I've been tagged...because I am so, so intriguing

Jen from meditatio tagged me with this meme...so here it goes...

Rules
1.) The first rule is to post these rules.
2.) Post a photo of yourself then write 11 things about you/your life.
3.) Answer the questions for you set in the original post.
4.) Create 11 new questions and tag people to answer them.
5.) Go to their blog/twitter to tell them you have tagged them.

OK…11 things about my mama....

1. In the thousand photos on my computer, there are maybe 5 of me (so I posted one of Boy when he was little). The last time I took lots of photos was at my wedding (70 pounds ago)- then I get a photo each time I give birth...so no more photos for me.  I don't look monstrous, but I am certainly not beautiful like some bloggers. So I am always behind the camera, and no one suggests that I get a picture as well. This makes it really easy to stay semi-anonymous, but it is rather depressing, and that would bring me to the serious post subject that I'll just write briefly about here and forgo the long, navel-gazing entry:

2. If I had a therapist (which I don't), I would have finally just made a break-though about not being organized and uncluttered. Yes, I am a lazy, tired Type-A when it comes to organizing and cleaning, but my subconscious self is lazy about organizing for this reason: I am afraid I will die if I am decluttered and organized because my day to day purpose would be gone. I remember reading a blog post about a homeschooling mom of five or more kids who was so organized that her children were able to continue homeschooling after she died. It was like she wasn't even needed after she had prepared all the curriculum. I can think of many reasons why my subconscious is silly, but it is what it is.

3. Even though I am feeling #2, I am battling it by decluttering no matter my feelings. Dead or alive, I find peace in cleanliness. We 'goodwilled' ten big bags of random stuff this past weekend. Okay- on to random, non-serious stuff....

4.  My first car in college cost $50- it didn't last very long. I commuted all four years and went through four old cars with varying degrees of drama. I think a car loan would have been smarter...

5. Gosh, I am looking forward to the end of the college semester May 15th. Even though I will be unemployed until the middle of August, it is so time. I hope to see all these new family babies this summer! Two born, two to go!

6. If you have kids two to six years old, be certain to read them the Elephant and Piggie books. Mo Willems is brillant!

7. I wrote this on my real life Facebook "survey- why do the majority of Americans not give stipends to priests for baptisms, house blessings, weddings, funerals etc- I'm not talking about 'paying' for a sacrament but a gift towards his HOURS of work counseling, paperwork, detective work to find old baptism records, etc (...just saying, three Orthodox priests I know charge $1500 for a wedding....not counting the stipend to use the church or hall)"- it was interesting to see the people who responded- or didn't! It is a moot point however. My husband doesn't talk money, so it is free-will completely. And usually a 'non-ethnic' American doesn't make a donation. Oh well. 

8. My almost three-year old is starting to talk. Now, if I declutter enough, I might find the video recorder and camera chargers. Then, I can record the cuteness for posterity. And maybe I'll find the Kindle charger, too.

9. If you hacked into my Pandora, you would find: 70s folk, any Romanian (folk, rock, classical) music, any classical music with an emphasis on the Baroque with almost no piano music, lots of Ingrid Michaelson and Elizabeth Mitchell-style music along with 80s-90s praise/Christian pop and Queen. 

10. Reader Kim is nervous about going to Divine Liturgy with kids at the seminary where her husband will be studying- here's my response to her: 
Kim- plaster this on your forehead- My kids are the present and future of the Church. And then do a lot of Madagascar penguin 'smiling and waving'. Yes- you WILL have these types of people to contend with at the seminary (I assume the public comes to Sunday DL)
1. Grumpy Granny- yes, she really IS glaring at you and the kids. How dare you disturb her beautiful Liturgy- and the kids don't speak Ukrainian well at all! And you don't have the proper head scarf on! (this category is the minority- no solution- smile and wave and try not to listen)
2. Lollipop Poppop- This grandpa type doesn't have his grandkids in the area, so he will use your kids as surrogates. You will have to decide how to deal with his smiling distractions- and yes- actual lollipops given during the Mass.
3. Agent 007- Your eparchy is much bigger than mine- but what happens in seminary will be part of the history of Fr. and Kim and family for better or worse. People have really long memories. Remember that there will be some people whose questions will get a little personal- slowly learn your boundaries and NEVER talk about money. Someone might be all 'concerned' and say "wow- how are you going to support a family of ___ on a priest's salary?" They are fishing. They want-for whatever reason- to find out your financial situation. You might say- I'm willing to live on very little or I'm a nurse so I will help support the family or My grandfather left me lots of money so his small church salary doesn't matter or the church actually supports us well. None of these responses will satisfy someone who asked this question so don't answer it.
4. Lovely Laity- yes- you were right to think that most people 'glaring' at the kids are just thinking the kids are cute and wishing that they had such a distraction- cherish these people!

11. okay...I am really out of ideas...I am not very interesting. 

OK… my questions to answer from Jen!

01.) What food would you never eat even if you were paid to eat it? Hershey's milk chocolate. No, if you paid me to eat it, I would. You would have to pay me a lot to get me to eat kidneys or liver, though. Yuck.

02.) What is your favorite Bible verse or quote? There are too many to count, but Jesus' words to the 'good thief' on the cross is in the top three.

03.) Should jello at church be in the proper liturgical color? We Byzantine Catholics are usually in white or gold....gold jello sounds pretty spendy.

04.) What was your high school or college mascot? 'Rams' in high school and I cannot remember my college's mascot (I was an anti-sport English and music-type)

05.) What do you wish you could do? Speak the languages I know fluently and play the violin  well and knit well. Doing all these things takes dedication and the time that I'm not willing to put in, though. I wish I could sing again, but one of my vocal chords is permanently paralyzed. People- take vocal nodules seriously!

06.) What book should everyone read? off the top of my head, The Children of Men by P D James. Click the label 'books' to the right to find more of my favorites.

07.) What is the weirdest thing you’ve eaten? maybe cold Chinese eel with chili or blood pudding in Slovakia.

08.) Pretend I magically arrived on your doorstep. How would we spend your ideal day? Since Jen and I are both introverts, we would start by getting a pedicure at my favorite place with lattes in our hands and then go see The Hunger Games. Then, we would be warmed up enough to talk so we would take our children to the park and watch them play. We'd finish the night by going with our husbands to my favorite Thai restaurant and talking theology and church politics without fear of scandalizing lay people. 

09.) Manicure or pedicure? Pedicures are my one indulgence. They last so much longer than a manicure. 

10.) What is the best type of ethnic food? I love Thai and Vietnamese food. The only 'ethnic' food that I don't like that I have tried is Japanese.

11.) Grey or orange tabby cats? Orange tabby! I had one named Sunny when I was little. I love tortoise shell and Maine Coon type cats as well, but the kitty has to be a short hair to live inside.

OK… now my questions for the bloggers I'll tag! (stolen from the blogger who tagged Jen)

1.) What is your favorite movie? 

2.) If you could go back and give your 16 year old self one piece of advice, what would it be?

3.) Why do you blog? 

4.)What did you want to be when you grew up? 

5.) M&M’s – plain or peanut? 

6.) What was your first car? 

7.) What is your favorite Halloween costume you’ve ever worn? 

8.) What are your favorite blogs?

9.) If you were to have a boy and a girl tomorrow, what would you name them? 

10.) What was your favorite class in college? 

11.) What celebrity do you think it would be fun to be friends 

Now for the tagging!

Rabbit at The Adventures of Rabbit & Turtle
Renee at Claytonopolis
John at Never Give Up
Patrick at Button's Blog
DSM at VOCAL

If you've already been tagged, ignore this! and I know all of you have lives and such. Please find a way to mold this meme to your blog. If you can’t post a picture of yourself, post something that represents you.