My Interview

My Interview -
Welcome to those here to see my interview....
To bring everyone else up to speed.... There is an Interview Me sort of thing going on in Blogatopia. I have been watching the questions and answers roll in on both julochka and tangobaby's blogs. I (with hesitation) threw my hat in as a possible interviewee. I have finished the first set of questions. These come from julochka. What follows are her 5 questions to me and my answers, at the end you will see the rules if you would like to have a go at this. Also, stay posted for my answers to tangobaby's questions, coming soon to a blog near you!

1) 4 kids, small business owner, main doer of laundry and maker of dinner...how do you do it all and still have time to photograph beautiful woodpeckers and go to late night movies?
I am very efficient. Really. It just doesn’t seem to take me as long to do things as it takes others. My friend Deb from Colorado always used to say “You don’t let the grass grow under your feet” I have a hard time relaxing (except for my daily ½ hour nap). Around the house I seem to be a supreme multi-tasker. I am a night person too, so that can be helpful. Once the house is quiet I work like the little elves in the shoe store and turn in around midnight. As my children age I am trying to get them to participate in the “chores”. My jewelry is a hobby it is not my business (Although I have sold them on a few occasions).
Our business is called Boon-Docks it is a dock and boat lift business. It is a seasonal thing from early Spring until late Fall, it is one of the many reasons my dearest is gone soo much. He is a teacher during the day and then does the dock business after school and during the summer. We sell, install, repair, and remove docks and boat lifts on the many lakes and rivers in our area. My main job is on the phone with the sales end of it.
I do have to say I have an unbelievable amount of time compared to the past several years. Our wee ones are 5 years apart (the oldest was exactly 5 yrs 1 month old when the fourth wee one was born!) All four kids were home for a year and they were all so little. I had also done daycare for three years prior to that – to help pay the grocery/diaper bill. To me I have so much idle time now…. Alright moving on.

2) As a Minnesotan and a self-professed movie lover, what do you think of the Coen brothers' movie Fargo?
I imagine I feel the same way as locals in the tornado belt feel about the people news reporters pick out to interview.

(Why do they always seem to pick the biggest red necks?)
When Fargo came out my dearest and I were living in SW Colorado. I had my fellow teachers convinced that it was based on a true story and that I remembered it from the news!
I don’t know. I guess you have to be able to laugh at yourself! We do have a Scandinavian accent, we definitely say, “yah” or “yah sure” a lot, and to an outsider we may seem a little odd. I do get disgusted over the fact that they make us look so small…( Although, ya bet I watch'd it, Yah I liked it, and ya know I did laugh....ya ;)

I just saw a preview for the movie New In Town with Renee Zellweger set in New Ulm (closer to the cities) After watching it, I said to my friend… “Why do they make us look so dumb?” And she responded, “…and yet we are laughing.”
I guess if people believe every perception of an area they get from movies they live in too small of a world for me.

3)When you get a little window of time for yourself, what do you do with it?
It is interesting that you should ask this. For this is the area I am having the most trouble with lately. I have not had a chance for much "me time" for the past 9 years, most days I was so far over my head with the wee one's I couldn't sit down for the better part of the day – even to eat- someone always needed something. However, as the wee ones grow I am finding I have more down time. I have found after 9 years of living on survival mode, almost outside of myself, I don’t know what I like anymore. The things that interested me before no longer do. I am struggling to re-find myself.
In the summer I try to spend as much time as possible outside. I work on our garden and in the yard. We enjoy the lakes and the forest and parks.

As a family we have been geo-caching the last couple of summers. (we go by the name FamilyCircus) It has been a great way to get the kids out, find new places, and learn/teach technology (GPS & mapping) combined with outdoor exploring, with a “treasure” at the end for the kids.
As far as myself I enjoy movies, reading, and some crafty things. Other then that I am on a journey to discover what I really do like and what I can do with the limited amount of free time and extra money I have. I am also finding it hard to not feel guilty for doing something that isn’t work.

4) What made you start blogging and what do you feel it gives you?
Short answer: my friend Amy.
Extended answer: I talk to Amy several times a day on the phone. Every day I would get on my “soap box” about one thing or the other. After a while she told me I should have a blog – because she would actually read my blog, it would be real. I ignored her forever and instead would give her my blog on the phone everyday. I figured who would care what I had to say? The day that I told her my verbal blog about Being skinny because I was lazy, not because I was counting every calorie (I am often starving yet find it annoying to have to prepare and eat food, to me it is easier to be hungry…Lazy really!) This is the day she said she was just going to take my verbal blogs and use them as her own….So, for Christmas I figured the best gift I could give her was to actually start a blog, however, I had no idea what I was doing! Which is why I have to say that my blog is models of blogs I have enjoyed (I hope that serves as a complement) – mainly Modobjects at Home and Tangobaby’s with ideas from a few other random blogs, of course my own originality/personality come into play, I also took the time to review do's and don'ts I found online.

I am eternally grateful to her. I have found such joy in blogging. It is a great way to remember who I am, to release some frustration if need be, to reach out to other adults, to explore other people’s worlds (which I always find so interesting), it has given me something to think about (I am a depressive blob if my mind isn’t active) but, mainly, I find that it gives me a voice. I believe everyone wants to have a voice.

5)Do you feel the name "Julie" suits you? in other words, ARE you a Julie and what does it mean to be one?
From one Julie to another… I have to say I used to not like my name. I felt like it was so dull. Plus, I could never find any key chains or pencils with my name on it when I was a kid. Growing up I didn’t really know any other Julie’s, yet, it wasn’t an exotically original name like Selena or Natasha (names that intrigued me when I was younger) For most of my life I have been known as Jules – my brothers called me that and then friends in Sr. High School/college. My parents were the only people to call me Julie. So, when I left school and entered my adult life it was hard to get used to being called Julie.

I like the name now. I feel like it is a strong enough name for me. Original without being soooo far out there, it is outdoorsy enough (you don’t think of an Alexandra rock climbing), yet I am taken serious when I state my name. I believe I have grown into my name, or has my name grown into who I am?

Here's "The Rules."

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
Note: be sure to post your email address if it is not on your profile page. Thanks!