- Intimate dinner, just not anywhere fancy. I'm that weirdo who will be turned *off* if you take me to a fancy restaurant. Fast food or mac & cheese on the couch, please. - Planned. Always planned. Always. - Gifts or experiences? Kinda both, but lately I've been leaning more towards experiences, mainly because no one else knows what *things* I need/want anymore. - Cake or dessert of choice? SUGAR. - Make a big deal or low-key? Low-key, but don't forget about me. - Day-of - Tell people or keep it quiet? Depends, but usually tell people. I actually had a belt test for taekwondo on the same day as my most recent birthday, and some of the other students brought me a cake and everyone sang after testing was done. (And I had already worked out, so I was fully justified in eating cake!)

@Olivia Radcliffe I am SO with you on surprise parties. I don't do well with unexpected surprises, even well-meaning ones.

- Playlist or shuffle? Depends on my mood. But I'm old school, so I still use my iPod. No streaming services for me - I want to know exactly what's playing. - Pop or rock? Sure! - Current hits or throwbacks? Weird stuff that was never popular to begin with - Live concert or album? Album - Sing along or just listen? Again, depends on my mood - Headphones or speaker? If I'm alone, speaker. If there are others nearby and/or I don't want to be bothered, headphones.

@Olivia Radcliffe Let me know if your son gets stuck on any grammar concepts - I'm still a huge grammar nerd, and I'll jump on any excuse to talk about grammar or explain grammar or analyze grammar. 🤓

@Olivia Radcliffe SAME! (no DHD, but the Au is strong with this one.) Diagramming sentences and balancing chemical equations are both the best! If you want a fun intro to pre-diagramming, try a game called Sentence Smackdown. You just take a piece of paper landscape and draw a giant T chart on it. Write "subject" on the left and "verb" on the right. Then show a bunch of (simple) sentences. Use the quarter-size sticky notes, one word per note. It's best in pairs, where one person does the subjects and the other does the verbs. (And it's called Sentence Smackdown because you get to SMACK the sticky note down on the side of the chart where it goes. Kristina Smekens came up with it; she's a genius with all things literacy.)

- Always cold. You can always put more on, but there's a limit to how much you can take off (especially in polite company) - Never wear socks. Shoes are bad, but socks are worse. And footbags are the worst of all. If I *must* wear socks, I wear toe socks. - My hair's always in a ponytail, or cut super short, so it doesn't matter either way. - If those are my options, I choose always silent - Lose all my passwords. I know myself well enough that I can usually guess them within a few tries. Or I deal with the annoyance of resetting them. But to lose all my photos? No. - Never...well...I was going to say never leave the house, because I don't get out much anyway, but the places I do go are important to me, like taekwondo, or my kid's swim class. So...magic 8 ball says ask again later. - I want to say future...but to know the future is to change it. So I'm going to go with the past. In my own past, there are plenty of things I'd like to look at with fresh eyes and current knowledge. In the distant past, I'd love to learn about all the things, so that would be fun too.

@Olivia Radcliffe Agreed!

One of my issues is that if I'm not specifically tagged, I usually don't see promo or even discussion opportunities. I like to keep my notifications to a minimum, so part of this is on me. I'm sure I've missed opportunities to connect with people because I tend not to go digging through feeds and groups looking for things to comment on or get involved with. Not sure if there is a good solution here, but just my...well, can't say 2 cents anymore because no more penny... Anyway, just my thoughts. 🥸