Today, my grandmother is 88 years old. Eighty eight freaking years old. Damn! I hope I live that long. I had her over for dinner tonight and my sister, her husband and stepson joined us. It was lovely. I grilled chicken and some really tender and delicious T-bone steaks. I made brownies for her birthday cake and cut them out with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, topped them with ice cream and chocolate sauce and put a candle in Grandma's. It was a very nice dinner and it was nice to see my sister and her family. Seems we've gotten out of sync lately and haven't spent enough time together in the past year.

Now is the time in Lobotomy Land when I shamelessly steal an idea from my good friend Trinity who stole it from unclebob. I have nothing else to write about today so I'm going to fill in this survey. Feel free to see how they have filled out the same survey.

1) Name and nickname(s)? Lisa, Lees, Leessee, Skipper, Babe, Sweetie

2) Favorite place you have lived? Right here, right now the home that we waited so many years for. It's no mansion but it's a nice home and it's in a nice neighborhood and I'm delighted with it. (That's not to say I'm not planning the next house, which I'm sure will become my new favorite place I've ever lived.)

3) Favorite vacation or trip you've taken and why? Our recent vacation to Hawaii last spring. It was so much fun--we had perfect weather, traveled with our best friends, did lots of fun things and it was the place I'd been wanting to vacation to for many years. I can't wait until we can do it again.

4) Favorite books or the last book you read? She�s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True (both by Wally Lamb), Snow Falling on Cedars (Guterson), Crime and Punishment, The Secret Garden, Angle of Repose, Where the Heart Is, Their Eyes Were Watching God

5) Favorite movies? The Return of Martin Guerre (the French version with subtitles), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Top Gun, When Harry Met Sally, Moulin Rouge, The Breakfast Club, Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, You've Got Mail, Clueless, The Matrix, Much Ado About Nothing, Say Anything, Almost Famous, A Christmas Story.... there are many movies I could list here--I love movies.

6) What would you do with a million dollars? I'd invest a third to half of it right off the bat to plan for Ed's (hopefully early) retirement and Joey's college education. Then I'd pay off my current debts, buy a new car to replace the 10.5 year old one I have right now) and buy a good chunk of property with a great view and build the house I've been designing in my head for a year or so. I'd make sure that I had sufficient to take care of my grandma if she needed to move to a care facility. And I'd keep about $25K handy in my vacation fund for travel, since I *really* love to travel. Aside from traveling and building a new house that is designed around entertaining, we'd maintain pretty much the same lifestyle we do now.

7) Are you a morning or a night person? I was born a night owl and I will die a night owl. Like Trinity, I do my best going to bed around 2am getting up around 10am.

8) What does working out mean to you? It could mean a lot of things--walking on my treadmill here at home until I'm good and sweaty or riding my bike all around my neighborhood or on a good trail. It could mean playing volleyball for a few hours or swimming laps at my local YMCA. Pretty much, it means just getting out and moving my body and working up a sweat. The more fun that can be had while I'm doing it, the better.

9) Have any pets? Their names/species? One asthmatic, geriatric cat named Alexis who we usually call Lex.

10) What kind of car/truck do you drive? 1991 burgundy Toyota Camry. Oh yes. It's true.

11) Prefer living in a small town, small city, or big city? I live in the 'burbs outside a mediumish city that is big enough to have most of the good department stores I like, a good symphony, a ballet company, and opera company, a professional sports team and attracts artists for concerts. I'm very happy with this set up.

12) Last concert you attended? Last summer I went to see Ricky Martin with my best friend Stace and our "girlfriend" Russell (who is not gay but who is more like a girlfriend than a guy friend. It was a hell of a concert, too. I mean, if you like sexy Latin guys shaking their bonbons on stage for two hours. And I do.

13) Favorite games to play? Cribbage, Nertz, Taboo, Craps, Pictionary, Strip Poker. Ok, I'm kidding about the Pictionary.

14) If you could live anywhere, where would it be? You mean besides here where I'm completely satisfied and happy? Ok, northern Virginia outside Washington, D.C., Sun Valley, Idaho or Bend, Oregon.

15) Snow/ski slope or sandy beach/boats? I like them both, though I'd prefer cross country skiing to downhill.

16) Last place you flew by plane? Honolulu, Hawaii last March.

17) Favorite holiday? Christmas. I'm a serious Christmas Junkie.

18) Top 4 hobbies? Cooking, Travel, Scrapbooking, Gardening

19) Favorite 2 restaurants in your city/town? Quizno's subs and Pizza Schmizza.

20) If you could have an alternate career/profession, what would it be? Just one? If we're talking fantasy here, I'd be a host of a cooking show on FoodTV or a radio talkshow host or a Broadway star or a college professor at a prestigious university.

21) Favorite TV shows? The Practice, Now and Again, Law and Order, The West Wing, ER, anything on FoodTV (except Emeril Live), TLC's Trauma: Life in the ER, A&E's Biography, E's Celebrity Profile, reruns of M*A*S*H and I'm still lamenting the cancellation of thirtysomething (and I watch it whenever I can find it).

22) Favorite childhood memory? Picking wild strawberries and huckleberries with my sister when we were camping in the Skagit River valley and fishing with my dad. I loved camping with my family--it was like regular life was suspended and we just had this little bubble of time and fun.

23) Any sports you like to play? Volleyball. I *love* to play volleyball. Would that I were taller than my current 5'2" so I could be more effective at the net.

24) Who are some people you really admire (famous or not-so-famous; living or deceased)? My father, my father's parents, Rush Limbaugh (just kidding!!!), my sisters, my husband, my friend DeLyn, Mel Gibson (he's really a family man despite his high-profile career), Danny Bonaduce (I know, not what you expected, but look what he has done with the mess he made of his life! His wife Gretchen is largely responsible for it, but I'm just really impressed with what he's done with himself considering how bad he let things get).

25) Favorite quote or saying? "Forgiveness is the smell of the violet that clings to the heel that crushed it."

26) If you had a month off (from school or work or parenting) what would you do with the time? I do have a month off (actually 3) and so far what I've done is write, sleep in and travel. I can't see doing anything else.

27) What are some things you hope to accomplish in your life by the time you are 65? Given that my mother died at 56, I'd like to be here to see 65 (I'm thinking positively and trying to keep myself healthy enough to make it). I'd like to have my PhD, have about 10 novels published, have a screen play made out of one or two of those novels (perhaps I could write the screen plays), have spent a score of years teaching/professing writing and literature, have travelled to many countries, have witnessed the birth of my grandchildren and become a doting grandmother, and still be deliriously happy with my marriage to Ed.

28) What's the most outrageous thing you've ever done that most people don't know about? I painted graffitti on the back of the school near my home when I was about 11 or 12. My neighbor and I found some spray paint and she thought it would be fun to vandalize the school with it. I went along because I was pathetically weak at resisting any suggestion of hers.

29) Any major regrets in your life so far? Not spending more time talking with my grandmother when I went to care for her before she died. Instead, I brought work with me and tried to pretend that everything was fine and that her cancer would somehow miraculously disappear.

30) What are some hopes/dreams you have for next 5 years? To get my Master's degree in Writing, get a teaching position at a community college, start on my doctoral program, get my novel finished and published and start on my second novel, build my new 'entertaining' house.

31) What is one area/thing/topic you would like to know more about? There are too many things I want to know more about--I could never pick just one. I want to know everything.

32) What are some of your biggest worries/fears/phobias? Dying early. I want to be here a long time. My husband dying. My daughter dying. My sisters dying. My best friend dying. Pain. Big pain.

33) The happiest times for you are when? The day my husband and I got married. The day my daughter joined our family. The day I found out I got an A in my first college math class. The day I decided to go to graduate school in English. The day we moved into our new house.

34) What annoys you the most? People who do rude/stupid things in their cars. People who can't control their anger. The sound of lips smacking when people eat (and chewing with your mouth open). Being awakened by a phone call a half hour before I'm planning to get out of bed.

35) What are some things you can't do that you wish you could do? Pee standing up. Jump really high. Lose weight. Grow 6 inches taller. Read people's minds. Speak Spanish. Play the piano. Sing like k.d. lang.

36) What are the six words that best describe you? playful, loyal, intelligent, compassionate, passionate, friendly

37) Favorite fortune cookie fortune you've gotten? Who remembers fortune cookie fortunes?

38) What is your most prized possession? I don't prize possessions, but if I did, it would be my first edition of The Secret Garden.

39) What are some things you are grateful for? My family (both of origin and of marriage), electricity, my car, indoor plumbing, my computer, the Internet, my health, music, my dear friends, chocolate.

40) Describe your feelings about your apartment or condo or house. It is a sanctuary from the world, but it is also a place for parties and celebrations. I love my home.

41) When are you at your very best? Under pressure.

42) Do you need a little sleep or a lot of sleep? The regular amount. I used to think I needed a ton of sleep but I don't, really. I'm just fine with 8 hours. I wish I were fine with 4, though. Can you train yourself to live comfortably on four hours of sleep?

43) Do you like to cook? Absolutely. I like cooking as an event, though, not so much maintenance cooking.

44) Do you like to dance? I love to dance and do it whenever I can, even if it's just in my family room with my daughter or best friend.

45) Do you eat breakfast each morning? No, though I sure feel better when I do.

46) What are the four most important things in your life? My family, my friends, my education, me

47) Any favorite NEW music/songs/CDs? The soundtrack to Moulin Rouge rawks!

48) Most interesting/scary/embarrassing job you've ever had? Sadly, I have had no interesting, scary or embarrassing jobs. I guess the year I spent as a 'shake girl' making shakes and cones at a drive-inn during college was pretty fun. Clearly it is time for me to have an interesting job!

49) Favorite type of vehicle if you could have your pick? Lime green new VW Beetle.

50) Favorite outfit or article of clothing you own? My white pants with beaded fringe. Or maybe my cool lime green beaded strappy sandals.

51) Bargain hunter or buy what you need when you need it regardless of price? Both. Either. Just call me a crazy shopper chick.

52) What do you collect currently? Cooking gadgets.

53) What are the top 3 challenges in your life today? Losing weight, graduate school, and keeping my temper in check with my daughter.

54) Do you prefer summer/hot or winter/cold? I love turtlenecks so that would be winter/cold, though I'm more of a Fall girl.

55) Which store catalogues are your favorites to receive? Sundance, Lillian Vernon (because it's so fun to laugh at some of the weird ass stuff in that catalog), Ballard Designs (kewl home furnishings and decor), any cooking catalog.

56) How would most of your friends/coworkers describe you? Funny, playful, silly, intelligent, loyal, kind, compassionate, sometimes bossy, fun.

57) How do you want to be remembered? As a truly nice person who touched a lot of hearts; as a good mother; as a prolific writer; as someone who was loved and loved others in return.

58) Have you ever donated blood/platelets? Yes, but it is so hard to find a vein in my arm that it was suggested that I not donate anymore unless I'm banking for myself or a family member.

59) How often do you check your personal e-mail account? Four or five times a day when I'm home, once or twice when I'm at school all day.

60) What are some things about you that most people do not know? I'm pretty much an open book. There's not a lot about me that my very good friends don't already know about me, except that I lose my temper easily when vexed by my daughter.

61) What magazines do you subscribe to currently? Reader's Digest (a gift from my grandmother), Better Homes and Gardens, Entertainment Weekly, Family Handyman.

62) Any important lessons you've learned in life? To keep perspective--things are always worse close up but as you get some distance (and perspective), they aren't so bad after all.

63) Windows open or use the air conditioning? Depends. Windows until it gets too hot and then bring on the AC (but not too cold--I hate it when it's 100 degrees outside and only 60 degrees inside). In the car, AC all the way.

64) Your major accomplishment(s) to date: Graduating from college, marrying a really great guy, adopting a really great daughter, getting As in my algebra and chemistry classes, getting accepted to the two nursing programs I applied to (even though I decided not to attend them).

So there you have it--if you've made it this far, you've probably learned way more about me than you ever wanted to know. Hope it wasn't too boring for you!

Later,

--L