Six and six

A few weeks ago, my cousin Heather did this "writing assignment" on her blog. The assignment is to describe yourself in six words, then have someone close to you do the same. I asked my best pal Meredith to find six words to describe me. She went above and beyond and I am humbled and flattered (and amused) by her answers.

6 words to describe me:

1. Punctual: I cannot stand to be late and I get quite irked when others are late. My students learned the first day of class that I do not tolerate tardiness.

2. Mother-hen: I've been mothering people for years. My actors, my students, my friends, they've all had a "Mama Jen" moment, even long before Dean was around. Since he's arrived, this one's gotten stronger.

3. Sassy: This one speaks for itself. :)

4. Passionate: About my work, my family, my son, my friends, the places I have lived/live now, my hobbies (like my blog!), causes that mean a lot to me, and food.

5. Detail-oriented: That's why I'm a stage manager.

6. Quirky: I have to have the hand towels in the bathroom folded a certain way, I can't stand the sound of certain words (like the M word...I'm sure my mother will elaborate in the comments section...), and the sight of cracked mud makes me want to wretch. I also like to dip my green beans in ketchup.

And now, Meredith's answers.

6 WORDS TO DESCRIBE JEN:

FRIEND: Jen and I met my Senior Year of college at Alabama. She was a grad student in the department. We hit it off right away and we’ve been the best of friends ever since. It’s funny but I had to call her to find out when it was we first met. I told her that I just don’t remember us ever not being friends. She is truly one of the best friends I have ever had. In 2007, I was getting married and no one could fill the role of Matron of Honor except for Jen (don’t you hate the term matron? It just screams old school marm or spinster. They should be called Lovely Assistant Buffer Go-Between Princess to the Bride). She & Marcus were on their way to Theatre West Virginia for the summer and I was getting married Memorial Day weekend. She worked it out so that she could be here for all the festivities. Talk about loyal. She even had TWV write it into her contract that she would be off that weekend. She told them not only was she in the wedding but she was the Matron of Honor and had to be there. We had an awesome time at the wedding and let me tell you there are very few people in this world who will keep annoying family members at bay, make you wear napkins and feed you French fries before you walk down the aisle and help you pee in your wedding dress. Not to mention she was about a minute pregnant during all this.

SISTER: Jen is the sister I never had. We can stay up til all hours talking about nothing or not say anything at all. Whenever something happens, good or bad, she is the first person I call. When my grandmother died in 2003, I immediately called Jen. We were both living in New York and the time and I was having to fly home. I was going to miss a very important work event and I was torn. Jen helped me understand that given the opportunity, I needed to be with my family and if I wasn’t I would regret it. She was right. She’s very much a part of my family. When my husband & I were dating, I dragged him to New York because he HAD to meet Jen. I needed her approval of this man that I was madly in love with and could possibly marry. I was right, she LOVED him! Nothing pleased me more than knowing my best friend approved of my future husband.

ADVENTUROUS: Jen and I have had our adventures over the years. Meeting up at Film Center Café in New York for brunch and not remembering where we went afterwards, but knowing we had a great time. The night Jen moved from Ithaca to Manhattan and it poured down rain and there were no cabs. But nothing really compares to our time in Tuscaloosa. We had some interesting times to say the least. Watching Waiting for Guffman on closed caption so we could learn the words to “A Penny for Your Thoughts” not to mention the choreography. Going on a ghost hunt to Old Bryce Mental Hospital and to “see” the Northport Ghost. The Snow Day where we stayed locked up in Jen’s apartment eating and watching The Price is Right and the Game Show network. Mind you it snowed for like 3 minutes and the entire town shut down. Alabama is not equipped to handle such treacherous weather! Cutting class to go eat at the Alabama Grill...Good times!

MOTHER: Jen called me 4 days before my wedding to inform me she was pregnant. I did not know what to say. I was SO happy for her. I also knew before her parents . When she arrived in Dothan it was all we could do to not burst into tears when we saw each other! At my bridesmaids luncheon we had a cake with the charms baked in. (You Southerners know what I’m talking about. ) Well, I had picked out the charms weeks before the luncheon. Jen pulled hers and it was a baby carriage. I had no idea prior to her calling me that she would be pregnant. Talk about intuition, or was it ESP? Who knows! But I was so excited for her and Marcus. Well, fast forward to January of 2008. My husband and I went to dinner with his parents and I got a voicemail on my phone that night from Jen that she has been admitted to the hospital and was in labor. Dean made his way into the world on January 5th. I couldn’t wait to see him. My sweet husband and I flew up to New York in April to meet Dean. Precious does not even describe this child and Jen is an awesome mom. When they moved back to Alabama, I went to visit Jen and Dean for the weekend. Marcus was out of town. Watching her in action was impressive. She knows what to do for every cry, laugh, smile. She is amazing. I can only hope that I am half as good a mother as she is. I secretly dream (obviously not so secret anymore if it’s on the internet, right?) that I will have a girl and she and Dean will grow up and get married. For those reading this, NO I am currently not pregnant. Hopefully soon though!

FUNNY: Jen and I can laugh at nothing for hours. We’ll sit there and talk about being trapped in the costume room one night at rehearsal during a tornado. Or the party at Daniel’s when Steven Perry (not from Journey) did something in the bathroom that you just don’t do at someone’s house (I’ll just leave that up to your imaginations). We’ll talk about what our husbands have done to make us laugh or the antics of our families. The trip to the beach with my family or the trip to Graceland Too with hers. Or the fact that when she is on vacation (wherever she might be) she HAS to play mini-golf. It’s SO much fun! We can pretty much find humor in everything. We laugh a lot. It’s always a good time when we are together.

THOUGHTFUL: Jen is the most thoughtful person. She always sends me a birthday and Christmas card. The best was my birthday card last year. She mentioned that my gift was being shipped and I was not to open it under any circumstances until my birthday. She said she had secretly trained Suzy, our dog, to alert her if I did. Needless to say, I waited until my birthday to open it. I’ve been having some “girl issues” and Jen will call to check on me. She will make sure everything is alright and if she could be here with me, she would. She’s even offered to move in with me and Dave if we end up having 12 kids! And I know I mentioned this before, but she was very thoughtful in making me wear napkins all over my wedding dress and feeding me French fries one by one so I would not ruin my dress. Oh yeah and there was the whole peeing in my wedding dress incident. There’s no need for details. Those of you who were there know what happened ;)

Thanks, Mer! Someday I'll write a blog entry all about your wedding dress bathroom trip!