Announcing: Awesome Answers!

Last weekend I went to the opera with my sisters, mother, and niece. During the course of our yummy dinner at PF Changs we began discussing a blog tag. The assignments were made, the posts were anticipated, and yes, I am now the only one who has not actually answered the aforementioned assignment. Until now! And so, armed with my assigned letter A, I present awesome answers for the assignment accepted amid an aria-centered adventure.

(Note: All answers arrived at were appraised for ambiguity.)

10 Things I Love Starting With A

1. Auntie Status

Clearly this one is a given. I love my nieces and nephews, and no matter what anyone else says, they are the cutest. And, no matter what any of my other sisters say, I am SO the favorite! Drewser even said so today, and if Drew said it, it must be true! I think part of this comes from the fact that I've been an auntie for more than half my life so I've had a while to perfect the art!

2. Aesthetics

I love all different types of aesthetically pleasing presentations and displays. I love going to museums of any size and in practically any location. I love children museums and grown-up museums. I just love looking at art! I'm totally looking forward to my first visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art next July. I've wanted to visit that particular museum ever since I read "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" and the kids in the story get to live at the museum. In addition to museums, I love other kinds of aesthetic presentations like theater. Musical theater, comedies, tradgedies (where the articulation is so great you can see the actors spit), operas . . . I love them all. Again, I'm totally looking forward to the Broadway shows in the plans for next July! (I love that I get to visit one of the Aesthetic Capitals of the US!!!)

3. Apples

While a normal person would think fruit with this one, I think technology! I love my computer, my Mac also known as an apple! It's cute, it's user friendly, it's got monkey cupcakes on the desktop, it works seamlessly with all my audio and video files . . . you just can go wrong with a Mac! Actually, I just love technology in general, so while I'm a Mac fan, I'll take any technology I can get . . . especially the free PC stuff I got at school for taking my technology class this year!

4. Associates and Administrators

Disclaimer: I don't love all administrators or all the associates I've worked with. I do, however, love my current associates and administrator. You know you've got a good group at school when you are on the team all the other teachers are jealous of. And, a principal who actually takes an active role in helping you with whatever you need (management, curriculum, door installation . . .) simply rocks.

5. After-School Hours

Due to the aforementioned love of associates, the after-school hours are some of my favorites. It's the time where we can grip about the bad things that happened during the day, laugh about all the silly children and the things they say, serenade one another with "Bad Day" performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks, do the Chicken Dance or the Macarena down the hall, have mandatory snacks during "planning time," and just all around have a good time. I never thought being at school until 6 p.m. each night would be so enjoyable!

6. Alliteration

I'm a closet Word Nerd. I love words. I love alliteration. Alliteration's awesome. I love learning new words and finding new ways to use words in entertaining ways. I just love words!!

7. Academics

While I enjoy being a teacher, I've also always enjoyed being a student. At my class last week, we had to identify which type of animal our learning style fits best with out of a puppy, a cat, a lion, and a turtle. I chose a puppy because a puppy wants to learn about (sniff) anything and everything. I'm kind of the same way. I love learning new things, especially in relation to my current profession. Perhaps that's why I tend to take evening classes during the school year, workshops during the summer, and attend UEA every year! (Of course, at UEA you also get free stuff . . . but the classes are pretty good, too!)

8. Ancestors

Family rocks. What else is there to say?

9. All Hours of the Night

The late night hours are my favorite because there are no distractions. I love feeling like I'm the only person around in the house. It's quiet and the perfect time to do some thinking. I do my best thinking later in the evenings. While some people say that the morning hours are good for this, I've never been a morning person. I'm only morning person-ish when I have to be . . . like to go to work. A late night book reading session is my favorite . . . . especially during the winter time when I can wrap up in all 47 blankets on my bed in the basement!

10. Alfredo Sauce

I love pasta. Any kind of pasta. In fact, one semester in college I had pasta for dinner every night. That is how much I love pasta. I never get tired of pasta. And almost all of my favorite resaraunts have become favorites because of their yummy pasta (and cheesecake, but that didn't start with the letter A!). I have fond memories of eating pasta at Fazoli's in an effort to get out of my college apartment for a few hours, having the pasta commercials for the Olive Garden determine my meal for the next Opera night, or almost savoring the last two bites of my chicken and broccoli alfredo at Applebee's. Pasta has always been my #1 comfort food. I even had a mission companion make me lasagna on my birthday. (Granted it was a Stoffer's lasagna . .. but it was still pretty good considering the amount of time we usually had to cook and eat dinner!) Now if only I could convince my mom to make lasagna for my summer birthday dinner . . . !

So, there you go. An awesome answer assortment for the assigned "A"!