The Answers & a question

First the question..... WHO is Nicole? I would have also had to ask WHO is Courtney but she just commented for the first time this past week after reading my blog for a year. She scored a very impressive 90. But someone named Nicole Landon scored a 70 - Nicole? I don't know any Nicoles, but she obviously knows me quite well. So come on out, Nicole and let me know who you are.

Here are the official results of everyone who registered to take the test. I know others took it, such as Melene, but I don't know their scores.

Scoring a 100 (flags waving, confetti dropping and horns blasting)
Cheryl, Andi, Big Guy and Heidi - all people who know me personally

Scoring a 90
Teresa, my aunt Gayle, Jacob, and Sam (Vicki's daughter) - so again I know these people personally..... along with my long-time blogging buddy Patricia, who I plan on meeting one day and the above mentioned Courtney.

Scoring an impressive 80%
Tina and Staci - both ladies who attend the same church as I do.

Jumping in at 70% would be my friend, Angie, who visited us in August last year from Texas. Angie is Hannah's mom and perhaps you know this, but Hannah is the love of Jacob's life....and someday he plans on telling her that. Also scoring a 70 is the elusive Nicole Landon.

Scoring a 60% - still not bad --- are Julie, Blaine, Amber, Jamie & Jenn. Julie has 4 kids, Blaine & Jamie both have 5 kids each, Jenn has 2 year old triplets and Amber just finished running a marathon, so I'm cutting them all some slack.

Now for the rest of you ...ahem

Posting a 50% would be Alison, Amanda and Peggy - although Peggy wants to plead old age and fading memory.

Tee scored a 40, while Kate managed a 30 and Jodi scraped the bottom of the test barrel with a 20. I give her points for trying though since she has her hands full with a house full of kids and remodeling going on. That alone is enough to make anything you ever knew leave your brain.

Now for the answers......

1. What state did I grow up in? I grew up in western Kentucky in a small town where everyone knew your business and if you were doing something stupid, you could be sure your parents knew about it before you even got home.

2. What hobby do I absolutely hate to do? I hate, loathe, despise scrapbooking. You can read how much here if you want.

3. What might qualify as the strangest thing I've ever done? My former dog, Wego, and I are way too close. You haven't truly lived until you've had a wet dog's snout in your mouth. For all the sloppy details, read this post.

4. What day of the year were our children adopted? Our kids were adopted on Valentines Day, 2003. It was a beautiful ceremony and we followed it up with a reception the next weekend. The Evansville Courier had a wonderful story about them on the front page of the newspaper that day. There were several other stories about them in area newspapers and that was one of the reasons I started to scrapbook in the first place. Now we celebrate "Gotcha Day" on February 14th. That story is on my sidebar, titled appropriately enough, "Our Adoption Story."

5. What did I do last year that will never happen again? One day when I noticed that my eyebrows were looking amazing similar to Peter Gallagher, I let myself be persuaded to get them waxed. That was quite an adventure. I'm getting new glasses this week, with smaller frames and my eyebrows will be on display to the world, so something will have to be done about the Gallagher look on a semi-regular basis. On a side note, the optometrist told me I am not eligible for laser surgery or contacts because of my astigmatism -- BUT -- I could hope for early cataracts because I would probably see better after I had them removed than I do now. I'm still pondering that one.

6. What am I in charge of at my church? My "official" title - I kid you not - at church is Cruise Director. Vicki is my assistant. One morning in church, we were even presented with embroidered hats with our titles. When I tried to talk to the pastor about coming up with a better different name, he explained his reasoning for that particular title. He said that as a church body we are all like people taking a cruise. We come from all different walks of life, different backgrounds, different incomes, different family situations -- and the only thing we have in common is that we are on a journey for God....much like people on a cruise. The only thing they all have in common is that they are on this ship going to a common destination. Who can argue with logic like that? I could - but it did no good, so Cruise Director it shall remain. As the C.D., I plan and organize all of the recreational activities for our church.

My other job at church is the greeters ministry. I recruit and schedule people to pass out bulletins and such on Sunday mornings. The greeters make sure everyone knows where the classes are, etc.

I also do buy the supplies for the kitchen and help teach 2nd and 3rd graders on Wednesday nights. Andi and I clean the church one month a year. I'm sure there are other things I do, they just aren't coming to mind.

7.What is my favorite basketball team? GOOOOOOO DUKE! If anyone missed this, I don't know what to tell ya. I've loved Duke basketball for as long as I can remember. Their coach is a great leader. A few years ago he turned down something like 40 million dollars from a pro team to stay at Duke and coach.

8. How did I meet my husband? As for how I met Bill -- well, it was a personal ad. One night 4 girlfriends and I were sitting around reading making fun of the personals. We all decided to put one in right then before anyone chickened out since we just "knew" we could write a better ad than those in the paper.

The other girls I was with all described themselves, what they looked like, etc. Mine said something about wanting to meet a guy with the morals of Andy Griffith, who knew the words to the Brady Bunch song (thought that would put them in the right age). I didn't say one thing about my looks, my age or anything. I did say I had 2 kids though.

THAT was an experience, let me tell you. For example, it's funny how when you talk to someone on the phone they can forget to tell you that they are a double amputee. That's something you find out for yourself when you go to meet them. I talked to some real doozies.

I had a written list of requirements that my prospective dates had to meet before I would agree to meet them in person. These included going to church. Responses such as "I used to go" or "I really should go" or "I go on Easter" didn't count. They had to have a job - I wasn't looking to support anyone else. They had to be non-smokers, non-drinkers and have no tattoos. Not sure why I was such a stickler on tattoos, but I was.

Bill had been divorced about a year and he was at work at Alcoa and all the guys there kept telling him to answer these ads - every day they would pick some out for him to call. This went on for months. He always said no. One day he told them they could pick out ONE, he would go on ONE date and report back to them and then they would never speak of it again. So everyone agreed to this plan and the guys proceeded to choose my ad.

Bill called my voice mail and stammered his way through an introduction. I called him back and we talked on the phone several times. A few days later we met in the parking lot of Burger King, went inside and talked for several hours, then went to a steak house and had dinner and neither of us ever dated anyone else. We were engaged 4 months later and married 3 months after that. That was almost 13 years ago.

A few months ago I was cleaning the garage and found a post it note where he had written my name and the kids names and ages where he wouldn't forget them when he called a second time.

9. What was I employed as -- back in the days when I worked? I went to college after Andi and Zac were in school and then worked as a paralegal for about 7 years until I got pregnant with Jacob. My favorite job was in a one attorney office that I went to straight from school. He called the college looking for a paralegal and they recommended me. I loved working there and was there for several years till I had to leave my little one man office because I needed health insurance.

So I also worked several years in a very large firm with offices in several states, representing clients such as Ford Motor, GMAC, lots of major banks and such as that. For them I did collections, handled bankruptcies and I would run titles and do title work. As soon as Bill and I married and I had insurance through him, I called my former boss, who immediately hired me back. I'm not exactly sure what happened to the woman he had working for him....I was just happy to be back "home."

I told him the day I found out I was pregnant that he would be needing to hire someone else because I was staying home with my baby. He just wouldn't accept that and even after I was in the hospital on bed rest, he kept telling me he was holding my job.

When I was at home on bed rest, he would drop by to see when I wanted to come back - should he hire a temp? He was in denial in the worst way. We remain good friends and talk often. Although he never did adoption work, he did the adoptions for our kids.

10. If I had to spend $300.00 frivolously, where would I shop? Home Depot or Lowe's. Either one would be fine with me. I can just roam through the tool aisle and find the most amazing things. Sometimes I just sorta go into a daze as I hold the neatest gadgets - imagining myself actually using them. Then one of the kids says they have to go to the bathroom and that usually brings me back to reality.

There you have it - me - in a nutshell. As a bonus bit of trivia, if I ever ask what would be the one article of clothes that I would love to wear brand new every day of my life.........socks. I love new socks. Can't explain it. Just love 'em.