Navy Wife

On the good side of things, I got my first COVID vaccination today. Now currently madly doing housework just in case tomorrow I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Ten hours in and other than a slightly sore arm, I seem to be tolerating this well. I'm just glad I had the jab, that the jab is available. It's a big thing here in Australia where the vaccination rollout has been botched by the Federal Goverment (who are a mob of incompetent, corrupt cretins). Anyway, that was today's big thing.

Now, on with the questions. Iron something, do a question. Get this out the way. 

Questions, as always, brought to us by the wonderful Bev at Sunday Stealing. 

1. What was your proudest moment?

I know this might be a bit wanky, but completing my Masters degree was a really big thing. So was walking through the doors at Allen & Unwin for the first time when I started that course last year. It was a big moment for me. 

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?

I didn't have the greatest of childhoods, but I do remember spending time with animals as a kid. Being brought up on a farm, there were lots of animals around. I still love spending time with critters. Critters are good. 

3. Describe your dream vacation.

I have so many dream holidays and COVID has put pay to most of them. But I wanted to do the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. Walking the 800 kilometres from the bottom of France across the top of Spain really appeals to me. 

But I think either a week in a cottage in Robe or a week mooching around Tasmania is all I'll be able to do for a while.

I also dream of a month in Ubud in Bali, just doing yoga and being a hippy. 

As I said, I have lots of dream holidays. 

4. Do you see yourself as an optimist, pessimist, or realist?  Why?

I'm a solid mix of optimist and realist. I like looking on the bright side, but I'm old enough and ugly enough to see reality most of the time. As a dreamer and an idealist, I lend myself to the optimistic view. But I like reality too. Which surprised a lot of people. 

5. What is something you wanted to do as a child, but never got to do.

Piano lessons. I know it's something you can pick up as an adult, but I really wish I'd learned the piano as a child. It would have made doing Music in my final year at school soooooo much easier. 

6. What board game do you hate the most?

I'm not really a board game person. I wish I was better at chess. I cheat at Monopoly (always). But Operation frustrates the crap out of me and sets my nerves on edge. That buzzing sound is so annoying.

7. Describe the worst haircut you ever got.

Oh, that goes down to when my mother had my hair cut short when I was eight, when we moved to the country. I had a fringe (bangs). It was your basic bowl cut so de rigeur in the 70s. I have never forgiven my mother for it. I've also never had a haircut shorter than a long bob or had a fringe ever again. Fringes annoy the hell out of me. And my hair now goes down to my bra strap, although I had two inches / five centimetres cut off today because it needed it. 

8. What’s the worst job you ever had?

I have had so many bad jobs, including the two contracts which I got bullied out of. I've had crap management, some dodgy workmates and dodgier roles. I've seen it all. But my most notable worst job was the one that saw me through the last years of uni, after a bout of glandular fever, during a recession when there were no jobs to be found. I worked in the sub-basement of a department store in the checking and marking department, checking stock and putting stickers on it. This was in the time before barcodes. It was dreadful, but it put me through uni and got me overseas to London. Still, it was dire, I was miserable, but it was a good proving ground. 

9. What is one thing you want to be remembered for?

If anything, my kindness. If not, the my best selling novel. 

10. On a scale of 1-10, what is the highest level of pain you’ve ever experienced?

I would give the dry socket (exposed bone) a nine out of ten. It was when I had a wisdom tooth out when I was nineteen  and the pain was absolutely intolerable. Even my mother gave me sympathy. Once it was packed by the dentist I was fine, but nothing would touch the pain. I just remember whimpering for a couple of days until my parents took me back to the dentist. Never again. 

11. What fashion trend do you wish would go away?

Anything which shows the midriff should be sent packing. Oh, and skinny jeans on men over 30.

12. What’s the weirdest dream you’ve ever had?

I have had so many strange dreams. Sitting in a dream group, I used to write them down. But the most vivid and disturbing dream I had was one I had in London. I used to sleep in the hallway, which lead to the bathroom at the end of a set of stairs. (It was only for six months). The house also had a ghost. But one night I was asleep, the landing light was on. Then this guy with a cowboy hat came down the stairs, hopped into bed with me and started making love to me. It was extremely explicit. I woke in a cold sweat sitting bolt upright midway through the dream. It's always stayed with me. I don't even like cowboy hats. 

13. What are 2 weaknesses you have.

• Ice cream
• Books

14. How would you spend your 100th birthday?

A lot of me doesn't want to be around for my 100th birthday, but if I am I want to have all my faculties, to not be too frail and I think I'd like to go tandem skydiving or something adventurous like that. 

15. What food/drinks would you pack in a picnic basket?

I'd love to put in the following for a decadent picnic basket:

• Gin
• Tonic
• Some favourite dips - corn relish and hummus are favourites
• Cheese
• Biscuits (crackers)
• Some berries or easy to eat fruit like strawberries, raspberries and grapes
• Maybe some decent chicken sandwiches on Turkish bread
• And some little pastries
• And a Boston bun and butter for afters.

Of course, we can forget plates, cutlery, a chopping board, cups, napkins and all of that stuff which ruins a picnic if you forget them.

Today's Song: