Now, my name is MCA, I've got a license to kill...

I was so sad to hear about the passing of Adam Yauch, also knows as MCA, of the Beastie Boys. 

I've been a huge Beastie Boys fan since the mid-'80's and MCA was by far my favorite of the three.  Their albums Check Your Head and Ill Communication were major players in the soundtrack of my college years.  I've seen them in concert twice and have pretty much every piece of music they've ever recorded.  If I had to pick a favorite Beastie song, this would be it:

But I'm glad that I'd never "have" to pick just one, because their music is such a great blend of rap, hip-hop, rock and funk that your "favorite" song might just depend on your mood that day.  I always loved the way MCA's voice stood out so strongly against the others.  They are all really cool guys, but something about him made me feel like he was the coolest.

I knew he had cancer.  He was diagnosed in 2009.  Last I'd heard anything about it, he was in recovery.  The Beastie Boys are all pretty private about their personal lives, and I'm not big on trolling celebrity gossip anyway, so I wasn't aware that he'd gotten sicker in the past several months.  I knew they'd been inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but I didn't know that he was too sick to attend the induction.  Friday afternoon after my students had left school for the day, I opened up the internet on my computer and the first headline I read was about his death.  It was a little like a kick in the stomach.  He had a 13 year old daughter.  He was happily married.  He was only 47 years old.  Damn.

My Facebook was flooded with posts about him.  I read a few celebrity tweets about him.  I'm not surprised that he was so well-loved among his musician peers.  So far, my favorite tribute is this rather unconventional cover of what is probably their most famous song...

Thanks for the rhymes, MCA.  Rest in peace.

Damn.

This? Is awesome.

So, like most everyone else on Facebook, I am totally digging the Gotye song, Somebody I Used To Know.  It took me a few listens to dig it, but now I can't keep it from bouncing around in my head.  And now it's even WORSE because a friend showed me a video of a group covering the song and it's simply too cool not to share.  Enjoy!

10 things that drive me bat-shit crazy...

...about my mother-in-law.
I will be the first to admit that I fared pretty well in the MIL department.  I appreciate that and do understand that plenty of people have it far worse than I ever will.  I credit Mr. EM with cutting the apron strings all on his own long before I knew him, which helped create some boundaries that she has been forced to honor. 

That doesn't mean that she can't make me just a little...or a lot...crazy sometimes.  It seems like I go through cycles.  Sometimes the things she says or does just roll off my back.  I can chuckle at her, shake my head at her, but not be bothered by her.  Then there are times when everything she says and does rubs me the wrong way and I can't hardly stand to be anywhere near her.  Nothing she does is abusive or dangerous or anything like that.  It's just those "little" things that family members do that cause other family members to roll their eyes, inwardly groan...we all have family members like that.  You're thinking of at least one right now, aren't you?  Don't worry, I won't tell.  Your secret is safe with me. 

And to make you feel better (and because I just spent about 24 hours with my MIL and it's fresh in my mind), here are 10 things about my MIL that drive me bat-shit crazy...

1. Every bed in her house is uncomfortable.  Every. Single. One.  And she refuses to entertain the idea of getting a futon to replace the leaky aerobed in her basement because futons are "ugly".

2. She is the person for whom the term "impulse buyer" was created.   She is constantly trying to send stuff home with us that she doesn't need or want, but has because she can't stand to not buy things.

3. She's a big Nicholas Cage fan, but not the good Nicholas Cage.  Not Moonstruck-Raising Arizona-Leaving Las Vegas Nicholas Cage.  She likes Ghost Rider-National Treasure Nicholas Cage.  And that's fine, to each her own, but she gets offended when we disagree with her about the "genius" that is Nicholas Cage.

4. Macho Man.  *sigh*  He's a whole post in and of himself, but I try not to waste too much mental energy on my dislike for him.  He treats her really well, he's a great provider, he obviously cares very much for her and for all of those things we are grateful.  It's just that she's dated a lot of really cool guys over the years, so why was he the one that stuck?!  "You know, those wind turbines are an eye-sore and they're right in the middle of farmers' fields.  They can't even crop dust any more!"  "Some kids just need to be whipped, you know what I mean?"  "That n*%ger in the White House ain't my president, that's for sure!"  Those are just a small sampling of the nuggets of wisdom he likes to impart Every. Time. We're. There.

5. "So, when you try to sell your house, how much are you going to ask for it?"  NOT HER BUSINESS.  She super-crazy-nosy about stuff like that and it kind of makes my skin crawl.  She's constantly telling us about how much her friends spend on cars, vacations, jewelry, etc.  I'm sure she cannot stand that we avoid her questions, change the subject, give very broad and generic answers.  I don't care, that stuff is NOT HER BUSINESS and I plan to keep it that way!

6. She doesn't like to travel, therefore no one should travel.  She obsesses over our travels.  What time are we leaving?  How long will the trip take?  How many stops will we have to make?  What time will we arrive?  What's there that we need to see/do anyway?  What if someone gets sick/injured?  She has a friend who is retired and bought an RV so she could travel to Florida for 3 months every year.  She doesn't not approve of this arrangement.  "All she does is the same stuff she does here in Illinois anyway.  What's the point?"  The idea of seeing another part of the United States does not appeal to her.  Again, that's FINE, but she thinks everyone should have the same opinion she has.

7. She is impossible to shop for because if she wants something she buys it for herself. 

8. She expects us to take the kids to the doctor every time they sniffle.  If one of them coughs even one time while we're around her, she will call us the next day wanting to know when they're seeing the doctor for "that cough". 

9. She LOVES to talk on the phone.  About nothing at all.  For a really, really long time.  (This one no longer affects me personally since we dropped our land line and only have cell phones!)

10. She takes it very personally that we don't follow her recommendations on things as mundane as what brand of yogurt we buy.  Seriously.  "Didn't you just LOVE that Blue Bunny yogurt?  Isn't it just WONDERFUL?"  When we said we didn't really care for it much, she got a pinched look on her face and said, "Oh.  Well.  I guess I just won't recommend food to you any more.  I never know WHAT you're going to like." 

You know what, though?  There are two sides to every coin and I'm pretty confident that we drive her as crazy as she drives me.  (And I'm not a mature enough person to keep to myself that I kind of like that!)  So, without further ado, here are 10 things about the Earth Muffin clan that drive MIL bat-shit crazy...

1. We don't take the kids to the doctor every time they sniffle, cough, sneeze, run a fever, fall down, get a splinter, puke, get constipated, or even break out in a rash.  We take our kids to the doctor when they appear to be really, really sick or injured.  End of discussion.

2. We don't tell her how much we paid for our house, how much we plan to ask for our house whenever we sell it, how much our property taxes are, how much our vehicles cost, how much we spent on last summer's vacation or any other major purchases. 

3. I exercise restraint and caution when she tries to send random crap home with us.  I will not be a pawn in her impulse-buyer game!  (This one is actually a pretty regular bone of contention between Mr. EM and me.  So far, I'm winning)

4. We don't spank our kids.  Never have, never will.  This does not mean we don't discipline them, though she and Macho Man would disagree.

5. We don't allow smoking in our home. This would account for her infrequent visits.

6. Our kids will go way longer than she thinks necessary between haircuts.  And baths. 

7. We don't like to chit-chat on the phone.  We say what we have to say and then we say, "Good-bye."

8. We are really not fans of Nicholas Cage.  He's made some good movies.  He's made even more shitty movies.  We also don't watch "Revenge".  I don't know why, we've just never watched it.  Doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it.  We just don't watch it.  AND THAT'S OK.

9. We don't eat meat.  She claims to "never know what to cook", which is total BS because she's a great cook and prepares plenty of delicious meatless meals for us. 

10. We will never move into the house across the street, next door, on the next block over or anywhere within a 50 mile radius of her home. 

Ah, family...

Please excuse my absentee blogging

I don't know why, but I've kind of lost my blogging mojo lately.  It's not that I don't want to do it, or don't like to do it.  I just don't do it.  I could use a lack of time as an excuse, but that's not really it.  I'm no more or less busy than I've ever been and I used to make the time.  I find the time to read other people's blogs, I just don't make the time to update my own.  Things go on in my life that lead me to think, "That would be a great blog post," but then I never get around to writing about them.  I'm certainly not in a place where I want to abandon the blog entirely, but right now it just isn't a priority.  And I'm ok with that.  It seems that my few readers are too, because when I do post you all still comment...and thank you for that.  I enjoy hearing from you and I hope that I comment enough on your blogs that you know that I enjoy reading about you too. 

So...let's see...how about a run-down of things going on in my life and in my head these days?

1. I've come to the not-so-shocking realization that children are much easier to parent when they are very young.  Babies and toddlers are time-consuming and exhausting, yes.  But they require little more than caring for their basic needs and loving them.  Big M. is 12 now, in middle school, and he's slowly driving me insane.  I'm convinced that he needs to find a career in sales or as a lobbyist because he absolutely will not take "no" for an answer.  Little M. is in first grade and is so smart and inquisitive that he NEVER. STOPS. TALKING. Ever.  And the fighting between them...MY GOD, the fighting.  Big M. is so inflexible and Little M. is such a pest.  I see both sides of their disagreements, but, frankly, sometimes I just want to knock their heads together a la Three Stooges.  I don't do that, but I really want to. 

2. I was in a play in January at the community theater.  It was great fun.  It was the third play in a trilogy that the theater started back in 2010.  In the first show I played the mother of four children.  In this third show I played my daughter as an adult.  One of my dear friends was in the show with me, playing my brother and we had a blast together.  It was nice to stretch my acting muscles again, it had been two years since I'd done anything onstage and I had missed it. 

3. I have to get up at 5:30 every morning in order to have enough time to get myself ready for work, get Little M. to the bus stop and then get myself to work.  I hate waking up at 5:30.  I have never been a morning person.  There was once a time when I thought to myself that I would NEVER get up any earlier than 6:00 am.  I was wrong.  Now I have to get up at 5:30 every morning and I f$%king hate it more than any other task that I have ever had to undertake at any given time.  Seriously. 

4. I don't know about your neck of the woods, but around here this has been a very weird winter.  We've only had snow maybe 4 times and none of them have been big snows.  I don't mind that so much because I'm really not a big fan of snow and as much as I enjoy a snow day every once in a while, I also enjoy knowing that school will get out before Memorial Day this year.  However, some consistent freezing temperatures would have been nice and we never really had them.  I've been battling allergy symptoms all winter long, as have Mr. EM and Little M.  Our plants keep peeking their heads up out of the ground and then dying.  It's just weird.

5. I don't get political on my blog and I don't plan to start now.  I just want to say that Rush Limbaugh can bite me.  And, his politics aside, what kind of name is Mitt?

6. Have you seen the movie Blue Valentine?  It is gut-wrenching.  I don't recommend watching it when your loved one is away for the night.  You're going to need someone to hold onto when it's over.  *sob*

7. Mr. EM's grandma's health is failing fast.  She is on hospice care now.  Aside from one aunt and one cousin, no one else in his family seems to care.  It's really sad and more than a little infuriating.  His oldest sister posts dozens on pro-life articles and sentiments on Facebook several times a week, yet she hasn't so much as sent a card to her ailing grandmother.  WTF?

8. Work is...work.  Some days are good, some days are not.  We have a new principal this year and he is great.  That makes a big difference. 

9. My brother has a new girlfriend and seems quite smitten with her.  She's very sweet.  I sincerely hope he doesn't screw this one up. 

Photographic evidence that I'm still a functioning member of society...

 Little M. has lost 4 teeth in the past 2 weeks!  This was taken just after the third one came out.  He's been reluctant to have his picture taken since he lost the 4th one, which was the other top front tooth.  Eating has become a challenge for him.  Luckily, the kid loves a challenge!

 This was our contribution to this year's annual Whiskey Tasting at Mr. and Mrs. Granola's house.  It was very good and worth every penny of the exorbitant amount of cash we spent on it.  Seriously.

 Big M. turned 12 last weekend.  This bike was his present from us.  He is very self-concious about his smile lately, won't open his mouth for a picture.  Contrary to how he looks in this picture, he was VERY excited about the bike.

 My friend, Lady Blackjack, has been crocheting in her spare time and has started to make quite a living off of it.  These Angry Birds hats were done by her.  Cute, huh?  You can find her on Facebook as The Glad Hatter. 

Taken at Christmas at my parents' house.  Still like newlyweds we are...

And that's that, friends.  We haven't been doing anything earth-shattering.  We've just been living life.   I'll leave you with a song that I've recently discovered and have found to be a new favorite...where does the time go, indeed?



15 Fun Facts About The M's

I'm jumping on The Feminist Breeder's bandwagon and having a little fun sharing the craziness that is my boys with my swarms (all 3 of you!) of readers...

1.  Big M.'s favorite food is red beans and rice.  Last year when Mr. EM and I were deep into the South Beach Diet and dragging the kids along with us, at least as far as dinner was concerned, I asked Big M. what he wanted for his birthday dinner.  Past birthdays have usually landed us in the nearest Taco Bell, but this time around he pleaded, "Can we PLEASE have red beans and rice and cornbread?  Please?!?!"  I had no idea he'd missed it so much.  He gave me a "Duh!" look and declared it to be his all-time favorite food.

2.  Every day when we pick up Little M. from school, the first sentence out of his mouth is, "What's for dinner tonight?"  Every.  Single.  Day.  When he's told what dinner is going to be, the second sentence out of his mouth is, "Do I like that?" 

3.  Both boys are prone to saying, " 'Ello, Govenor," when they walk into a room.  Once Big M. wrote it in large 4th grade boy handwriting on Little M.'s back.  It wasn't as cute as it sounds.

4.  Big M. slept through the night at 7 weeks.  Yes, SEVEN WEEKS.  It was wonderful.

5.   Little M. didn't sleep through the night until well past his 2nd birthday. It was not wonderful at all. Not even a little bit. It was one of the main reasons behind Mr. EM's vasectomy.

6.  Thanks to Netflix, Big M.'s all-time favorite TV show is The Addams Family. 

7.  Thanks to Netflix, Little M. has developed a healthy appreciation for the old Pink Panther cartoons.  I totally love my kids' quirky tastes in television viewing!

8.  Big M. has great balance.  He is totally comfortable on scooters, skateboards, roller blades, his bike, our roof, etc.  In fact, when he was 4, he INSISTED that Mr. EM take the training wheels off his bike because he didn't need them any more.  We were skeptical, but decided to give it a try.  Turned out he was totally ready.  A few months later at his 5th birthday party, he was thrilled to show off his new skill to his grandparents and they were thrilled to watch him...until his hit a pothole in the parking lot he was riding on and flipped over the handlebars.  Oh well.  A good bike wipeout happens to the best of us.

9.  Little M. will be 7 in May and has zero interest in taking the training wheels off his bike.  Zero.  He's as much of a daredevil as his brother on his scooter and skateboard, but riding a bike with no training wheels truly freaks him out.  Not sure what to do about that other than wait him out.  Thoughts?  Suggestions?

10. Both of my kids have terrible phone etiquette.  They get on the phone and seem to lose all sense of how to carry on a conversation or ask a simple question.  They speak in monotone, create awkward pauses and occasionally seem to lose all sense of who they're talking to.  I don't understand it.  We have tried to teach them proper phone skills, but they just don't seem to get it.  Don't even get me started on the sadness/hilarity of listening to them leave a voice mail.  It's so funny it's painful.

11. Big M.'s favorite bands are Green Day, Blink 182 and My Chemical Romance.  His favorite movie is School of Rock.  He likes to wear skinny jeans, Tony Hawk t-shirts, Converse All-Stars and his guitar string bracelet.

12. Little M.'s doesn't have a favorite band just yet, but some of his favorite songs are "No More Mr. Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper, "A Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by the Beatles and "Hard to Handle" by Otis Redding.  His favorite movie is The Cat in the Hat.  He likes to wear sweatpants, his Staunton Bulldogs sweatshirt, Spiderman socks and no shoes. 

13. The boys spend the better part of their days begging me to buy them Oreos, Pop-Tarts, Cookie Crips cereal and...of all things...clementines.  I only give in on the clementines.  (And sometimes the Oreos.)

14. They fight like cats and dogs.  They argue over who gets the computer/TV first, who left an empty cereal box in the pantry, who gets the last cookie, who has a funnier story to tell at dinner, who mixed up their Legos, who needs my attention the most, who has the smelliest feet, etc., etc., etc.

15. They bond over a mutual affection for weapons and bodily functions. 

They are mine and my life would be so dull without them...

This kid's gotta get out more...

Little M. has been invited to a Valentine party...a Valentine TEA party, to be precise. 

He doesn't like tea.

Did I tell her that?  He doesn't like tea and he doesn't want to drink it at the party. 

Did I tell her that?

The invitation came, via Facebook, a few weeks ago.  I didn't mention it to him right away.  When he knows of an upcoming event that he's not quite sure he's excited about, the questions and musings are relentless.  I waited until the party was just a week away, then I mentioned it. 

"Hey, Little M., you like to play at G, V and L's house, don't you?  Did you know that they are having a Valentine party next Saturday?  You're invited.  That'll be fun, won't it?"

He agreed that it would be fun, but wanted to know what they would be doing at the party.  Since I really didn't know, I just told him that everyone was bringing one special Valentine to be part of an exchange and there would be snacks.  He's always up for any event where snacks are served.  We talked about what he would need in order to make a special Valentine, and that was that. 

Until I screwed up.

A few days later I said, "Little M., I brought home some of the craft supplies you'll need to make your Valentine for the tea party."

DAMMIT!  I forgot to leave out the word "tea"!  Little M. has always, ALWAYS, had an unreasonable aversion to tea.  Hates it.  HATES IT.  I'd been doing so good, leaving out the fact that this was a "tea" party, and now I just blew it. 

"TEA PARTY?!?  I don't like tea.  I don't want to drink tea.  Did you tell V's mom that I don't like tea?  I don't want to go to a party if there is going to be tea there.  I don't like tea and I don't want to drink tea."

I tried, in vain, to reassure him that he would NOT have to drink tea at the party.  He was not to be swayed.  He did NOT like tea and he would NOT drink it and he did NOT want to go to a party if there was going to be tea there. 

Like I said, an UNREASONABLE aversion to tea.

A day later I was able to talk him down off the ledge.  "Little M., if you don't want to drink tea, no one is going to make you drink tea.  I will let V's mom know that you don't like tea.  I'm sure she'll have something besides tea to drink.  You don't want to miss out on a party with your friends just because there is going to be tea there, do you?  That would be silly.  We go to Aunt L.'s house every 4th of July for a fish fry even though we don't eat fish, don't we?  We still have a good time and there's always plenty of other things for us to eat.  Just forget about the tea and think about how nice it'll be to spend an afternoon with your friends."

He agreed and started coloring some hearts that I'd printed for him to glue onto his Valentine for the party. 

The next day I was hanging some recently washed coffee mugs on our pegs...

And I made another mistake, though my intentions were honorable.  Little M. was approaching meltdown mode over a homework paper, so in an attempt to distract him I said, "Hey, Little M., come here and choose which cup you're going to take to the tea party on Saturday." 

He gave me a "look".  He reminded me that he does NOT like tea and he's NOT going to drink tea so he does NOT need to take a cup to the party. 

I told him that invitation said to bring a favorite tea cup and even if he doesn't want to drink tea he should still bring a cup because surely he'll be drinking something.  I thought he'd want to do this part, we never let him even touch our coffee mugs because he has a habit of breaking them.  I thought for sure he'd choose Big M.'s Simpson's coffee mug. 

Instead, he said, "These aren't teacups.  They're coffee mugs."

Sigh...

I explained that we don't have any actual teacups except for the one with the broken handle that the cat drinks out of, so he should just choose one of our coffee mugs.  "You could take the one with Bart Simpson on it.  Or this one is from the Krispy Kreme store.  This one has a man playing a horn on it, Dad got that one at the Jazz Museum.  What about Mom's blue one with the peace signs?" 

He stared at the mugs, deep in thought.  "The brown one.  I want to take the brown one with the words on it.  Can you get it down for me so I can read it?  Then I'll know what it says when I get to the party and I can read it to everyone."

Sigh...

This is the one he's talking about:

What ensued was a good 20 minutes of discussion as to why this is not an appropriate mug to take to a Valentine tea party for children, with Mr. EM giggling in the background and not being the slightest bit helpful.  The discussion ended with Little M. skulking out of the room saying, "Fine.  I'll just take the stupid blue mug with the stupid peace signs on it."

And now the party has been postponed until next Saturday, so we have another week to get through before this whole ordeal is over. 

Sigh...



Just a little meme for sh*ts and giggles...

Stole this from a new-to-me commenter, Jean.  Seeing as how Mr. EM is one of my favorite blog subjects, I thought this one would be fun to do.  And, yes, I know I've been really absent from my blog lately.  I have lots of posts swirling about in my head, but very little time or motivation to organize them into something readable.  Maybe I'll work on that in 2012...and maybe not.  So, satisfy yourself with this for now...

What are your middle names?
Kaye and Gordon

♥ How long have you been together?
Together for 15 years, married for 13

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in August of '96 and hung out as friends until October of that same year.

♥ Who asked who out?
There was never really a formal "asking-out".  He was invited to a wedding that he felt he needed to attend, but didn't want to attend alone.  I volunteered to go with him. 

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm a few weeks away from my 40th birthday.  He just turned 42.

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
My brother.  He keeps in touch with his 3 sisters via text message and Facebook, but they all live in Florida and Virginia so we don't see them much at all.  He saw one of his sisters last year when he travelled to Florida, but it's been years since we've seen the other two.  His family is kind of nuts in a hyper-religious-Republican kind of way and there's all kinds of crazy backstory stuff going on there that Mr. EM would just as soon stay away from.  I agree.

♥ Do you have any children together?
Two boys, ages 11 and 6.  Mr. EM has a son, age 21, from a previous marriage.  He lives in Germany, we don't see much of him at all. 

♥ What about pets?
Just a cat at the moment and she is the sweetest, easiest pet either of us has ever had the pleasure of living with.  We've had dogs and cats together throughout the years, we're both "pet people".  I'm sure we'll get another dog someday, today just isn't that day.  I highly doubt tomorrow will be either.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Raising the boys.  The issues that I'm willing to let slide are the issues that make him the most tense and vice/versa.  I have a more relaxed approach, it's a lot easier for me to ignore their obnoxious behavior and as long as no one is injured during their disagreements I stay out of it.  Mr. EM seems to lack the ignoring gene and their minor disagreements drive him right up a wall.  On the other hand, I will not tolerate them getting in trouble at school, being lazy about school work and Mr. EM is less rigid in that regard.  This imbalance has caused a lot of strife in our relationship over the years. 

♥ Did you go to the same school?
No.  I was born and raised in a small Illinois town.  He was born about 150 miles north of there, but moved around a lot as a kid, ultimately graduating from high school in Florida.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
See above question...

♥ Who is smarter?
I think he is.  I always took school very seriously, made good grades, earned a degree.  He did none of those things, but I truly think he is the smarter one.  I don't know if he'd agree or not, and I'm not willing to find out!

♥ Who is more sensitive?
Me, though I've learned that he is more sensitive than I've given him credit for in the past.  Maybe he's becoming more sensitive as he gets older or something.  I've seen a much more vulnerable side of him over the last couple of years.  I like it.  He doesn't.  Men.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Usually Thai food, because that's become his favorite in recent years and I'm usually so happy to just get out of the house that I'll go wherever he wants.  However, we both love trying new places and will give any restaurant with lots of vegetarian options and good reviews a chance.  I do try to steer us away from pizza when we're out without the kids because pizza is usually what we get when the boys are with us.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Orlando, Florida, for his cousin's wedding. 

♥ Who has the worse temper?
This used to be a definitive "HIM!"  Now, not so much.  Age, stress and parenting have brought out a rather ugly part of me and I now find myself flying off the handle on occasion too.  His fuse is much, much shorter than mine so he will go from zero to pissed-off in no time flat.  I'm more of a stewer.  I'll take something and take it and take it for a while before I reach my boiling point and then...watch out.  I can also say, though, that we are both trying to watch our tempers better and sometimes we even succeed.

♥ Who does the cooking?
I do almost all of the cooking.  It used to be more 50/50 when Little M. was a baby and wouldn't tolerate being out of my arms for more than 10 minutes, but now it's pretty much all me.  I don't mind it.  I've even come to enjoy it most of the time and I really like seeking out new, healthy recipes that we'll enjoy.  He does all the clean-up, so I can't complain for sure!

♥ Who is more social?
This is an odd dynamic in our relationship...one that bugs me just a little.  I am by far the more social of the two, but he is the one with the more active social life.  My friends are spread out all over the state and the only good friend I have that lives in my town works completely opposite hours from me, so I have very few opportunities to socialize.  His friends are mostly local and they plan a lot of road trips together, as well as get together for concerts and bonfires every so often.  It's frustrating for me sometimes because he craves his alone time and I'm just DYING for some social interactions, but that's just the way it is around here.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Me.  Always me.  Though I have to qualify this by saying that keeping things "neat" and keeping them "clean" are 2 different things.  I don't care if there's an inch of dust on the book shelf as long as all the books are put away neatly.  I keep my kitchen and bathrooms truly clean, but if it weren't for Mr. EM the rest of the house would be neat but filthy.

♥ Who is more stubborn?
I think we're about even here.  We are both pretty flexible people and we work hard to compromise so as not to argue, but when we dig in our heels there is no budging either of us.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
Neither.  We sleep very harmoniously. 

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Him.  Even when he can sleep late he is usually unable.  Sometimes this bothers him, but most of the time he's fine with being up early in a quiet house.  It's rarely quiet for long, though.  Little M. is an early riser too.

♥ Where was your first date?
Technically, the wedding he felt compelled to attend is the first time we went out together.  However, we consider our first date to be the following day when we went to a small music festival together.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
He has more siblings, but I have a much larger extended family.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
No.  *sigh*  Mr. EM is not much of a romantic and he thinks cut flowers are a silly gift because of their short lifespan.  On the one hand, I agree, but the feminine side of me wouldn't mind a small bouquet every once in a while. 

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between his mom's and my family.  It's the best way to do things so that the grandparents get equal time with our kids, but I miss my family a lot when we're not with them.  Holidays at his mom's are very quiet, it's just us and her and her husband.  I prefer a more festive occasion.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
Not long at all.  After that first date we started hanging out pretty much every night.  We said, "I love you," within a month of dating and were talking marriage just a few months after that.  We moved in together before we'd been dating a year.  When you know, you know!

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
I do.  All of it.  The sorting, the pre-treating, the washing, the drying, the folding.  The boys put their own laundry away, but I put away all of ours.  I am very OCD about laundry and Mr. EM, god love him, just doesn't do it right.  It's ok.  He does plenty of other household chores around here.  I'm cool with handling the laundry.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
He is.  I can do everything I want to do on a computer and I have no desire to learn more.  He finds technology fascinating and throws himself into learning more about it. 

♥ Who drives when you are together?
He does.  All the time.  He loves to drive.  I don't.  We're a good team.