Susie The Interviewee

~ Bill and Sue on their first married Christmas together~

The lovely lady we all call Smiling Sally

recently offered to send any 5 of us a 5 item interview. In return, we are to *interview* 5 more blog friends! So, do I have 5 takers? I get to ask any questions I choose (Don't worry! Nothing TOO personal!), you answer and then choose 5 more friends to interview and so on. I thought this would be fun so, here goes! Thank you dear Sally!

Why do you call your Blog Rabbit Run Cottage?

On the day we made our final walk through of this home, Bill noticed two small brown rabbits sitting in our driveway. As he started walking towards them they took off like a flash! He exclaimed, "Look at those rabbits run!" Uh huh. Just that simple!

When and why did you decide to blog?

It was October 20th, 2006. The post was titled , "First Post from Rabbit Run Cottage". Whoo Hoo! Original title eh? To visit it, click on the first post title. I had one commenter on that post...and in those days, if I got 3 comments I was tickled pink!

I do enjoy looking back at the first year's posts to see where we were and what I was up to on a specific day. The why I began blogging is pretty easy. I was about to turn 50 and just wanted to try something new, something fun and begin to write about my life...to have a record of our day to day activities. I had no idea how far blogging would take me and how many dear and special friends I would meet along the way. I feel so blessed to be a part of this great circle of amazing people!

What is your favorite thing for dinner?

Hmm...well. I am a foodie. As you can tell by my ample tushie, I love food. If I had to choose just ONE thing to eat for dinner, for the rest of my life, it would be soup. Really! There are so many kinds of soup and they can be so warming, so comforting, so satisfying. Barring that, I will always choose a great dish of pasta!

How did you meet your husband?

March 20th, 1976. 3 friends and I were driving down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for our Spring Break from college.

We were passed by a car which had a sign in the rear window. It read, Smokies Or Bust. and you can imaginme how the *bust* was illustrated. Ahem. Hey, they WERE 19 year old college boys after all! One of my friends thought she recognized the car and, when we stopped at the Welcome to Kentucky rest stop, there it was again. Uh huh. She knew the car and it belonged to a class mate. As we entered the building, 3 college boys were leaving. Turns out that 2 of my friends knew 2 of the boys and began a conversation. They were going camping in the mountains, we were staying at the Twin Islands motel in town. It was decided that we would meet them for pizza the next evening.

Flash ahead to that night. Pouring rain made their campsite unlivable so they drove back into town and found the Twin Islands.Motel They asked for a room and mentioned they had some friends staying there, and could they have a room in their section? The desk clerk, thinking himself rather cute, not only put them in our section but in an adjoining room. If I told you we played Charades and ate pizza all evening, would you believe me? Well, that is exactly what we did. Had a great time too. Very innocent, lots of fun and all the girls even called home and told our folks. As my dad said to me, "I raised you to be a nice girl and I trust you!" I know, boring huh? But I never did a thing in my life to lose that trust I am proud to say!

The boys went back to their campsite that next day and invited the 4 of us to join them for a cookout that night. We drove into the National Park, in the dark and the dense fog and never found the place. We turned around and came back to town. Late that night we heard a knock on the connecting door. It was the guys, back in their motel room for good. It seems a nosy skunk wandered into their tent and decoded to snooze upon the chest of one of the sleeping boys. That was it, no more camping for them! We spent the rest of the stay being squired around town by Rick, Mark and Bill with our evenings spent trying to out do one another in Charades. After our return to Dayton we all remained good friends and spent many a weekend evening together throughout the rest of college watching that new program, Saturday Night Live. The guys became known as The Landsharks after a skit from SNL.

My girlfriends knew I had a huge crush on Bill, his buddies knew he liked me so they conspired to see us together. On May 15th we had our first date. Bill took me to a Cincinnati Red's game and dinner. That was that. We have been a couple ever since. I still have all the notes that the guys wrote us during that Spring adventure. So sweet and innocent, silly and cute. I also have a note that Rick and Mark placed inside the gas cap of Bill's car as we prepared to leave on our Honeymoon. (Remember when gas stations had attendants who pumped your gas! *laugh*)

The next day, after filling the car, the station attendant came to the window laughing and gave us the note. It read, "This couple is actually a pair of runaway minors who do NOT have their parent's permission to be away. Please call %$#-*&^% (which was Rick's home number) or alert your local law authorities." Ah, youth!

I need to post the picture of the guys taken during that trip...look for it soon!

I remember the attendant saying he COULD ask for proof of age (We were both 21) but he would trust us! That note, as well as the others, resides in our wedding book as sweet reminders of a courtship that began in a highway rest room!

Which magazines, if any, do you subscribe to at home? Do you have time to read them? Do you throw them away when you are done reading them?

I began receiving Mary Englebreit's Home Companion beginning with Issue #1. I will miss it so, so much. I had been a subscriber of Country Home since 1982. I am so sad to see it go as well.

I now get Victoria (And had for years before they stopped publishing and now again!), Romantic Homes, Southern Living and Better Homes and Gardens, (Both are Christmas gifts from my Mother each year). I also get Country Living and have since 1979.

Bill has subscriptions to National Geographic and Sports Illustrated (Christmas gifts from Mom each year), Military History and Runner's World.

As a family we receive

Budget Travel, National Geographic Traveler and Smithsonian Magazine.

Yes, we DO have a daughter who sells magazine subscriptions each year for her school! *laugh*

Do I read then all? Yup. Sure do. I am a voracious reader. I will read the back of a macaroni package. I read a lot! So does Bill. In fact, Bill reads far more than I do so our magazines do get devoured! Daniel gets 2 computer magazines that I don't read but I do read his Rolling Stone occasionally! Grace gets American Girl and Kiki which I look through but I don't often read the Disney teen star magazines she buys occasionally. Okay, so I looked at a few of that Zac Efron's posters but hey. He IS mighty cute! *smile*

Throw a magazine away? Perish the thought! I still have every single issue of ME's Home Companion and my Victoria's old and new. I have a huge collection of Country Inn and Bed and Breakfast Inns magazines that I used to get before THEY too went bust. Phooey.

All the others are checked for interesting recipes, decorating or travel ideas before they leave my hot little hands. After any *must keep* item is removed, each magazine is then donated to the WPAFB hospital. Believe me, their magazine selection can be pretty awful! I once found myself in the ER waiting room with nothing to take my mind off my discomfort save for a 5 year old Air Force Exchange catalog that had been well thumbed by some sticky digits.

I also take some magazines to Grace's school where they are used in the art programs. There is always someone who can use them!

Thank you Sally! That was fun! Now...who wants to be the NEXT interviewee? Step right up. Don't be shy! It won't hurt a bit...

Love and Hugs,

Susie Q