Answer Me This

And we're back! With What I Wore Sunday and more Answer Me This fun, and wow, there are some great questions this week. Here we go:

1. What's currently on your To Do list?

I love To Do lists. No, really. Now that I'm capable of being up and doing for longer periods of time, having a great long list inspires and energizes me. But I knocked a ton of things off the list between Friday and yesterday, so my To Do list is actually pretty short at the moment:

- make menu for the week

- make grocery list

- figure out Amazon Subscribe & Save

- look into the Sam's Club Insider program, Ibotta, other grocery-savings programs

- clean bathtub & sink drains

- change sheets

- bake sandwich bread

- go through pre-baby shirts and donate everything that's never going to fit again

Blueberry picking this afternoon was on the list, but it's 50 degrees and raining out, so that's not happening. I hope I can get some berries before they're gone! I really can't take both kids without another adult to help, and this weekend was likely our last chance for Matt to come; we've been seeing cars off on the shoulder where people are picking for at least a week now. Hopefully I can talk one of my siblings into coming with us one afternoon this week.

2. Better type of superhero: magic/radioactive powers? Or trauma/gadgets/hard work?

Trauma/gadgets/hard work, because they're real people. Superheroes in this category are extraordinary individuals, but they are still fundamentally the same as us: they achieve greatness through blood, sweat and tears, not through some mythical serum that we mortals have no hope of accessing. As such, they are more able to inspire people, and their stories can be used to teach your kids about hard work and persistence rather than avoiding radioactive spiders.

Superheroes whose powers come from magic/radiation or are an intrinsic part of their nature can often do pretty incredible things, but their ability to inspire isn't the same, because we could never hope to do what they are capable of.

"You realize you're saying Iron Man is more inspirational than Captain America, right?" Matt just asked. But... Maybe not exactly? Like the laws of physics, many clear-cut categorizations become blurry when applied to actual superheroes. Captain America does have a radiation-enhanced body, but he's just strong and fast, not invincible, and Cap has to train hard to maintain his strength. So I think I can justify putting him partially in the "hard work" category too.

3. Finding out if baby is a boy or a girl before birth: Good idea? Bad idea?

Neutral. I choose to find out, but then I refuse to completely trust the ultrasound because it could be wrong. So far it's always been correct with our kids, but I anticipate continuing to have at least a kernel of "maybe it's wrong" with any future kids. Why do I even find out, then? I don't know. Because I want to know, and I want to feel that I'm most likely using the correct pronoun for baby, and being able to say "Most likely a girl" when everyone asks usually helps me avoid being harassed by both the "why didn't you find out?!?" people and the "well, but ultrasounds can be wrong..." people.

4. Have you ever appeared on a stadium jumbotron?

Nope, and I have no desire to.

5. Are you more book smart or more street smart?

What does it say about me that I had to go and look up those terms? It seems like many people have different definitions of "street smart" and "book smart," so I feel a little more justified in not knowing how to answer. I took three quizzes; two said emphatically that I'm street smart, one (equally emphatically) that I'm book smart... The latter seemed to equate "book smart" to "educated/well-read," which is true of me; the other two seemed to define the street v. book dichotomy as being able to figure things out for yourself and take care of yourself v. being lost in situations where you can't look up what to do. So by their definition, yes, I'd agree with "street" over "book." 

According to Matt, I'm not so much "street smart" as "Alaska smart;" able to figure things out and take care of myself and others, specifically in outdoors/winter/uniquely Alaskan situations. Drop me on a street in the middle of the city in the Lower 48 and I would likely be okay, but I'd be very uncomfortably out of my element; ask me to make a winter camping trip happen or live in a wood-heated house where we have to haul water, and we're just fine.

6. Have you had that baby yet? (Feel free to skip this one if it's not applicable to you.)

She's one month old as of Friday! It's hard to believe it has already been a month, but at the same time, it's hard to picture life without her.

A picture, and it's Sunday! I get to cheat and link this post up twice.

Kit: dress by Carter's, from my grandmother

Little Bear: outfit by Carter's, from his grandmom & grandpop

Me: dress by Liz Lange Maternity, sweater by Boden, both thrifted

Kit continued her streak of sleeping straight through Mass; Little Bear had more trouble being still and quiet, but shaped up before he lost his after-Mass chocolate donut.

Have a good week!