Interview with Linds

Linds sent me these questions a few days ago - she gave me some goodies! Here goes.

1. What do you love most about living in Colorado and why?
   
   My parents moved to Colorado while I was in college. I'll never forget the first trip my sister, brother, and I took to our parents' new home - spring break my junior year. We loaded our common car with kids from Colorado, who helped pay the gas. That was my first time in Colorado. Three years later, after graduation and teaching in southeast Kansas, I moved here. I've been here ever since - 37 years and counting.
   
   What do I love most? That's a hard one to narrow down. I love the mountains - not so much hiking in them, but watching them from a distance, the changing colors at different times of the day, the snow on the peaks shimmering in the sunshine, the smell of the evergreens drifting down here on the summer breezes, driving through them, photographing them. I love the fact that it can snow one day and it's gone the next. (Of course, there is the occasional blizzard, which isn't so much fun). But what I really like about living here is the dry air. It does get hot in the summertime, but most nights, it cools off so that you actually pull a cover over yourself during the night. I don't do well in humidity, so this is the place for me. I love the four seasons - sometimes spring is gone in a flash, but autumn usually goes on and on. It all boils down to the air - I love the air in Colorado. And the blue, blue sky.
   
   
2. If you could have chosen a different career, what would it have been and why?
   
   When I was a little girl, I played three main things - teacher, secretary, and mommy. I grew up to be all three. Turned out I didn't like teaching all that much after all. The mommy gig was great, but when we needed another income, I was fortunate to have three great, different, interesting jobs as secretary, or as it's called now, administrative assistant. I can't say I ever longed for a different career. I loved staying at home with the kids and I was blessed to enjoy the jobs I ended up doing. So it's good.
   
   
   
3. What is your favourite hobby and where did you learn to do it?
   
   My favorite thing to do, which I guess you'd call a hobby, is reading. It always has been - as I've mentioned in the past, I read while I'm walking, on the elliptical, on the treadmill, on the exercise bike, at the doctor's office, at stop lights, in line anywhere - give me a book and I'm a happy person.
   
   Other than reading, I have loved sewing, knitting, crocheting, crewel embroidering, and cross-stitching. Before I had to go private with my blog, I did a 6-week series on "Friday Show and Tell" which I called, "I Used To . . . " Because, you see, I don't do any of those things any more. I used to love to create my wardrobe and Kristen's. It was my delight to find a pattern and make it my own - putting fabrics together, choosing trims and buttons - it was such a great creative outlet. I learned sewing basics in 7th through 9th grade home ec. Those were the days when we had an entire semester of sewing and a semester of cooking through all of junior high. I learned so much, and loved it. I was also fast, so got to do extra projects and/or help those who were slower. I'll never forget the thrill of putting in my first set-in sleeve, my first zipper, my first belt. I didn't sew too much until after college, when my roommate taught me so much - she was a very accomplished seamstress and she was a great teacher and role model.
   
   
4. What is your favourite school memory?
   
   I loved school, so narrowing this down is difficult as well. I loved learning to read, writing, belonging to clubs, choir, newspaper staff. I didn't like anything related to science. I loved most of my teachers. We moved several times, so I experienced school in the north, south, and midwest. I went to small schools and big schools. I think I'd have to say my best school memory is my time spent as co-editor of the Ram Tales - the newspaper in our small high school. I've blogged about this before, but some of it bears repeating. Our journalism teacher was also my favorite English teacher - she was such an inspiration. She challenged us every day. She was instrumental in facilitating so many interviewing experiences. She prepared me for college and was the one that I kept in touch with and went back to visit until her death just about two years ago.
   
   
5. And, because I loved answering this one in my interview, how would you describe yourself as a flower, a car, or a food?
   
   I would like to think of myself as a daffodil - such a cheerful, encouraging flower - coming up through snow and ice - full of determination and optimism.
   
   Food - well, make me something chocolate or a fresh-out-of-the-oven caramel roll. Comfort food. I like to comfort people!
   
   Car - I think I resemble my minivan - utilitarian, not fancy, able to carry lots of "stuff" and keep on rolling.
   
   Thanks, Linds, that was fun!