I'm random, thanks for asking.

Today is National Rocky and Bullwinkle Day and Have a Bad Day Day among others.

1 Were you a fan of Rocky and Bullwinkle growing up or do you not even know who they are (full episodes can be found on YouTube)?
Loved that show, and watched fairly often.

2. Did you watch the cartoon for them or for the other great parts, like Fractured Fairytales and The Adventures of Mr. Peabody and his Boy, Sherman?
Mainly R & B, but I vaguely remember liking one of the other bits.

3. What constitutes a day bad for you?
If I'm tired, if I feel like I'm doing a crappy job at work, if I have a frustrating customer, or if something just kind of ruins my mood.

4. Would you rather have one crappy day and a great one to follow or 47 okay days?
I feel like my life IS the 47 ok days and the occasional great day/crappy day.

5. What would you be willing to do to never have another bad day in your life?
Not sure. I think bad days build character, so I don't want to just sail through life with never a problem.

What's your favorite color this week?
Same as the last many weeks - blue, green, and teal

What job would be very unsuitable for you?
Commission-based sales, especially if I had to make cold calls to strangers.

What's your favorite Olympic sport?
Gymnastics, swimming, diving, figure skating

Have you ever found yourself stuck out in the rain?
Kinda. It was raining when Natalie and I were walking around York, and it also rained when we were at Edinburgh Castle. We ducked into shops to stay dry, but really didn't have anywhere to go. Back when I was teaching, there were a few times we had to walk through downpours to get to lunch, or during car line after school.

What does the tooth fairy do with our teeth?
Good freaking question!

1. What sign marks the end of the summer for you?
Labor Day. When Target puts all the back to school stuff on clearance. Used to be when I actually went back to work as a teacher. Weather-wise, summer here ends about mid-October.

2. What plans, if any, do you have for the rest of the summer?
Work, including the strongly advised and/or non-optional OT hours they keep handing down. At least we get to choose the OT hours, as opposed to a few years ago when we'd be assigned 5 hour shifts, usually on one of our unscheduled days.

3. How would you describe your summer/winter so far – too hot, too cold, too wet, too buggy or what?
Monsoon actually happened this year. It rained this morning, then warmed up again, but the wind has picked up in the last hour. It won't rain, but it brings the temp down. Along with more rain (which is really not much but still more than last summer), it's not been as hot. I think last year had a record number of days over 110 degrees.

4. Summer often means open windows and the sharing of conversations, music, games and so forth with everyone. What sort of neighbor are you? Loud or considerate?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...hahahaha. Windows won't open until at least September, and that's only at night. I'm a considerate neighbor and try not to be loud.

5. Aside from spouses and pets, have you had any trouble with pests recently?
We still have the gnat issue. It's only like 1-2 a day. Still can't figure out where they come from. Oh, and today when I asked Sarah to check the air filter size, she found a termite trap behind it. I don't know how I didn't see that before. No termites or evidence of them were found when the house was inspected, and I haven't seen anything since moving in. But yikes, something to think about.

1. What are you going to do this weekend?
Relax. Hopefully not have any side effects from the second vaccine dose I got about 2 hours ago.

2. What’s your favorite way to spend time?
On the couch, with my laptop. Ha. Or going for a drive.

3. What’s the most useless thing you own that you would never get rid of?
I have this little stick figure girl, made out of wire, that I made freshman year of college. I think we were in someone's dorm room, doing random crafty things. I must have been playing with a piece of wire when I noticed it looked like a head with hair that flipped up at the ends. Then I decided to make a body for it. The stick figure hung from my rearview mirror for a while, then I think on the fridge. Then I think she was in a box, or my bedside table...wherever she was, I found her again a few weeks ago. Showed it to Sarah and said I know it's silly but I just can't get rid of it.

4. Have you started planning your next vacation?
Yes. I think I'll take a week and a half off in June, and go stay at my sister's, or my mom's. This time around, I'll also go visit friends. I also want to stop at Downtown Disney on the way and buy Disney crap I don't need. I can't get into the park since I'm not a California resident, but DTD is open to the public.

5. Are you very active, or do you prefer to just relax in your free time or is it one and the same to you?
I'm pretty inactive, sadly, I really need to start exercising again. Not sure if the workout room here is open, but it's small and I don't want to use the treadmill while wearing a mask. I also hope to start being more social now that I've gotten both vaccine doses.

1) What's the furthest place you've traveled to in the last 12 months?
I drove to my mom's house in northern California in August, about 750 miles. From there I went to Lake Tahoe with my sister for a day, another 100ish miles.

2) What's the most interesting small town within driving distance?
Superior, Miami, and Globe, AZ

3) What's the coolest tourist attraction in your city?
Ummmmm the city I live in? No idea. Up in Scottsdale is Talisien West, which I finally went by trying to kill time before my vaccine appointment. Just drove up to it, didn't go in. Mystery Castle in Phoenix is quirky, but I don't think it's a tourist attraction.

4) What was your favorite road trip you took as a kid?
I love road trips! I went down Highway 1 on the California coast with my friend's family in elementary school, and we went to Hearst Castle.

5) How often do you feel like you've got to get away?
LOL I want to get away often. I go places...not very often. These days, even going to the grocery or other stores feels like a vacation.

1) Pick one of your favorite movies: what is the title?
Pride and Prejudice (2005)

2) When and where and with whom did you first see it?
Dec. 20, 2006. At home, by myself.

3) What about the movie makes it one of your favorites?
I knew nothing about it. An LJ friend had been talking about it a lot, and so I bought it one day as I was browsing at the bookstore. I think I had it for a couple of weeks before watching it, probably waiting until winter break. I was confused, and had no idea what was going on or why. The first proposal (to me) came out of left field. Then I was really glued. The second proposal...that whole scene...the forehead touch...GAH!! Watching it and falling so hard in love with it got me into reading Austen and other books of the era.

4) If you've watched this movie since the pandemic quarantine started, how did it make you feel?
I watch it usually once or twice a year. It always makes me happy. I watched it again this evening, and picked up on a few small details I never noticed before.

5) If this movie was remade, who would you cast for the five main characters and why?
Pride and Prejudice has been remade many times already. I love this version, and don't need another. Yes, I also like 1995 with Colin Firth, but the 2005 version holds a special place in my heart.

1) Where in the entire world would you love to be vacationing right now?
Lake Tahoe (I'll always go there), the UK, or Italy

2) Where in your own home country or state would you love to be vacationing right now?
I haven't been to the southeastern corner of Arizona yet. I want to go to Tombstone and Bisbee.

3) Where would you love to vacation later on this year when the weather is different?
When it's a million degrees here, I'll go anywhere cooler.

4) Where are you likely to vacation this year?
Probably up to see my mom again, in northern California.

5) And next year?
short and/or close-ish place: Oh, I'd love to go to Disneyland if it's open!
longer and/or further away: no idea.

1) How is your year going so far?
Pretty well. Moved into my new house. We've had a few days of precious rain this week.

2) Have you gotten vaccinated yet? If not, when do you think it's likely to happen?
No. I'm probably way down the list of people to get it.

3) Are you bored or are you busy these days?
I'm finding things to do after work. I'd love to go out more, but that isn't gonna happen.

4) Is this pandemic good or bad for your finances?
It's been good. Less shopping, less to-go food. The new house definitely means spending money but I was able to save a lot more all the months prior. So, I had money for closing costs, getting the place painted, and movers. Plus still some, which I plan to get some sort of entertainment center with.

5) What are you missing most these days?
Going wherever I want, whenever I want. Going to multiple stores to find what I need, browsing at the bookstore, wandering the mall, etc. Even just taking my time at the grocery store.

1) What is your favorite December holiday food?
In my family, we like appetizers before dinner. Like eat all day and then be almost too full for dinner. My favorite is potato chips and onion dip. Must be Ruffles chips, and dip made with Lipton onion soup mix. I just mixed up the dip to bring tomorrow, and it's killing me that I have to wait.

2) What is your favorite December holiday beverage?
I don't have one, but suddenly I want hot apple cider.

3) What is your favorite December holiday song?
O Holy Night, Carol of the Bells, Last Christmas by Wham, and


4) What is your favorite December holiday tradition?
Having a Christmas tree
ETA: I was reminded by ragnarok_08's comment of watching holiday specials about my 'tradition' of forgetting to watch Sound of Music each year. I swear it used to be on the Sunday AFTER Christmas, but it's usually a week or two before. So, I either totally forget or am reminded halfway through by someone posting about it online. I'll have to watch my DVD.

5) What is the one thing you will miss most this December because of the pandemic?
Not going home to be with family. Work might have prevented travel anyway, but still.