1. I hate the sound of fingernails being clipped. Perhaps the only thing I hate more than that is the sound of toenails being clipped. I can handle it at a nail salon. But no where else. I ask that my husband avoid clipping his nails when I am home and that he be certain to remove all evidence that nails were clipped before I return. This seems to never work though, he always realizes he needs to do it when I'm home, so he is forced to do it outside on a porch. And even then, I prefer to be on a different floor with a tv on very loudly.
2. You know that Edvard Munch painting, The Scream? I love to make that face. I probably do it at least once a month while looking in the mirror. I have a very long face and I try to replicate the expression.
3. I am not a diamond person, and I am very glad my husband figured that out since I didn't know he was going to propose. When I was in college, I did a bunch of research for a class on conflict diamonds and ever since, they've lost any allure they ever had for me. The year we got engaged, shortly before we left on the trip to Italy, I was at book club and we'd just read a book (not my pick) that touched on the subject (Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver). Somehow it came up in conversation that I really hoped if the AC proposed, it wouldn't be with a diamond. All the women in my book club knew we hadn't looked at rings and were about to go back to Italy. They tried to brace me for the possibility that if he proposed on the trip, it very well could be with a diamond. I was trying to imagine what I'd say or do. Of course I knew I wanted to marry him and that was the key, but at the same time, I wasn't enthused about wearing something that had had such a high human cost. But I didn't think a proposal was imminent since we hadn't really talked about it or looked at rings, so I didn't really worry about it. Then he proposed our first night in Italy on that trip (still in our clothes from the flight over and fighting desperately to stay awake). We were sitting on a bench outside the castle where we would eventually get married, waiting for our fave restaurant in the area to open for dinner. We'd just watched the sunset and it was dark and we were sitting there talking. He proposed and I was thrilled. I didn't even really notice the ring, I was teary and so happy. Finally it started to sink in and I looked and couldn't really see too much. I asked if we could move under a streetlight, and I looked and it seemed dark. I asked if it was a diamond, and he said no, it was a sapphire, he'd thought I didn't want a diamond. I had no idea how he knew (he'd bought me a diamond necklace years earlier and I think he said at some point since then we'd seen that Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Blood Diamond, and I'd mentioned something -- and unbeknownst to me, he'd been paying attention!). So I don't have a diamond engagement ring.
4. I think I could recite Dirty Dancing by heart. It's not my favorite movie, but I've probably watched it more times than any other movie. I also own Balli Proibi, which is the movie dubbed into Italian. When I watched it for the first time, I had not been allowed to see it, but my friend and I snuck into it from the movie we had been allowed to see. During the scene in the kitchen with Penny, when Baby asks what's wrong with her and is told she's knocked up, I had no idea what that meant. I whispered to my friend, what did he say. She repeated it. I asked again, and she repeated again. I asked a third time and she repeated it loudly enough I couldn't ask again without revealing my ignorance. I went through the entire movie not comprehending what was going on, but I thought it was great anyway. It wasn't until much later that I found out what knocked up meant.
5. My first W2-type job was at a fast food restaurant where a bunch of my high school friends worked. They eventually all quit or got fired, but I kept working there. I worked junior and senior years of high school, and Christmas break during my freshman year of college. My favorite job there was drive through and I met a really cute guy there who asked me out after coming through the drive through about 20 times. We went on a single date, but it was one of the coolest dates of my life to that point -- we went sailing. He never asked me out again, I think I was younger than he'd realized. Or maybe it was something else.
6. I don't think I should be trusted with candles. It's a miracle I haven't burned down a dwelling yet. I love the way they smell, but I've finally learned not to light them because I never remember to blow them out. There have been so many times, I've lit a candle and then forgotten and come back home (or woken up) to find it still burning. Fortunately, on the rare occasion I now light one, I know not to trust myself and I put it in the middle of a huge and empty counter, just in case.
7. Every single time someone is around me when I get out of the shower and am combing my wet hair, I ask him or her if he or she can guess which side I used conditioner on. Every friend I have traveled with, every family member, every in-law, my husband like three days per week, every houseguest we've had, every friend who has come to pick me up before I was ready. I always comb the left side of hair first (I part my hair on the left, so that side is thinner and easier to comb (not that my hair is thick on the other side though)). So the answer is always the left side. But of course I use conditioner on both sides. I think those commercials for conditioner made a huge impression on me when I was young, and I love seeing how ratty one side is when the other side is so smooth and nicely combed. Anyway, the question used to drive my husband crazy, but he's accepted it as some weird thing I feel compelled to do and now always answers or points lovingly.
HA! Your #1 cracks me up! This was fun to read and to get to know you a little more. Thanks for doing it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great proposal story! I love sapphires too :)
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