This is the Five Things meme that I ganked from my friend Cheryl. Below I’ve filled out the answers and now it’s YOUR turn to do the same! I’m anxious to find out more about you — it’ll take some time, but please do this and post it so I can read your answers.
Five things you may not know about my time in high school are:
1. I was editor of the school paper, president of the French Club and a member of National Honor Society.
2. At graduation, I was in the top ten percent of my class. I earned silver cords and five scholarships. My best friend in high school, Tim Barr, was ranked #7. He’s a brainiac and an awesome writer to boot!
3. However…I hardly EVER studied in high school. If I had, I might have been ranked higher due to effort. Instead, I was busy with extracurricular activities and hanging with my friends.
4. I worked at Baskin Robbins and Kwik Inn (in Security, CO) during high school. At Baskin Robbins, my coworkers and I would have spoon races. We’d wait for the security camera to swivel its watchful gaze away from behind the counter, then we’d race out from the storage room with our taste spoons, scoop up little bits of ice cream, run back in the storage room and eat the ice cream before the camera swung back around toward us.
5. Thanks to Journalism teachers Stan Richardson and Lana Smith, I grew up to be a professional writer. Thanks, guys!
Five things you may not know about the job(s) I have/had are:
1. Most of my jobs (before quitting to become a professional writer in ’97) consisted of working in the banking, consumer credit and government job sectors. I also worked as a records clerk in a police dept.
2. I quit my city government job in May 1997. Within months, they paid me to come BACK as a temp employee and train new employees at the job — even though there were FOUR other women co-workers there who were quite capable of training new employees. My ex-boss paid me a full salary for the time I worked as a contract trainer.
3. I have NEVER been fired from any job — I’ve always been the one to leave. I have NEVER been on unemployment.
4. The most demeaning job I ever had was working on an assembly line making ceramic disks for the Maida Corp. back in the mid-80s. I ditched that job pretty quick! I’m not cut out for that kind of mind-numbing stuff. Gotta be creative in SOME way or another.
5. Every job I’ve interviewed for, I’ve gotten.
Five things you may not know about my online life are:
1. When I first signed up for LiveJournal in 2002, I had no idea what I’d use it for! Now I have a handful of other blogs/journals on a variety of subjects. Love Twitter as well. Mainly because it’s quick, easy and gets the point across in small increments!
2. I launched my writing e-zine, Scribe & Quill, in 1997. Used to publish it monthly, but my life’s too busy now with deadlines and work. Currently I only publish it four times a year, depending on my schedule.
3. I’m an avid World of Warcraft fan. My husband got me hooked in October 2006. My main toon is a level 82 human warrior (Alliance) named Bellamort. My main alts are mostly Alliance and include a rogue, death knight, druid and priest. My warrior is DPS all the way. I prefer kick-your-ass classes over magic casters any old day. I’m an in-your-face player. Rather challenge you upfront than stand back and sling spells at you, lol!
4. Some of the best friends I’ve met in person have been from LiveJournal.
5. I collect e-mail addresses like some people collect postcards. In total, I probably have ten (an estimate). I like to switch things up every now and then according to my mood.
Five things you may not know about where I live are:
1. People think it snows here all the time. Not true. Colorado Springs averages 250 days of sunshine per year.
2. I never get tired of seeing Pikes Peak — it’s a beautiful view.
3. Over 2.4 million people live within 75 miles of Colorado Springs. About 370,000 people live in Colorado Springs.
4. Colorado Springs is home to NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
5. Colorado Springs is (for the most part) a conservative, right-wing community. However, if you want to catch your breath and get away from that, just hop on over to Manitou Springs!
Five things you may not know about my core personality are:
1. The way to get me to do something is NOT to push or threaten me. Honey works better than vinegar in my case. If you push me, I’m liable to do the very thing you don’t want me to do!
2. My whole life I’ve gotten along better with men than women. I do have many casual women friends, but there are only a few close friends of mine who are women. Most women are too catty and judgmental, and I don’t have patience for that kind of triviality in my life. I also hate shopping and margaritas! *gasp*
3. I’m don’t see myself as a mothering type. When I was growing up, I did not want to get married or have kids. I’d planned on being a career woman. I ended up living life backwards. To my surprise, a couple of my kids’ friends have actually said they wish I was their mom — probably because I treat them as human beings and actually talk TO them, not down AT them.
4. My friends say I have two sides to me: the business Bev and the playful Bev. It’s awesome that my amazing hubby understands this, because I’m not into overly clingy, dependent men. I won’t ever give up my career ambitions, and he doesn’t expect me to. He’s incredibly supportive! Good thing he likes ambitious, outspoken and independent women, ’cause I’m not the shrinking violet type.
5. When it comes to reaching goals, I’m tenacious. It might take me decades to accomplish a goal, but I won’t give up until I do. While I’ll listen to advice and guidance, in the end I keep my own counsel and do what is best for me and my circumstances. I use what makes sense and throw out the rest of what I’m told.
Five things you may not know about my home life are:
1. My living style is very relaxed. I’m not anal about having everything around my place ‘just so.’ I’m the anti-Martha Stewart. Once I’m able to afford it, I’ll hire a housekeeper and gardener. And I’ll treat them well and like family, too!
2. We own over 400+ DVDs. Mainly because when Paul and I moved in together, we combined our collections. His FAR outpaced mine, however! We’re B-horror movie fans in a big way!
3. We hardly ever eat at the dinner table all at once — unless it’s a holiday, and not even then most of the time! (Again, I’m not regimented.) Also, on that same note, dinner time is when everyone is hungry — not at a certain time on the clock.
4. Not a fan of drop-in visitors. I hate feeling unprepared. It’s great if you want to stop by, but please don’t surprise me — trust me, you don’t want to see me without my make-up (I’m doing you a favor here.) Besides, I work from home and have deadlines all the time. I wouldn’t stop by your office unannounced, so please extend the same courtesy to me.
5. I can’t stand if the furnace is set over 65 degrees at night. I HATE overly warm environments.
Five things you may not know that I desperately want are:
1. To own a new, shiny house. With new furniture. And a huge library/office. And a tech-heavy studio for my hubby so he can work on his audio/video editing!
2. A NYT bestselling book — or two, five or TEN!)
3. The results from a new DNA test offered through AncestryDNA. It’s only $99 and tests for 700,000 markers. The accuracy is supposed to be astounding! I’ve really gotten into genealogy the past few years.
4. To take my hubby to Europe — especially Scotland! He’s never been out of the U.S., and I can’t wait to travel with him overseas!
5. To constantly be surrounded by endless & amazing prosperity, abundance, success, health, happiness, and energy! I’m working on it, as is hubby. We’re making slow, but sure, progress!
Five things you may not know about what I do in a typical day are:
1. Sleep during the day. My brain doesn’t function well before noon. I’m a consummate night owl who stays up very late. I was born at 10:40 p.m. Don’t call me before afternoon unless it’s an emergency. I’m my own boss, so I choose to work graveyard shift!
2. I often forget to eat breakfast. It’s a bad habit I’m trying to break.
3. Most of my day is spent working as a managing, editing or proofreading other people’s manuscripts. I reserve the weekends for working on my own projects and spending time with my wonderful husband, so I’m very protective about my personal/private time. Unfortunately, I have to say “no” to a lot of social outings because of that. I’m selective about accepting invitations, but I have to be.
4. Talk to our animals like they are human beings. Our animals are smart 😉 The more I’m around society in general, the more I love our animals.
5. I check my e-mail EVERY day. It’s easier to get in touch with me through e-mail than by phone. I hate the phone. I usually receive 50-100 e-mails per day, most of them business-related.I send about 400 e-mails per week.
Five things you may not know that are really important to me:
1. Staying informed (watching news, reading articles.) People who aren’t aware of what’s going on in the world irritate me. People who intentionally dig their heads in the sand to avoid knowing what’s going on REALLY annoy me.
2. Our collection of books & DVDs.
3. Having a wonderful, supportive, loving husband and children. I’m very fortunate to have them!
4. Paranormal investigation. I’ve read about/studied the paranormal since I was a little girl. There are more things out there than we’ll ever comprehend, and I’d rather be inquisitive and open-minded than pretend we humans have all the answers wrapped up in a pat little box of dogma gifted to us by close-minded segments of society. I’m more fearful of the living than the dead any old day!
5. Technology. Can’t live without our computers — especially our Macs! Our household is Apple- and gadget-heavy. I’d suck as a Luddite. I’ve been online since 1991, when I first signed on to Prodigy.
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The Intrepid Wordslinger 