Tough Questions... are ya game?

1.) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? The night I awoke in my bed (I was 10)to find my step dad in my room trying to do things to me. Wow, I am being honest. 2.) *****ALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS? Mrs. Z in nursing school. She was my mental health nursing teacher, and she ALWAYS helped me to realize my own self worth. 3.) IF YOU WEREN'T DOING WHAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND HAD NO LIMITATIONS WHATSOEVER, WHAT WOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING? I'd be traveling, maybe be a missionary. Or a dancer. 4.) WOULD YOU HAVE MARRIED THE SAME PERSON AGAIN KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOW? Ok, this is hard. I love my husband so much. But I have to say no. 5.) WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? (OR MAN?) Emotions, and expectations about how a woman should look. 6.) WHAT MAKES YOU YOU IN 4 WORDS? creative/dramatic emotional intelligent strong-willed 7.) IN 5 YEARS, WILL YOU BE HEALTHIER, STRONGER, HAPPIER OR ARE YOU AFRAID YOU'LL GO BACK TO OLD WAYS? Healthier definitely. Hopefully happier. I will NEVER go back to old ways. This journey has been to hard fought to lose.

1.) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? My miscarriage. 2.) *****ALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS? I would have to say my husband on this one. He has taught me to live life in the now and not the has been. 3.) IF YOU WEREN'T DOING WHAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND HAD NO LIMITATIONS WHATSOEVER, WHAT WOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING? I would be working everyday at the Hope Pregnancy Center as a peer counselor. 4.) WOULD YOU HAVE MARRIED THE SAME PERSON AGAIN KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOW? I knew the day I met my husband that I was going to marry him some day. So I would definitely say YES!! 5.) WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? I would have to say the emotional turmoil that is constantly going on inside our bodies. 6.) WHAT MAKES YOU YOU IN 4 WORDS? faithful, honest, compassionate, passionate 7.) IN 5 YEARS, WILL YOU BE HEALTHIER, STRONGER, HAPPIER OR ARE YOU AFRAID YOU'LL GO BACK TO OLD WAYS? I know without a doubt that I will be happier, healthier and stronger. I did not have this surgery to fail, and I am looking forward to many long years of playing with my children and spending quality time with my husband. Great questions!! Nickie

Here are mine....boy the honesty feels good (but scary)... 1.) What was the most awful moment you can remember in your life? They both involve death. The day I called the hospital to check on my dad after surgery. My sister was crying and told me that he was in cardiac arrest and they were working on getting him back. After 45 minutes, they finally quit working on him. Also, the day that my husband's best friend was killed in a plane crash - he was so young.... 2.) *****ally made a difference in how you think about things? Wow....I can't think of anyone (not sure if that's good or bad)....guess that means that I have only me to blame.... 3.) If you weren't doing what you are today, and had no limitations whatsoever, what would you really be doing? Teaching or working with the elderly or mentally retarded. Sorry if anyone is offended by this term - I grew up with an older brother who was profoundly retarded. We used the phrase "retarded" in my family all the time, and it wasn't meant in a derogatory manner (my brother was born in the 1950s and that was the terminology used). 4.) Would you have married the same person again knowing what you do now? As much as I love him, I don't think I would. We're both controlling people and that makes it so difficult....our marriage definitely takes "work". 5.) What is the hardest thing about being a woman? (or man?) Physically - definitely the damn menstrual cycles. Emotionally - my inability to control my tears when I get angry because they make me feel weak. Sexually - the way most men treat thin women different from fat women - it amazes me at how differently some men treat me know that I've lost so much weight....damn it, I'm the same person inside that I've always been... 6.) What makes you you in 4 words? Intelligence. Caring. Confidence. Flirtation. 7.) In 5 years, will you be healthier, stronger, happier or are you afraid you'll go back to old ways? I WON'T go back so I guess that leaves - healthier, stronger, and happier (but also sexier) Maria 272/169/155

Yep, I'm game 1.) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? When I lost my parents. My father died in 1999 and I was in his room at the hospital during his last hours. My mother died 18 months ago and I was in the Chicago Airport, on a layover trying to get to her when I got the phone call from my brother. I was all by myself - Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers. Angels do walk among us. 2.) *****ALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS? Every person that I have taken into my heart along the way in life, has somehow changed me - even if it's only in small ways. Even the rotten ones. 3.) IF YOU WEREN'T DOING WHAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND HAD NO LIMITATIONS WHATSOEVER, WHAT WOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING? I would be traveling and seeing as much of the world as I could. 4.) WOULD YOU HAVE MARRIED THE SAME PERSON AGAIN KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOW? I never envisioned the life that I have now, but I married a man who gave me the life that I needed. Absolutely, I'd marry him again in a heartbeat. 5.) WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? (OR MAN?) Being pregnant is no piece of cake, thankyou very much. But I've found that the hardest is finding my voice, using it and not being labeled a "*****" Although my daughter informs me that that's not a bad label these days. She says that it means "Babe in total control of herself" - works for me 6.) WHAT MAKES YOU YOU IN 4 WORDS? Strong, kind, compassionate and fair 7.) IN 5 YEARS, WILL YOU BE HEALTHIER, STRONGER, HAPPIER OR ARE YOU AFRAID YOU'LL GO BACK TO OLD WAYS? I never ever want to go back to the way I used to live. I want to live to be a very very old wacky woman.

Is it too late to change my answer? I have a revision to make. Question number 1) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? I got a call one night from my best friend's father. He told me that my friends husband was missing and suicidal. I franticallly drove to her house and held her and comforted her for two days until they found his body in the desert. It was a terrible. Wow, some very honest answers. Thank you for your candid responses. C Leigh

1.) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? I remember when I was 4 years old playing with my grandpa. My grandparents owned a small country store. Someone brought in some empty pop bottles for return. My grandma asked me to take them into the back store room. When I went to walk past my grandpa, he had laid his head over to the side. I said "Papa, you better move your head or I am going to knock your hat off", The door knocked his hat off. He had suffered a massive heart attack and died. I remember it like it was yesterday. It is very strange how vivid that memory is for me! 2.) *****ALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS? My grandma, who was also my best friend! She was the sweetest southern lady I knew! She did an amazing job raising her kids and grandkids for that matter! She was NEVER mean. Oh, she got mad.........but she was the sweetest person I have ever known! I miss her dearly! She has been gone for 14 long years! 3.) IF YOU WEREN'T DOING WHAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND HAD NO LIMITATIONS WHATSOEVER, WHAT WOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING? I would be running a cost free medical clinic for low income families with children that needed meds, or immunizations or anything else! I CANNOT stand to see kids that do not get proper medical treatment due to insurance or cost issues! 4.) WOULD YOU HAVE MARRIED THE SAME PERSON AGAIN KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOW? In a heart beat! He is he MOST amazing man. There is no doubt that he loves me with ALL of his heart! 5.) WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? Letting go. My babies are getting older and doing more things and starting to have conflicts with friends. It is hard to sit by and watch them get hurt. It breaks my heart! But I know I have to stand by and watch them survive life!!! It just makes my heart hurt!!! I want to fix everything for them so they don't have to ever feel hurt, but I know that would make it worse for them in the long run! 6.) WHAT MAKES YOU YOU IN 4 WORDS? Compassionate, strong, silly and devoted. 7.) IN 5 YEARS, WILL YOU BE HEALTHIER, STRONGER, HAPPIER OR ARE YOU AFRAID YOU'LL GO BACK TO OLD WAYS? I will be so healthly and strong and happy! Just to see the strides I have made in the last six months are amazing, I have to smile when I think of where I will be in five years! And my babies will be 15 and 13, what a trip that will be!!! I am going to need the strength, health and happiness to deal with all the teenager hormones!!!! Thanks Nan for making me look so deeply at myself. It felt really good!!! Grace

1.) WHAT WAS THE MOST AWFUL MOMENT YOU CAN REMEMBER IN YOUR LIFE? The moment my baby died July 18 1985 (20 years later it was my surgery day!) 2.) *****ALLY MADE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW YOU THINK ABOUT THINGS? I can't say that anyone has. 3.) IF YOU WEREN'T DOING WHAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND HAD NO LIMITATIONS WHATSOEVER, WHAT WOULD YOU REALLY BE DOING? I would own my own bakery! 4.) WOULD YOU HAVE MARRIED THE SAME PERSON AGAIN KNOWING WHAT YOU DO NOW? This is a easy question. NO freakin' way. 5.) WHAT IS THE HARDEST THING ABOUT BEING A WOMAN? (OR MAN?) I hate my periods too. 6.) WHAT MAKES YOU YOU IN 4 WORDS? creative, loving, funny, sweet 7.) IN 5 YEARS, WILL YOU BE HEALTHIER, STRONGER, HAPPIER OR ARE YOU AFRAID YOU'LL GO BACK TO OLD WAYS? I will NOT go back to my old ways. No way, no way, no way!

Here I go 1.) What was the most awful moment in your life? When I was 10 years old I was asleep in my bed with my cousin and our aunt came in woke me up and told me mt Dad had just died in a car wreck, at the age of 34, all these years later I still miss him 2.) *****ally made a difference in how you look at things My 4th grade teacher who was the one person that was there for me after my dad died and all the kids quit talking to me because I guess they thought I was weird after loosing my dad, she use to tell me to smile pollyanna, and hug me and just show total kindness 3.) If I had no limitations... I would be living in Ireland with my family around me in a huge house and making money with my wonderful rock band...to bad I cant sing 4.) Would I have married the same man well at 38 years old I have never been married but I have lived with the same man for 18 years, since I was 19 and NO NO NO NO!!!!! There has to be nicer men in the world then this Pr### Im with 5.) What is the hardest thing about being a women For me it is always being the person that has to make sure every thing runs smooth having to be the buffer between every one 6.) What makes you you in 4 words Very hard question- Tough,funny,moody, compasionate 7). Im hoping for a stronger healthier me but Im scared I may slip back into my old ways