Answer Me This!

1. What is your favorite thing on Youtube?

I am SO GLAD YOU ASKED. Let me introduce you to... the Beyoncelogues.

Actress Nina Millin performs Beyoncé the only way she knows how: in dramatic monologue form.

I might have watched this video more times than anyone else in the history of the world. I haven't gone through all of her videos yet; Single Ladies is just too good.

Also:

it's a very positive, uplifting atheist children's song. Adorbs.

2. Who taught you to drive

A combination of people taught me to drive. It was a family affair. I didn't start driving until I was in my 20's and by that time, I had developed a huge complex about driving and not killing other people while driving. I used to have the worst nightmares.

Anyway, it started out with my sister-in-law. She's about 5 years younger than I am and liked cruising around at night with the windows down and the music loud. I spent hours and hours on the streets of our neighborhoods. Then, Mr. Skeptical practiced with me a bit but that didn't work out well because he stresses me out. It was similar to that time in college when we thought we should be lab partners in Biology and almost killed each other/I almost broke down from the stress of our different work styles. And finally, my dad took me around a bit and actually drove me to the DMV for my license. I scored 100% on the test.

3. What's your favorite thing to cook?

I don't like to cook, but I do love to bake! My absolute favorite thing to make is Chocolate Coca Cola Cake. It's a southern thing. Make it! Trust me. It's so moist and delicious and even my husband who doesn't like chocolate likes this cake.

(Tip: it needs to be a cake, not cupcakes. They just never turn out.)

Ingredients

• 1 cup coca cola
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
• 3 heaping-ish Tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Frosting:
• 1 stick salted butter
• 3 tablespoons dark cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter and flour a 9x13 pan and set aside.
2. In the large bowl of a mixer, stir together sugar and flour and set aside.
3. In a saucepan, bring cola, oil, butter and cocoa to a boil. Pour into the flour mixture and beat on medium low for about a minute. Add eggs, buttermilk, baking soda and vanilla and beat on medium for a minute more. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Immediately upon removing cake from oven, prepare frosting.
4. In a saucepan over medium heat, bring butter, cocoa powder and milk to JUST boiling. Remove from heat and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla. Pour over cake and quickly spread. Let cake cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until serving.

 

 

4. Are you a hugger or non-hugger?

 

I am such a hugger. I hug everyone and everything. I love hugs. I especially love being hugged by people taller than I am (not difficult, as I'm barely over five feet). I have never felt safer than when I'm being bear hugged by certain people in my life.

 

 

5. Where do you pray best?

 

I don't pray, but when I did I always prayed best in bed. As in, right before I fell asleep or right before I woke up. I was never comfortable praying in groups, but I did very frequently on my own. It just wasn't something I wanted to experience with other people.

 

6. When is the last time you saw/spoke to your grandparents?

 

I saw my Grandmother exactly a week ago. The last time I saw my other grandparents was Father's Day. I am terrible about seeing them, especially during busy times. I need to work on that, and I know it. I value them but it feels really hard sometimes to make the time to visit with them. That is a problem with ME, not them.

 

 

Answer Me This!

1. Beach or mountains? Where would you rather be?
I live in the middle of a state that has mountains to the west and ocean to the east (any guesses where I am?). The mountains are a second home to me, thanks to Mr. Skeptical's grandparents who have always kept a summer house there. For over 10 years, it's been our free vacation spot. We're locals by now; we know where the best restaurants are, where to shop, and the best places to hang out (er, at home. Always at home.). So, while I love the mountains, they aren't special to me anymore. They aren't a vacation really, because we go so often.

So, the beach it is. Mr. Skeptical isn't a fan of the beach because he is the lamest person on earth, after me. He hates heat, sand, the ocean itself, swimming, and basically everything fun about the beach. He does like seafood. Anyway, we go very rarely so it's a freaking treat to go. I love the beach!

Earlier this year with a friend.

BUT as much as I love the beach, I am so not getting into the ocean unless my dad is around. In a pinch, Mr. Skeptical's dad will suffice. There's something about our dads that makes me feel safe, like sharks are so not going to bother me with dads around. I used to love the ocean, and then I saw this picture and NEVER AGAIN.

Do you see those 2 little boys splashing around? Their mom took a picture, looked at it later
and saw the SHARK JUST CHILLING THERE.

2. Which is more fun, Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?
We celebrate Christmas in a totally secular way. It's the only Christian holiday we do celebrate, because I grew up with it. We don't do anything Christmas Eve, except work on getting pumped for opening mounds of gifts. Christmas morning definitely wins, for the food and cheer and gifts. It's really the only time during the whole year my side of the family goes all out for each other and it's always worth it.

3. What's the most embarrassing childhood outfit you remember wearing?
Oh man, I have the perfect answer for this. My mom was always HUGE in dressing us up and having pictures taken. She purchased these outfits one time that were so hideous my sister (younger, stubborn as hell) refused to wear it. There were tears, there was yelling, there was general unhappiness... but eventually my sister was stuffed into her CLOWN OUTFIT and we had our pictures taken. My mother still claims the outfits were cute. I wish I could find a copy of our picture but here's a very close version but we had more buttons and no hat:

When I dressed myself as a kid, there was always tights with shorts. Why, Julie? WHY?

4. Your house is quiet, you don't have to do work. What do you do?
I read! I am always reading. It's my thang. The only thing that can drag me away from a good book is a Netflix streaming TV show that I'm in the middle of... such as Gossip Girl. I am too old to be watching Gossip Girl, right? I can't stop. I have 1.5 seasons out of 7 left and then maybe I can move on with my life, or maybe I'll start again from the beginning.

The clothes. I need all the clothes.

5. What movie do you want to watch when you're feeling under the weather?

6. Did you have an American Girl when you were little? If so, which one?
I was born in the mid-80's and when I was a kid, the dolls weren't popular with my friends. The books, however, were the shit. I can still remember details about the original 4 and how my sister and I would argue over which girl we were. I loved Samantha and Felicity the very most.

Memories of my Grandfather on Memorial Day

My grandfather (affectionately called... Grandfather by me and my sister) was so proud of the fact that he was a veteran. He left high school at the age of 17 to join the Navy. I'd always been fed the charming lie that he somehow tricked the US government and lied to join the military, but the truth is much less exciting: he convinced his parents that he needed to join the WWII effort and they signed the paperwork allowing their son to join.

It's fitting that I'm sharing my memories of him on Memorial Day.

I still ache from missing him. It's been less than a month since he died. It's been only slightly more than a month since we called in hospice. We were closer during those last few weeks of his life than we had been the previous almost-30 years.

My grandfather was never an easy man to know. I grew up hearing stories from my dad about him, and about how he was so harsh with his own children. Despite having the means to do so, my grandfather never supplied his children with lunch money. If they wanted to attend a field trip through their school, they had to raise the money themselves. My father managed to pay his own way to France to study abroad in high school. There was never a question that they would help pay for college.

He wasn't like this with me, or my sister. We were definitely his favorite grandchildren. He didn't spoil us by any means, but he did go out of his way to show that we was proud of us. Every year at Christmas, he would give each grandchild $100 and each of his children $500. In the past few years, that number was decreased because of the stock market, to the point where he stopped giving anything at all to the grandchildren. Yet, he always snuck in a check for $100 to me and another for my sister, telling us not to tell anyone even our grandmother. He also contributed to my freshman year of college, which I was deeply grateful for.

Grandfather didn't attend birthday parties, graduation parties, or anything of that sort. When he died, I tried in vain to find a picture of us when I was a kid- and there are zero. The only picture I have of us together is from my wedding.

But- I knew he loved me. He used to tell me the best stories. As a child, whenever I saw him I would immediately crawl into his lap and ask for a story. I'm pretty sure he only had the one story that he told over and over with slight variations, but it was always new and exiting to me. I would sit in his lap and feel so loved and safe. I can still remember the way he smelled and how his curly white chest hair would peek out over his button-down.

A gift I gave him as a child. I was shocked to find he kept it.

I will always remember that he read biographies and played tennis, even winning championships in the senior league. He used to tell me that he won every single match, which I now am guessing probably isn't true. A stickler for rules, he allowed us to use his address so that I could attend a fantastic elementary and middle school. I would spend time with him in the morning and every afternoon. He had oatmeal for breakfast every single morning.

There's this book that was kept in their living room about the Great Depression. Before that book, I had never heard of it before and every Sunday when we'd visit, I would pour over that book trying to understand it. He told me that his birth was what started the Great Depression, and I absolutely believed him.

(Clearly I was a very gullible child.)

Then, there are the memories that aren't so pleasant. Like how he was mean to me during  my wedding, resulting in me crying in the bedroom. Or how to tried to pay my uncle's first wife not to marry his son because she wasn't "good enough." He had a strong disdain for social work, stating that he didn't understand why I bothered to study it since "anyone who can read and write can do that."

The last few weeks of his life, I tried to see him everyday. At first he could sit up in the living room for a few minutes, eventually excusing himself for a nap. Then it got to the point to where he was confined to his bed, but despite the amount of pain he was in, he could still have a conversation with you. He spoke to Mr. Skeptical about school (I got the impression that Grandfather approved of being an accountant); he recognized us for sure. The pain overtook him quickly and he would be in bed moaning constantly. It was extremely hard for me to see him like this, this man that was always so strong and sure of himself. The first time I saw him in this condition, I honestly couldn't handle it and for some reason grabbed his cat and wouldn't let go of her.

I came over one day, having left work a little early, and found my grandmother acting strange. She broke down after a few minutes and told he was only given a few weeks left. I had never seen my grandmother cry before.

When he was moved to hospice, I visited as much as humanly possible. I knew that any second could be the last. I would visit, see him for a minute and then leave to cry. I didn't want him to see me cry. What was really hard about hospice is that Grandfather was aware he was there, even waking up on his first day asking if he was dying, right then.

There was little I could do for him except be there. I held his hand a lot. I still miss the way his hand felt, always so soft and cool. When he was having a good few minutes, he could squeeze back letting us know he was there. And then, in the last 2 days, he couldn't even squeeze anymore. He slept most of the time and was out of it when he was awake.

I feel so good about being there. My sister and I were the only grandchildren that visited him regularly. Even though we didn't have a close relationship, I think the experience brought us closer together in a way that I can't explain. I saw and heard him do things that he never did before. I saw him kiss my grandmother. He asked for her sweetly. He told me and my sister we were beautiful. I heard him say I love you. It took him dying for him to really share that he loved us all.

Now I'm crying. I just wish it didn't take him so long. I wish the whole of my dad's family wasn't so removed from their emotions. I wish that I could have had a normal relationship with my grandfather, one where we actually knew each other and shared.

I miss him so much. I'm glad that he is not in pain anymore and that he is no longer experiencing all of the indignities associated with dying. But I miss holding his hand, waiting for the brief moment he might wake up and smile at me, recognizing me through his pain.