The A To Z Of Me Meme

I don't often 'do' memes, but I read this one on a blog and really enjoyed it, so here it is, the A To Z of Mimi!

ANORAK…Do you have a sad side?

It depends on what you think of as sad! But working in a library for over a decade does mean I can think in Dewey numbers! Oh and when I put my shopping away, all the labels have to face the front, and if I have a stack of things, such as tuna cans, then all the labels have to line up at the edge. Oh, and toilet paper has to hang down the back, not over the front of the roll. I don't know why that last one bothers me, but it does...I will change it in other peoples houses!

BODY…What physical attribute would you most like to change?

I don't suppose there are many ladies who wouldn't like to be a little thinner! But at the moment, it would be my hair. I know it is vain to say it, but I really love my hair colour! I am mainly brunette, but have quite a lot of auburn in it, which my Mum tells me is exactly the colour of my great grandmothers hair. Alas, I am starting to find grey in it! I don't like that, so would like to colour it, but I don't want to lose my natural hair colour! So right now, I would lose my grey hair.

CELEBRITY…Which one would you most like to date and why?

Well, as a married lady, I would have to turn him down if he did try to sweep me off my feet, but really, it would be hard to say no to the wonderful Alan Rickman!

DEBUT …Tell us about your first ever blog post. What made you start blogging?

I started blogging on livejournal as Sheofthescepteredisle years and years ago, having discovered blogs for the first time when I found ljcfyi.com. I visited getcrafty.com a lot too, so having somewhere to document my crafting and cooking adventures really appealed. It didn't last long though, in the same way as I never manage to keep a diary or journal for long. This blog was an attempt to finally keep a diary going, and to record my cooking and crafting, and just write, really. I had discovered blogs like notmartha and yarnstorm, and while I have no pretensions to being in their league, this was an attempt to capture a little bit of that!

ERROR …What’s been your biggest regret?

I try as hard as I can not to have too many regrets, and I am a firm believer that some things that you cry about at the time, had you understood the situation better, you would have delighted in your good luck instead. That often comes with hindsight though! So the broken engagement at 19 to a terribly unsuitable man felt like the end of the world at the time, but oh, thank heavens it happened! I couldn't imagine being without my wonderful husband, and having been in a relationship with a real rotter really makes you appreciate a good man when you are lucky enough to find one! (Thinking about it, the broken engagement isn't the regret so much as the engagement itself!)

FUNNY – who’s making you laugh?

One of my favourite sounds in the whole world is my husband laughing, so I really like things that make us both laugh. Ask Rhod Gilbert makes us laugh, as well as topical news quizzes such as Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and so on. The first classic novel that really made me laugh was Cranford, a real revelation to me, which really got me 'in' to reading from the classic shelves in the library.

GRAND…If we gave you one right now what would you spend it on?

A new wardrobe of clothes! It feels like mine are all wearing out at the same time! I would hope to get enough clothes for a small capsule wardrobe, perhaps with one or two pieces from Boden. Or buy the entire Persephone book collection, and a new shelf to house them!

HOLIDAY… What’s your favourite destination?

I adored the holiday we had in Bath last year. I would love to go back. Oh, but then I loved Dorset and Lyme Regis too....so perhaps a fortnights holiday, with a week in each!

IRRITATE… What’s your most annoying habit?

I don't think we are best placed to answer such questions about ourselves, as we probably wouldn't do them! So Mr C has come up with, after rather too little thought if you ask me, not putting things away when I am finished with them, and not being ready on time!

JOKER…Whats your favourite joke {the one that makes you laugh everytime you hear it}?

Graham, my oldest friend, told a joke for years and years, that was about prisoners in jail having been in so long, rather than tell the same jokes over and over, would give each joke a number, and just call out the numbers, then start laughing. Honestly, after about five years of telling this 'joke' that really wasn't that funny, he realised he had never told us the punch line! A new prisoner tries to join in and shouts out numbers, but nobody laughs. He asks another prisoner why, and he tells him 'its the way you tell them!'. So the whole joke isn't funny at all, but the fact he forgot the punch line for so long and we just thought it was a pointless joke makes me laugh!
KENNEL… Do you have any pets?

I would love a kitten, but as we live in a little flat, I must wait until we have a house and a garden. Carl has two goldfish and a corn snake. Sometimes in a fit of melancholy, I dramatically proclaim that I just want something to love and feed and cuddle and look after and love, and Carl says 'well you've got me!'

LOVE…Are you single, married, engaged, living with a long term partner?

Happily married, and living with my lovely husband!

MEAL… Whats your ultimate starter, main and dessert?

I couldn't possibly choose just one menu! One of my favourite ways to spend time in a queue or on a bus is to plan my ultimate Come Dine With Me menu, and it changes all the time! I think in general you can't go wrong with a good steak cooked rare, and a chocolatey dessert. Can I cheat and say afternoon tea?!

NOW…If you could be anywhere right now where would you be and who with?

Right here, where I am. Tucked up on the sofa under a blanket with a mug of tea to one side and my husband to the other. Home, where is more perfect than that?

OFF DUTY…What do you do in your spare time?

Spare time?! What is that?! I like to read and knit and crochet and sew and cook and read blogs and find new places to have afternoon tea! This time of year often sees me extra busy, as I like to make my own Christmas cards, and as many of my gifts as I can.

PROUD MOMENTS …What are you most proud of?

On the work front, managing the second busiest library in the country in my mid twenties. In my personal life, seeing our wedding come together having spent a long time planning and making a lot of it ourselves. My marriage, because after four years of marriage and ten years of being together, we are still very kind to each other and enjoy spending time together! Oh, and I am proud of keeping my blog going for so long, especially given how little success I had keeping diaries!

QUEASY …What turns your stomach?

Violence. I just can't watch violent films at all, and I often have to turn the news over.


RELAX…How do you relax?

I love a hot bath and a cup of tea. And a book. Oh, and I adore a magazine. There is nothing more soothing than a row or two of knitting. And baking bread or making jam is a wonderful relaxer too!

SONG…Whats your favourite song of all time?

I'm not sure I have just one favourite, but The Spirit Carries On by Dream Theater is top of my list most of the time. Come Christmas though, it will be Joy To The World by Sufjan Stevens. I really like Fever by Peggy Lee too! It seems I am not very good at having just one Favourite!

TIME …If you could go back in time and relive it again, when would you choose?

My wedding day, as it really does go too quickly! That or my early childhood, when my grandparents were alive. I have so many happy memories of simple but special things, such as having a little stool as a picnic table, or the blanket cosy from the pushchair, the time I was allowed to go down the slide even though it had been raining, because I had been promised....

UNKNOWN…Tell us something about yourself that no one else knows?

Oooh....I am not sure really what there is that nobody else knows. There are lots of people who don't know I have a tattoo, very few people who I know outside of my blog know I am taking burlesque lessons. Probably the main thing that nobody really knows is just how shy I really am! When you wear red lipstick, people tend to assume you are confident!

VOCAL…. Who is your favourite artist?

Bruce Dickinson! He has an amazing voice, and I have been lucky enough to see him live a few times. I particularly like Chemical Wedding (both the song and the album) and Tears of the Dragon (the song) and Born In 58.

WORK….. What is your dream job, and are you doing it now?

That is a really difficult one for me! I do love working in libraries, but I still think that following the events of this year, that is not where my future lays. I don't know where it does lay though, and the big thing that has kept me stop-gap working rather than hunting for a new career is that I don't know what to do. My dream job would be writing novels, and also to be offered a book deal for a book-of-the-blog as happened to Yarnstorm and Cherry Menlove. Basically, I think I want to be Kirstie Allsopp! Or work in a tea shop! Or sell my crafts!

XRAY…Any broken bones?

I chipped a bone in my elbow when I was 10, but happily nothing since then, unless you count the odd dental xray here and there.

YIKES…What’s been your most embarrassing moment?

At the moment I would still say walking in somebody airing their thoughts about me last week! Perhaps it is they who should be embarassed, but to hear someones uncensored thoughts was pretty mortifying. Otherwise, at about 16, visiting Dad in hospital and wondering aloud when the really handsome blond Dutch doctor would be on the wards again....just as the ward fell silent and the handsome doctor walked in!

ZOO…. If you were an animal, which one would you be?

A penguin! I have always loved the way they waddle about on land but are so graceful in the water, and also we have been doing a lot of 'penguin hands' in dance class!

So, there you go, the A to Z of me!