One of my favourite fitness people is Bex and she did this post and challenged others to do the same. I have a bit of time to pass until the kids need to go to bed, at which point George and I will watch a movie, so I figured I’d go ahead and do this so as to stop seeing that depressing post I wrote last week every time I open my blog.

The way it works: I have to post 11 random things about myself, then answer 11 questions asked by the blogger I got this from, and then write up 11 questions for others. Whew. Here goes!

11 random things about me:

1. I am insanely competitive. I can be happily lazy or indifferent to something right up until the moment that I’m challenged in a competitive way and then I will lose my ever loving mind trying to meet and/or exceed it. I’m even competitive with myself.

2. Despite the fact that I REALLY WANT TO WIN at things, I’m not a sore loser in any way.

3. In my first year of high school I was so bummed by my first term grade in Ecology (I believe it was 83%) that I went up to my teacher and asked him how I could improve for the next term. He mumbled something about staying engaged and studying harder, but later told my dad at parent-teacher night that he had only answered that way because he was taken aback; no student had ever asked him how to do better after getting a grade in the 80-something range.

4. I failed Advanced Chemistry in a spectacular going-up-in-flames kind of way, getting grades around 35 and 40%. I never meant to take the class. I had chosen Advanced Biology so they decided to just throw me into Advanced Chem too. To this day I haven’t got a single clue as to what we were supposedly learning in that class. Thank God I did much better in Bio!

5. I am fully bilingual having started in French Immersion in elementary school and then Advanced French in high school. By the end of high school, when I was in grade 10 and 11 I was taking the exact same French curriculum as kids in French high schools. I even have a certificate, all formal and stuff.

6. I didn’t learn too much in the way of useful French as far as having actual conversations until after high school when I worked in environments where I needed to use it and dated a couple of French guys. Like many things that you learn in a classroom, actually applying it in life requires a bit of immersed modification.

7. Although I love the hell out of yoga, am pretty good at some of it, and enjoy certain fitness workouts I was not an athlete type in high school. I was very active outdoors, including biking and TONS of cross-country skiing, but I sucked at organized sports.

8. It’s kind of the same thing with the fact that I have a strong sense of spirituality but suck at trying to involve myself in organized religion.

9. I like living in a place where things are convenient – grocery stores close by, bus lines (when the union isn’t on strike – STILL!), parks, etc – but I really would prefer living in a nice house in the woods.

10. The ocean brings me peace. I haven’t been to the ocean in far too long, I can’t wait for warm weather so I can throw on my bathing suit (goal for this year: bikini!) and go back to Crystal Crescent Beach.

11. I love Halifax but frequently wish I still lived back home.

And here are my questions that Bex posted:

1. What’s the closest purple thing to you?
My yoga mat.

2. Who inspired you when you were little?
Well I don’t know if being a teenager counts as “little”, but the first person to pop into my head was Ron Tabi, my grade ten English teacher who inspired me to write.

3. Who inspires you now?
My family.

4. What was the biggest fear you’ve overcome?
Headstands. I’m still afraid of being upside down and I still haven’t mastered the headstand but at least I can get halfway there now.

5. If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
I can’t even imagine another name now. When I was little I wanted to be named Charlotte so I could go by the nickname of Charlie, but I’m so used to Sherry that I don’t think anything else would work now.

6. Who is your celebrity crush?
Chris Pine, Shemar Moore, Thomas Gibson, Steve Buscemi, Adam Lambert… oh, sorry, did you just ask for one?

7. Who is your same-sex celebrity crush?
Angelina Jolie, Mila Kunis, What’s-her-name who plays Santana on Glee.

8. What’s your favorite character trait?
Mine? Despite having my “moments” I’m a hopeless optimist overall. In others? An awesome sense of humour.

9. What’s your favorite body part?
My eyes. Does that count?

10. We’re going on vacation to Bali. You can take one thing. What is it?
My camera.

11. Bikini, tankini, one-piece, or coverup? (extra points if you’ve been to a nude beach!)
I don’t care of one-piece. I currently have a tankini. I am aiming for a bikini.

Finally my questions that I am asking to you:

1. If you could live anywhere else, where would it be?
2. You just won an all-expenses paid two-week vacation to the location of your choosing. Where are you going?
3. What’s your favourite way to exercise?
4. Are you more of a city person or a country person?
5. What’s your absolute favourite food?
6. What’s the best movie you’ve ever seen?
7. What book would you recommend to me?
8. Who’s your favourite actor or actress?
9. Name a talent that you don’t have that you really wish you had.
10. What’s your most dreaded household chore?
11. What kind of sleeper are you – back, side, or stomach?

I’ve never been good at tagging so if you’re reading this consider yourself tagged. If you do this one, please leave me a comment so I can come read it!