My Q&A with Ronda

So Ronda @ Ronda's Rants has asked me what I think are some very cool questions. Check her out when when you are through here as she is such a lovely person and I always learn something from her.

Since I love to talk about me.....here goes:

1. I am amazed by all the things you can do...painting and refinishing furniture, sewing and photography to name a few...Have you always been this creative and active? If not...what changed you?

Yes, I have. I've always thought of myself as lazy....but when you say it like that.....it does make me sound very active.....wooo hooo!
I think I just like to create things in general. Since having Zander I haven't had as much time to do these kinds of things....so it makes me kind of ansy. I guess doing this stuff is an outlet for something. That might be why I take so many pictures now....its the one thing I can do with Z around.....and he makes a really cute model.

2. I know you like Key West (me, too) and you enjoyed a trip to England but what other places would you like to travel to?

Funny you should ask, as I have a 'bucket list'. Well, it was called a 'places to go before I die' list....but since that movie came out...I think 'bucket list' is a much better term.
On this list are several places such as Ireland - it just seems so mystical to me, Australia - lots of different wildlife I'd love to see, Greece - I want to visit small old out of the way villages, and now Austria - ever since Richard Winters mentioned how beautiful it was in Band of Brothers. I would maybe also like to go back and visit others parts of Germany. It is a beautiful country. Not to sound morbid, but I would like to visit more historical spots from World War II.....I visited Dachau Concentration Camp and its something I will never forget.
Of course I'm up for visiting any place with a beach...I LOVE warm weather and beaches. I'm definitely not a cold weather person, but if I had someone to snuggle with maybe I'd go somewhere snowy once....but a beach would still be better.

3. I love your son's name...How did you decide to name him Zander and Also, he is so cute...I could just cry about it...How do you ever tell him no?

Okay, I don't know if all women do this or not, but I've been naming my ficticious kids forever. I would always have a name in my head for a boy in case I ever had one. For some reason, I didn't always have a girl's name at the ready.
But, I fell in love with the name Zander when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was on television. Buffy would yell at him and it just sounded so good.
I chose his middle name from Buffy too....a little by accident as I just plain loved the name...but it did happen to be one of Buffy's boyfriend's names. Also, Zander means "great leader" and his middle name means "brave"....it was like they belonged together. So, that is how he became Zander Riley.
I have to admit it is getting increasingly easier to tell him no......maybe because I have to say it so often. But there are many times he says or does something he isn't supposed to and it makes me laugh. Well, I can't very well seriously tell him no when I'm laughing....so I have to distract him then. Lets just say I'm constantly winging this mommy thing.....

4. I know you were in the military...What branch and for how long? Why did you leave?

I was in the Army Reserve initially. I was in the 307th, Special Operations Forces. My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) was 37 F - Psychological Operations Specialist - or PSYOP (or Psyclops as I lovingly referred to it). There is only 1 active duty company of PSYOP and it is stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. All other companies are reserve units. This is because very rarely do PSYOP Specialists deploy as a whole company, but rather in 2-3 person teams and then they become embedded with another company.
I did this for about 3-4 years when I had a falling out with a Major. Rather than bring harassment charges against him, I left and went to an Air Guard Reserve in an Intelligence Unit. However, due to downsizing I was able to opt out as the Air Force doesn't have a compatible MOS for what I was trained for. I was going to go to one of their training schools to change my MOS, but when the offer came to opt out....I did.
Its very hard to balance a full time job and the reserves. It can be very rewarding, but the reserves can mean much more time involvement than 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year.

5. I am excited about the inauguration...and I know you are too...Any special plans for the day?

I will be at work that day. I decided not to take it off as I will just be getting off a 4 day weekend. Besides, I want to be at work so I can remind all of my Republican friends how happy I am.
I'll probably just watch MSNBC that evening to catch the highlights. I don't really have any exciting plans and I won't be going to any of the local inauguration parties. I'm just happy that its all finally coming to fruition.

Thanks Ronda for the interview - this was a lot of fun.