Lately I’ve been trying to take more time to read other blogs. I used to do it a lot more and miss it. So, the other day when reading one of my favorite gals, Samantha from The Samantha Show, I saw the post “50 Questions Should Ask and Answer,” and wanted to follow suit. So, here we go!
1. What are your nicknames? What do you prefer to be called? I don’t really have any. I guess people sometimes call me “Kal,” but really I just like Kallie.
2. What books on your shelf are begging to be read? All the books currently on my shelf I’ve already read, sometimes more than once. I’m on an Audio Book binge right now. I love books on tape because I can listen while I drive, clean, cook, etc. It’s the ultimate multi-tasking tool.
3. How often do you doodle? What do your doodles look like? I doodle all the time. Mostly when I’m on the phone with clients. I don’t really doodle anything, just lines and shapes.
4. What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? I’ll toss and turn for awhile before finally admitting I can’t sleep. My favorite trick is to listen to a book on tape. I have 2-3 books on tape that are my “boring” books on tape. They are interesting enough to keep my attention and not let my mind wander, but not too interesting that I can’t doze off while listening. Biographies usually work. I pop on headphones and listen. I’m usually asleep withing 30 minutes. Works everytime!
5. How many days could you last in solitary confinement? How would you do it? Maybe 48 hours, if I had crafts to do or books to read. If I was just in a room alone with nothing… 2 hours maybe? Being idle is my least favorite thing.
6. Do you save old greeting cards and letters? Throw them away? I save some and lose some. I kept all our cards from our wedding in a box. I keep holiday cards if they have family photos on them. Besides that, I throw them away. I hate extra clutter.
7. Who is the biggest pack rat you know? I’m not too sure. My husband used to be, but he’s not anymore. We’ve lived in 7 houses in 11 years…when you move that much you learn to hold on to just the things you want.
8. When making an entrance into a party, do you make your presence known? Do you slip in and look for someone you know? Do you sneak in quietly and find a safe spot to roost? I usually find myself a drink and then look for someone I know. No big entrances here.
9. What is your strongest sense? If you had to give one up, which would it be? My strongest sense is probably my sight. If I had to give up a sense?! Oh my goodness, I don’t know. Maybe smell?
10. How many times a day do you look at yourself in the mirror? Whenever I am in front of one I suppose. But, I don’t carry a mirror around.
11. What is the strangest thing you believed as a child? I remember someone once telling me if you picked your nose your finger could get stuck up there, I’m pretty sure I believed that my entire childhood. I also thought adults had it all figured out which is just hilarious to think about now.
12. What is one guilty pleasure you enjoy too much to give up? Coffee. Especially my afternoon coffee runs.
13. Who performs the most random acts of kindness out of everyone you know? I have a lot of extremely compassionate friends. I’m actually often so surprised by how generous they are. If I had to choose one…we have a couple friend, Amanda and Juan, who would literally do anything for their friends. Sometimes I wish I could be as selfless as they are.
14. How often do you read the newspaper? Which paper? Which sections? We don’t get newspapers to our house but our favorite breakfast place has a little old-school breakfast bar with the day’s newspapers. Michael and I LOVE to go have breakfast there, sit and drink our coffee and read the paper. I like reading about national news.
15. Which animals scare you most? Why? Snakes, snakes, snakes. Why do they move around so sneaky without any legs? It freaks me out. And, how they can just like hold their snaky body up in the air and stuff? It’s messed up. It’s not right.
16. Are you more likely to avoid conflict or engage it head-on? It depends. I used to always avoid it but I’ve gotten better at engaging, but only if I think it will help the situation.
17. What was the most recent compliment you’ve received and savored? It’s kind of silly but I still love it whenever Michael compliments me. As many times as he can tell me I’m beautiful or “perfect,” I never tire of hearing it from him.
18. What is something about yourself that you hope will change, but probably never will? My lack of motivation to workout.
19. Are you a creature of habit? Explain. Yea, kind of. I certainly am able to veer off the normal and be spontaneous, but I also like knowing where things are and when things are happening. I’m a planner and organizer. Everything had a place. Every day has a schedule.
20. Are you high maintenance? Explain. I feel like you can’t answer this question about yourself…so I asked Michael. He promptly responded “No, not at all.” He followed up with “You love makeup but that doesn’t make you high maintenance. You don’t have to put on makeup, you just do it for fun. You’re alspnot needy.”
21. When was the last time you really pushed yourself to your physical limits? OMG when we moved. I lifted and moved more things than I ever thought I could.
22. Do you have a whole lot of acquaintances or just a few very close friends? Why? Very few close friends.
23. Are you more inclined to “build your own empire” or unleash the potential of others?I want to “build my own” but I think it’s impossible without also unleashing the potential of others. I think the two go hand-in-hand.
24. What’s a strange occurrence you’ve experienced but have never (or rarely) shared with anyone? When I was 16 my mom took me to a Psychic -type person. She told me I had two paths I might take. One involved moving to New York City (I was planning on going to the city for college), where I would get a job in the fashion industry as a model (I was planning to go to F.I.T). She said I would host great parties and live the classic NYC life. The other path was that I would meet someone local and fall in love. I’d stay in suburbs and raise a family. I never really believe “Psychics” but at the time, I assumed I was destined for the first option as it matched all the things I was planning to do. But, in the next year, I spent a summer in NYC taking pre-college courses at F.I.T and was turned off by the fashion industry. That summer I also met Michael.
Well, the rest is history as 12 years later here we still are, living in a small house in what many would consider “far from city life.” The funny thing is the same Psychic told my mom she thought within the next year I would meet a man older than me (Michael and I are 3-1/2 years apart which at the time felt like a decade) and that he’d be the man I’d marry.
25. What do you think about more than anything else? My brain is always 1,000 places at once. I don’t think there is just one thing I think about most of all. I’m always thinking about work, family, blog, friends, chores, the dogs. It’s never on one thing more than others.
26. What’s something that amazes you? The expanse of the Universe.
27. Do you prefer that people shoot straight with you or temper their words? Why? Straight. Just be real.
28. Where’s your favorite place to take an out-of-town guest? Not matter where I live I usually like to take them to one of my favorite local restaurants and then somewhere nice to hike/walk.
29. What’s one thing you’d rather pay someone to do than do yourself? Any thing that’s lawn care related. Cut it. Plow the snow. Plant the flowers.
30. Do you have a catchphrase? Do cuss words count? I curse like a sailor, for real.
31. What’s your reaction towards people who are outspoken about their beliefs? What conditions cause you to dislike or, conversely, enjoy talking with them? Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. Everyone is entitled to free speech. But, I don’t think that should be used as an excuse to impose your opinions on others. I don’t enjoy having people push their thoughts on me, or assume I share their opinions. I think we should all have our own beliefs, and discuss them in respectful ways in times and places it makes sense.
32. How and where do you prefer to study? Early morning in my living room. I learn best early in the morning so I set an alarm for maybe 5:30. Have some coffee, and settle in on my couch.
33. What position do you sleep in? On my side or on my stomach, although lately I’ve been sleeping on my back a lot more.
34. What’s your all-time favorite town or city? Why? New York City. It’s a mix of loving the city and having good and important memories there that makes me so fond of it – like getting engaged.
35. What are the top three qualities that draw you to someone new? Sense of humor. Intelligence (not necessarily that they have to be SO smart, but able and willing to have a conversation that’s more than skin-deep). Openminded.
36. How has your birth order/characteristics of siblings affected you? I’m the youngest, with just one older brother. It made me more submissive when I was younger, I think. It also made me more of a tomboy because I wanted to hang with him as a child.
37. If you could eliminate one weakness or limitation in your life, what would it be? I wish I was better at small talk or just talking to people I don’t know. I am amazed at people who can strike up an enjoyable conversation with anybody at any moment.
38. If you could restore one broken relationship, which would it be? I can’t think of one. I’m kind of a believer that some people are in your life forever and others come and go. I think with the introduction of social media it has made us feel like we need to stay connected to everyone. While there are obviously many relationships you hold onto and work to maintain, I think that there’s nothing bad with other people coming and going.
39. If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Never. I like my name just how it is.
40. Do you believe ignorance is bliss? Why or why not? In some ways it is. What you don’t know can’t hurt you or impact you. That being said, I’d rather not be ignorant. I’d rather know (the good, the bad, and the ugly) than be blissfully ignorant.
41. What do you consider unforgivable? I don’t know if I can’ think of a single example. There are so many things that can impact a situation it’s impossible to pinpoint something without context.
42. Have you forgiven yourself for past personal failures? Why or why not? Oh yea, you gotta. You’re going to make mistakes in life. You’re going to fail. You can’t hold that against yourself.
43. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize? Again, like with 41, this is really hard without context. Sometimes it’s easier for my own peace of mind to just let it go and forgive them in my own mind, even if they don’t apologize or hear the forgiveness.
44. Do you hold any convictions that you would be willing to die for? I’m not sure. How can you really know until you’re in a position where you’d have to put your life on the line? I can’t think of one off the top of my head though, so no I guess.
45. To what extent do you trust people? Explain. I’m cautiously optimistic about people. I think trust is earned, but I also believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt. I try not to judge a book by its cover.
46. In what area of your life are you immature? I love eating too many sweets.
47. What was the best news you ever received? I can’t think of just one thing. I really thought about this. I can think of a lot of pieces of small good news: passing my Praxis exam, getting a promotion at work, receving a free trip to California with ABR, getting chosen for YouTube NextUp, Michael’s company agreeing to let us move home to Connecticut…. but I can’t think of one single thing that trumps them all.
48. How difficult is it for you to be honest, even when your words may be hurtful or unpopular? I don’t find it that difficult to be honest, but that doesn’t mean I openly seek out times to do it if it’s not necessary.
49. When did you immediately click with someone you just met? Why? What was the long term result? Conversely, are you close with anyone now that you really disliked at first? Tha’t s a lot of questions. here we go….. Good conversation. Makes it easy to break through the awkward “just met” stage. Sometimes you never meet these people again, sometimes they remain acquaintances. No.
50. When do you find yourself singing? In the car, always. At home, when I’m cleaning.