Getting Personal

Challenge from our area newspaper.

Name, age, town of residence
Diane  61, Paxton

Profession: Explain in one sentence what it is you do.
Hard to answer. I'm a Jill of all Trades and a Master of Some.  Currently I own an accounting/tax preparation business, and I'm Executive Director of a non-profit economic development group.

What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning?
Between 5:30 and 6.  Walk the dog, watch my spouse eat breakfast, grab a Coke, and visit my dad at the nursing home.

What did you have for lunch today? Where? With whom?
 a cup of homemade chili and a piece of cornbread at home with my spouse

Best high school memory.
Graduating.  I was anxious to get on to college and bigger and better places, but I've ended up right back where I started.

Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes.
BORN clog wedgies. They're so comfortable and they give the illusion I'm 5'4".

What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include?
Treasure hunting by attending an auction, flea market or estate sale

Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read?
 1950's Nancy Drew mysteries.  I still own many.

Where on earth are you dying to go? Why?
San Francisco to see my older daughter who has lived there for six years and I have yet to visit her.  Sometimes life's obligations don't allow you to leave, but there's always Skype so I have seen her apartment without physically going there.

Tell me about your favorite pet.
They've all been wonderful, but Dusty, a miniature Schnauzer, has a special place in my heart.  About a month after we brought him home from the Humane Society, he got hit by a car, needed surgery, and was convalescing from a broken hip in the kitchen of our home.  I slipped and fell down several steps of a staircase in our foyer.  As I lay dazed on the floor, Dusty appeared at my side and nuzzled me.  Unable to walk and with surgical drains and stitches, he had scooted himself over 35 feet through three rooms just to check on me. He survived 5-6 years after that.

Have you discovered as you matured that you are becoming like one of your parents? Which one and how?
Physically I look most like my dad, but I have my mom's smile. The rest of me had to come from previous generations because, unlike my parents, I am a shy, analytical, less traditional, outside-the box, libertarian character.

What would you order for your last meal?
Baked peppered salmon, baked sweet potato, fresh steamed asparagus, and my homemade coconut pound cake with fresh raspberries

What can you NOT live without?
Oviously air, food and water, but the Internet is high on my list.

Who do you have on your iPod?
I don't own an iPod, but I enjoy every genre of music.  My music collection has everything from Frank Sinatra to Jimi Hendrix to Broadway musicals.  I do own a Kindle, but you didn't ask what's on it.

What’s the happiest memory of your life?
About 20 years ago when my husband, two daughters and I spent a day at Billie Creek Village.  We were having such a good time that I ran a few steps ahead of them, jumped up into the air, and clicked my heels in front of everyone there.  They laughed hard because they couldn't believe I'd do something like that in public.

If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, whom would you invite?
libertarian Wendy McElroy, investment advisor Doug Casey, and entertainer Dolly Parton

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
From my two favorite quotes:
 "A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others."Ayn Rand
and
"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." Mae West

What’s your best piece of advice?
Never buy cereal without a coupon and always when it's on sale.

What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour?
Filing at my family's business (all of us siblings started at the bottom) . I don't remember what I got paid but I'm certain it wasn't much

What was a pivotal decision in your career, and how did you arrive at that decision?
Retiring from the family business at age 55.  It allowed me to focus on areas of my career that I most enjoyed.  I had always planned to put in 30 years there and then follow my own dreams, which I have.

Do you have a bad habit? What is it?
I'm addicted to regular Coca-Cola, but I limit it to 24 ounces a day so I don't overdose.

How do you handle a stressful situation?
I used to play some furious songs on the piano, but since I sold it, I just get in the car and drive around in the country for some quiet reflection. Actually I don't get stressed over too many things.