Who the Hell Are YOU?

We were tagged! So, I will take a first stab at this!

My favorite sister-in-law tagged me in a “Who the Hell Are You” post which is essentially a fun game that helps us get to know one another. Task at hand? Answer 25 questions, then tag people. Here's the deal: If you are tagged, then you must play! 

1.  Where were you born? Canton, Ohio

2.  Were you named after someone?  Apparently, my mother was pretty homesick -- having moved from her home state just prior to my fabulous arrival into this world. So she named me after her college. Yeah, not the saint, per se. But the college. Nice.

3. How many children do you have?  More than enough! OK, 2. But still.

4. How many pets do you have?  1 dog. We had three. Labs. They took up more space in the house than the humans. We loved the two we lost. We miss them dearly. Instead of tripping over them, I'm tripping over toys. Toys hurt. Dogs are soft. The one Lab we have now is dumb. But sweet. But dumb.

5. Your worst injury.  Broken wrist. The break didn't actually hurt that much, but my pride did. Years ago. Absolute first time ever on roller blades. Never made it out of the driveway. Yeah, two seconds with those suckers on and bam! Broken wrist. I'm graceful.

6.  Do you have a special talent?  I use to play piano and clarinet. Not sure how much of that talent is still with me!

7.  Favorite thing to bake.  Cookies! Every year for Christmas. Family tradition since forever. And now I get to pass it along to my kids. 

8. Favorite Fast Food.  Notta. Nothing. In fact, up until last year, I could tolerate Sonic. But, while on the road, we had a horrible experience at one, and I have not eaten it since. Blech!

9.   Would you bungee jump? No. Absolutely not. Never.

10.  What is the first thing you notice about people?  Their behavior.

11.  When was the last time you cried?  Does laughing until you cry count? That would be last night. My son is out of control funny. Frustrating to no end. But truly hysterical. We are in for it. Real tears of sorrow? When we had to put our dog down. But I cry at just about any sad TV show or movies these days. Never used to...another drastic life change since having kids.

12.  Any current worries.  Safety and security. But I won't get into the reasons. No need to turn this into anything political. But I do worry about the safety and security of my family. Daily.

13.  Name 3 drinks you drink regularly.  Coffee, Diet Coke and Crystal Light.

14.  What’s your favorite book?  OK, to sound somewhat intelligent, I will say In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote. Actually read that book three times. But I love a good murder/mystery fiction novel any day. If only I had time to read.

15.  Would you like to be a pirate?  No. 

16.  Favorite Smells.  Candles that make my house smell like I'm baking the most fabulous sweets.

17.  Why do you blog?  I dragged my feet into it. Over the last few years, I have taken on the professional role of social media guru for my firm. Comes with the territory. I like blogging, but I'm not a writer by trade, so it is often a rough road for me.

18. What song do you want played at your funeral? Y'all will think I'm crazy, but Brad Paisley's When I Get Where I'm Going.

19.  What is your least favorite thing about yourself?  I'm impatient. Which often leads to frustrating my entire family. I hate that about myself. I also cannot relax until EVERYTHING is done. The last piece of laundry folded. The dishes done. You get the idea.

20.  Favorite hobby.  Reading. When I get the chance.  

21.  Name something you have done, you never thought you would do. Live in Texas. Seriously. Who grows up, outside of Texas, saying, "When I grow up, I want to live in Texas."???

22.  What do you look for in a friend?  Everything that a good friend should be.

23.  Favorite Fun things to do?  Outdoorsy stuff. With my family. And traveling. I love to travel.

24.  Pet peeves.  Mean people. Bad drivers. Rude people. And poor grammar.

25.  What's the last thing that made you laugh? My son. I tried bribing him with ice cream. He told me he wasn't hungry. 

Okay Now for the Hard Part – Tagging Others! I'm new to this world, so my list is tiny.

Frisco Mommies (Not a blogger, but a fabulous friend! She can do this on Facebook!)

City Girl Country Roots

Keeping up with appearances part 2: To Share or Not to Share

We've all heard it. The various "classifications" of Facebook users. What type are you? Do you share everything? Nothing? Or somewhere along the spectrum in between? Where do you draw the line? Do you have any privacy concerns? Security concerns?

When I started on Facebook, I was one of those SHARE EVERYTHING types. I had at least one status update a day. I posted every picture I ever took of my kids. I shared what they said, what they did, when they breathed, when they slept, when they were sick, when they were healthy, when they frustrated me, when they were cute. Oh it was fun! I was hooked! I LOVED IT!

Then, like it always does, life got in the way. Or maybe I grew less interested. Or maybe I realized that my kids were really just like every other kid in the world. Or maybe it was a combination of all of those plus my heightened concern over security and privacy. So, I slowed down quite a bit. I post a few pictures of my kids here and there. Days will go by without a status update. Sometimes I find myself wanting to post something to Facebook, even starting to, then I quickly delete, concerned over where that information is truly going.

I live in the world of social media daily. I monitor trends, conversations, mentions, you name it. I recognize that the Internet is forever - just because you think you deleted something does NOT mean it truly was deleted. I see the quicker-than-instant way social media blows up when a company or person does or says something controversial. In those moments, the reach of social media, of the Internet, hits me hard. And in many ways it scares me, and I again find myself looking for the manual!

I'm a few years away from my kids going social - so I have plenty of time to prepare myself for that (although I am sure there will be some new, crazy form of social out there by then!). But the question I put out to you all (join the conversation - post to our Facebook page!) is this: How much do you share over social media? And do you have privacy/security concerns when it comes to sharing information and photos of your kids? Do you place faith and trust in Facebook's, Twitter's or any other social platform's privacy settings?

Keeping up appearances

I want to know how you all feel about another uber-popular social networking site. When I first joined, it seemed an incredible platform to use for storing all of the projects, ideas, dreams I hoped to get to in the future. Instead of putting clippings on an actual corkboard or stuffing a binder full of torn-out magazine pages, here was this blank slate of opportunity, waiting for me to adorn with pictures of beautiful food, gorgeous clothes, immaculately decorated houses. Yes, I'm talking about Pinterest.

My own Pinterest heyday was shortly after my daughter was born. I mostly pinned in the wee hours, while nursing, to occupy the time and not fall asleep at an awkward angle in the rocking chair (again). I easily created several boards and pinned all these amazing ideas very quickly.

Then the guilt and doubt set in. When am I actually going to find the time to do any of these things? Why am I pinning all these adorable sewing projects when I haven't even figured out how to thread my machine? My house sure doesn't look like any of these pictures. Are my kids going to totally resent me if they don't have amazingly detailed theme birthday parties every year? And I'm going to need to pin at least five more workouts just to balance out even looking at all these ridiculously incredible desserts.

Eventually, as with motherhood, I had to step back and say (forgive me), I'm not pinterested in perfection. I may never learn to sew. I doubt that I'm cut out for homeschooling. And I still can't for the life of me fold a fitted sheet. But having the ideas there at my fingertips makes them at least more possible. (Thus the "pinspiration" concept. So many bad puns!) I can benefit from the expertise of others and the talents that they share, take and use ideas where applicable and leave the ones that I just can't fit in around the things that really do matter to me. I don't have to do it all, all at once.

Am I totally alone in this? Does anyone else struggle with Pinterest this way, or do you take a more moderate approach? Do you actually "do" your pins, or just file them away as good ideas?