In the form of an interview.
I was reading Bethany’s post, questions and answers about me, and I really enjoyed learning a little more about Bethany. So I took her up on the offer to send me some interview questions. She was quick to email them out to me and I have been spending sometime formulating answers. Hopefully, you too will learn a few more things about me.
1. Before you had kids you were a career woman. Even though I know you love being a mom and wouldn’t trade it for the world, what do you miss most about working? What do you NOT miss about working?
Good question Bethany. As much as I do love being a Mom, there are a few things I do miss about getting out and working in the ‘real’ world. The biggest thing is getting dressed in a suit and heels. This may seem kind of silly, but when I would get ready for work, it was like becoming another person. Putting on a suit and my heels always makes me walk taller, and at 5’10” there is only so much taller I can get, carry myself better and pay attention to my physical actions. When I get dressed in my Mom uniform of pants and shirts most days, I feel a little something is missing. I do sometimes try to dress nicer and those days I do feel better but, nothing makes me feel as great as my suit and heels uniform.
Another thing I do miss is actually interacting with others who believe I have knowledge they need. My kids just think I am here to hang with them and Hubby, although tries to believe differently, does think I am here to watch over the house and forgets that I used to get paid for the information and skills that I have.
The main thing I do not miss about working is the cattiness of office politics. I really should have been writing all the stuff down way back when so I could have captured some of the ridiculous stories and things that went on. And written a book about it all. I worked with a bunch of girls at one time and I swear they worked about two hours a week between all the drama and nit picking. I was never so happy to move out of that department and into the last one I was in. I was the only girl ;).
2. Who taught you how to knit, crochet, and sew? How old were you when you learned?
Tough question. I vaguely remember crocheting as a kid, but I didn’t make anything. I knit a scarf for my Barbie when I was probably seven or eight and it was my Mom that showed me how to do it. But, then I didn’t crochet or knit anything until I was in my twenties. I saw a sweater in a magazine and my friends Mom (a knitter) told me to make it, so I did. It turned out a little small but, I wore it a few times. Then one year I crocheted some bookmarks from a pattern in a Martha Stewart magazine. And that was it until last year.
I read A Day in the Life and Chichimama is a knitter. She is always knitting something fun and cool. Then, last Christmas I was looking into a handmade Christmas and saw this book called Itty Bitty Hats and fell in love with the idea of knitting hats. So I bought the book. Also, nobody knitted a blanket for Apple, so I figured I should do it myself because J loves his crocheted blanket so much that I figured she would too, not so much.
Now sewing. A long story. I dreamed of sewing as a kid. I had a toy sewing machine but no needles or thread, but I used to pretend to sew all the time. Then, in grade seven came my chance to take Home Economics. I couldn’t wait. I made a bathrobe and a skirt and it was like it was just meant to be. My Mom bought a sewing machine at a store that doesn’t even exist anymore for $99. Nobody else could work the machine but me. Every time my Mom or Sisters used it it broke, so it was really meant to be mine at this point. At first I followed patterns, but they just drove me crazy, so I started making my own. I seem to be able to just look at something and end up sewing it if I need to. Before I started blogging, when J was only 9 months old I actually was sewing for a lady who has a slipcover shop. I would get a bin or two of pillows and slipcovers already cut and spend my weeknights and J’s nap times sewing. I did this for a year and had to stop. The bins were slowly missing pieces and when you are sewing into the night, you need all your supplies available, that and I was worried about her shop surviving so I stepped out.
Funny, you just made me realize that I used to sew quilts all the time, but I haven’t done one in a while. Actually, I haven’t done one for Apple yet, perhaps I will make one for her and it will get me back into gear.
Ironically, I still sew with the machine that my Mom bought back in 1983. My Mom and one of my Sisters have since bought sewing machines, but I usually end up fixing what they start and taking their machines to my guy to fix what they break.
3. Do you think you’ll ever live at the beach full-time?
I do. I truly believe that we will retire at the beach. I know that it is somewhere that we both would like to live if we could. And our favorite beach is definitely close to many great cities for traveling and it still has four distinct seasons. The only hard part would be living in a different Country. We are Canadians through and through and it would be very different for us to move permanently to the US. But, retirement is still a few years away so we do have a while to figure it out. If only we had bought that beach house we saw ten years ago for a measly $300,000. It is going for a cool $2 mill now!
4. What is your favorite book, and why?
This is really tough. I don’t know that I have one favorite book per se. If I could only pick one book to have with me forever, I would pick the Bible.
Do I read it enough right now? No.
Have I read it a lot in the past? Yes.
Why would I want it with me? The Bible offers so much. There are countless stories to keep you occupied. The Bible can be interpreted in so many ways and that no matter how many times you read it, you can always find new meaning in its words and teachings.
5. You live in the capital of Canada, Ottawa. What do you like about living in your nation’s capital?
So much. And to be honest, I don’t take advantage of nearly enough of it.
We live in a very clean, safe and happy city.
At one point back in 1991, I hated it here. It seemed so dreary, I didn’t appreciate it and I had an out. My parents had moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba so I had somewhere to go and try a different life. I saw what it was like to not live in Ottawa and it only took me six months to convince my parents that we belonged in Ottawa. On our arrival back in the city, it was December 2nd and a balmy -5C. It was snowing and our major highway had a row of snowplows clearing the four lanes at the same time. I wept with happiness to see such a sight as Winnipeg only had six plows for the whole city at the time and you spent most of the winter driving in snowy ruts.
Ottawa offers a multitude of amazing museums, both free and for a fee. Plenty of parks, water parks, grassy parks, beachy parks. You could visit a different major park each week and never run out of places to go and see. We have several beaches, unfortunately the water quality has been pretty bad for the last couple of years, but there is hope this year that they have cleaned everything up and we can enjoy some of our local beaches without worry. We live across the river from Quebec, which offers the Gatineau Hills. In these Hills (part of the Laurentian Mountains) there are several lakes, small quaint towns, parks and ski hills.
In two hours you can be in Montreal, Quebec for shopping or across the border in New York. In five hours you can be in downtown Toronto catching a play or musical.Ottawa offers so many opportunities to try something new or to go somewhere fun. When I sit and think about it it makes me mad that I don’t enjoy enough of it. Perhaps this Interview will help kick me back into gear and enjoy a bit more of our beautiful city. Something I did often until J started school.
Thank you so much for interviewing me Bethany!
Would any of you like to play along? If so, leave a comment below and I’ll email you at least five questions. (I reserve the right to limit the number of participants, depending on how many people want to be interviewed!) You’ll have to update your blog with the answers to the questions, linking back to the original post and also to my post, including this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
