Answers

So, in answer to the quiz posted yesterday....

1. My very first car was a red, three door hatchback Geo Metro. I got it when I was 16, and we traded my grandmother's Buick for two identical red, three door hatchback Geo Metros, except my dad's was a stick. Mine lasted about 60K miles; his lasted until I left for residency the first time (ten years, roughly) and might still be going if he hadn't sold it. I have owned all the other cars listed, though. I traded the Geo in for a black Jeep Grand Cherokee, which I traded for an olive green Pontiac Aztec when it started whispering about transmission problems. The Jeep had two broken bumpers and a ketchup stain I couldn't get off the back seat from one of my friends during our road trip to South Carolina first year of medical school. The Asscrack, as Brett has been known to call it, was a really awful shade of green, so they gave me a $200 discount ("the Ugly Car Discount") to get it painted (I also got a really good deal in general, but, alas, it never quite was the Jeep...). So it turned blue one day, but the interior frames of the doors were still green. It was funny. I rolled the Asscrack off the road in New Hampshire, minutes (okay, a week?) after I'd bought the current Silver Jeep ("There's no way in hell I'm moving to the Northeast without four-wheel-drive." I think that was said the day I matched at the Emerald Palace) and my dad took possession (and title, and insurance) of the Aztek. The end result of that whole deal was that I got a mild concussion and a bruise on my scapula, and he got a new Subaru, which he totalled not too long after I moved back home...

2. I was a lunatic, and did three majors in four years - Biology, Chemistry, and Humanities. The Humanities major kept me sane and got me out of the science building once in a while...

3. It's very pink in our office, which we blame on Ruthie. I concede that I have contributed to the pink a little, where as Peng holds steadfastly to her black and purple motif. Mostly it's the big pink chair in our office....

4. I do not like meat on a pizza. I'm not such a big fan of meat in general. Plain old cheese is just fine, veggie is usually also doable, but when given my choice, I'll pick broccoli, green pepper, and feta every time. Much like I did last night when Peng and I went for Chicago Style deep dish after the wine tasting. It was gooooood....

5. I didn't realize until later that this was some tricky wording. My ink is on my low back, which, technically is still my back. But my friends informed me a couple of years ago when I was home that a tattoo in this location is now called a "tramp stamp." Which cracks. me. up.

6. I have never been a gym teacher. Between doctoring stints, I worked in a yarn shop, sold yarn, and taught knitting. It was not lucrative (I was paid in yarn. No, really), but it was a good time, I learned some valuable business skills, and met some really awesome people. Because of whom, I started this blog. So, blame the yarn shop.

7. I do love ice cream. I'll go for months without eating it, because it just doesn't occur to me, and then be like, oh! Wait! Ice cream! My very favorite is Ben and Jerry's Half Baked, which is a mixture of chocolate brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough. B&J's makes the very best cookie dough, ever. Also good in a pinch are Cherry Garcia frozen yogurt and Breyer's mint chocolate chip. I don't know that I've ever eaten Dressler's, but I think it's what Edy's calls itself in some parts of the country.

8. Much to the dismay of my early education teachers, I wanted to be a paleontologist. Which is a person who studies dinosaurs, of course. But it's hard to spell when you're doing the "All About Me" poster for Kate day in Kindergarten...

9. Maggie was originally named Sweet Pea when she lived at the shelter. We were having none of that, so she was "dog" for about three days until she named herself Margaret. No, really. I was sitting in the backyard with her and my roommate's dog, and I looked at her all of a sudden and went, "You're a Margaret, aren't you?" And she licked my face, and so it was.

10. Did the song lyrics contest teach you nothing? (And yes, yes, I know I still owe two of you yarn and one of you a felted bag. Deal with it, it's coming.)

So there you go.

Today was good. I went to the branch of my gym that's by my new/old apartment. It was decent...not a whole lot different from my current place when you get right down to it. Except the people are different, and that's what I like most about my gym. OH!! And the showers are co-ed. I was like, what, now? Are you kidding me???! I think they're intended to mostly be showers for coming in and out of the pool, but, whoa.

Anyhow.

So then I went back over to the complex and signed my lease. We're moving in like two weeks, assuming I can find movers. Yikes!! Fortunately, my parents very graciously offered to come pack me up next week (since I'm doing all that pesky working and whatnot, and spent so much time finding a place this week that I haven't yet gotten a box packed...). And when I was looking around this morning, I realized, I never really unpacked all that much. So, it may not really take that long....

But it's official. We're going back from whence we came. Only down the street a little. And this townhouse is a mirror image of the one we lived in last year. That's going to be weird for a minute.

Peng and I journeyed over to the local Greek Festival this afternoon, put on by one of the local Greek churches. It was reasonable. Not quite like the ones that populate the Chicagoland area, sadly (there were no thiples. And they drizzled honey sauce over the loukoumathes. How you gonna do us like that?). But it was enough to make me a little homesick... Oh, and I bought copies of their "award winning" cookbook for myself, my mom, and my nouna (Godmother). The woman who was checking us out was like, oh, I'm the co-editor, would you like me to sign them? I was like, uh, sure. So she inscribed every one of them. It was cute. And then gave me her home phone number in case I had trouble with any of the recipes. Which was adorable.

Alright, I'd better go get something done....