Guest Post: Welcome Suzanne!

I get excited about all my guest posters, but I am positively giddy today to welcome Suzanne! Awarder of gold-star supernovas! Encourager extraordinaire! And a blogger who I have the honour of calling my friend.

Suzanne is a writer, mother (to “Carla”), and wife. She blogs regularly at Life of a Doctor’s Wife – shall I offer a confetti of gold stars to whoever can guess what her spouse does for a living? She is a freelance writer and editor who loves to write – and read – fiction.

Suzanne does not like oatmeal, eggs, or tomatoes, but she posts the most mouth-watering menus (Dinners This Week). With regard to food, the most important thing you need to know is Suzanne is the one we all have to thank for sharing perhaps the Best Cookie Recipe on the Planet. My family says Thank You from the bottom of their hearts.

She is witty and kind and reading a new post from her is like settling in for a warm hug from a dear friend. I am simply delighted she agreed to stop by my little corner of the internet. Grab a cup of something delicious and settle in to enjoy her “interview”…

Q. What aspect of your current life would most surprise 20-year-old Suzanne?

Twenty-year-old Suzanne would most definitely be shocked to find out that I have a child! Shocked and probably appalled. At twenty, I was CERTAIN that I would never have kids. I did not see myself as a mother. I did not want kids. I did not like kids. I was extremely bratty and know-it-all-y about the whole thing! It is so funny to look back on that young girl now and see how wrong she was. I cannot imagine my life without my sparkly, sings-at-all-hours-of-the-day, make-a-room-brighter-just-by-being-in-it kid. 

Q. What seemingly “little” moment have you observed or been a part of lately that brought a disproportionate amount of joy?

Can I cheat [Yes! You may! Please do!] and offer two examples? They are both top of mind. 1. I was out with a friend, chatting and walking, and just as we were about to part ways, she asked if I was sure there wasn’t more going on. I admitted that I’ve been stressed about some things and she asked if I wanted a hug. Um, yes?! This is something I offer my kid all the time when she’s struggling, but I had never thought to offer a hug to another adult. Or to ask for one! It was such a lovely, thoughtful, intuitive moment and it made me feel so warm and fuzzy and grateful toward this friend. 2. I was, again, out walking and I heard this absolute cacophonous din of birdsong in a nearby clump of trees. The closer I got, the louder the sound grew. There must have been thousands of birds, chattering away, but I couldn’t see a single wing or beak! They were completely hidden by the leaves which gave the impression that the trees had burst forth into singing. It was magical! 

Q. Do you have a go-to reset when you’re feeling overwhelmed or struggling to stay focused?

While I’m not perfect about implementing this strategy, my number one mood booster/reset button is to go outside and take a walk. It doesn’t have to be a long walk! The weather doesn’t have to be good! It just needs to be time in nature, moving my body, breathing the fresh air. This activity rarely fails to help set me on a better path. And even if it doesn’t provide a true reset to whatever is going on, it at least gives me a break from Real Life, and that’s valuable too.

Q. If you could add (or subtract) one habitual behaviour in your life, what would it be?

Right now, I am really wishing I could add regular strength training back into my life. Earlier this year, I got into a groove of lifting weights two or three times a week, and I loved it. I felt so strong and capable. My bones and muscles were so pleasantly tired and sore afterward. And there is something about lifting weights, for me, that drives all other thoughts out of my head (which is a welcome state of being!). I’m on hiatus now while I settle into a new house and a new routine, but I am really looking forward to reincorporating that habit back into my life.

Q. If you could eat only one meal on repeat for a week, what would you choose?

No one who knows me will be surprised to learn that I would 100% choose to eat tacos on repeat for a week. Or ten weeks. They are the perfect food! And it doesn’t really matter what kind of tacos they are – fish or ground beef, mushroom or pork or Brussels sprouts – I am an equal opportunity taco fan. 

Q. What international destination – that you’ve never visited – do you most want to see?

One of the places I would love to visit someday is Egypt. I would be so interested to experience the pyramids up close – I’ve heard it’s awe-inspiring! It would be so fascinating to experience a place with so much history. 

Q. If you could snap your fingers and have all the capabilities necessary to excel in any career or hobby (e.g. if your wish was to be a famous rockstar, you’d magically have the necessary vocal/instrumental skills), what would you choose and why?

This is such a tough question! While there are quite a few things that come to mind (police officer! spy! writer! auto mechanic! chemist!), I think I would choose physician. I feel like I would feel so much more confident in dealing with potential emergencies, and I would feel much calmer as a parent, and I would feel so good about being able to truly help people. Plus, I am assuming that “all the capabilities necessary to excel” includes no more queasiness over bodily fluids and no more wooziness at the mere mention of blood!

Q. What is your most treasured possession?

When it comes to most treasured possessions, I have a practical answer and a sentimental answer. (Whoops – I am really doing a terrible job of answering the question as it is posed!) [For the purposes of this blogging guest series, this deserves a gold star, not a demerit!] Practically speaking, my most treasured possession is my laptop. It has all my writing on it (although I do have a backup, I promise!) and holds so many years of work. I would hate to lose it. If we are talking about sentimental treasures, the one that pops to mind is a landscape painted by my mother. It’s of the land near the house I grew up in, and it captures the colors of the wheat and the winter sky so perfectly. I would be so bereft if that painting were to be damaged or lost!

Q. Did you have any pets as a child? 

While I don’t currently have any pets, I grew up with a TON of animals. When I was in elementary school, I had a hamster, and my brother had a Betta fish named Sushi that survived for a ridiculously long time. We lived in the country and one of my father’s childhood dreams was to have horses, so we had horses. His work partner also had horses, and sometimes a horse or two would come stay in our pastures, so we might have anywhere from one to five horses running around. My horse was a stubborn Appaloosa with reddish mane, tale, and eyelashes and the softest grey muzzle in the world. We also always had dogs. Sometimes, families in town would realize they couldn’t have a dog because they needed more exercise than the people could offer, or they barked too much, or they were too energetic… so they came to live in the country at our house. They really got to live their best lives as outside dogs, roaming around unfenced. We got to experience all sorts of breeds this way, from Collie to German Shepherd, Golden Retriever to Irish Setter, Cocker Spaniel to Brittany Spaniel and more. We also had a ton of barn cats that I adored. It was such a delight when a cat would have a litter of kittens (far less frequently than you might think – I believe we had three litters in 18 years), and I would eagerly go visit them and name all the kittens and cuddle them until we could find them homes. In one litter, the mother cat had a tortoiseshell coat and the father was all black, but the kittens were a wild range of colors and patterns! One kitten looked like a seal point Siamese. Another was white with grey polka dots. I loved naming the cats – they all had human names like Kimberly and Cooper and Rebecca. Only once did we have an indoor cat, a feisty grey tabby who lived for nearly eighteen years. 

Q. Savoury or sweet? 

Savory all day, every day. It’s not that I don’t enjoy sweets; I do. But when I have cravings they are for things like nachos. Ruffles with sour cream dip. Cheese and crackers (hot tip: Trader Joe’s has a carmelized onion cheddar that is KILLER). Pizza. Tacos. I could go on and on; I love food. As a kid, I would get off the bus, trudge up the half-mile-long hill to my house, and make myself a salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, red onion, and Italian dressing. Doesn’t get much better than that. [You may be, perhaps, the first child I’ve heard of that considers a salad to be comfort food!]

Q. If you could trade places with someone for a week, who would you want to switch with and why?

I feel like there are all sorts of celebrities whose lives would be fun to live briefly. But if I had to pick one person, I would love to trade places with my husband for a week. He is SO different from me, and I would be so interested to see what it’s like inside his brain. (I bet it is very calm and serene in there!) It would also be really neat to see what it’s like to a) be male and b) be a physician. I bet people would treat me SO differently than they do now! Plus, if we’re trading places, he would get to see what it’s like to be in my brain… and maybe he would have new insights into why I am the way that I am! 

Thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to make a guest appearance on your blog, Elisabeth! Your gorgeous photos and optimistic perspective always brighten my day. 🙂 

Well that was Fun with a capital “F.” Thanks for guesting here today, Suzanne, and for all the joy you bring to our blogging community.

Your turn. Any questions for Suzanne? Are you Team Savoury or Sweet? Did anyone else have horses growing up? Who would you want to trade places with for a day? Are you someone who likes to give/receive hugs?