What did you want to be when you were growing up? Did your parents encourage you?

A veterinarian. I loved animals and thought that would be a fun thing to do. In my teenage years, I decided to be a mortician. My Mom always thought being a vet was nice but being a mortician creeped her out. She never told me not to do it though. Then I surprised everyone by blowing off a college scholarship to get married and move away! Yay for independence.

What is your biggest regret?

Not having my exSIL have it put in writing that her kids would live with me if she died. Those kids were expecting to leave with me after her funeral but their sperm donor - who had never even seen the youngest one, decided that he'd exercise his parental rights from prison to have them live with his deadbeat family. Now the kids are growing up picked on. The whole situation makes me ill.

What advice would you give or what would you say to the 16 year old you?

Quit trying to get his attention. That's a good six years of your life that will be wasted. And quit drinking. Save that shit for when you're 21.

Okay, give me a brief idea of your childhood and upbringing.

I remember a childhood full of books and make-believe. If my nose wasn’t in a book then my sister, best friend (who lived next door. who happened to be our only neighbor.) and I were outside playing. One game was “going to California” where we would pack food up and wander the woods until it was dark. Another favorite was “cow patty”. We lived at the bottom of a hill and people would fly their cars down it - unless there was what appeared to be a giant splat of cow shit in the middle of the road. It took talent to get the consistency of the mud just right. We didn’t have any money for extra things so I guess it was a very good thing that the library entertained me so well.

My Mom worked 3 jobs at one point to keep everything afloat (my Dad had a habit of getting lost in beer) and I remember wishing she could stay at home and bake cookies for me when I was a kid. I told her about that and she started having cookies baked when I came home.

What is your favorite show to watch on television?

I hate to admit it....reality t.v. Not reality t.v. that you have to watch a whole season of to follow. I have the attention span of a flea when it comes to television so I like things I can accidentally click over to and get what’s going on in one episode.

I also faithfully watch Weeds, Big Love and Boardwalk Empire.

Favorite band or musician?

I can’t say there’s any one favorite. I don’t listen to much popular or current music. John Prine gets a lot of time on my radio if I’m listening to music and not an audiobook. I like listening to older country and rock music. Think George Straight when he first came out and CCR.

All time favorite dessert?

Pecan pie. I’ll stab your hand for the last bite.

Your ideal favorite meal?

Pinto beans cooked just right (with some Louisiana Hot Sauce and raw onion on the side), slightly crispy cornbread, fried okra, hashbrown casserole and piece of pecan pie when my stomach settles. And sweet tea.

I would eat this for every meal if I could. (I saw all of your answers and felt like I should come up with something fancy but I just couldn't.)

What is your favorite movie?

Oh, this one is hard. There are lots of movies that I can watch over and over...
Nacho Libre. Little Miss Sunshine. Gran Torino. Dirty Dancing. E.T.

I'm giving you $25,000.00 it can only be used for a vacation. You have 6 nights, 7 days and the plane tickets are already paid for. Where are you going? Where are you staying? And, what is one thing you want to do that week?

Seoul, Korea. I don’t know where we’ll stay - I’ll let Mom pick a nice hotel. We’d take a few days to visit her hometown. We’d spend all of the time we could poking ourselves full of food and browsing the street markets.

I swear, we’re going to do this someday.