ladybug in the mint

Here are my answers for Week 3 at Cee’s Share Your World.  I think I’m a week behind now.

The ladybug is just for my amusement – a splash of colour. That could be an aphid on the left of it.

Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?    I thought of celebrities, of long ago dead ancestors, and of various cousins whom I have not yet met. But, in the end, the choice was simple really – my son. We had words late in 2013. It seems that this final culmination of our words  since I left his father has led to neither of us willing to reach out to the other.  Maybe I could get through a dinner without saying something stupid. And believe me, I do say some stupid stuff when under stress. Enough said.

When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?  I often find myself singing badly – okay I admit it, horrendously – along with favourite tunes. The only time I have sung to anyone else was when I tried to learn the guitar. I sang How Much is That Doggie in the Window? to my captive audience, my two kids. I think it sounded better than my efforts at Tom Dooley but not by much! Oh, forgot. I did sing to my guitar teacher friend – just the once. He suggested I not bother with the singing in future.

Sends shivers up my spine listening to those after all this time.

If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?  A memory for grammar, facts and figures? Yeah! I’ll have a photographic memory, thanks.

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about? Personal beliefs. Everyone has a right to believe what they want about anything – political views, religion, global warming, anything. Jokes about a person’s core beliefs, with intention to belittle, are nasty.  And I respect your right to have your own opinion about that.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

Ahh, I’m grateful for the person who found our missing hubcap in the grass and hung it up on the roadside so we couldn’t miss it! We lost it months and months ago, while on a gravel road miles out of town.  We weren’t certain where in the ten or so kilometres it had parted company with the car, though we kept our eyes peeled on the same trip each time. Now we can take off the cheap plastic hubcaps. I kept hoping it would turn up. I didn’t want  another trip to the wreckers and forking out $25  – $30 for a genuine secondhand one.  Been there, done that.  Mr R. was shocked when I insisted we only needed to put the plastic cheapies on one side of the car. When was the last time you saw more than two of your wheels at the one glance? Why have shit wheel covers all round!

I’m looking forward to seeing the number 74 coming up on my digital scale  and staying there!  Later on this week I should manage to start keeping below 75 kg.

This is my first time participating in Cee’s Share Your World challenge. I’m looking forward to answering the questions every week for the year! But you know me by now – I’m gunna do this, I’m gunna do that … We will see.  Each week there are four questions and a bonus question. Presumably, the latter is optional.

How do you get rid of pesky phone calls from telemarketers?   Telemarketers? Well, I don’t adopt a consistent approach here. Sometimes they will just keep ringing and ringing, despite being sent to voice mail. And I’ve used up all the blocking number spots on my phone. So, when answering, it all depends if ‘nice’ or ‘nasty’ Christine picks it up.  It is always electricity, telephone, or website promotions on the other end. The ones I hate the most are the ones who tell you that ‘from next week, you will no longer pay …’  and so on. The nice me might say sweetly, oh that’s lovely,  are you ringing from Telstra? When they say who they are from, I act all confused, and say things like ‘ but how will you change my prices if I don’t change the company who sends me the bill? Then nasty me takes over and accuses them of lying to me. ‘You said my prices are going down but they’re not because I’m not changing.’ Then I hang up.   Other times I let them gives me the works, I ask questions and then suddenly remember that I have a T-box and can’t get my free internet channels from Telstra, or my free weekly movie if I change providers. Other times, I just cut off their spiel, thank them for calling and ask them not to call again.  I have been known to just  pick up the phone, wave it about so they can hear our music playing, and then hang up.

What are you a “natural” at doing?   I’m a natural at doing nothing  – I mean nothing. I can laze away the day just sitting and day-dreaming, quite easily. Being lazy comes natural to me.  I suppose I ought to think seriously about the question.  Telling stories comes natural. Telling lies does not. Writing to strangers comes naturally.

How often do you get a haircut?   Oh, oh. A complex question. There is no answer, because my haircuts are completely random. Now, if the question had been How often do you give yourself a haircut? then the answer might be about  every eighteen months to three years, more often for the fringe. In fact, I hacked a bit off my fringe just yesterday. Maybe you should see my Bite-Sized Memoir about my hair.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?  Balloons. What, you want more? You don’t have balloons without fun attached. Enough said.

Party Supplies, Preston

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?  Any day above ground is a good day, and I would dearly love that to continue.

I’m grateful for the learning I am getting from Coursera. I’ve almost completed a self-paced course called Get Organized: How To Be A Together Teacher.

This helpful system will work for anyone who wants to get out of the chaos rut. It’s not just for teachers. I’m up to the last segment, but I have used my new ‘flexie’ for three weeks.  Now I have everything to hand – weekly worksheet, comprehensive calendar, an upcoming to-do list – to keep me on my toes and productive. Also added to the flexie: my daily writing target sheet (front, behind weekly page) and my weekly food record (at the back, facing out).

I improved a lot on this version this morning.  I’ve now added some housework to it Monday and Thursdays, and designated a second writing session on three days. I’m looking forward to really trying to make this work properly this upcoming week.