41 Odd things about the Nelson Women
- Do you like blue cheese?
Darin: Nah, more into Caesar
Denise: No - and nothing green on my cheese either pls.
Dione: Ick, ick, ick. Tastes like crayons to me. Remember those big fat half round crayons left over from Grandma McGraw's teaching days? Tastes like those. Don't ask me how I know.
Mom: Yuck! I like Cheddar
Mechelle: Not really however I do like Gorganzola with a nice basamic vigerette or rasberry walnut dressing. - Have you ever smoked cigarettes?
Darin: I was very worldly for about a week the summer of ’71 when I was 13. Snuck my Grandpa McGraw’s smokes one at a time and smoked them in his bathroom with my best friend. He was a very bright man, and never said a word, probably just snickered all week and never ratted me out to my Mom.
Deni: I inhaled once - yuck
Dione: Only once when Danny found some and he dared me too. I was probably
11 or 12 and I did not inhale. Don't tell Dan. Always thought it was dumb to start something that I would eventually want to quit. Eww I may as well admit I chewed tobacco once too on a canoe trip when I was told it was sort of a requirement. How gross is that?And man did it make my head spin!
Mom: Tried one time, choked when I tried to inhale. . . never again!
Mechelle: Growing up in a house of smokers it was hard to avoid. I tried once when I was 13 and my little sister told on me and was promptly grounded for the remainder of the summer (it was June). When I was 18, thinking I was very cool, started smoking with my friends. I then met Neil who really was never a very good influence except for the fact that he didn't smoke. For the first few months I dated him I tried to convince him that the smoke he smelled was really from my roommates smoking and not me (I was too embarrassed to tell him I smoked). My News Years Resolution was to quit smoking, but had planned to take full advantage of smoking until 11:59 p.m. I would go into the bathroom at the friends house we were celebrating (she left me cigarettes under the bathroom sink). As soon as I would light up - Neil was knocking on door "what are you doing". Obviously he didn't think I might actually be using the bathroom.
Unfortunately I was forced to give up smoking at least 2-3 hours prior to my anticipated 11:59 p.m. cut off time. I have been smoke free (other than visiting my family) for 22 years and counting! - Do you own a gun?
Darin: Several, and one has a laser site, so don’t mess with me in the dark.
Deni: No - but putting on my Christmas list for this year!
Dione: No. Well we have a B-B gun which is how Scott shot the rat last weekend. Does it sound like we need a real gun in our house? I didn't think so.
Mom: Never
Mechelle: Danny has a BB gun that belonged to his grandfather and a pellet gun I am sure he Chuck collaborated on. Other than that I don't want to know or see. - What flavor Kool-Aid was your favorite?
Darin: Is there any flavor besides “red”?
Deni: Going with red also - unknown flavor but love the color.
Dione: Umm duh. Also going with red here.
Mom: Kool-Aid at my age? You must be joking!
Mechelle: Is red a flavor? Ok, ok, just kidding. I like rasberry. - Do you get nervous before Dr. appointments?
Darin: Depends on the circumstances and family members, but for me—no.
Mom: No, but my blood pressure always goes up.
Deni: Always.
Dione: I get nervous before everything. I was nervous before I opened this email.
Mechelle: Depends on the doctor and the type of appointment (get it??) Typically no. - What do you think of hot dogs?
Darin: Casper’s please, hold the onions. (Just had one Tuesday on date night—who says romance is dead?)
Deni: Love hot dogs.
Dione: What's not to love?
Mom: They're okay! Usually cut mine up and put them in scrambled eggs.
Mechelle: Once in a while I can tolerate them with mustard and ketchup but I do love them with chili, cheese and onions. - Favorite Christmas movie?
Darin: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, makes me sad when no one will play with him.
Deni: No fave here.
Dione: It's a Wonderful Life... I also like the Christmas Story...or whatever it's called. The "You'll shoot your eye out!" one.
Mom: It's a wonderful world. Think that's the name of it.
Mechelle: It's a Wonderful Life and Mircle on 34th Street - reminds me of my mom. - What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Darin: Half coffee/half nonfat (Denise, note—this is a coffee order with FOUR words: my sister’s Starbuck’s order is an entire paragraph—they should just name her beverage after her and make life easier for the rest of the people at the drive-thru.)
Deni: Tall nonfat pumpkin spice latte please - extra hot, no foam, with a straw please.
Dione: At home coffee with whatever flavored coffee mate creamer I have, at
Starbucks: Venti caramel macchiato. THAT'S THREE WORDS. I've even got Darin beat.
Mom: Coffee with a scoop of Cafe de Vita and Splenda.
Mechelle: Venti (which frequently elicts chuckles from my co-workers) nonfat, no whip Mocha. Mmmmmm. - Can you do push-ups?
Darin: Bras, No, already too busty. Oh, like the exercise on the Presidential Fitness Test in the 60’s? No, exercise is one of my fundamental disbeliefs.
Deni: could never do a pushup
Dione: Why would I want to do one of those?
Mom: You must be joking!!!!!
Mechelle: Yes, only because Tia has been making me practice with her. - 10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
Darin: An opal/ruby ring my husband gave me early in our courtship.
Deni: I love my engagement ring and wedding ring
Dione: I love my engagement ring too... but I'm not much into jewelry.
Mom: A necklace with gold nuggets. . . bought it in Alaska while on a cruise.
Mechelle: My engagement ring and wedding bands. They remind me each day how lucky I am!!! - Your favorite hobby?
Darin: Reading
Deni: Making candles.
Dione: Umm... Reading, no writing, err taking pictures... oh making photo books! I don't know. Who says I have to choose?
Mom: I have made a list of 24 different hobbies I have had so far during my life, one of my craziest was Belly Dancing, but right now I would have to say Reading, and NOT in the bathtub.
Mechelle: Who has time for a hobby??? Aren't Tia and Danny my hobby?? Well I do love to read (when I am traveling for work) and I lik to play Suduko. - Do you have A.D.D.?
Darin: I’m sorry, I was looking at a fly—what was the question? Oh, yes, I do.
Deni: Definitely
Dione: Come on, do you really need to ask? Oh, these keys are SHINEY!
Mom: .? No. . . . I'm pretty normal. . . don't ask my kids though.
Mechelle: Not for the most part - except when I am cleaning the house.
There is always so much to do that it is hard to stick with one room. - What's one trait you hate about yourself?
Darin: Impatience, wanting to know the future instead of enjoying the moment.
Deni: difficulty I have staying with a project
Dione: Messiness
Mom: ? I hate being alone. . . it's so depressing.
Mechelle: I picked up my mom's habit of worrying about everything.
Obviously Danny believes this is a trait his Mom has too because sometimes he replies "ok Dolores". At least I am good company!! - Middle name?
Darin: Elise
Deni: Elaine.
Dione: Elizabeth
Mom: Elaine
Mechelle: Alice.....I feel so left out. - Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment?
Darin: (1) Ha ha, I’m taking tomorrow as vacation. (2) Whose office is this and why don’t they clean it up so it looks like an office and not a storage shed? (3) Why didn’t I do what I told Adan I was gonna do AGAIN????
Deni: 1) I need to stay focused today, 2) I need to try to exercise
today,3) my dogs need a bath badly!
Dione: 1) Do I have enough time to go to Target before picking up Amanda? 2) Does Deni exercise every day? I should probably start exercising. 3) Nah.
Mom: (1) I am wondering if the police have caught those 3 guys loose in my area--we have been told to stay in and keep our doors locked. (2) Will it be safe to go get my mail soon? (3) How did these 3 guys get in here anyway?
Mechelle: (1) Do my in-laws think I am weird? (2) Does Deni excerise everyday? I know I should too, but who has the time. (3) Is it lunch time yet? I'm starving! - Current hate right now?
Darin: I’m feeling pretty grateful right now.
Deni: No hates - but not happy with my diet/exercise routine - bad enough was not exercising now not even counting my points either - yuck!!
Dione: I hate that Deni keeps talking about diet and exercise. Are you trying to make me feel bad, Deni?
Mom: I hate it that I can't go out and walk my dog and water my plants.
Mechelle: Do you really have to ask? Ok let me refine my answer and you can take it from there. Contra Costa County Family Court or maybe just the attorney from the otherside. See...I am trying to be respectful of my darling husbands evil ex-wife!! - Favorite place to be?
Darin: Climbing up the stairs out of the Tube in downtown London & seeing EVERYTHING I’d always dreamed about all on one street, West Minster Abbey, London Eye, River Thames, Big Ben, etc. Did it 3 times, made me cry 3 times.
Deni: Sitting with my husband on a beach
Dione: Snuggling with one of my kids.
Mom: In Salem with Lindy.
Mechelle: I will have to go with sitting on a beach with my husband too, but since it seems so far out of the realm right now, I will just say anywhere with my husband. Don't say yuck girls just because he is your brother. He really is charming when he wants to be!! - How did you bring in the new year?
Darin: Uh…that requires staying up until midnight. Probably listened from bed to Katie, Chuck, and Breandan explode things and then knew it was midnight when two 70-lb dogs jumped up on my bed shaking at the gunfire ringing in the new year.
Deni: Have no recollection!
Dione: The Travis tradition: At home, slumber party in front of the Christmas tree. Dick Clark on TV. Watch fireworks from our back yard. Eat crepes with nutella & chocolate for dessert. Yum.
Mom: I was asleep so Idon't know who brought it in.
Mechelle: Danny and I were with close friends in San Francisco. I was drinking champagne (which is my favorite) and Danny was the DD for the entire group. - Where would you like to go?
Darin: Hawaii in a heartbeat. But Clara is PROMISING New Orleans
Deni: I'd like to see some of our national parks
Dione: Italy. Or Target.
Mom: Salem, Hawaii, Alaska
Mechelle: Anywhere with Danny that is quiet, peaceful, warm and where we can play cards and relax! - Name three people who will complete this?
Darin: Dione, Denise, Mechelle
Deni: Dione for sure - Darin already did - don't know Mechelle well enough to know if she will!
Dione: Thanks Deni... I would have put me down for getting distracted and not getting around to it. Uh... Well I saw one come through from Mom a few minutes ago... so it might be cheating to say her... But uh... I'm gonna hope for Mechelle. I guess that's everyone unless I send to others.
Mom: Dione, Denise, Mechelle
Mechelle: Well you all four did already....so there is no one for me to guess! : ( - Do you own slippers?
Darin: Nah, this is my older sister’s addiction. (Can’t wait to see her
answer.) I wear sox, just to admire how much my dogs can shed on hardwood floors in one week.
Deni: Only 9 pair - anyone wear a size 7 and need a pair? Some are still brand new - and some have not yet arrived in the mail!!
Dione: Uh yeah I OWN them because all the lists that tell you what to pack for the hospital when you're having a baby say you need slippers. Turns out you don't actually have to have slippers to give birth though. Who knew? I don't really WEAR slippers too often though... BUT Darin, remember those totally cute pink striped slipper socks you got me cuz Katie got some because they reminded her of Dad. Now I LOVED those. Pretty much wore them to death though. Anybody who sees slipper socks, please tell me.
Mom: Yes, 1 pair and another pair coming. . . thanks to "the slipper lady," Denise.
Mechelle: Yes, fluffy pink ones that Danny bought me for Christmas last year. - What shirt are you wearing?
Darin: Chico ’s tank top and jacket
Deni: Wearing a pink sweatshirt with a hood - cold this morning!
Dione: Long-sleeved pink shirt with a hood... (how cute are we, Deni?) and a white tank under it.
Mom: White sweatshirt, blue jeans, my uniform.
Mechelle: Wow, yesterday was pink day. Good think I caught up today with my pink sweater. - Do you like sleeping on satin?
Darin: Too cold + dangerous—you can slide ride off of the bed, which does not add to the air of sophistication I’d be going for. Safety first.
Deni: Have never slept on satin - sounds dangerous tho!
Dione: Gonna have to go with my sisters. Far too dangerous.
Mom: Are you kidding? I'm sleeping in Flannel.
Mechelle: I'll go with the sliding. I would much prefer soft cotton sheets. - Can you whistle?
Darin: Very badly, but it reminds me of my pop, so I whistle a lot. (Then I take pity on the woman in the office next door and try to stop.)
Deni: Could if necessary - not very well tho.
Dione: Nope, not really?
Mom: Just enough to call my dog in.
Mechelle: Barely - Would you be a pirate?
Darin: In a HEARTBEAT!!!!!!!!!! Arr, matey. (Lord, let me be on the same ship as Johnny Depp)
Deni: No - would rather be a cowgirl
Dione: Nope. Don't think I'd cut it as a pirate. Or a cowgirl. Apparently I'm the wussy sister.
Mom: Nah, never been able to grow a beard.
Mechelle: I like the idea of traveling on a boat, but I would have trouble with the gun and the stealing and the "ey matey". Oh, and I don't like parrots. - What songs do you sing in the shower?
Darin: I’m a bathtub person, and I read there--can’t sing and read at the same time.
Deni: Don't sing - get in and out as fast as I can.
Dione: I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair...
Mom: er? Don't sing in the shower, can't carry a tune.
Mechelle: Ha!! Ha!!! I don't sing....hasn't Danny told you I can't hold
a tune to save my life! Ha!!! - Favorite girl's name?
Darin: “Darin,” it’s a very misunderstood girl’s name; but I haven’t been mistaken for a male yet today, and it’s almost 10:30.
Deni: Probably Samantha or Stephanie - with boy's nicknames
Dione: Uhhh... hmm... Gosh I guess it would be Darin or Deni. Yeah I'm TOTALLY sucking up.
Mom: Hannah Vanna Lolana. . . that should keep me out of trouble.
Mechelle: Kelly...not sure why. It has changed over the years. It use to be Jennifer when I was 12, and then it was Susan and then it was...... - Favorite boy's name?
Darin: Probably Daniel, cuz it reminds me of when we got my brother.
Deni: Timothy
Dione: Darin.
Mom: Favorite boy's name? I don't know. . . . . . . Santa Claus?
sorry!
Mechelle: Devon was the cute boy from High School and sort of soapy in nature, but I will have to go with Danny because (1) my husband, but (2) I love it as an affectionate name since everyone else calls him Dan. - What's in your pocket right now?
Darin: phew, that one always scares me, cuz one never knows. Used to come to work with pacifiers. Other day I came to work with dog treats in my pocket. There is NOTHING in my pockets right now—woo hoo!
Deni: Pockets are empty
Dione: I think I've got three wadded up dollars in there. I think they went thru the wash that way. So they're probably lucky dollars. Which means I should spend them at Lucky's.
Mom: plastic bags to pick up after Hannah, for the walk we haven't been able to take. Police helicopter still circling above us.
Mechelle: Nothing : ( - Last thing that made you laugh?
Darin: Clara’s explanation of how she wanted the pirates’ booty—but it was the jewelry part.
Deni: Story shared by my daughter Karyn
Dione: Already told Deni this, but Alyssa asked for some hot chocolate and I put it in this mug that has a frog inside... got it when I was a kid in San Francisco with you & Chuck, Darin...Alyssa had never seen it... but when she did she said: "Oh my GOSH. you're not gonna believe this! There's a ribbet in my cup!"
Mom: Can't remember, but I do laugh a lot
Mechelle: Remember the field trip yesterday with Tia's class as I was retelling the story to my co-workers. - Best bed sheets as a child?
Darin: I think I had some race car sheets, not sure why. Maybe it was
just the plastic placemat. (This will annoy my mother, who always made sure I had cute bedspreads—she just didn’t appreciate that I stored the rest of the room under the bed)
Deni: Anything dry? L
Dione: Grandma Nelson's sheets... She had all those pretty flowery good-smelling sheets... As for my own, I loved the Miss Piggy ones
Mom: Did they even have bed sheets that long ago?
Mechelle: Can't even remember that far back. - Worst injury you've ever had?
Darin: The infamous eye injury while I was roller skating past Bobby Stillwagon’s when I was 9 and he was fishing from his front lawn with his new Christmas fishing pole—I think I was probably the first fish he reeled in with that new pole.
Deni: I don't recall a bad physical injury to be honest
Dione: Probably falling out of the car and messing my face up. The road burns were the worst.
Mom: I broke my arm on April Fool's Day. . . Darrell thought I was "joking" it.took about and hour to convince him that he needed to take me to the ER
Mechelle: Head concussion I received while playing flag football - I think I was 14. I wasn't "suppose" to get tackled. My head hit the ground and everything in my view bounced. I made it home, but later my mom had to take me the ER at the same hospital my dad was already a patient because he was having surgery. He came down to the ER to see me - fortunately I didn't have to stay overnight, although they said something about putting bed in his room. My appendix was probably worse, but it wasn't an injury so I picked this one. - Do you love where you live?
Darin: Don’t even go there….. OK, yes, I LOVE where I live because it is not a Refrigerator Box.
Deni: I'm okay with it - not in love tho.
Dione: I'm okay with it too. And Alyssa would LOVE to live in a refrigerator box.
Mom: Not anymore. . . much too lonesome up here.
Mechelle: That is a hard question. I love our house, just not the neighborhood. I think it has changed from the time you all lived there.
In fact I know it has changed. I could do without the gunshots right outside our bedroom window (yes you can find the shell casings in the
morning) and the speeders that think our street is a freeway. Last weekend Danny's work truck (the big ugly white one) seemed to the perfect setting for the neighborhood tagger to spray paint his BIG HR initials. Ugghhhh!! - How many TVs do you have in your house?
Darin: 3
Deni: 4
Dione: 4?
Mom: Only 4
Mechelle: 4 - but we only use three. This is much better than before the garage sale when we had 7. - Who is your loudest friend?
Darin: That’s a toughie.
Deni: No loud friends
Dione: If they don't have to answer than neither do I.
Mom: Gayle Peters, my Garden Club friend.
Mechelle: Kelly Sanderson who fits in well with Danny's second loudest friend Allan. Chris is the loudest - which you probably all know! - How many dogs do you have?
Darin: Two
Deni: 2
Dione: ZERO!
Mom: One
Mechelle: One - Does someone have a crush on you?
Darin: Yup.
Deni:Yep
Dione: You'd think with the amazing genes our family obviously has that there must be someone. I'm gonna say yes just so I don't look like the ugly stepsister.
Mom: I hope so
Mechelle: I hope so too! - What is your favorite book?
Darin: “Here If You Need Me: A True Story.” Had to mail a new copy to Courtney instead of the original, cuz I liked it so much I couldn’t part with the original. (But then…I loaned it to Dione--YOU BETTER GIVE THAT BACK, and you better not tear it up like you did Francie)
Deni: No favorite
Dione: Okay I will admit to misplacing it for a BIT, Darin, but I found it and actually was reading it just last night. It is good! It would be too hard to pick. I'm gonna cheat and pick a kids book: "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day". It never fails to make me feel better. And I'm going with Amanda's class to see the play next week.
Mom: What ever I'm reading at the momen Love Debbi Macomber books.
Mechelle: Anything by Danielle Steel, Mary Higgins Clark or John Grisham. - What is your favorite candy?
Darin: M&M’s for every day....Mound’s if I’m feeling the need for something decadent.
Deni: Snickers bar
Dione: Nutrageous. And if you had TOLD me you like Mounds, Darin, I could have helped you out before we traded in NINE POUNDS of candy for book fair dollars last week at Amanda's school. I don't eat Mounds... Love M&M's and Snickers though.
Mom: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.
Mechelle: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but if I'm hungry, I love Snickers. - Favorite Sports Team?
Darin: Sports?????? Heck, I already forgot the name of Giovanni’s JV football team. Eagles? Anyway, #61
Deni: San Diego Chargers
Dione: Uh... ummm. I don't do sports.
Mom: Not a sports fan. Spent 53 years listening to: Baseball, Basketball, Football and Golf.
Mechelle: Raiders!!!! - What song do you want played at your funeral?
Darin: Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World”
Deni: Amazing Grace, Awesome God
Dione: Ahhh... Ya'll took my answers. I walked down the aisle at my wedding to "What a Wonderful World" so they might as well carry me out to it...
Mom: Ray Charles "Born to Lose" (If you don't think that's appropriate, then my next choice would be: "The Old Rugged Cross"
Mechelle: I love "Amazing Grace, but I also love "What a Wonderful World", but I might have to see what else is available - I would love something that is countrish, that sings about love, happiness, and just how lucky I am. Ok - I might have to go with something outside of country!
