4 things Meme

The lovely and talented FatBridemaid tagged me to do a 4 things meme. How exciting! Okay, can anyone tell me how to pronounce meme? Is it like mimi, or is it meem, or is it soft like mem? Any answer would be appreciated, and no snickering at my lack of knowledge.

Four Things I've never done:

1. Traveled to Italy. This is probably the next international destination for Mr. Black and I. I've always wanted to go - and eat my way through the country, of course. Pasta! Piccata anything! Tiramisu! Wine! Oh, the list goes on...

2. Hosted my family at our house for a major holiday. We're hosting Thanksgiving this year. Can't wait!

3. Walked or ran a marathon or half marathon. And I never will. A friend is doing it, and encouraging me to do so, and I can honestly say I would rather have a long and tedious dinner party with George Bush and Rush Limbaugh instead of running/walking for that long. *shudder*
4. Lost 50 pounds consecutively! Let's hope this ends soon.

Four Things I've learned in the last year:

1. Exercise and eating smaller portions really does make you lose weight. I can change my body, and my attitudes about food, so that food doesn't control me.

2. I want to have a child, around yesterday. 2008 should be our year. I want to shape a life, have a family, and watch my husband fall in love with our child.

3. Marriage is hard work. But the effort you put in pays you back tenfold.

4. As a self-proclaimed cat person, I love our pupper dog, The Ding, like a person. That is very surprising to me. Dogs just want to have fun, eat and be loved. Very simple.

Four Jobs I'd Love But Will Probably Never Have:

1. Professional, paid stage actress. Or, actress on a television show. When I was acting, I would sometimes take the first week of a show off, and I could live the life of a professional. Sleep in, run errands or just read or watch TV or hang out drinking coffee until it was time to go to the show. Truly decadent. A TV show would be fun because you could develop your character, and have regular hours. I worked on one film as an actress. It was awful, and all that hurry up and wait. I have tremendous respect for actors who give emotional performances on film. To sit for 4 hours, and then do the same scene over and over again, incredible. What I also love about the stage, is that you don't get to do it over and over again. Once you make that gesture, or inflection, you've released into the theater, the universe, you can't take it back. And then whether it was perfect or not, it's gone. It was there for that moment, and you the next time you perform that scene, it will never be the same as it was the night before.

2. Professional chef/Restaurateur. God, I love to cook. And I've thought about catering, but then your weekends are spent at weddings and parties and when do you get to cook for your friends and family?

3. Independently wealthy philanthropist. 'nuff said.

4. Therapist. I love listening to people, and helping, and trying to help others understand. I fear that I would take home all the sorrow. Or worry too much about them in my off hours.

Four Jobs I've Actually Had:

1. Quality inspector at Union Bay Clothing company. We stood around making sure buttons and their respective buttonholes worked, and that zippers zipped, etc. There I learned you should always wash your clothes before you wear them new from the store. Seriously, don't even skimp on those pants you don't want to wash the crease out of. We used to not be allowed to touch the clothes for a few days, they were so toxic from the dyes. And the bugs that came over from Asia? Fugettaboutit. Huge and disgusting. Wash your new clothes! My other favorite tale from this job was that there was a woman in her 40s who advised us that the quickest way to turn a man on was to play bagpipes for him. She kept her bagpipe record in a special sleeve. Mr. Black says that isn't true. I can't imagine why.

2. Drive thru girl at Wendy's, in high school. Loved working the drive thru. Hated working the grill, and mopping the floor.

3. Mary Kay sales rep. For about 1 minute. I was bamboozled by an overeager sales rep who loved me, and I bought the starter kit like a fool. Kept me in eyeshadow applicators for years.

4. Customer Service/Office Manager/On call person - for a temporary housing company where I languished unhappily for 8 years, in hopes that things would improve. Oy, I was so foolish!

Thanks for the tag!