St. Charles resident Mary Convery, 40, was dismantling a children's swing set when she answered 11 questions from the Kane County Chronicle's Brenda Schory.

Where did you grow up? Concord, N.H., and then we moved to Richmond, Va., when I was 11. And then I lived in Cleveland, Ohio, where I went to college.

Pets? A black lab and pointer mix named Bootsysuperchunklefunkalicious, but she goes by Dog. And Bootsy comes from Bootsy Collins – my husband named the dog.

Who would play you in the movie of your life? Katie Holmes.

First job? At the counter at Arby's.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be an artist, but I'm not very artistic. Math and science are more my thing.

A book you'd recommend? I have three kids, and I've been reading the Percy Jackson series.

Favorite charity? Habitat for Humanity.

Hobbies? I play guitar.

Favorite local restaurant? Francesca's by the River in St. Charles.

What was your best Halloween costume? Last Halloween my husband and I were Sonny and Cher, but he was Cher, and I was Sonny.

What is an interesting factoid about yourself? I started out as a high-energy physicist at on one of the two Tevatron experiments at Fermilab. And then a couple years ago, I went over to the accelerator division for more of the mechanics of making the particles collide.