I got tagged by Phyl!

My pal, Phyl, tagged me for this meme! She's the queen o' memes! This one's for you girlfriend! =)

Here are the rules of the game (post these first).

1)Each player answers questions about themselves.

2) At the end of the posting tag 5-6 people.

3) Post their names and then go to their site and leave a comment telling them that they have been Tagged. Then ask them to read your blog.

4) Let the person who tagged you know that you have completed your posting.

LET THE FUN BEGIN!!

WHAT WAS I DOING 10 YEARS AGO:

Let's see. At the beginning of May of 1998, I had been officially divorced for about two weeks. I believe I had just had my first bout with Houston influenza that had me dizzy with my head in hand while my kids hunted for Easter eggs outside in the super hot humid weather! I had quit working for Merry Maids because of said flu, that I came down with on Good Friday, WHILE AT WORK, cleaning one of those horrible first time houses that the supervisor would say, "Oh, it should only take y'all a few hours." After four hours, with much more to go, a fever, aches, and the chills coming on hard and fast, with dog hair lodged in my sinuses from the NASTY house, I knew I'd had just about enough of that job. I can STILL see the inside of that house. I think my mom was coming to visit. It was a pretty crazy time in my life. In fact, I have a picture of my kids from when my mom was visiting on my fridge, and I looked at it last night and cried. I could see my little babies on the left and then look up and to the right and see my teenage girls at Disney in December. They looked so much the same, but so different. I just cried the mommy cry. So yeah, ten years ago. Wow.

WHAT ARE THE 5 THINGS ON MY "TO DO" LIST:

Literally on a to-do list:
1)Organize my office: bookshelves, drawers, cabinets, filing. (Can you say ugh?!)
2)Mop the floors.
3)Clean the bathrooms.
4)Organize the kitchen still better to accomodate my new style of eating (i.e. RAW!)
5)Prepare to teach summer school classes next month. (eeeegads, I have less than one month now to get ready!)

On an inner-personal level:
1) Read and take notes on the books I have accumulated on inner growth.
2) Get this office organized so I can read, write, paint, and teach from it with peace of mind AND the ability to find what I need and use the space effectively!
3) Complete to-do list to eliminate stress (SAME AS PHYL ON THIS ONE!)
4) Start walking daily (AND HERE TOO!)
5) Find a source of income that works with who I am inside, and not just as a paycheck to get by and create more stress in my life.

3) SNACKS THAT I ENJOY: Carrots and guacamole; celery with raw almond butter; and yes, ok, chocolate...but I don't feel good AFTER I eat it!

4) THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A BILLIONAIRE: Oh the money I could give away!!!! One dream I have always had is to create some kind of program for teenagers to become more involved in society...obviously, teenagers who do not have the resources to do so. Ultimately, I would want to help motivate them scholastically, politically, environmentally, emotionally, spiritually, and ethically...all at the same time. Hey, if I'm going to dream about being a BILLIONAIRE, it's got to be BIG, right? I truly believe that teenagers are one of the largest untapped markets of creativity and change. Really I think it all goes back to feeling so useless as a teenager myself. And not feeling like I had anyone to show me the way to BE useful. I know there are plenty of things out there that teens can do, but I want to reach the ones who don't have access. Oh sigh, I just want to change the world, you know? Like, let's just revamp the entire education system and make it community oriented instead of consumer and convict oriented. Again, there's so many MORE kids who are left out than who gain from it all. I would love to change that. So there. =)


5) PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED: Uxbridge, Douglas, Sandwich, Hyannis, and W. Yarmouth Massachusetts; Vicksburg, Cleveland, and Greenwood, Mississippi; Houston and Humble, Texas. Oregon and California, here I come!!! =)

6) BAD HABITS THAT I HAVE: Refusing to believe in myself more often than not; being a little bit late almost all the time; making to-do lists and then blogging or surfing the internet instead of accomplishing my goals; avoiding household chores more often than ever before; buying too much food; avoiding routines that would make my life less stressful.

7) JOBS THAT I HAVE HAD: restaurant worker (register, food prep, food service--fast-food style in several restaurants), hardware store cashier, factory worker (packed the styrofoam trays that grocery meat etc. comes on), kennel worker, office aide, writing tutor, high school English teacher, (not so) Merry Maid, college English teacher. And my calling so far has been motherhood, although now that the kids are almost "done," I am sad that I didn't do more. Ah well, that good old hindsight added to a perfectionistic bent...what else is new?

Ok, so let's see, I have to tag some folks....um....well, maybe I'll let this one end here for now. I didn't have much luck last time with the tagging part!

Have a blessed day my readers!


© Nicole J. Williams, 2008, all rights reserved.