Happy Friday, everyone. This time next week, I will be in Branson, MO, enjoying a long-awaited girls’ getaway with my BFF, Kim. Right now, I’m watching football with hubby. (Technically, he’s watching; I’m blogging.)
But, it is actually a big day in the household. Today, our one and only baby, my sweet boy Billy, is officially grown up. He celebrated his 21st birthday today. It was pretty low-key. Out to dinner with the three of us, then cake and ice cream back at home, and now he’s out with friends. (Being careful, I hope.) Hard to believe, since it still seems like just yesterday when we were first bringing him home, worried about every little move we’d make and hoping we were doing things right. Time really does fly.
But, now, before I get all nostalgic and weepy, I suppose I ought to get down to the business of 5 Question Friday. As always, linking up with Mama M; many thanks to her for hosting the fun.
1. What is one grammar issue you cannot let go without correction?
Really, there aren’t any. Not that there aren’t plenty of grammar issues that make me crazy on a fairly regular basis, because there are. In fact, while I freely admit that I’m far from perfect, I’m still a tiny bit of a grammar snob. Try as I might, it is one thing that still causes me to judge people quickly, especially if we’re talking about written communication. I tend to be more forgiving of the spoken word, because I figure just about everybody is more lax about the things they say, even when they know it’s not quite right. But, at any rate, the question is what do I have to correct, and the truth is that I correct people very rarely. It isn’t my job to be the grammar police, and, honestly, it’s a good thing. With the advent of communication avenues like email, texting, Twitter, and Facebook, I’d constantly be working overtime trying to keep up with all the offenders. Easier just to grit my teeth and move on.
But what things make me grit my teeth really hard? “I got my hair did.” comes readily to mind, as does the entire there/their/they’re confusion. One of the things that really makes me crazy, though, is truly atrocious spelling. In this day and age, there are spell check programs on just about any form of electronic communication you choose to use (including Facebook, which is where I see the most egregious infractions), so why wouldn’t you use them? If your message is riddled with red squiggly underlines, for God’s sake, take a minute to figure out why. I should not be forced to read your words aloud to try and figure out phonetically what you might have been trying to say. </rant>
2. What's your favorite thing about fall?
I think I just did an entire post about this very topic. In a nutshell: the new television season. Cool fall weather is fine, but, really, we don’t get a lot of the in-between seasons here, moving pretty quickly from hot to cold and back again, so any really nice weather isn’t around long enough to really enjoy. Football is is also fine, but I don’t go into withdrawal during the spring/summer like my husband. And, while Thanksgiving is really spectacular and I love getting the family together, due to that weather situation I was just talking about, it often feels more like winter than fall by the time turkey day rolls around, so, for me, it’s a fall tradition in name only. But fall always brings fresh new television shows and returning favorites, and I don’t think you can go wrong with that.
3. What's your favourite dish to take to a potluck?
If I can get away with it, anything I can pick up at the grocery store deli or bakery. If people are insistent I make something, I typically opt for ham and cheese pinwheels. I don’t like them myself, but they’re easy-peasy, so there you go.
4. When do you start Christmas (Holiday) shopping?
I’m not organized enough to have a consistent answer to this. It’s whenever I see something I think someone would like, which might be October or might be March. I start making dedicated gift-buying trips sometime early in December, and am often still shopping in the final few days.
5. Did you move homes a lot growing up?
Not really, at least not within my memory. Realistically, I know that in my earliest days there were likely several homes that I don’t recall at all. But from about age five or so (which means almost 45 years), I’ve lived in a total of 7 different places. My mom, sister, and I lived in an apartment (I think; could’ve been a tiny house) before “we” married my (step)dad. Then we moved into Daddy’s house and lived there for several years. When I was in 4th grade, we moved to the home where I’d spend the rest of my childhood. In my early 20s, I moved into an apartment with my BFF, but during those six months, her grandmother died and my dad; we both were ready to move back home and be with our families. Then the next year Brian and I were married; we spent our first year together in my grandmother’s house (she was living with my mom), then bought our first home, where we stayed for about 10 years, and, finally, we’ve been in our current home for the past 14. My instinct is that this is the last home I will have, barring a spectacular lottery win.
Don’t forget, I’d love to hear your answers, too. So join the link up (be sure to let me know, please) or answer any/all in the comments. And I hope you all have a great weekend.
