6 Things

To satisfy my duties as "it" bestowed upon me months ago, I'll share some strange things about us. I may not limit it to 6. We'll see.

1. Melinda- I like cars and can name 9 of 10 cars driving by. Even at night. I'm rarely stumped. So when I ask "What kind of car do you have?" and someone answers "Blue," I'm a little disappointed.

2. Ephraim- He's happiest in life when he doesn't have to spend money. For example, he's quite proud of his vast collection of funky 25 cent neckties and second-hand aloha shirts. The cheaper the clothes, the more he likes them. And YET, this man looks classy in any situation. How many guys can pull off a pink stargazer lily print at a BBQ? Some. How many paid only $2 for their pink stargazer lily print? Ours truly. Call it stingy, cheap, miserly, or frugal. We call it "living on the cool side of poverty."

3. Melinda- Next, watch this:"Now brothers and sisters, listen to me, I'm talkin to you re-li-gious-ly. My Mormon Rap will make you see, I'm as funky as Donny and Marie. When I go to church I'm in a good mood cause they all treat me like a righteous dude. When I watch TV I feel inspired cause I listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir..." Need I go on?

4. Ephraim- "Now there may be some of you who know this better (I'm looking at you J+C, I+C) and it's been a while since I read this type of stuff. But you know the big spider in LOTR Return of the King? Yeah, her name is Shelob. Well, she's not the only large spider in the Tolkein universe. Another spider, Ungoliant, an ancestor of Shelob, teamed up with Melkor and travelled to the Undying Lands. There they destroyed one of the Lamps of the Valar when Ungoliant sucked out its light. Oh, and Melkor was Sauron's mentor, creator of balrogs......and dragons. On second thought, you probably all know this, huh?"

5. Melinda- I've had a lot of jobs. My first job was a cashier at EZ-Stop in Union, KY. I wasn't old enough to sell alcohol, so I couldn't push the "BEER" button on the register. The customer usually reached over and pushed it for me. (If he were old enough.) Later I worked ground crew for American Airlines, marshalling in planes and tossing luggage. I also packaged up Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels in a Mattel warehouse, stocked cereal at 3 am at Kroger, waitressed at a Mexican place (I was paid in tacos al pastor), taught ESL to a compadre of Hugo Chavez, ground rocks into fine powder for analysis at a geology lab, and organized socials for all my neighbors in Newport, Oregon. All this to pay for Ephraim's funky tie collection.

6. Ephraim- Ephraim has onion phobia, afro envy, and acrophobia. He's a Mac defender, Bob Dylan enthusiast, and belongs to no political party. His recent excitement: he swam with black tip reef sharks while snorkeling yesterday; after three tries he conquered the land of Catan against the reigning German on island; and he finally finished his bathroom read, Moby Dick.

7. Melinda- I've played piano for most of my life, and still can't play well. Wish I could. Same with tennis. And cooking, and speaking Spanish, and reading long books, and singing, and many other things.

8. Us- Although our lives my appear a "beachy" keen on this blog, they're really normal. We spend a lot of time washing dishes, trying to keep our shabby house together, sweating in boredom, and at wits end with our kids. So really the grass is greener...somewhere else.

There, was that interesting? Was interesting the goal? Is the debt to society paid? Now, we'll get back to sweating in boredom at wits end in our shabby house.