Firstborn Tagged Me + Dancing *with* the Oldies

This one’s a little different, so I played along.

10 Years Ago:
I was freshly divorced and finishing my associates’ degree in Interpreting for the Deaf. There were four kids still at home.

5 Years Ago:
I was a ward singles’ rep [the calling followed me from my old ward to my new one, because the stake singles’ rep was a friend, and most insistent]. LittleBit was the only child still at home.

5 months Ago:
I was struggling to pay bills and had not yet gotten the word about the duplex, which is going to ease my budget significantly *and* give me space for a garden *and* give me a studio for the first time in 25 years.

5 Things on my To Do List Today:
1. Church
2. Knit while listening to podcasts
3. Spin
4. Nap
5. Read the new “Real Simple”

5 Snacks I enjoy:
1. Chocolate, preferably dark
2. Strawberries Romanoff from LaMadeleine
3. Carrot sticks
4. Ice cream
5. Graham crackers dunked in milk

5 Things I would do if I was suddenly a billionaire:
1. Textile program at the university in Denton [you have to jury into the program]
2. Pay off my line-of-credit and car, then buy a nifty old house to fix up
3. Vacation house at Galveston
4. Vacation house in Provence
5. Custom bookshelves to hold my books and my craft stashes

5 of my bad habits:
1. Falling in love with unavailable men
2. Displacement eating [eating my feelings]
3. Staying too long in an unsalvageable relationship
4. Avoiding confrontation
5. Wanting to save people

5 Places I have lived:
1. Boise, Idaho
2. Provo, Utah
3. Irving, Texas
4. Fredericksburg, Texas
5. Arlington, Texas

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Lima bean sorter for BirdsEye
2. Office manager
3. “Concession Mom” at movie theatre while earning associates’ degree
4. Motel maid [one week]
5. Receptionist, law office

5 Things People don’t know about me:
1. 6.5 fiancés, but “only” two marriages.
2. I used to go skinny dipping at the hot springs near Bruneau, Idaho.
3. I read “Les Miserables” in fifth grade.
4. I can play “Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains” on the harmonica.
5. I interpreted three out of four performances of “Romeo and Juliet” when I was studying to be an interpreter; absolutely loved the experience. When we were done, my interpreting partner said, “Whew! That’s over!” And I said, “Ohh ... it’s over.”

5 People to Tag:
You’re on your own here. Just tag me back in the comments or shoot me an email.

Random thoughts:
Sometimes the joy just comes welling up out of nowhere. I was driving over to the trunk show at the yarn shop yesterday, and suddenly joy was spilling out of me and filling the car. What a lovely surprise after the misgivings, concerns, frustrations, and unholy glee of the past few weeks.

Why, when you bash your toe into a fixed object, does the nail blacken on the one that’s two toes over from the origami’d nail you’d like to lose [which would have saved you the co-payment on a future surgery]? This is a situation where the thousand words is much prettier than the picture. So, my foot’s not happy to be in a shoe ~ again ~ but it didn’t slow me down one bit on the dance floor last night. And it doesn’t hurt all that much.

Great dance. And a little flirting. The guy who used to knit [met him at the singles’ conference last month] was there, and while we didn’t flirt, we had a great Reminiscence of Sweaters Past. He’s knitted something like 25 sweaters, but none in the past 25 years. Maybe I can win him back to the dark side?

I’m off to read the lessons for my church classes.