Wednesday Medley: Garfield!!

Garfield has always been my favourite comic strip-related character (Garfield's Christmas special is one of my "must-watch" specials every holiday season) - so I just had to take part in today's Medley questions!

1.  If you have ever followed the Garfield comic strip, you know Garfield loves lasagne.  What is your favourite Italian food? Do you over-indulge when it comes to pasta?

I always say my favourite food, in general, is spaghetti, but I really love allllll pasta.  YUM.  I don't have lasagne often, but it is one of my "specialties".  I actually have one that I made in the freezer that I might bust out someday soon.  I now have a craving... mmmm.  And yes, I always over-indulge, unfortunately.  But I just love anything pasta-related so much, I have a hard time not going back for seconds.

2. Tell us about your first pet.  If you never had a pet, can you tell us about an animal that touched your life in some way?

My first pet was a dog named Jake.  My Uncle Garry & Aunt Brenda gave him to me for my 10th birthday.  I'll never forget the excitement I felt when they pulled in the driveway with the dog in the truck with them, and then realizing they were bringing him to ME.  It was a dream come true!!  Unfortunately, Jake was kind of a bad dog... lol.  Nobody liked him.  He bit people.  He was not fun to walk.  He always ran away and I'd have to go find him.  He was blamed for impregnating the neighbour's dog.  He was just an unpleasant animal in general.  I wanted a dog soooo badly at that age, and yet once I had one, it wasn't the "dream" I thought it would be.

Even so, my parents had Jake put down while I was away on an over-night school trip (he had been biting too many people), and when I got home and realized he was gone, it was complete devastation.  I think I cried every waking moment for a week straight.  It was the greatest loss I had suffered in my life at that stage, and I was not prepared for it.  My mom has since told me it was one of the hardest things my dad ever had to do, and that it wasn't an easy or fun decision to make, and so I guess I've forgiven them lol. 

(This is the only picture I have of Jake on my computer lol.  My dad was re-doing the floor in the garage, and Jake liked to stick his head out of this hole and get himself stuck.  What a dog.)

3. Garfield sleeps his day away, only waking up to to eat or sweet talk his girlfriend Arleen.  How many hours sleep do you normally get each night? How much sleep do you really need?

Before having a Fitbit that tracks my sleep, I would have told you I need a solid 8 hours a night.  If my Fitbit is to be trusted, though, I can now tell you I actually only get between 6.5-7 hours a night.  And I'd say that's what I truly need.  I love sleeping, and while I don't sleep in late, if I let myself go without an alarm I'd probably sleep in til 8 AM, and I could easily get 9 or 10 hours of sleep if I was allowed.  I can tell you, after staying up late to watch Raptors games over the past few weeks, that I do NOT function well with less than my usual.  The next day I feel achey and hungover, and my patience is very short. 
I am pretty proud of my current sleep patterns.  Most evenings, I'm able to keep myself busy and not fall asleep on the couch early (a bad habit I'd been wanting to break).  I have my evening shower or bath, then read for a while before falling asleep around 10.  I sleep pretty soundly most nights.  And my internal clock usually has me up right around the time my alarm goes off at 5:45 AM.  I hit snooze once, and I'd like to get rid of that, but I think one snooze isn't so bad.  (I used to hit it 2 or 3 times, pre-workout days.)

4. Garfield lets the mice in the house have their way.  When was the last time you had to chase out a little varmint?

It has been years since I've had anything bigger than bugs in my house.  I don't even want to talk about it and jinx it.  Even so far this year, I have yet to deal with my usual ants or earwigs.  KNOCK ON WOOD.  The outside is a different story.  Pigeons have taken up residence between my place and the church next door.  I think they're living in the un-capped chimney on the church, but they come and party on my roof all the time.  Bird.Shit.Everywhere. ugh.  I guess I'm just grateful they can't get inside.

5. Garfield also loves his teddy bear Pooky.  Did you have a favourite stuffed animal when you were young (or now!)? If you didn't or don't, what about someone you know?

Yes, I'm a stuffy girl!  As a kid, I remember getting a pink Puffalump for Christmas one year.  I named her Pinky and I kept her for years, until she'd been washed so many times she was falling apart, and her colour was more yellow than pink. 
In my later teen years, my brother got me a giant stuffed dog.  When asking for hints as to what he got me for Christmas, he told me it started with "Z" and rhymed with Jillian, so when I opened my dog, I named it Zwillian.  That giant dog still sleeps in my bed every night.  Don't even care how uncool that is.

6. Please tell us something about your week, so far.

I know I'm pretty much the only one in my social bubble that cares about the Raptors, but I miss them.  I only had a few weeks with them.  I'm glad I don't have to stay up til midnight anymore, but... I miss watching the games.  And it feels like the celebration just began and already they're constantly speculating, "Will Kawhi stay or will he go?"  Of course the player I picked to be my favourite is probably going to leave.  I have the worst frigging luck when it comes to "favourite players".  Dammit.