat. We keep the thermostat set to 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter, day and night.
2. What is your favorite frozen beverage?
Being in my third trimester in the aforementioned Valley temperatures means that I have been drinking a LOT of frozen beverages. We often have smoothies for breakfast (
using THIS foolproof recipe). Instead of my usual daily hot chai latte, when it's hot, I'll make a blended frozen one using crushed ice, milk, powdered chai tea, and my immersion blender.
Jack and I were just having a discussion about the merits of Slurpees vs Icees, and we are in agreement that while Icees have a superior, tangy flavor, they are mostly air. So, Slurpees are the better investment.
And if we're talking GROWN UP frozen beverages, I'm all about a frozen, blended Pina Colada. I've even had one in Puerto Rico at the restaurant that claims to have made them up. I believe them. They seemed really trustworthy, especially after a couple Pina Coladas.
3. Where do you keep your keys?
Someday I'd like to have a cute little key hook thingy in an entryway/mudroom. That would be great. For now though, we have two slightly disheveled looking key dishes on a bookshelf in the kitchen. One for daily use-type keys, and one for other keys we need, but don't want to have to dig through to find the car keys.
4. Have you ever really been lost?
I'm a little bit lost pretty much every time I try to drive anywhere. I have zero sense of direction. But mostly, I can just go where the GPS tells me to go and be fine. But the kids know better than to try to talk to me when I'm trying to figure out which way to go on an on ramp.
But pre-GPS, on the husband and my first trip to Lourdes (
the one with the miracle) we were pretty much Hansel-and-Gretel-lost in the French countryside, trying to find a bed and breakfast we were going to stay in for a night. We were weaving through all these little villages, and street names kept changing, and NO ONE spoke any English or would recognize the name of the town we were trying to say in French.
We perhaps did not look quite THIS fabulous:
Or in any way like Elizabeth Taylor and Sean Connery. AND we had a very unhappy five month old strapped into a car seat with us for many, many hours. But the husband eventually found our way to where we were going with nothing but a not-particularly-reliable-map, and I've always looked back with a bit of pride on that crazy day, because I've figured ever since that if our marriage could survive the stress of a day of being lost in the French countryside with a screaming baby, we're pretty much good to go.
5. What is the last movie you saw in the theaters?
I've seen two movies in the theater lately. I didn't think either deserved a whole write up on the blog, but for different reasons.
Betty and I went to see Inside Out, and neither of us much liked it. I know I'm in the minority opinion here, critics and bloggers alike are raving about it. But I found it to be awkward, and to feel like I was seeing something that should be private, and I thought it was just generally a bummer.
Then Jack and I went to see Jurassic World. Jack thought it was The. Best. movie he's ever seen. I didn't feel QUITE that enthusiastic about it, but I did enjoy it. I just didn't really see an angle on it worth writing about. It was fun. Chris Pratt was great, as always. But it was really just a fighting monsters movie. Grrr.
Want to play along? Answer THIS WEEK's questions in the comments, or
on your blog and link it up below! Please include a link to this post on
your blog. The linkup will be open from now through close of business
Tuesday.
Now for NEXT WEEK's questions, to answer NEXT WEEK . . .
1. What's currently on your To Do list?
2. Better type of superhero: magic/radioactive powers? Or trauma/gadgets/hard work?
3. Finding out if baby is a boy or a girl before birth: Good idea? Bad idea?
4. Have you ever appeared on a stadium jumbotron?
5. Are you more book smart or more street smart?
6. Have you had that baby yet? (Feel free to skip this one if it's not applicable to you.)
