Getting To Know You Meme

The Rules:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 or more people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answers.
5. You don't have to randomly italic or bold answers, as Blogger has done for me.

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1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I was preparing to run in the New York City Marathon that summer, running across the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge on Saturdays. I had also become engaged that summer, so Tom and I were planning to be married the following summer. We lived in Poughkeepsie, in our Village Crest apartment with our two cats, both teaching full-time.

2. What are 5 Things on my To-Do List for today:

1. Do this meme.
2. Hang out with Connor while Ian and Tom are off to pick up percussion at Symphony Hall.
3. Clean the microwave.
4. Laundry.
5. Apparently this is important enough to put into italics: work the Chorale concert tonight.

3. Snacks I Enjoy:

Let's first of all say that I enjoy all snacks really. Top faves include:
1. Chips and Hot Salsa and fresh Guacamole (Tew's version always come to mind when Jesse, Tew, Tom and I would eat bowlfuls of it while watching tv.)
2. Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
3. Any snacks that my sister-in-law Terri makes are great-she is the Appetizer Queen.

4. Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:

1. Get out of all debt. Pay off the loans and house, cars.
2. Buy a new and bigger house for us-not too big, but rooms for all of us and a percussion studio for T.
3. Percussion galore for T. Vibes, gigging marimba, the works.
4. Vacation Fund for all of us.
5. College for Boys, plus a savings account if anything happens to us, they can afford expenses and if they are little, for someone to take care of them well.
6. I'd go back to school and work on writing or arts administration. Really.
7. Cover my mom's retirement and get her a new place to live.
8. Help family and friends with what they need.
9. Donate to our favorite arts organizations, maybe start a foundation. Also to cancer research.
10. Research and fund special needs daycares for children ages birth to 3. Siblings could also attend.
11. Plant more trees.
12. Be as generous as people have been to us over the years.

5. Three Of My Bad Habits:

Only three?
1. I am an email and blog checker. I don't feel as bad since I am not the only one!
2. Staying up late when I need to get some sleep.
3. Talking very mumbly and softly to Thomas, which he really doesn't like.

6. 5 Places I have Lived:

1. Wappingers Falls and Poughkeepsie, New York for 30 years!
2. Potsdam, New York for college
3. Tempe and Mesa, Arizona currently
4. Binghamton, New York for my first teaching job.
5. A few summers on Long Island with my future in-laws while I went to grad school.

7. Jobs I Have Had:

1. A shoe salesperson for Thom McAn.
2. Zimmer Brothers Jewelers, Poughkeepsie in sales, repair and office alongside my mom much of the time. She is still there.
3. Teaching general music -1 semester in Binghamton for a Catholic middle school, 6 years at Gayhead Elementary in the district I grew up in, almost 7 years here in Arizona at various schools.
4. Executive Director of the Sonoran Desert Chorale, a job I love very much and hope to have more time to dedicate to this coming year.
5. Grant Writing-various artists, teachers. I love this and wish I could do it more often.

8. 5 People I Want To Know More About:I Am Tagging:

1. Cindy
2. Julie
3. Bob
4. MinnesotaBlue
5. Laura