Question of the Day #368

This question is brought to you by the letter B:

Do you believe in putting m&m's in your popcorn?

(I do not.)

xoxo,

Suzanne

Question of the Day #367

On Saturday afternoons at the pub, Boston College fans usually come in to root for their hometeam. But today, Boston College is not playing.

So, P, my Saturday bartender buddy, and I decided to host a Saturday afternoon dance party. He's got mad jukebox skills and we've got a bar and a kitchen. So why not?

How are you going to shake things up today?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #366

After my shift last night, H and I settled in at our table and began discussing The Question of the Day. SJB plopped down next to me.

I turned to him and said, "I write a question every day and..."

"I know about your questions. I read 'em," SJB said, looking at me like I was a little cRaZy.

"Oh, okay. So do you have any interesting ones?" I asked.

Clearly, someone had injected genius in their barley and hops, because the two of them started firing off questions like they'd been dying to tell me about them for weeks.

So this morning, when I woke up, albeit a wee bit late, I pulled register feed a pub booth long out of my purse. It's scrawling with questions.

Yay for H and SJB!

Anyway, maybe I'm a sucker for nostalgia, because the one that got me last night was "What sounds remind you of your childhood?"

"My mom used to ring a cow bell to get my brother and me home for dinner. We'd be out playing tag or whatever in somebody else's yard. But when that bell rang, we knew we were supposed to get our butts home," I said.

"In our house in Ohio, I remember going to sleep at night and hearing a train whistle blow in the distance and crickets chirping outside my window," said H.

"When I hear train whistles, I flash back to my childhood. I could hear one roll by my house too," said SJB.

So, from my long list of questions to come, let's begin with our childhoods. What sounds remind you of your childhood?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #365

It's been 365 days since we started playing questions. While perusing the archives, looking for ideas about what to write today, I realized I'm so thankful I started this blog. It's like a diary. Because of it, I can celebrate and remember everything I learned this year.

During the last year, we celebrated holidays together, like Thanksgiving and Fourth of July. I told stories about birthdays, camping and massages gone wrong.

You've shared things you like about yourselves, five things I didn't know about you and naturally, details on what you'd what you'd like to be done with your remains.

There was the birth of my fairy goddaughter, the kicking of cancer's ass, and lots of stories about friends helping friends.

I also learned that we love food, food and food.

It was not the best year for me. But thanks to you bloggers, there were some great debates, which inspired some serious perspective. And I think that's the key - the reason we come back here everyday. To learn a little about people from all over the world. People we may never actually meet, but we feel we know.

Thank you. I hope you've enjoyed playing questions as much as I have. So...wanna go another round?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #364

Now that we've rounded the corner to November, my family is giddy with excitement over Christmas in Vermont. My parents live on a mountain, near this tiny town where like 24 people live. Seriously, you can't see a neighbor's house from their house.

And that is awesome! We go sledding, walking past the sugar shacks through the snowy woods and snowmobiling. My siblings and I battle on Scrabble boards, hunch over puzzles by the fire and last year, when it rained, we went bowling.

It's kind of like a winter paradise. And this December, it will be an exceptional wrap up to a not so great year.

In anticipation of the big trip, my brother, N, suggested we cut down on presents this year. Between four siblings and two spouses, buying six presents before we get to the parents or the little ones is a lot. And being all sorts of broke, I'm loving that idea.

H suggested we pull one name out of a virtual hat and buy that sibling/spouse a gift. I like that idea, but how do we do that? Am I a total dork? Because I'm having trouble seeing how we virtually pull names from a virtual hat if two of us are in Ottawa, one's in Massachusetts, two more are in Jersey and I'm way out west?

So I'd like to know, how do you and your loved ones handle gift giving during the holiday season? Do you have any suggestions for us?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #363

Last night, while meeting with my critique group, we got into a discussion about being "popular" in high school.

From T's point of view, the popular girls were mean and put other people down in order to reign their queendom. S also remembered popular girls being mean and even recalled a day when she sat at a lunch table with some popular girls, and all at once, they got up and left.

G saw popular girls as the smart, pretty girls. And J, through her daughters' experiences, recognizes popularity as her daughters' athletic tomboyish girlfriends.

"They're confident, smart, and competitive," J said. "People are drawn to that."

Well before our conversation, G had asked her daughter, "What makes someone popular? Is it how much money they have? How attractive they are? How smart they are?"

Her daughter looked at her like she was nuts. "I don't know Mom. It's not like that. There really aren't any popular kids at my school."

G had laughed, fully knowing that her daughter and her friends were the coolest of cool. Even if they didn't see it.

And as an adult and a mom, T, who had never been popular growing up really wanted to crack the popular code. She still wanted to know, what was it that made the cool kids cool?

"It's completely subjective," I said. "My friends and I were popular in high school. But I was never mean to anyone. Sure, if you came at me, I'd fire back. But I'd never purposely put someone down. That had happened to me when I was younger. I wouldn't do that to someone else."

"Did you get good grades?" G asked.

"No," I giggled. "We were way too busy having fun to care about grades. But remember, it was a long time ago. We didn't have to care about school. You didn't have to be a genius and a peace prize winner to get into college."

"So what do you think made you popular?" T asked.

"Being nice. Friendly. Being like, 'hey come on! Let's go have fun...'" I mocked my spazzy high school voice.

It was after 11:00 PM. Someone yawned. We'd been discussing popularity for an hour. But on the way home, I continued to think about it and realized the subject was question worthy.

What did (or does) being "popular" mean at your high school? How did or didn't it affect you?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #362

It happens twice a year, so why can't I get a hang of Daylight Savings? Cell phones and computers automatically adjust, so that should make it easier, right?

Except that I forgot to set my alarm clock and woke up an hour earlier than I had to. And it's not just this time. One year, after a great visit with my mom, I dropped her off the airport, where she found that Daylight Savings had come and gone without us even noticting. And she missed her flight. Oops.

What do you think about Daylight Savings? (I think I'm getting back in bed now.)

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #361

We started with The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Interesting, since it's based on a true story. But not scary.

We then moved onto Scream. I jumped - no, more like lurched - once. The majority of the time, I giggled.

And then we capped off Halloween night, in the dark, with The Shining. Creepy? Yes. Scary? Not so much.

So let's recap. I saw Paranormal Activity, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Scream and The Shining this week and didn't find any of them to be frightening.

Is there something wrong with me?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #360

After I work today, I'm going to a friend's house to hand out candy to ghosts and goblins and then watch scary movies in the dark.

How will you celebrate Halloween?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #359

I'm going to my friends' annual Halloween Extravaganza tonight. It's a good time. Lots of friends, food worth fighting for (a brawl is already brewing over K's Buffalo Chicken Dip) and a beer fridge containing liquid treats from around the world.

H and I decided to be The Devil and The Angel. I'm not even going to tell you who is who.

Do you dress up for Halloween? If so, what will you dress up as?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #358

So last night, I watched Paranormal Activity with a couple friends. They were all freaked out, worried about being alone at home afterwards. One of them even said, "I may have to stop watching the movie if it gets too scary."

I was like, "Puhlease, ladies. What could be that scary?"

And it wasn't. Sure, I jumped a couple times. Who doesn't jump when a door slams? But overall, it was just okay. Not chill me to the bone, I'm too scared to walk to my car alone frightening.

Tis the season. So I must ask, what movie has chilled you to the bone and made you too scared to be alone?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #357

Would you rather be rich or famous?

I'd rather be rich. Fame looks way too invasive to me.

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #356

Yesterday, it was 85 degrees and sunshiney. The ocean sparkled true blue and the sunset made the craziest streaks in the sky. A number 11 of orangey clouds.

The warmth inspired Monday Funday. That's what happens when your weekend starts on Sunday night. Monday becomes Saturday.

So, H, P, T and I got together to celebrate the heat, the sun and the water. And I, as always, took notes. I constantly write down quotes and questions. Anything I hope will sound equally profound the next morning.

And my scribbles show that yesterday, at one point, T said, "I'd rather be hated than ignored."

Now I'm not sure which I'd rather be. But I do know I don't like being ignored. I'm not a big fan of being hated either, but I can't deny that I may have given some people reason at one point or another.

What about you? Would you rather be hated or ignored?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #355

Last night at Jenny's birthday karaoke party, Whiskey Steve got up and sang "The Monster Mash," which sent me into giggle fits. His ghoulish voice was so hilarious that I woke up laughing about it.

I'm not a big Halloween fan. Call me a party pooper. Whatevs. But the funny, goofy, Monster Mash side of Halloween is way more entertaining to me than the scary, goree stuff. I mean, at least it's funny.

Do you lean more towards the goofy Munster side or the scary monster side of Halloween?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #354

There's another Team Stacie event in Rhode Island today. Tons of people are gathering to tailgate, enter raffles and participate in auctions as they watch the Patriots play. I'm very excited to hear all the details.

Incorporating the team Stacie used to cheer for in an event is an awesome idea. We've gotten some inquires from people wondering how they can support Team Stacie. Do you have any creative ideas about how to fund raise?

xoxo,

Suzanne

Question of the Day #353

Last night, at the pub, I felt hot all over. My knees were burning. My throat was puffy and my head throbbed. S shook up a juice with everything from garlic to wheat grass in it, instructed me to drink that, take Tylenol and gargle with salt water.

I did.

Then H brought me Vitamin C and I ate a plate of broccoli (more Vitamin C). Now I'm wondering if I should have ditched my "I never get sick" mentality and gotten a flu shot.

I've never had a flu shot. How do you feel about flu shots and the all hubbub around them?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #352

I just heard Hall and Oates' Private Eyes. Now, don't get me wrong. I love Hall and Oates. Rich Girl and She's Gone are two of my all time faves.

But when you listen to the lyrics of Private Eyes, things go straight to stalker city. "Private eyes are watching you, they see your every move..."

Can you say creepy?

Just thinking about the creep factor unleashed a rush of songs that give me the heebie jeebies. And why I'm begging for more heebie geebies is beyond me, but I have to ask, what songs hit you on the disturbing side?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #351

Have you ever been invoved in an extreme sport? If so, what was it? If not, would you like to try an extreme sport?

I used to think I'd like to skydive, but the older I get, the less extremes I want in my life.

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #350

If you could be an Olympic champion at a sport, what sport would you choose?

I am not very sporty. At all. So if I were to choose a sport, I'd chose something graceful, like skating. I'd like to be graceful. (Not to mention incredibly strong, fit, flexible, limber and all the other awesome characteristics skaters embody.)

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #349

I'm finally connected! Hallelujah! Funny how something so small can suddenly become a major triumph considering all the frustration connected to it.

What little thing turned big battle have you conquered lately?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #348

The modem and equipment for the DSL came today. I worked on it for two hours and couldn't connect. I finally bailed and sought Internet service elsewhere.

And I'm annoyed. Tech stuff makes me feel like a dinosaur. Blackberries make me nervous. They're like a whole other language. A techy world I can't begin to understand.

What makes you feel like a dinosaur?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #347

Today I served beer to crazed football fans. My east coast friends consider Sunday family day. I normally spend Sunday hanging out with friends.

What does Sunday mean to you?

xoxo,

Suzanne

Question of the Day #346

I am using a wireless card to connect to the Internet. It disconnects every hour or so. Not exactly easy to work with. Plus it's ridiculously expensive compared to the speedy cable I used to use at my last residence. Cable is not an option in my new locale, so after doing some research, I'm switching to DSL. Hopefully it will zoom me around the blogosphere uninterrupted.

How do you connect?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #345

Question of the Day regular, Greg C., wrote a great post yesterday. Its about what he's thankful for in terms of life changes. I think he did a splendid job of turning negatives into positives. I especially connected with his point about being thankful for monetary setbacks and realizing that sometimes less is more.

Check out the post. What negatives have you or someone you know turned into positives lately?

xoxo,
Suzanne

Question of the Day #344

I just finished applying for a job and it took me like 45 minutes to write a three paragraph cover letter.

And I'm a writer.

It's so hard to explain why I think I'm right for a job without sounding like a moron.

What's the hardest part of job hunting for you?

xoxo,
Suzanne