Interview Answers

After Suzanne at Life in the Suburbs so enticed me with her interview questions, I had to ask to be a part of the fun. She's very good at asking the right questions. Here's my attempt to answer:

1. Do you keep a scale in your bathroom? If so, how often do you step on it?
   Yes, there is a scale in my bathroom. I haven’t stepped on it since July, right before my commitment ceremony. I am a little afraid of the scale. When I was in high school, I was a swimmer, as I think I have mentioned. I was really fit—I had very little body fat, but I felt I was huge. It was the muscle. I can vividly remember sitting next to Sarah ***** in choir and being envious of how small she was. A couple years ago, I saw a picture of the two of us doing the twist (how geeky) at a choir concert. I was smaller than she was. Another scale story: I also remember my friend Karen ***** weighing herself in the YMCA bathroom and lamenting that she was 98 pounds. I was 119. I told her I felt like a hippopotomaus when she talked about how fat she was, yet at the time, I was amenorrheic because I didn’t have enough body fat to support a period. I didn’t even start menstruating until I was thirteen, and then stopped a year later for a few months. This all is a partial explanation of the complex relationship I have with weight and my scale. (Incidently, no fears about amenorrhea now; I love food. Probably too much. And also probably related to my scale, hidden behind the bathroom door.)
2. How often do you wear pantyhose?
   Never!! I hate pantyhose! They itch my legs. I think half the reason I teach at the Uni is because I don’t have to wear hose. I own zero pairs of pantyhose. I haven’t since I was in high school. Or wait—I did own a couple pair when I worked at the bank in Dublin. I do own four pairs of black tights though. And one pair of brown tights. Nordstrom brand. Most comfortable and soft.
3. When was the last time you lost your temper and what was it over?
   Good Lord. When do I not lose my temper? Combine the Irish temperment with some artist temperment, and I am a vertible tempest in a teapot. But, good Lord, I think I have been temper tantrum free lately. I bet if Partner was home, she could tell me. Oh-- I know when our vacuum broke, again, and started smoking just as I was tackling the staircase. Third vacuum in three years. I was pissed. Once when I lost my temper, I threw a carton of milk. I strongly advise against this as milk is very hard to clean up and is more sticky than one might imagine. It even went onto the ceiling and stained the wall. Partner has made me promise not throw full cartons of anything anymore, but throwing something when one is angry is very fulfilling.
4. Which do you feel better equipped to parent, a boy or a girl?
   I have two younger brothers that were born some considerable years after I was (seven and ten and half years), so I know boys. In some ways I think boys are so much easier than girls. I have taught preschool and I have nannied also. I get boys. I like boys. But… that being said, I sometimes think it might be easier if we have girls. I worry that a boy will be teased more than a girl, but then again a girl might suffer by association. (Meaning, if she’s not gay, will peers assume she is because of her mothers?) I don’t know how to teach a boy to pee standing up. I suppose I’ve imagined us having girls, but I think I could do both fairly well. We’ll see, eh? (We hope, eh?)
5. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror? If yes, what is it?
   My parking tag-- that's it for the rearview mirror, but I do have holy card of Saint Michael stuck in my visor. And a little bell hanging from my garage door opener. The roads in Detroit are notoriously awful, and the bell gives a jingle a lot. I use it as a reminder to say something I am thankful for (and in this season, it often happens to be a little prayer of thankfulness I am not that sucker with a flat tire from the pothole that a Mini Cooper might sink into. Don’t believe me?)

What fun, Suzanne, thank you!