Tagged - long post, sorry :)

I've been tagged by my clever Craftster pal Tasket Basket out in sunny California with the Mighty Ducks and the LA Kings ... do check out her blog, in particular the amazing handbag she made from old vinyl LPs:

I'm not usually big on tagging, mainly because I don't like the 'pass it on to 5 people' bit, it's almost got a chain letter vibe to it. So I'm not going to tag anyone, but I will answer the questions, because they look kind of fun :)

What was I doing 10 years ago?

Hmmmm - June 1998. Not a good point on my own personal number line.
On the plus side I had just started a new job that I really loved. On the downside, that job kept me in the country / at home - unlike the previous job which had taken me abroad for 4 days a week.
So that meant I got to see a lot more of my very unpleasant husband. The last two years of the marriage (98/99) were by far the worst, so I can safely say that I probably spent much of June 98 crying and nursing bruises.
Life is so much better now, you wouldn't believe :)

What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?

1) answer all these questions :)
2) as well as the above, do lots of work at work cos I am a good hard working worker
3) give out the invitations for Connor's birthday party that I made and addressed last night
4) finish a necklace that I am making for a magazine that I have had total mojo-freeze with --> publication is to Sarah as headlights are to rabbit
5) if I get time, make Connor's autograph book for Disneyland Paris (we're going on Sunday, whoop!!!)

Snacks I enjoy

Ummmm - all the bad stuff - chocolate, cakes, chocolate cakes :) and cheese, pretty much any type of cheese. Fruit too - that's good, right? I do love fruit :) Especially bananas.

Things I would do if I were a billionaire

Give up work for a start :) I know that seems obvious - but if you had asked me the same question a few years ago I would have been adamant that I would want to continue working regardless. I thought I would die of boredom otherwise.

But then I had 14 months off through redundancy, and to be honest, I haven't really enjoyed work since. Well, I have in spurts. But overall I'd love a chance to retire tomorrow and just chill with my little boy, play with my paints, go out geocaching, and maybe get a dog....and a few more tattoos :)

So, that's what I'd do if I was a billionaire. Lead a nice simple laid back creative life which wouldn't cost too much.

Which means I would have tons of spare cash to be generous with, and would therefore sudddenly have lots of friends and a contented conscience :D

Places I have lived

Nowhere particularly exciting

Born on the Essex / East London border
Went to Uni in Coventry and stayed there for 14 years (no - it didn't take me that long to graduate :P )
Relocated to Swindon in lovely Wiltshire around 8 years ago - just yards from the famous magic roundabout :)

Jobs I have had

My first ever job was a Saturday position at the Filofax factory in East London. It was my job to heat seal all the calendars, maps and other little optional inserts that people can buy for their filofaxes, into little plastic baggies. It was the 80s, and Filofaxes were THE yuppie accessory, so we were worked off our feet!! It paid well though - £2.75 an hour - which was much better than the average Saturday job wage at the time.

In my year out before Uni I was lucky enough to secure a place on IBM's fought over pre-grad training programme, which taught me tremendous amounts about computing from PCs through UNIX up to mainframes, and also lots about business in general - they taught us presentation skills, how to write a clear report, etc etc. It was an invaluable experience, and I made many great friends there amongst the other trainees. It was also during my time at IBM that I was seconded out to work with the Sport Aid organisation - I wrote and maintained the database that kept track of all the thousands of fun runs and mini marathons organised around the world for Bob Geldof's sporty sequel to Live Aid. And I got a personal letter of thanks from Sir Bob for my troubles :)

I did Maths and Statistics at University, and ever since graduation have worked in a similar field, just getting more senior along the way. My field is database marketing, and basically this involves using statistical techniques to spot trends in huge collections of transactional data. This helps companies target their marketing efforts and new product development more accurately - in theory reducing the amount of junk mail arriving on your doorstep, and ensuring that if you are approached it is with an offer that's actually relevant to you. That's the plan anyway :)

I have mainly worked as a consultant, both freelance and via agencies - and my work has taken me all over the world - from South Africa to Ireland to Singapore and to the USA. I also had an 8 year stint heading up the customer database team at WH Smith, which was fun at the start but became less so as the company started to lose money and lay off all of my team, including me eventually.

People I want to know more about

My boyfriend, I'd love to know every little detail of the first 45 years of his life before he hooked up with me :) Nosey, aren't I? :)

My ancestors....I know very little about the family who came before me, even my grandparents, only one of whom I ever met and that was when I was 4, so I can't remember her.

Mike Gillis - the new canucks GM - I really don't trust the man, but I can't quite put my finger on why....

and the classic deep hippy answer - me. I'm 41 and I still don't really understand the way my brain works or what I actually want out of life.


Phew - that was a tag and a half!

I kind of like "interviewing myself" like this though, which is why I do the Friday Fives every week - not because I think it's of the slightest interest to anyone else - but I guess it's my equivalent to scrapbooking - something to keep a record of who I am and how I think right now. I back up this blog regularly, and, assuming it survives somehow to the next generation or the one after that, it will give my children and grandchildren a much better understanding of me than I have ever had in relation to my own forbears.

Plus, when I'm old and have forgotten everything, it might help to jog a few of my own neurons into recollection :)