1. How did you and Don meet? Was it love at first site?
This is kind of a fun story! After I graduated from college I was writing for a (small) newspaper and not making a whole lot of money. My mom was the manager of an apartment building and offered me a job in the office renting apartments, etc.--plus I would get an apartment as part of the deal!
Long story short--I rented Don an apartment. I wouldn't say it was love at first sight (I was involved with someone else at the time) but I liked him a lot and thought he was really funny. Because we lived in the same building, we were always running into each other.
One day, I ran into him and suddenly remembered the dream I had the night before--which was about him. I blurted out that I had a dream about him and apparently he went to work the next day and asked his friends if that meant he should ask me out--they were like "Yeah, dude!"
So we went out and the rest is history!
2. You are so blessed to have 5 beautiful, healthy kids. It always looks like so much fun at your house. Inquiring minds want to know about each of your Fabulous Five and how they differ from one another in their own unique ways.
That's a great question, Karla! All my kids are great and they all have unique qualities.
Andy is an amazing kid and I predict that will go far in life! He is one of those that succeeds at everything he does. He has been compared to Jim Carrey on more than one occasion--he seemingly has no self-consciousness (which I think is a great thing!). He is so good with all his brothers and sister and never complains when I ask him to help. In grade school he won the school spelling bee every year he was in it and went on to win the county level and ended up coming in third in the state competition. Last year, he was the lead in the school play, Oklahoma, and was just amazing! He had to sing five or six songs and carry the whole play--people still come up to me to say how great he was! Last year he also won a state-wide science competition.
Teddy is gorgeous and super creative--a true artist. When I look at the paintings and drawings he does, I wish I could tap into his brain! He is also extremely athletic and, although he's kind of small, is really good at things like football because he's so fast. He is very interested in airplanes and claims he wants to be a pilot when he grows up--though I kind of hope he changes his tune on that! I predict he might be a rock star!
Patrick might well be a genius. I'm not kidding when I say he gets straight A+s on his report card. But it's the observations and the connections he makes that really blows me away. He is very sweet and always concerned about his family's welfare. When i was in the hospital after having Pickle--he would call on the hour to make sure I was ok! He is also a very good friend and has a devoted group of pals.
Gooser is the sweetest child ever--he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I am actually amazed by his sweetness! I'm sure you all know how much he loves Batman--today he told me that when he's a grown-up, he is going to drive a Batmobile and wear an adult-sized Batman costume--that way everyone will think he's Batman!
Pickle is one of a kind! Being with her all day is like riding an emotional roller coaster--but mostly in a good way! She has fully embraced her role of token sister and baby of the family--and she milks it for all it's worth! She is a sweetheart and says "I wuz you Mommy" about a million times a day! I'm sure you're all well aware of her bacon addiction!
3. I’m cold right now….and I know you guys are right now too….so tell me about a big family vacation you have planned for this year. Do you know where you will be going? What will you be doing?
It's funny you should ask because I just made our reservations yesterday! We are going to California over Spring Break and we are very excited! Don's parents, brother and sister are there--so we will visit them and do some other fun things--probably not Disney because we did that last time--maybe Universal Studios? Of course we will go to my beautiful Pinkberry--probably every day!
4. If you could meet any living person in the world right now (except for Gerard Way, I know he’s a given) who would it be? What would you say?
OK, Karla--I'm sorry, but it just has to be Gerard! Seriously--he's the number one person on my list for so many reasons. I guess if you were forcing me to choose otherwise--I would love to meet Barack Obama and, after seeing The Wrestler tonight--I think I might be semi-obsessed with Mickey Rourke!
But back to Gerard--for those of you who don't know, Gerard Way is the founder and lead singer of my favorite band, My Chemical Romance. Now, I know this sounds awful after I said above that Don and I weren't love at first sight, but I swear it was love at first sight with Gerard! (Sorry, Don...) I was hooked the first time I laid eyes on him and he has become a amazing inspiration to me in so many ways. I got back into painting because of Gerard and when I listen to his music while I'm painting--I get so many ideas. I would love to tell him what a huge inspiration he has been to me.
So, yeah, I'd like to meet Gerard--and I'm confident I will some day!
5. I always wished I had a big family so we have a family ‘game night’. Does your family like to play games? Do you have a game night? If so, what games do you like to play?
Oh, we LOVE games! I would say my all-time favorite game is Pictionary--though we don't play that with the kids too often because it can be kind of hard. We don't have a game night per se, but we tend to play a lot when we're at our vacation house. We love a game called Uno Attack also Scattergories and Yahtzee (not sure if I'm spelling that right?). Don loves to play a card game called Hearts with the boys--but I haven't learned to play that yet.
I am highly competitive at board games and have had several fights--like ending up no longer being on speaking terms--with people I have played games in. My sister-in-law and I still talk about this one game of Scrabble--it wasn't pretty!
Thank you SO much Karla!! Those were great questions and I really enjoyed answering them!
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