Meet the Press, Veggie-Style

Karla, a Pop'rs Veteran who runs Zander and Me, offered me a deal I just couldn't refuse. When I clicked on over to her place the other day, she tempted me with an interview. Being the Media Hog that I am, and since it's Inauguration Week and all, I jumped at the chance. Following are the Five Cool Questions Karla Asked, followed by Veggie Mom's Equally Scintillating Answers. There's also an offer for you to play along! Karla's questions are in bold; my answers are in italics.

1. OK, so I know that you began your blog as a way to promote Pop’rs and that you blog religiously every day. Now that you’ve been blogging for quite some time, how has blogging changed for you? Are you getting more out of it, personally, than you initially thought you would?

You know, sometimes I’m all fired up to write a daily post, then other times I have to ponder the whole process a little bit. Blogging, though, has become a much more personal thing for me over the last seven months. Sure, my BIL Uncle Lynn wants to get the word out about Pop’rs, his amazing new product. But I’ve found that most folks in the blog circles I circulate in want something more. If you don’t have your heart in the exercise, to me there seems less attraction, and little point. And no, I’m not getting more personal in order to attract readers. I love to write, and if I can share what I write with others through this great new cyber-medium, then I want to go for it. In the end, if a few of you figure out how amazing Pop’rs are along the way, that’s great, too!

2. What was your most embarrassing moment?

Back in The Day, I had a job that involved a lot of travel. Because of this job, I’ve actually been to every single continent except for Antarctica! But I digress. Once on a business trip to Chile, a bunch of us decided to go to Portillo, which is a ski resort high up in the Andes near the border of Chile and Argentina. Portillo still maintains the 1930’s charm that it was born with, and is the oldest ski resort in South America. Anyway, the highest ski lift at the resort climbs to almost 11,000 feet.

I was all decked out in rented attire, and really looked the part of a privileged ski bunny. I guess this is the part of the story where I should tell you that I’m relatively fearless, and also competitive. We had only one “ace” skier in our group, and I offered to take the highest lift with him. I didn’t really think the logistics through, and was confident I’d find a way to get down eventually. The point of this story is I didn’t end up skiing down—I suffered a severe case of altitude sickness on the way up, and wretched all over my cute ski bunny outfit, my equipment, my lift partner…you get the picture. I continued to lose my cookies all the way down the mountain with the ski patrol, and the bus on the way back to Santiago had to stop every 15 minutes or so, in order to let me Call Ralph.

3. If you won the lottery, let’s say $5 million, what would you do with it?

This one’s easy. First of all, I’d pay off my debts, and the debts of all my close family. I’d invest a little of it, so my kids would have a comfortable start when they get out of college. I probably would donate the rest, most notably to the Alzheimer’s Association. Both my Mom and her twin sister suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease in the latter years of their lives.

4. Now that you and the hubby are "empty nesters", do you have any big trips planned? Are there any specific places you would like to visit that you’ve never been?

I’m a little embarrassed to say this. I have two REALLY BIG trips coming up, and neither involves either Moker or an exotic destination. My girls are both on the swim team at Larry U. I’m going to the big Conference Meet at Grinnell College, smack dab in the middle of Iowa, smack dab in the middle of February. So I think I’ll be fighting flight delays and snow drifts in between swim sessions. The next big trip is a week spent apartment hunting with College Girl. She’s graduating in June, and is making post-college plans. She claims to need her Mommy for this exercise, so we’ll spend some “quality” time together then!

As far as “pleasure” travel is concerned…I’ve never been to either the Florida Keys or Cuba, and would love to go. I love funky tropical destinations!

5. There are many causes that are near and dear to my heart that will inspire me to get off my lazy butt and take action…..such as curing Cancer, Alzheimer’s….things that have affected my family, thus me, personally. One of the biggest causes that tugs at my heartstrings, though, is anything to do with helping animals in need…because they cannot speak for themselves. You have always supported those causes with me and I thank you for that. Is there any one specific cause that is really important to you that maybe fills your heart a little more than any others? If so, what is it and why?

Yes…I’ve been concerned about the homeless population in this country for quite some time. With so many people out of work these days, homelessness is becoming even more of a problem, especially with families who just can’t seem to make ends meet. My good friend Melissa B. has turned me on to a non-profit organization in DC that does amazing things with that city’s homeless population. So, to go back to Question #3, about winning the lottery. I think I would investigate starting up similar organizations in other US cities. I realize that there’s a structure in place to assist these kinds of folks, but so many of our public—and private—institutions are buckling under the weight of so much need these days. I’d love to find a way to help out.

Thanks so much, Karla...Now it's someone else's turn! If you would like me to interview you, just leave a comment and I will e-mail you the questions! Here are the directions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

6. Enjoy your time in the limelight!