Interview with a Stay at home mom

Heather over at Cool Zebras offered to write interview questions for anyone who was interested. Heather is a thoughtful writer whose writing often makes me look at things from a new perspective and I enjoy her blog. Check it out, and don't miss the story of her blog's name. These are great questions and I had fun answering them. Thanks Heather!

You are a very prolific scrapbooker, genealogist, and home-improver. How do you find the time to do all this as well as keeping your family life running smoothly?

Well, I don't want anyone to think my house runs smoothly all the time. I DO like order and routine, but I am sometimes guilty of rushing kids out the door because I've become distracted on one of my projects or the computer. I like the word prolific, although I'm not sure I think it is true. I never seem to do as much as I want to. I want to do more scrapbooking (I have only completed 4 7"x7" pages in the last month), more genealogy, and usually more home improvement. I sometimes feel scattered and as though none of my projects or my family are getting the attention they deserve. That said, I use FlyLady.net to keep myself on top of household tasks. Her emails can get overwhelming but somehow those little reminders work for me. I have a calendar in my purse and another on the wall in the kitchen. About once every 2 weeks I make sure they are synced up. My husband knows, "If it's not on the calendar, it's not happening," so he is good about adding his evening teleconferences and out of town meetings for school. And I have a wall-mounted magazine holder for each child's school papers. I go through it periodically to make sure I have events on my calendar, that I send in permission slips and money when they need it, etc. Most of the time it works for me.

Most people who read as avidly as you have at least one favorite book that has special meaning to them for one reason or another. What is your favorite read and why do you think it means so much to you?

That is like asking which kid is my favorite. I have so many books that mean a lot to me. The first grown-up book I read, because there was a ton of media hype when it was released, was Roots (why can't I underline that?). I started reading it in the spring of second grade and I renewed it over and over again through the summer at the library. I LOVED it. The story was compelling, and I was fascinated that there were real people's stories being told. It was my first up-close encounter with the idea of what slavery really meant, and the Jim Crow laws of the South. I know it inspired my love of genealogy and it was such a source of pride that I had read the whole book. Other books I love are The Secret Garden, the Little House series, the Chronicles of Narnia , all of the Anne of Green Gables series ... I could go on, but I'll spare you. LOL

You live in a house full of men (except Pippa), which, I’m sure you are aware. Do you ever go into girlie withdrawal? Do you then steal a neighbor girl to get your fix of toenail painting and hair styling?

I wouldn't say I go into withdrawal. I have my fingernails done regularly and I get a pedicure about every month during the summer so that helps. I do enjoy shopping for girl clothes and shoes. The stuff is just so much cuter than boys' clothes. As an aside, my grandma has 3 boys and her house is overwhelmingly pink. When we were looking to buy a house we looked at a couple that had lots of pink -- and every time there were 3 portraits of boys on the wall. I even noticed it and commented to Rob each time. And I love pink. So I am very conscious of NOT putting it into my house, because, well, there's something vaguely creepy about a woman with no daughters who fills her house with frou frou stuff and pink. Not that my grandma is creepy, but you know what I mean.


You were in the military. Tell us about the best part of being a woman in a predominantly male occupation.

Oh, the best part is easy. I was a *very* good girl in high school. I was too brainy to be considered worth dating, and since it was a small town I was pinned into that brainiac role early on and could never escape it. Plus I had an insanely strict father that I would never have dared to disobey. In the Army I recreated myself. I never acted stupid, but I found that in broadcasting school people appreciated me, they understood my jokes, I didn't have to explain what I meant when I used a big word. I didn't have to answer to my dad so I went a little nuts. Oh, and the guys thought I was cute. Bonus! The best part? Uhhh ... I was in the Army, man. The guys were all young and in great physical shape. It was a smorgasbord of hotness. LOL

Do you have any secret desires to be on a reality television show or game show? If so, which one and why.

I really don't. I have never watched an entire episode of "Survivor" and haven't seen it at all since the second or third season. I do love "Jeopardy!" but I haven't really watched it since we were in California. (It was on while I was cooking dinner there, so the timing was perfect.) I am sure that if I went on "Jeopardy!", though, that the categories would look like this: Opera, Scientific Principles, Athletes, African Geography, The Internal Combustion Engine, and Monty Python's Flying Circus. Which would make me throw up, because I am completely ignorant about all of these topics. So, no.

Thanks, Heather. That was fun! Hope I haven't completely bored you.