50 Questions Meme stolen from hamsterwoman

[bearshorty]

1. What's your favorite candle scent?
I don't think I have one. I do like vanilla and pumpkin. I don't actually light many candles. We have a few but it's a rare occasion.

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister?
Jennifer Lawrence seems cool and knows the XMen cast.

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother?
Since Matt Damon have always reminded me of my first cousin, whom I call my brother (because in Russian first cousin is called something like 'second level brother') and we were very close growing up, I would say Matt Damon.

4. How old do you think you'll be when you get married?
I was 32. Bear and I met when we were 18 and were together ever since. It just took us a while to finally tie the knot.

5. Do you know a hoarder?
Not really. My best friend's father had a lots of stuff - he was a pack rat. But not hoarder level, I don't think.

6. Can you do a split?
No. Never could.

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
I started learning three days before my 11th birthday and on my birthday proudly rode down a hill, fell, scraped my knee and got back on that bike in glee. I loved finally mastering that skill.

8. How many oceans have you swum in?
One - Atlantic. I saw an ocean for the first time when I was 12.

9. How many countries (other than your homeland) have you been to?
I was born in Belarus (Soviet Union at the time) and I consider US my home now - other than those: Ukraine, Russia, Dominican Republic, Canada, Haiti, Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Aruba, Mexico, Jamaica, England, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, and Switzerland.

10. Is anyone in your family in the army?
No

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one?
My daughter's name is Tatyana after my favorite grandmother. We call her Tanya, for short, which is a Russian diminutive for Tatyana. My grandmother died in in 1999 and she was my favorite person in the world so I knew if I had a daughter that would be her name. Her middle name is Carolina after Bear's grandmother who passed away a year ago in January. When she died, I said right away that if we had a girl (I was 3 months pregnant then) we would honor his grandmother too. And less than a month later we found out it was going to be a girl. So we never had to really debate or think about Tanya's name.

12. What would you name your son if you had one?
We couldn't really decide this, so we were happy it was a girl. I think we were thinking either Joseph or Thomas. I don't know. When I was younger I liked the name Wesley because of the 3 fictional characters (Star Trek: TNG, Buffy/Angel and Princess Bride) who seemed so smart and cute to me. But if I have to name an actual child it would have to be a name that means something. Honor some person (who is dead, per Jewish tradition) Or my husband can pick since I pretty much picked our daughter's name.

13. What's the worst grade you got on a test?
I don't think I ever got anything below a B. I was an A student, in high school and college especially.

14. What was your favorite TV show when you were a child?
There wasn't much TV. 3 channels only in the Soviet Union when I was growing up. I liked "Goodnight, Little Kids" with a little puppet show and a cartoon before bedtime. I liked Disney Afternoons with "Duck Tales" "Tail Spin" "Chip and Dale" "Duffy Duck". And I liked this Mexican soap opera that the whole country watched for years and years - it was the first soap opera on TV so it was fascinating since it just lasted and lasted. It was called "Rich also Cry"

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight?
I was in the Soviet Union when I was 8 and we didn't have Halloween. We dressed up in costumes for New Year. There were school costume parties. One year I was a cat and another a Chess Queen with a cape. My first Halloween was when I was 13 and I went trick and treating with my 10 year old neighbor. I made this clown costume myself with orange stockings and face paint. It was so much fun.

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series?
Love Harry Potter to pieces, really like Hunger Games, don't even want to touch Twilight with a ten foot pole.

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent?
British, I guess? I really don't care about my accent which is American with some Russian and Brooklyn accents. I love listening to British accents.

18. Did your mother go to college?
Yes, she has an engineering degree from Minsk Polytechnic Institute. (So does my Dad - they were in the same class in college. Russian colleges have classes of students.)

19. Are your grandparents still married?
My paternal grandparents, yes. They have been together since 1952 and they got married in either 1955 or 1956. My maternal grandfather died in 1978, a day after my parents' wedding, and my grandmother lived for another 21 years.

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons?
Yes. I was in a karate club in college. I got up to a green belt. Would love to do that more eventually.

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?
Yes.

22. What's the first amusement park you've been to?
I think Six Flags: Great Adventure in New Jersey in 1995.

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in?
I'm fluent in Russian and English and I can read Latin, French, Italian and Belorussian. I guess I wouldn't mind fluency in those and Hebrew but at the same time I don't want those languages to stop sounding foreign to my ear. (I knew I became fluent in English when it stopped sounding strange and I started thinking in it).

24. Do you spell the color as grey or gray?
either. I know grey is English and gray is American but I have to think for a minute usually and I use them interchangeably.

25. Is your father bald?
No. My grandfather is though and my husband is heading in that direction :)

26. Do you know triplets?
No, never met any.

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook?
Titanic. My 17 year old who saw that movie in the movie theater three times would wholeheartedly concur. I also saw the 3D version a few years ago - it is the first time I liked how 3D actually worked in a movie.

28. Have you ever had Indian food?
I love Indian food. I don't get to have it a lot, but I really enjoy it. My favorite Indian restaurant for dinner is in Staten Island, close to my parents. For lunch and gatherings, a buffet place in Queens.

29. What's the name of your favorite restaurant?
I don't think I have a favorite. I like variety. I don't eat out often; I mostly cook. I guess my favorite Indian restaurant is called Taste of India II, my favorite Chinese restaurant is Chow Lee and my favorite fancy restaurant is Tatiana on Brighton Beach - I had my wedding there.

30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden?
Yes, once. It was not impressive.

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ's, etc.)?
No, but my parents do and they get things for us.

32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?
I think Artur, Russian version of Arthur. My Mom wanted to name me Stella, but thankfully others persuaded her on a different name.

33. If you have a nickname, what is it?
There is a diminutive of my name that people sometimes use, and it is longer than my actual name. I don't like to put my real name online, though. My real name is short and a palindrome, very common in Russia. Bear calls me Shorty, which is a joke that started in college. I'm 5 feet 8 inches or 170cm, not short at all, and he is only 2 inches taller. I started calling him Bear because of the way he walks and our nicknames for each other stuck. He has a very regular American/English name in real life.

34. Who's your favorite person in the world?
When I was little it was my grandmother Tanya and now I would probably say Bear.

35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs?
City, but I'll take the suburbs too.

36. Can you whistle?
No.

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight?
I never did but because my baby sleeps in my room, in the crib next to the bed, there is a nightlight right next to it now. So, for now.

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning?
Absolutely. It is weird for me to think that some people don't. How do they manage? On weekdays I have oatmeal with a piece of dark bread with cheese and tea. Tea is a must. When I have to leave at 6 occasionally to go to work, I pick up an everything toasted bagel with cream cheese at the corner store and bring my thermos of tea. On weekends, I usually make eggs in some form. And there are times when Bear brings back brunch from work on Saturday evenings and I get to eat that on Sunday. That has a mix of french toast, pancakes and other goodies. And on Christmas we make a traditional Christmas breakfast at Bear's parents' house consisting of pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage (bacon too, but I don't eat bacon).

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily?
Just vitamins

40. What medical conditions do you have?
I'm generally healthy but I do have allergies sometimes. I do have PVCs (premature ventricular contractions)in my heart sometimes which are benign. It does feel like my heart pauses (it doesn't) so its unnerving and creepy and can make me tired. Stress brings them on.

41. How many times have you been to the hospital?
Twice overnight - once when I was eight to have my adenoids removed and once when I gave birth last year. I've been to ER twice, once in London when I passed out on the street from a UTI, and once when I had vertigo for the first time.

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo?
Yes, it's alright. Not my favorite.

43. Where do you buy your jeans?
Macy's

44. What's the last compliment you got?
A student for whom I wrote a recommendation got into grad school and thanked me for teaching him well. Well, and Bear telling me he thinks I'm a great Mom, which was nice of him.

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning?
Very briefly and they usually fade away.

46. What flavor tea do you enjoy?
Black teas usually. I drink a lot of decaf English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast. Right now I'm drinking Earl Grey Creme from Teavana. I like Roibos teas too and some herbals but I can't have herbals right now. I don't like green teas much - I get heart palpitations from them.

47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own?
10 to 15? Not a big shoe person.

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice?
I'm Jewish, but culturally, not religiously. I fast on Yom Kippur and keep Passover for tradition, not for religion. I'm atheist in that regard. (I'm in the middle of planning an annual Passover Seder where my closest friends all gather with their families for one giant get together. I'm the planner of the group. All four of us are Russian Jews and only one has a Jewish partner. We have a Catholic, Muslim and Protestant husbands who all love our Seder). My husband comes from a very Catholic family but he is no longer practicing. He went to Catholic school until college and in college he actually started thinking about his beliefs. He is agnostic now. But he also does all the holidays and his parents are very, very religious. We both have very similar values and decided to raise our kids celebrating all our holidays and learning about both religions and traditions and when they are 13 or so, they can pick for themselves, if they want.

49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn't real?
Ded Moroz. Eight or nine. My cousin told me but I was beginning to suspect because every year Santa would look different at the holiday pageant at our school: thin in red suit, fat in blue suit, thin in blue suit etc

50. Why do you still have a journal here, considering everyone else is on Facebook?
I don't have Facebook. I like the privacy here. My main journal is on Dreamwidth, I cross post to LJ and its easy. And I like blogging and reading people's thoughts.