Member under Spotlight! 18 to 22 Jul Parsleysage!

I slept in today for the first time in months so I'm finding it difficult to sleep tonight - might as well get started!

I have never had the pleasure to visit Mexico or Mexico City - I hope to some day!

It's possible that my job would send me to Mexico... I think I'll put the birdie in my boss's ear More likely that I'll come on vacation. When I took Spanish in high school we learned about Oaxaca so I've always wanted to visit that area.

No - I haven't heard of your town! Thank you for the link. I have visited Perú and climbed part of the way up Machu Picchu, which is one of the 7 wonders of the world.

Once upon a time I knew Spanish very well and did translation work in Perú for a couple of church groups. Desafortunadamente, it's a "use it or lose it" skill and I haven't had much practice - and now, of course, I'm too terribly nervous to try to speak it with anyone. Catch 22!

I do! I have the album "Mi Sangre" by Juanes as well as "Lo Que Te Conté Mientras Te HacÃ:censor:a La Dormida" by La Oreja de Van Gogh. I also have a few compilation CDs with Gipsy Kings, Patricia Manterola, and a few others. I like them very much.

I've watched a few English movies with Spanish subtitles but I don't think I've watched a movie IN Spanish. I have read several books in Spanish, however, including Como Agua Para Chocolate and Harry Potter.

I LOVE Mexican food! It's my absolute favorite food! I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, & dinner and never tire of it. I'm a big cheese fan so any kind of quesadilla is good with me, but really I love anything. There's a dish at a local Mexican restaurant called Burrito Alegre and it's a huge tortilla stuffed with spicy chicken with queso poured on the outside! I am getting hungry just thinking about it - think I know where I'm going for lunch tomorrow!

Can I plead the fifth? I do enjoy tequila, and I don't mind a nice cold Corona here & there.

Yes, I have napped in a hammock! I was actually just reading an article about how a hammock provides the ideal sleeping position and support for your back - so maybe I'll give that a try!

I'm not sure - I'm familiar with guayaberas for example but not sure what else - so I guess this one would have to be no, lol!

I know of Cancún but sadly have not been able to travel there. I'm very jealous of all who have.

Hii, this is my first time doing one of these, so I hope my questions aren't too boring

1. What is your name?
2. What are you afraid of?
3. What is your biggest dream?
4. What are some of your favorite music artists?
5. What would be your dream vacation?
6. Favorite restaurant?
7. Favorite kind of food?
8. How many animals do you have & what are they?
9. Do you have any hidden talents?
10. Which bad habits drive you crazy?
11. If you had to live under the sea what kind of an animal would you be?
12. What is your favorite color(s)?
13. What is your favorite holiday?
14. Do you have a lucky/favorite number?
15. Favorite tv shows?
16. Do you have a favorite game?
17. Do you like to travel & if so where have you been?
18. What are your hobbies?
19. Do you play any instruments?
20. If you could meet one person, alive or dead, that you have never met who would it be?
21. Any pet peeves?

I hope that wasn't too many :P

Anna.

I am afraid of SLEEPWALKERS!!!!!! My absolute biggest fear. They are essentially zombies - they could do anything and not even know it! It makes me shudder just to think about.

My biggest dream is probably that I want to be self-employed. If I have children I would love to raise them at home but don't have the mindset or temperament to see money that someone else is earning as "our" money, lol. I would feel as if I were being given an allowance. And if even I don't have children, I just relish the idea of being independent.

Check out the name of my cats! lol! Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Adele, The Beatles, Eminem, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Traffic, Bruno Mars - a lot of different stuff. Those were some of the "big" ones.

Traveling up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway/Skyline Drive and stopping to see all the sites! Camping & traveling was a big part of my childhood with my grandparents in Southwest Virginia, and I remember going to various sites within a small radius of the Parkway. I'd love to travel the whole thing.

Hmm, if I had to call out just one in particular, it would be Copeland's of New Orleans! I had never been before my business trip about a month ago - but it was so good that one meal there sealed my loyalty forever.

Mexican food! Any kind of cheese. I also love broccoli, of all things, lol! Steak... rare I just named four or five different favorites, sorry about that!

2 as of today - 3 as of Thursday! All cats. I also have cats at my parents' house but I'm not responsible for their care so I don't know if they count. There are 4 of them. At one point we owned a dog named Josie, one of the only dogs I've ever loved. We've never even thought about replacing her after she died of leukemia in 2003.

No, lol! I've always been jealous of people whose bodies do weird, interesting things, but I just have regular stuff like singing.

Hmmmmmm.... I hate spitting. Ughhhh. It's one of the reasons I don't smoke anymore - it always made me need to spit and I just can't stand it.

An octopus!

Green, green, green, green, and more green!

Halloween.

My lucky number AND my favorite number is the old standby, 7.

Criminal Minds, Dexter, The Office, Dead Like Me (now defunct, it ran on Showtime for 2 seasons), Justified, Glee, House, a few others here & there.

I do! I love Clue. There's also a French card game called Mille Bornes that I really love. And Catch Phrase, Taboo, Apples to Apples... I actually really love games in general.

I do like to travel but don't often get the opportunity. When I was younger I traveled to St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. I also traveled to Lima, Peru as well as to Cuzco which is the town where Machu Picchu is located. I've been to NYC and Key West and random places up and down the east coast. I spent three miserable days in Dallas, TX and vow never to go back. I would really love to make it to Vermont and out to the West Coast, particularly Washington State.

My cats! lol! I also enjoy reading, hanging out with friends and family, seeing movies, and singing & playing music.

I play violin and dabble in piano.

Paul Simon. I wouldn't survive the encounter, though - probably drop dead from being starstruck in the first few seconds!

When people don't turn on their headlights when it's raining. Drives me insane. It's hard to think of pet peeves when you're not currently experiencing the annoyance,

Of course not!

Good Morning, Anna!!!! I didn't know that was your name, but now I don't have to ask that question since FreshFlowers already did. Just a few questions to make you think, but not too many

1. If you could have any job, your dream job, what would that be?
2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would that be?
3. If you suddenly became very, very rich, millions, what would be the first thing you would do with the money?
4. If you were granted one wish just for today, what would that wish be?
5. What is one thing in your life that truly brings you the most joy?

Enjoy your week!!! and good luck, you will need it in dealing with Captain Cool

I'm ready!!

Independent certified financial planner. From my home.

VERMONT! LOL!!! I'm serious - I plan to live there some day. If I'm not being a total weirdo, I'd have to say France.

First thing I'd do is call my financial planner, then 911 for the coronary event I'd be experiencing! lol! With the money itself, I'd pay off all my debt including student loans, then buy my parents a house in Hawaii where they want to retire to. I'd do some other things, buy some new clothes since all my skirts seem to have holes in them and move out of this apartment complex, although I do enjoy the lack of responsibility that renting brings so I doubt I'd buy a house for myself, maybe just find an agreeable landlord who would let me have the run of the place (well, hey, it's a fantasy!)... I'd contribute the max to my 401(k) and Roth IRA, then stuff the rest in a high-interest CD or Money Market. I love my job and my company, , so I'd keep going to work at least for awhile. I realize I took that question way farther than it was asked, but I got carried away with this wonderful money fantasy!!

OH - and I'd buy a huge fancy dancy cat tree!!!!

I would wish for more wishes! Cheater! No... I would wish for a huge library full of every book I would ever want to read and none that I wouldn't... which would follow me around wherever I lived, without me having to pack & move it!

Laughing. I'm addicted to laughing and seeking out things that are happy and will make me laugh. When I am with a friend or a family member and I get one of those great big belly laughs that makes me cry and makes my stomach hurt, I can't imagine being happier.

Thanks...

Hi Anna! Welcome to your week!

My dad was a Grad student, then a Professor when I was a kid, so we did a lot of summer camping too. Loved it! And, oddly, I've been to St. Petersburg, Lima, and Cuzco too! We took a bus up to the top and hiked the ruins from Machu Picchu up Huayna Picchu.

So on the outdoor/camping theme...

Have you ever been / did you enjoy / if you haven't, would you want to go...

Canoeing?
Kayaking?
Sailing?
Water skiing?
Jet skiing?
Snow skiing?
Snow shoeing?
Parasailing?
Roller skating/blading?
Skate boarding?
Bungee jumping?
Fishing?
Ever been in a motorhome or trailer? Or only tent camping?

Have you seen a rainbow? When was the last time you saw one?
Can you identify any stars or planets?
Constellations?
Have you seen a shooting star? When was the last time you saw one?

Have you ever shot a rifle or hand gun? Did you enjoy it?
Ever used a bow and arrow? Enjoy it?

I think that covers it for now.

Hmm, I don't really have any "hobby" hobbies like bird-watching or scrapbooking, lol! Maybe I should take up one... My hobby is seeing movies, I guess. My friends & I love going out to the theatre to see new releases.

I wish I were less sensitive. It's difficult for me not to take things personally & internalize negative feedback. This is especially troubling in my professional life. I do recognize this about myself, though, and am usually able to self-regulate and only deal with the facts of an exchange or what have you.

Thinking about an article I read on NPR, about if I'm going to be able to resist taking a nap tonight (prognosis not good ), and about what the kittens are doing being very quiet in the other room...........

Anything! Whatever I'm reading at the moment. When I first moved out, I had the idea of the cute little basket full of magazines - but there wasn't enough room in my tiiiiiiiny bathroom for that! And now, with litterboxes - there's barely enough room for me to walk to the toilet! LOL! So I just take whatever I'm currently reading in there.

This!

None - shoes are the first thing to come off when I get in the house, followed by almost everything else! But I rarely wear heels even though I like them. I'm pretty clumsy and have fractured both my ankles, broken some toes, and severely bruised both kneecaps... all while walking down the street! So I try to keep my center of gravity as constant as possible

Anywhere! I'm content doing just about anything on the weekends. Sometimes I might meet up with four different groups of friends in one day and be all over town - and sometimes I don't leave my house from Friday night to Monday morning! I do enjoy spending at least Saturday and Sunday mornings in bed snuggling with the snugglebots.

Right now I would like to go... to sleep! I'd like to go on a vacation to Vermont this fall.

Just plain ol' Coke.

Blue.

Somehow, many of my letters got decapitalized in the process of previewing this post... Sorry about that!

Just realized I posted one of my rainbow pics twice - this is what it was supposed to be. This is one from outside my work window.

I can play a few well-known songs here and there. On piano I can play "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, and on violin I really enjoy playing "Uninvited" by Alanis Morissette.

How did your cats come to live with you?

Have you trained them to do any tricks?

Do you dress them up?

What's your favorite holiday?

What's your least favorite holiday?

What was your favorite subject in school?

What was your least favorite subject in school?

What's your favorite movie?

What's your favorite song?

What's your favorite color?

Ooooo lots of rainbows!

And after reading the answer to Captain Cool's question about shoes/heels, I can understand the not skate boarding thing!

To help take your mind off the boys today, I'm back with more questions. Today's theme will be.... work!

Are you already a Certified Financial Planner?
What's involved with the certification?
Do you work for a bank or broker dealer, or is this something independent? (I know you're not on your own (yet )).
Do you need licenses to do your job? (I'm an equity analyst, and have the FINRA licenses 7, 63, 24, and 86. I'm exempt from the 87 because I have a C.F.A. designation).
What do your current responsibilities include? Do you advise people/trusts/??? on portfolio allocation?
Do you recommend specific investments?
Are clients generally men or women? Or about 50/50?
Are the majority of clients approaching retirement? Retired? Or younger people being good about planning for the future?
What do you like best about your job?
What do you like the least?

It's a deadline day at work so I don't have much time for the questions today!!! I'll do all of them as soon as I get home. Keep them coming!!!

Simon & Garfunkel were adopted from a friend's cat's litter. Pumpkin was a barn kitten from my aunt's farm, Caroline was abandoned & given to us by friends who found her. Princess and her siblings Timmy & Maggie (both RB cats now) were barn kittens at a different friend's house. Bobo walked up to our back porch & moved in!

I asked the kittens this question and we all burst into laughter Just kidding. I can't get them not to play with the curtains, much less teach them tricks! I've never heard of a cat doing tricks, but I'd love to see some that can! Do you have a cat who can do tricks?

No. I have considered Halloween costumes for the kittens this year just to be cute, but I'm not sure yet. I have never placed an article of clothing on a cat. Or dog for that matter.

Halloween! I love spooky & weird stuff. St. Paddy's day clocks in at a close second.

Hmm, probably Valentine's Day. I don't have anything against it, it's just a conditional holiday you can only participate in if certain criteria have been met What good is a holiday I can't look forward to celebrating every year?

In high school it was English. In college, math. I loved school, though, so really they were all favorites.

Gym. I hated the stupid things we had to do like running the mile and doing pull-ups. Boring! I loved it once we got to be a certain age and we were allowed to do tennis, archery, swimming, and other interactive sports.

Goodfellas. And anything with Kevin Spacey.

Wow....... REALLY tough one. I'm a music freak. If I had to choose just one, desert island style, I would pick Paul Simon "Hearts and Bones." But just know that is not even 0.00000001% of the songs I consider favorites.

Green!

It says I have to enter a message down here - I guess because my stuff is all contained within the quote - so here ya go!

My father used to try to get Lynxx to shake paw. He never did. We never tried to get him to do anything else.

Luna does tricks but only if she wants to. She'll lift up her paw. She'll put her paw in our hands. She'll stand up.

Midnight will shake paw, touch noses, stand up, sit, dance, walk in a circle, jump through a hula hoop from chair to chair, wave goodbye (with help), and play dead. He does tricks every night after supper

Oh, just like a CFA! Only we had to take an exam each year for three years, and the CFA fee is only $225, but you have to be a member of your local society of security analysts, and that's another $200. They don't require it, but basically everyone does at least 20 hours of continuing ed each year too.

Good luck becoming a CFP and starting your own business!

So with the knowledge that Halloween is your favorite holiday...

What was your BEST costume?
What was your most creative?
Looking back, what was your least favorite?
Do you go to work dressed up as something?

Do you have brothers and sisters - and if so, where are you in the line up?
Did you all go trick-or-treating together?
Ever do costumes that worked together? (My sister and I went out once as Raggedy Anne and Raggedy Andy, that kind of thing).
Did you / do you pull Halloween pranks? If so... like what?
Ever TP any place?

And here's another required message! LOL!

Have you ever seen - and did you enjoy - Defending Your Life?

Hi Anna - I am back!! I didn't see your rainbow pictures till today, they are just lovely!! I hardly get to see rainbows, but love them so much. I almost got into a car accident once because I saw a rainbow in the distance and was so excited to see it, I took my eyes off the road. Ended up going off onto the shoulder to avoid a crash I loved your answer to my question about what brings you the most joy LAUGHING There IS nothing like a good laugh in life, that is for sure!!!


let's see!!! How about an animal theme !!!

1. Do you like horses? Have you ever ridden a horse?
2. What is your favorite wild animal?
3. Have you ever had any reptiles? Do you like them?
4. Do you own any other pets other than cats?
5. When you were a child and went to the zoo (I am assuming that you have been to a zoo) what was your favorite zoo kept animal to see?
6. Have you ever been to a farm? What is your favorite farm animal?
7. Have you ever gone fishing? If so, did you enjoy it?
8. How many cats have you owned so far in your life? What are/were their names?
9. Have you ever volunteered at a shelter?
10. Have you ever gone to a rodeo? Have you ever ridden a bull? Would you ever want to try?

Hope you are enjoying your week!! You are doing a great job and I see that the Captain has been extra nice to you!!!!!

I'm being bad!!! I think I picked a bad week!!! Just craziness with the neuter & getting ready for another kitten. BUT I promise to catch up tomorrow night!! Y'all will have to punish me with a long list of very difficult questions!!!!