Q&A Chain Letter

VV, one of my blogging buddies who can be found here, tagged me for a Q&A chain letter.  I wish I knew her real name because I'd rather not refer to her as "Venting Vagina"!  But she's remaining anonymous on her blog (which I totally respect).  This is the first time that I've ever been tagged for anything and so it's exciting - a new foray in the blogosphere!!  So here goes:

(1) What is your dream occupation?

When I was little, I always thought that I would be a veterinarian.  I loved animals, but my mom told me that we couldn't have any pets because she suffered from bad allergies.  I graduated from college with a biology major and afterwards, kept trying to decide on the right profession.  I still thought about becoming a veterinarian and even took some prerequisite courses at a local college.  I volunteered at the local animal shelter and began fostering cats.  I ended up fostering a momma kitty and her litter of 5 kittens.  Because I had so many cats at once, I didn't really get attached to any of them.  But then it came time to return the kittens to be spayed or neutered and adopted out.  One of the five kittens - the runt of the litter - was still too small to be spayed.  So I ended up re-fostering just her and of course, got totally and completely attached.  So I ended up adopting her and now, at almost 13 years of age, she remains my one pet.  To get back to the point of this answer...I realized pretty quickly after adopting my cat that I didn't want to be a veterinarian.  I just wanted a pet!  So now, I'm a lawyer.  Go figure.

(2) What is the best dish that you can cook?

I make a pretty yummy jewish version of chicken lo mein.  I also make a mean Mandel bread.  Both are recipes that I stole from my mother.

(3) Have you ever been mentioned in the newspaper? What for?

I swam competitively from age 5 through 18.  I was often mentioned in the local newspaper with respect to swim team events.

(4) What’s the worst and/or most memorable job you’ve ever had?

And now we're back to the animal theme.  Because I wanted to be a veterinarian growing up, when I was in high school, I got a job as a kennel worker at the local vet.  My responsibilities included cleaning cages, taking dogs out to go to the bathroom, pooping scoop from the yard, vacuuming and mopping.  It was one of the most physically demanding jobs I have ever had and I remember my feet aching so badly I almost cried.  This job is extraordinarily memorable for the following reasons:  (a) It was the first job I ever had; (b) I got fired from the job (which is a whole other story!); (c) I cried while overhearing a man saying goodbye to his golden retriever, who was being euthanized, and then cried again in frustration when I had to put the very large dog into a body bag; and (d) I got to play with a pet squirrel, which lived at the vet permanently.

(5) When you were a teenager, at what age did you envision yourself getting married? How old were you in reality when you got married?

I can't remember when I thought I would be married.  But I think I figured I would meet someone in college and marry them right after college.  That didn't happen.  My college sweetheart, who I dated for 3 years and lived with for 1 year, broke my heart and dumped me just months after we graduated.  After many many MANY years of being single (and going on many many MANY horrendous dates), I met my husband when I was 30.  We got married when I was 33.

This isn't part of the question but I thought I would write it anyway.  I was single for so many years and spent so many lonely hours alone.  After college, I didn't live close to my family and I didn't have many friends (because I was living where I didn't grow up or go to school).  And I found it difficult to make new friends. I was LONELY.  When I was going through my IVF, I remember thinking that it would suck to never be able to have a biological child with my husband. But I also remember thinking that it would have sucked even worse to never have met my husband. I will NEVER take it for granted that my husband is in my life. 

(6) What’s your most hated household chore? what’s your favorite?

I don't like cleaning the toilets.  Wiping my husband's urine and pubic hairs off the toilet totally grosses me out (and now I'm sure I've grossed you all out!)  I like vacuuming.  Everything looks so much cleaner after vacuuming.

(7) What’s your earliest memory?

I have the memory of a flea.  I can't remember shit.  There are YEARS missing from my life.  But, I do remember playing with the desk that was in my room.  The table top lifted up and you could put things inside.  I was probably 5 years old.

This was fun!  Good trip down memory lane.  :-)