knowing me knowing you, #3

A few months ago, Shan from Tales from the Fairy Blogmother started a new interview post. She invited everyone to play along each month. So, here it is, the third installment of Knowing Me, Knowing You! I love it when someone else gives me a blog topic! Then I don't have to think one up myself. As you all know, I’ve sucked at that so far this year.


#1 What is your dream life?


I’m pretty satisfied with the life I have now. The only thing that could make it better is if we had kids to complete our family. Of course I daydream about having an enormous house with hardwood floors, front-loading washer and dryer, a mud room, and acres and acres of beautifully landscaped land, but I think everyone daydreams, right? When it comes right down to it, I love my husband, my home, my family and friends and my job. What else is there?



#2 Do you play games online?


It’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I do. I like several PopCap Games (Chuzzle is my favorite). Feeding Frenzy 2 is one of the silliest, most pointless games, but I am completely addicted. Lately, though, I haven’t been playing so many games online. I got an iTouch for Christmas and I don’t have a single song downloaded to it – I only have applications and games. Mostly games. I just got Oregon Trail, and I’m really excited about it! I have been playing a fun hidden-object game called Yard Sale, too. I’ve got Yahtzee! and Word Warp, as well. It’s a way to pass the time. I typically have to fight J for it, though. He thinks it’s pretty fun, too.



#3 Seen anything good lately?

Three weeks ago I went with my friend to see Confessions of a Shopaholic. I wasn’t so impressed. The book series was fantastic!! I laughed out loud while reading them. I had high expectations for the movie, and, well, I was disappointed. It was an okay movie, but I just don’t think there was enough plot or character development. It had been months since J and I went to see a movie together, so two weeks ago I got dressed and brought him his shoes and said, “We’re going to go see a movie. Put on your shoes, let’s go.” I wasn’t really interested in Gran Torino, but I knew he wanted to see it. I just wanted to go on a date with my husband, so I picked a movie I knew he wanted to see. He liked it more than I did, but I think we were both a little disappointed. Again, very little plot or character development. They seemed to spend a lot of time on insignificant things and completely glossed over important stuff. For example, the neighbors made a BIG deal about the fact that they were Hmong, but then the movie explained very little about their culture. I read a book two years ago called, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. It was about a little Hmong girl who had severe epilepsy and the cultural differences that caused the doctors treating her some serious headaches. It went into great detail about the people, their history, their culture and their beliefs. So, though I am by NO means an expert on Hmong culture, the movie glossed over it too much.

I am going to go this afternoon with my good friend Laurie to see He’s Just Not that Into You. I’ll let you know what I think about it. Have you seen it? What do you think?



#4 What is your favorite pizza combination?

I used to have favorites…now I just have minimum requirements. J and I are 100% opposite in nearly everything. Pizza is one of those things. When I was a kid, my step-dad delivered pizza for awhile after he retired from the Marine Corps and while he was going to school to get his training to do alarm installation. We had so much pizza, that I grew to hate it. In college, we ordered it every once in awhile, and I started to like it again. I still don’t love it, but I’ll eat it every once in awhile. Especially on those nights when we have no food in the house and are too tired or lazy to go to the store. But this is where my minimum requirements come in. J loves pizza. His ultimate favorite combination is pepperoni and jalapeno. I would rather go hungry that put a jalapeno on my pizza. We compromised for a long time on pepperoni and sausage.

Now I am at the point where I require vegetables on my pizza, so we do a lot of sausage and mushroom. I love it when I can talk him into a supreme/ultimate/whatever they call it that has lots of meat and tons of veggies. J rarely agrees to that, though, so as long as it has a veggie on it, I’m okay. And, no, jalapenos are not acceptable veggies even if they are peppers.
If I was really lucky one day, I would be able to talk him into a garlic chicken with artichoke hearts and a white sauce pizza. That’s my ultimate favorite. I’m not holding my breath, though. I won’t ever get that here. I’ll just have to wait until we are at his folks’ house on one of the rare occasions they order pizza and his sister is home. Then we need to order two, so Mom, C, and I get a chicken and white sauce, and J and Dad eat a meat extravaganza. If H is home, she’ll eat either.



#5 How are you with houseplants?

Well, that depends on the real question you are asking. If you are asking how well do I keep houseplants alive, the answer is “I don’t.” If you are asking how well do I kill houseplants, the answer is “Like a pro.”


I couldn’t keep a plant alive to save my life. For our wedding, my aunt gave me and J a blue rhododendron plant. Apparently those things are hard to kill…for the average person. But you see, I am not average when it comes to houseplants. J’s mom offers each spring to send me home with cuttings of her violets (I think they are violets?? I really have no idea) to transplant into our yard. I always decline because the thought of having to transport the living plant all the way across the state, then prepare a spot for it in the yard, plant it, and then keep it alive gives me heart palpitations. I’m thoroughly convinced that I will kill the dang thing before we get to Boardman, Oregon.


I love looking at flowers, but between my allergies, my black thumb and my cats, houseplants that venture into this home are doomed to a certain and painful death, no matter how good my intentions.


So there we have the third "Knowing Me, Knowing You" installment. Thanks Shan! If you want to play along, visit Shan's blog for directions.