260. Under what, if any, circumstances would you read your partner's journal

Typically she would share the contents with me. I can't imagine ever looking at it since her mom always used to do that and it caused her to be very mistrusting and violated. I really don't want to be on the list.

250. What time do you like to go to bed, and what time do you like to wake up?

I typically go to sleep from 12am to 1am. I end up waking up around 5 or 6 anyway.  I would like to go to bed at 10pm and wake up around 7am.

240. What is the most touching experienc you have had in the month?

It's hard to experience touching for me right now. I feel like I'm in such a hole right now. I guess I will go with almost all of my nieces and nephews did their ritualistic saying. With 3 brothers and sisters I gave each set of them a different thing to say:
1. Wah Wah I miss my Aunt Paula
2. C my name is Crabby' T my name is Toady
3. Aunt Paula is my favorite aunt.

230. What is the biggest concern in your life right now.?

I feel like I'm in a spot that I can't get out of  and I'm concerned I never will be able to get out of it. It's like a vicious cycle. I think I know what needs to happen yet I'm terrified by it.So I'm already terrified by the task ahead and the terror feeds off my reaction to it to convince me I can't change it, which leads to even more terror. Rinse. Repeat.

220. How would you rate your physical health on a scale of 1-110? 10 is "very healthy". How did you arrive at this rating?

3. I'm not in a wheelchair or so bad I can't walk or keep care of myself. However, I do take a bunch of medicine. Most of these are because of my weight.  I have been working out, but not consistently.I think getting my weight down could flip this to at least a 6.

210. Do you like having visitors in your house? Describe your feelings about having company.

I do enjoy having company  for the first 30 minutes or so.  Then I start to get panicky. The more people are there the sooner I get panicky.I tend to do be ok with 2-4 people. Crowds larger than that get me claustrophobic.

200. If your taste in house decor differs dramatically from your partner's, how would you prefer to address this dilemma?

Fortunately we have agreed on just about everything without even discussing it. We will be shopping for something, looking at what is available and say "I like this one" at practically the same time. If we were to get into a disagreement, I suspect I would defer to her judgement for two reasons: 1. she has better taste than me and 2. I don't pay that close of attention to stuff like that to have it bother me.

190. What does your dream home look like? You can talk about style, size, location, setting, layout, decoration, etc.

I'm pretty happy where we currently live. To make it perfect, I'd like a 3 car garage, a basement, and bigger master bath. Better water pressure would be good too. Decor could certainly be upgraded. Harvest gold was the bomb back in the day. Today? Not so much.Oh, and a pocket door on the pantry.

180. Describe your household cleaning list and how often you like to get each task done

Ahem. I'd LIKE to get everything done when I've got it scheduled. One problem, I don't have a schedule. I'm not a very observant person, so I might not even notice there is something out of place or that needs swept, etc for a few days. Unfortunately, that makes it that much more difficult to clean than if I had a schedule and stuck to it, so I dread getting started.

170. If you could only have one or the other, would you rather have a sentimental card or a big expensive gift from your partner

Sadly,  I would pick the gift. I don't typically save cards. I do enjoy the sentiment at the tinge through

160. Best and worst holiday gifts you have received throughout your life

Best: spending the past 30 ish Christmases with Lisa
Worst: 1 st year I got all clothes and no toys :'(

150. Favorite vehicle

That I've owned,  66 Buick Special Ragtop.
That I haven't, 1 st or current generation camaro

140. Favorite brand out shampoo

Fructus Sleek and Shine

130. Favorite comedian

Ellen Degeneres. Or Kate Clinton

120. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor

There isn't a bad flavor of ice cream.  Having said that,  mint chocolate chip or strawberry is what I usually order

110. What is your favorite coffee?

110. What is your favorite coffee?
Diet Coke. Really. I can't stand coffee.

100. What is your favorite sport?

100. What is your favorite sport?
To watch: Football
To play: Softball or Golf.

90. What is your favorite candy?

90. What is your favorite candy?
Another tough question. It can either be M&M's, Kit Kat, Smarties or Starburst Jelly Beans.

80. What is your favorite vacation spot?

80. What is your favorite vacation spot?
I hate questions about favorites since my favorite always depends on when asked. I might give a totally different answer an hour later.  For now, I think the most favorite vacation I remember is when Lisa and I went to Austin, Texas the second time. We did all sorts of things we weren't supposed to do. For example:

1. Went to Mexico
2. Slept in the car on the beach in South Padre Island. We forgot about high tide. Almost got washed out into the Gulf!
3. Camped overnight in a city park and got drunk off our butts (Lisa thought she could walk across the river).

70. How did your parents treat the topic of pregnancy when you were a child?

70. How did your parents treat the topic of pregnancy when you were a child? See answer to question 20 :)  To be fair, I was the youngest so I didn't experience Mom being pregnant, at least other than being born.

60. Did you have any nicknames as a child? What were they and how did they come to be?

60. Did you have any nicknames as a child? What were they and how did they come to be?

Pupstar, Pup, Pooch, Dog and practically every other synonym for Dog under the sun.
I think it started with Pupstar which, apparently, was a cartoon. All the other synonyms came are various offshoots of Pupstar.

50. As a child did you prefer to spend time with friends, watching tv, or reading a book?

50. As a child did you prefer to spend time with friends, watching tv, or reading a book?
None of the above. I actually spent most of my time alone pretending cowboy or something similar, or throwing a tennis ball against the garage to practice fielding ground balls and pop flies.

40. As a child did you find Barbies, dolls, and playing house more fun, or riding bikes, playing sports, and rough housing?

40. As a child did you find Barbies, dolls, and playing house more fun, or riding bikes, playing sports, and rough housing? Definetly the latter although Mom did her best with Christmas presents to force me in to the former. I think I had every Barbie accessory known to man. Boat, ski ramp, air plane...

30. If you could go back to one time period in your life between the age of 0-18, what year would you choose and why?

30. If you could go back to one time period in your life between the age of 0-18, what year would you choose and why?
I hate questions like this since I wouldn't go back just in case it would change too much. Since I'm forced to , I will go with 0 and hope I'm not so over sensitive.  I doubt my childhood was as bad as I recall because I always get my feelings hurt easily but I know for certain I was lonely alot.

20. What are the messages you were given about sex when you were a child?

20. What are the messages you were given about sex when you were a child?
Umm. Lets put it this way. When I was 11, Lisa told me she didn't know my sister was pregnant in May and I said I didn't know either. My nephew was born in July :)  As I think about it now two things strike me:

1. I did not really remember Lisa until 7th grade, so I don't know why she would have said that. Maybe it was really my other nephew, which would have been even worse since that would've made me 13!
2. I don't recall Patti (oldest sister) going to any of my games so I don't know why she would have been there.

10. What was your favorite childhood story?

10. What was your favorite childhood story?
It's hard for me to remember details of much from childhood.  I think I will go with defining childhood as before 13 (pre lisa). I wasn't sure I would like moving to the middle of nowhere but i ended up getting a pony (named Donkey, oddly enough). We went from about a 1/4 acre yard to 6 acres of nothing but grass.  I would put on my cowboy boots, hat, and tie the pup tent to the saddle, ride out to the small creek that was halfway to the back of the field and camp out. Seems like I felt like I was really "riding the range"

Just Ask

This blog contains my answers to the book "Just ASK! 1,000 Questions To Grow Your Relationship" by +Michele OMara, Phd.  I plan on answering a question or more per day on a regular basis. It's mostly for me, but if anyone else ever reads this, feel free to participate in the comments.