In lieu of a real post:

I'm formulating some thoughts (it takes me ages these days -- must be thick), but in the meantime:

How well can you...

cook? I don't cook heaps apart from my two cooking nights per week (Wednesday and Saturday if you want to test out my skilz) and the odd baking fest, but I think I'm okay at it. I am a master at changing recipes. Watch me replace ingredients!

sew? My lack of skill in the construction of actual wearable clothing appalls me; it's embarrassing actually. But I love to cut up fabric and stitch back together. Straight lines are my delight. And hand stitching is fun!

clean? Hmm. Best to remain silent here. I love vaccuuming and tidying, folding washing and washing up... but toilets and showers not so much.

sing? Worse and worse with every passing year. (On first attempt, I accidentally wrote sin in place of sing; I tend to be a natural at that, too).

play an instrument? I used to be so much better at playing the piano. I need to practice!

write? I love it. Love it, love it, love it. And the stuff I produce that I think is good usually isn't, while the stuff that I think is rubbish usually gets some encouragement. I have so much to learn.
read? Awesomely. I'm good at reading. Please give me a gold star.

paint or draw? If it's a matter of splashing paint across a page, I rock. I looove to play with paints! If, however, the paint needs to resemble a recognisable person or place... this is another story entirely.

tell stories? Verbal communication is sometimes scary for me. I talk a lot (my family nods) but sometimes I feel certain I must say what I need to say in a third of the words necessary, and so I am a rather lame storyteller.

persuade? Hmm. I really don't know. Let's test my powers of persuasion right now: whoever you are, if you're reading this, please send me a never-ending supply of Krispy Kremes. Thank you.

resist those who persuade you? Again, I'm not sure. Let's test once more: Krispy Kremes? For me? Oh, you shouldn't have. You should have? You really think so? You want me to take a dozen? And eat them right now? Okay then.

dress? I am pretty bad at this, but I have a lot of fun -- and terror -- experimenting, all the same.

decorate a room? I love decorating rooms, so does it really matter if they look weird when I'm done? I thought not.

decorate a cake? I have made a Very Super Rocket Cake before.

parallel park? Boom-boom. Not Well At All.

[and here I insert my own additional question:

spell parallel? Badly on the first go through.]

regular park? In one swift turn.

control yourself around food? I think my above imaginary dialogue which happens to mention Krispy Kremes may, in fact, answer this question.

control your strongest emotions? I mostly don't reveal them unless I know someone wants to see them. Family is an exception to this rule. Sometimes they get emotion whether they are ready for it or not.

take care of children? Are they naughty ones or good ones with just a creative spark of mischief?

make a cup of coffee? I don't think this is my forte.

motivate yourself? I love me a good deadline!

organise? Organisation is sometimes my middle name. Other times my middle name is Disarray.

make a deadline? See above answer to 'motivate yourself?'

make others feel comfortable? I would love to be brilliant at this, but I am not sure. Do you feel comfortable right now? If you don't answer honestly, it may suggest you do well at controlling your strongest emotions (again, see above).

wrap a gift? I always make those corner bits look bulky.

dance? Inside of me there is a boy band just waiting to break out. It's the attempts to do so that cause me some concern.

swim? I always worry the lifeguard will rescue me when I'm just moseying out in the waves on my own.

debate? I flee confrontations. So the answer to this one is: badly!

Now I would like to see your answers, please!

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conversations:

southeastcountrywife -- thanks for the congrats! I hope you liked the emailed pics :).

Sarah -- what a delight to receive your comment (and a long one, too, yippee!). Yes, Google is beloved over here, too. It's always funny watching Google change with the US seasons/events while ours are nothing alike. Thanks for the congratulations and love to the gang!

Celeste -- (or should that be ? :D) thank you for your sweet congratulations! I'm pretty excited :). Oh, and thank you for your kind words; you encourage me!