What’s the thing you’re most scared to do? What would it take to get you to do it?
The one thing I’m most scared to do is skydiving. Nothing would convince me to try it. I’m sure it’s exciting for those that enjoy it, but it’s just not for me. Years ago, we had a family friend lose their daughter due to her parachute not opening. I realize that’s probably not that common, but that’s good enough reason for me never to try it!
What do you complain about the most?
I don’t complain much, but when I do, it’s about the weather. Whether it’s too much rain, not enough rain, no sun for days or chilling arctic winds, I don’t like it. I do realize no amount of complaining will change things, though, so I honestly don’t do it often.
What are your favorite sports to watch and play?
This is a very easy writing prompt for me to answer today! I only watch sports and don’t play any. I love watching college football and especially the Iowa Hawkeyes. I’m a lifelong fan and an alumna of the University of Iowa. I have season tickets, too. It doesn’t matter if we win or lose, I just love going to games.
The other sport that i love watching is the Iowa women’s basketball team. I also have season tickets to that. We have the best player in the country right now in Caitlin Clark and I’m soaking every minute of it in. Go Hawks!
What would you do if you won the lottery?
If I were to win the lottery and win loads of dollars, I would consult with financial advisors, tax and legal experts before doing anything. I have no idea what people do with a large amount of money like that, so learning how to manage things would be the first order of business for me, even before I collected it.
What I’d do next would depend upon what I learn from these experts. In general, I see myself buying or building a home or two in places that I love, setting my children up for financial security, contributing to charities and causes I’m passionate about, and traveling more again. I might set up a foundation or two as well.
What books do you want to read?
Today’s writing prompt made me laugh. I laugh because I couldn’t possibly list all the books I want to read because there are too many!
I am on Goodreads and my current list of “want to read” books totals 142. Currently, I am reading the Harry Potter books because I just never got around to reading them but have seen all the movies. I’m on the second book. I usually read more than 1 book at a time, and I’m also reading Good Morning, Monster.
I appreciate a good book and have a lot of different interests in the genre. I would say that my favorites tend to be ones that keep me turning the pages or have some sort of historical reference The pandemic time really increased my reading as I had a ton of time at home to do so.
I have taken advantage of my local library and have been checking out ebooks on a regular basis and reading them on my Kindle app or listening to them on audio. When I traveled a lot, I would listen to books to pass the time in airports, but I find it takes me so much longer to listen to a book than to read it. Now I’ll listen if the wait is too long for the ebook or physical book at the library. I also recently discovered that audio books are available on the premium version of Spotify so I listened to Brittney Spear’s memoir on that I really appreciate these free ways of reading books as I don’t spend money buying the actual books anymore.
Write about a few of your favorite family traditions.
Today’s writing prompt asks to write about a few of my family traditions. While I don’t think we have many, I thought of a few things for today’s prompt.
One thing that has always been constant and is still so, is playing cards at every family gathering on my dad’s side of the family. We love to play euchre and always have a great time.
Particular foods at the holiday time are also part of my family traditions. Having married a Venezuelan, we typically have pan de jamón at Christmas gatherings. Sometimes we make hallacas , and since it’s a lot of work, we don’t always do it,
When the kids were little, I always took photos of them in front of our house on the first day of school. I think a lot of people do that and it’s always so nice to go back and see how they’ve grown from year to year.
What do you enjoy doing most in your leisure time?
Since the pandemic, I’ve been watching a ton of TV. While I realize it’s not the most productive thing I could do in my free time, I’ve gotten hooked on several series that I tune into regularly. I can change it up, though, and spend hours reading a book, too.
Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting.
I lived in NYC for almost 18 years. While there, I never made it to see Niagara Falls. While it is quite a few hours from NYC, it’s still a lot closer than where I’m at now in Iowa. In fact, I’ve been to Iguazú Falls in Brazil and that’s certainly a lot further away.
I think it happens a lot that people often don’t see places that are in their own backyard. While in NY, I met a lot of people that hadn’t explored the many great attractions in their own city. I’m thinking my chances to seeing Niagara Falls are likely better now that I moved back to Iowa!
List five things you do for fun.
Here are my 5 things I do for fun, in no particular order.
1. Play with my cats.
2. Get together with family and/or friends.
3. Go to Iowa Hawkeye football games.
4. Tailgate before those football games.
5. Chat or text with friends from around the world.
If you could make your pet understand one thing, what would it be?
I have two cats: Zelda and Linguini. Linguini is the youngest one and very vocal as well as playful. Both cats are very loving, but Linguini has a habit of waking me up very early every morning by meowing at my door and scratching it until I open it. Zelda, on the other hand, is content to sleep in my room until I get up.
I’ve tried to see if both cats would be calm during the night by keeping my bedroom door open, but Linguini always decides he wants to play, bringing toys onto the bed, and pouncing around. So I close the door when I go to bed.
He has no problem sleeping around the house at different times of the day and night! If I could make him understand that I’d love to sleep in a little longer, it would be fantastic and I’d get more rest.
Appreciation Magic 