Getting Personal With Us!

For those of you that get our esteemed local paper (and I know there are some of you out there even though in Smile Politely recently Seth Fein opined that nobody he knew under forty subscribed to the paper.  I was all ready to argue and then I remembered how old I was.  Hmph.).  Yesterday we were reading the section in which Meg Philmony (Hi Allison!) does the list of questions called Getting Personal or something like that.  As we were lounging on our very lazy Sunday, Ernie started reading the questions to me and we got kind of giggly (as we are wont to do) deciding on the answers so I thought I'd share them with you......  Feel free to chime in with any of your own thoughts....

What time do you typically get up? What do you do the first hour of the morning?
Cynthia:  HA!  Ernie gets the boys up at 6:30 and I blearily mutter, "let me sleep til seven."  Then he or one of the boys drag me out of bed at 7:00 and I shower, get dressed, check things on my laptop, nag Owen about getting ready and am out the door shortly after kissing the boys goodbye around 7:45. Ernie: Usually around 5:30 then coffee! coffee! coffee! and after that watch the news until 6:30 then get everybody (mostly) up!  

What did you have for lunch today? Where? Who with?
Cynthia:  leftover Indian chicken with cashew sauce and rice/lentil pilaf.  At work with my colleague/friend Nancy.
Ernie: some of the same chicken dish at home by myself.  

Best high school memory:
Cynthia:  That’s a tough one.  Seeing Van Halen (with David Lee Roth of course) at the International Amphitheatre?  Or do you mean something school related?  Then I guess it would be the last semester of high school when I spent it in Springfield on an internship with the Division of Historic Sites.  Note that my best high school memory did not take place in high school. Ernie:  Leaving.  

Tell me about your favorite pair of shoes.
Cynthia:  I fear I may have to hang my head in shame….but my black Crocs.
Ernie: My Converse.  

What does a perfect Sunday afternoon include?
Cynthia:  Hanging out in the front yard with my family….doing a bit of gardening and making ever grander plans for future gardening, later on sitting at the table with the laptop looking at recipes for dinner while Ernie does a crossword puzzle, we listen to music and our neighbor Dave drifts in and out of the yard.  Watching the guys on their bikes and witnessing the excitement if our friends Greg and Vicky have told them they can swim in their pool…..that’s all pretty much perfect….
Ernie:  Hanging out with my family----maybe lunch at Fries and Peanuts or hit an antique shop or two.  

Was there one book you read as a child that you still cherish? Own? Read?
Cynthia:  Hands down….Charlotte’s Web.
Ernie:  Hot Rods to Hell by Henry Gregor Felson but I have not read it as an adult.  

Where on Earth are you dying to go? Why?
Cynthia:  I want to go to Greece with Ernie.  He lived there while he was young and loved it----he was supposed to take me for my 40^th birthday but I’d just had a baby.  I also want to visit the British Isles----given my love of antiques and history….it’s ridiculous that I haven’t been there….I fear I am very poorly traveled….
Ernie:  Anywhere with Cynthia.  

Tell me about your favorite pet.
Cynthia: It’s gotta be Audrey.  She was a beautiful honey and white long haired cat---and it was really a good thing she was beautiful as she was a particularly peculiar cat.  Fell off things all the time---no sense of balance---ranging from ironing boards to stairs to a 4^th floor balcony.  She pretty much hated everybody except Ernie and was possessed of great character.
Ernie: Probably our goofy Manx cat Bob!!  

Have you discovered as you matured that you are becoming like one of your parents? Which one and how?
Cynthia:  I am like both of them which is clearer to me the older I get.  I get my love of gardening and cooking----and some of my stubbornness from my father.  I get my eye and love of collecting from my mother.  Ernie says I have my father’s focus---that when he was in lawyer mode he could cut straight to the point and that I do that as well.  I’m so much like my mother that I can’t even tell you how….it’s too close to the bone….
Ernie:  I’ve always been like my mother but with my father’s temper.  I don’t know if that’s changed over time.  

What would you order for your last meal?
Cynthia:  Tough call…..possibly Maine lobster with steamers, coleslaw and potato chips…..or a masterful fried chicken…. 
Ernie: Fried chicken and copious amounts of beer!!!!    

What can you NOT live without?
Cynthia:  All three of my boys.
Ernie:  Music and my family (not necessarily in that order).  

Who do you have on your iPod? 
Cynthia:  I fear I’m not an iPod person.  I have an iPod touch I love but I don’t use it for music----just for notes and lists and going online when hanging out at the hospital.  My computer has lots of music…but not my iPod….
Ernie:  All the music is in my head....I don't need an iPod.  

What's the happiest memory of your life?
Cynthia:  Having my sons.  Somewhat hellish labors but the joy of seeing them is definitely the most wonderful moment.  Although I remember the first time I saw Billy Joe Shaver I kept saying, “I’ve never been this happy before, I’ve never been this happy before….”
Ernie: Getting married.  

If you could host a dinner party with any three living people in the world, what three people would you invite?
Cynthia:  I’m assuming my family would be already included.  I gave this one some thought….and there are definitely a lot of people I would like to have dinner with…..many musicians in particular….but when it gets right down to it I’d have to choose my dear friends Ann and Bob and Sophie.
Ernie: Ray Davies and a couple of my other favorite musicians----too hard to narrow it down but I like talking about their creative process.

What's the best advice you've ever been given?
Cynthia:  Trust your gut.  My husband taught me that---unfortunately he learned the hard way.
Ernie:  Always accelerate on the curve.  

What's your best piece of advice.
Cynthia:  No matter what else is going on in your life----don’t forget to look for the moments of joy. Ernie:  Trust your gut.  

What was your first job, and how much did you make an hour?
Cynthia:  I was fourteen when I started working in an antique shop on Saturdays.  I think I made $2 an hour.
Ernie:  Delivering papers to the GI's in their dorms in Greece.  I don't remember how much I made.  

What was a pivotal decision in your career, and how did you arrive at that decision?
Cynthia:  My career huh?  Hmmm….such as it is.  I think two pivotal decisions were when I quit the full time job I had to focus on doing antique shows and loving it and thinking I would never work another 9 to 5 job again….and then when I realized that having children and needing health insurance was going to change that whole plan…..  So both times it was refocusing on my passion---the first time antiques, the second time my family.
Ernie:  Deciding to work around music....  

Do you have a bad habit? What is it?
Cynthia:  We have a winner and it is PROCRASTINATION!  Oh, well and not liking to make phone calls but Ernie’s the one that thinks that’s a bad habit, not me.
Ernie:  Losing my temper.  

How do you handle a stressful situation?
Cynthia:  “ERNIEEEE----I NEEEEED YOUUUUUU!”
Ernie:  I either talk to Cynthia or put on some music!