12. Describe a typical day in your current life. 13. What’s the hardest part of growing up? 14. Describe 5 strengths and weaknesses. 15. Describe when you fell in love.

12. I wake up one of two ways; either by the sound of Tethys thumping downstairs and running to the bathrooms or by Hero opening the door to our bedroom and climbing into bed with us.  Then we mosey to the kitchen and have breakfast together. I turn on my work computer and make sure I don't have any pressing items that would preclude morning childcare. Then Nick and I tag team getting the girls ready for school: "Yes, you have  to wear underwear and pants, Hero" "No, you can't watch TV, Tethys" "Get your shoes on. Get your shoes on. Get your shoes on. GET YOUR SHOES ON." Then we all walk to school together, or rather, usually we run to school only stopping at stop lights or for temper tantrums. Once the girls are at school I go for a run, either with Nick or by myself, through Carkeek Park. I get home around 10am, shower and sit down at my home office. I work until lunch (which Nick makes while he's unemployed - I am ecstatic about this!). Then Nick goes to pick up the girls while I continue to work. Then the girls play on the playground or come home and do art projects until dinner - which Nick also makes. Then I turn off the computer and we have dinner, we start the long and involved process of getting the girls to go to bed: "Time to brush you teeth - then why didn't you eat earlier?" "Wash you face!" "Have you flossed yet?" "Put on your jammies, Tethys" "Have you picked out your clothes for tomorrow, Hero?" "Head on pillow. Head on pillow, Head on Pillow. HEAD ON PILLOW." Then a story, poem or song." Then I head downstairs and either work on a play or a book or watch TV if I've already found time to write that day. Then I realize it's after 11, despite the two alarms I set to go off earlier in the night to remind myself to go to sleep by 10:30. I get ready for bed including a warm foot bath and some nighttime reading. Asleep by midnight. 

13. The hardest part of growing up is making peace with having the knowledge to make important decisions only after you have already made the important decisions. 

14. My strengths: compassion, a continuous thirst for knowledge and experience, self-expression, spontaneity, keeping friends over time and distance
My weaknesses: I am not punctual, I am not detail-oriented, I have trouble choosing between options, I focus on the future rather than the present, I'm not very patient

15. Falling in love with Nick happened very quickly and also over a long time. I was infatuated with him almost immediately after we began dating. I couldn't get enough and wanted to be around him all the time. We had so much to talk about and I was very attracted to him. Those things didn't go away but we had some rough patches about 7 or 8 months into the relationship when I realized I could still walk away and I would have if he hadn't made changes. But he did. And then we moved in together and it was the day-to-day relating and laughter and sustained caring through tough times that showed me how much I loved him. And still love him.