in which I take part in The Great Interview Experiment

I'm very excited to take part in this interview experiment run by Citizen of the Month. Go read about it and sign up!

Tomorrow, or thereabouts, I will post my interview with Witchypoo -
but today you can read Ingrid's interview with me...(which is handy as I was postless today)

When you were little, what did you dream of doing?
I really have to say that from the time I was little I dreamed of being a mom. I played mom constantly with doll babies - I cooked for them and shopped with them and made little homes for them.

Did you play with Barbies? If so, are there any strange scenarios you would like to share?

I SO PLAYED WITH BARBIES. I switched a Stacie head onto a Francie body - I liked her smaller chest, and pretended that Stacie was the only daughter in a family with six brothers. They were very wealthy, hence her extensive wardrobe, and I changed her name to Samantha Jones.

Tell me a memory about your childhood. Something involving food.

I went to stay with my grandmother every once in a while. In the city. I loved her tremendously - she had a great sense of fashion and style. This particular visit was during a heat wave and the two of us were not able to walk around her neighborhood too much. She was never known for her cooking, was famous for boiling EVERYTHING, and on this one afternoon she intended to make potato salad for the two of us. But we were starving and tired and she only got as far as boiling the potatoes. We took them out of the pot, slathered them in butter and salt and ate all of them. I don't think I could have been more that 5 or 6 and I remember the way they tasted, how hot it was, the scent of her steamy kitchen.

What makes you laugh?

Lately? My youngest son, who has just honed his adult sense of humor.

Name five things you are really proud of.

My kids, who seem to be turning out okay.
My husband whose integrity continues to impress me.
My youngest for caring so much about everything he does.
My middle boy for pursuing his art so fervently.
My oldest son for being the only completely authentic person, good and bad, that I have ever met.

What is the strangest job you have ever had?

It's a toss up - I spent a summer working at a microwave store that was really just a front for a guy who sold pot. It was never dangerous and I occasionally taught 'classes' for women to learn to use their microwave oven to make dinner! I was 16.
The other strange job would have been the summer that I spent as an inventory clerk at a big discount store. This involved checking off minuscule boxes on giant sheets of graph paper for each piece of merchandise sold. I checked hundred of items each day, developed symptoms of stress and quit - after about six weeks.

Tell me about a recent moment of joy.

I tend to be moody - I'm either pretty joyful or walking around fretting. A week or so ago, we had dinner at my house with friends. The conversation was good, the dinner was fantastic and all around me friends were happy. It was a nice moment in time. On the other hand, when I picked Youngest up at school yesterday I was just so happy to see him. I had missed him. For no particular reason seeing him at the end of the day just made me happy.


What is your favorite food? What does it make you think of?

I don't really HAVE a favorite food. Isn't that funny? I think it's because food is held in high esteem at my house - everything is carefully chosen and prepared, so I don't have one thing that I love best because it's really all GOOD. My favorites change all the time - bread, pasta, really good beef - salad...I'll tell you, and this is going to sound funny, but I could really go for some Russian caviar, which I have fond memories of as my dad made a point to have some around for special occasions. I haven't had any in a long time and it is the perfect symbol of how he treated us to all the best things in the world.


In what ways do your children resemble you in personality? What makes you most proud? What freaks you out a little?

I'm not a good judge of resemblance. AND K and I have similar features. Each of them has sort of an air of me, but none really LOOK like me. Personality-wise I'd say they have my sense of humor. I always believe that one person in a couple is the funny one and one is the pretty one. I'm the funny one. I like that they are funny. What freaks me out a little is that two of them are worriers like me - not healthy.


If you could go to any city in the world tomorrow where would you go and what would you do? (Assume unlimited funds, it's more fun that way.)

As it happens, there are a few places I'd like to go tomorrow, with unlimited funds. I need to finish my Positano trip. I need to spend real family time with my friends there and show my kids some of the things we saw. We need to shop for and prepare a meal for our pals in Positano. Then I think I'd spend a week or so in Paris - I've been missing Paris and would like to rent an apartment and just BE in Paris. There too I'd like to do some food shopping and cooking. Finally, I'd hop someplace tropical. K has been talking about the Maldives. Wait. You said city? Tokyo. And Sydney.
I bought lottery tickets today. I'd better start packing.