Just a little meme for sh*ts and giggles...

Stole this from a new-to-me commenter, Jean.  Seeing as how Mr. EM is one of my favorite blog subjects, I thought this one would be fun to do.  And, yes, I know I've been really absent from my blog lately.  I have lots of posts swirling about in my head, but very little time or motivation to organize them into something readable.  Maybe I'll work on that in 2012...and maybe not.  So, satisfy yourself with this for now...

What are your middle names?
Kaye and Gordon

♥ How long have you been together?
Together for 15 years, married for 13

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met in August of '96 and hung out as friends until October of that same year.

♥ Who asked who out?
There was never really a formal "asking-out".  He was invited to a wedding that he felt he needed to attend, but didn't want to attend alone.  I volunteered to go with him. 

♥ How old are each of you?
I'm a few weeks away from my 40th birthday.  He just turned 42.

♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
My brother.  He keeps in touch with his 3 sisters via text message and Facebook, but they all live in Florida and Virginia so we don't see them much at all.  He saw one of his sisters last year when he travelled to Florida, but it's been years since we've seen the other two.  His family is kind of nuts in a hyper-religious-Republican kind of way and there's all kinds of crazy backstory stuff going on there that Mr. EM would just as soon stay away from.  I agree.

♥ Do you have any children together?
Two boys, ages 11 and 6.  Mr. EM has a son, age 21, from a previous marriage.  He lives in Germany, we don't see much of him at all. 

♥ What about pets?
Just a cat at the moment and she is the sweetest, easiest pet either of us has ever had the pleasure of living with.  We've had dogs and cats together throughout the years, we're both "pet people".  I'm sure we'll get another dog someday, today just isn't that day.  I highly doubt tomorrow will be either.

♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Raising the boys.  The issues that I'm willing to let slide are the issues that make him the most tense and vice/versa.  I have a more relaxed approach, it's a lot easier for me to ignore their obnoxious behavior and as long as no one is injured during their disagreements I stay out of it.  Mr. EM seems to lack the ignoring gene and their minor disagreements drive him right up a wall.  On the other hand, I will not tolerate them getting in trouble at school, being lazy about school work and Mr. EM is less rigid in that regard.  This imbalance has caused a lot of strife in our relationship over the years. 

♥ Did you go to the same school?
No.  I was born and raised in a small Illinois town.  He was born about 150 miles north of there, but moved around a lot as a kid, ultimately graduating from high school in Florida.

♥ Are you from the same home town?
See above question...

♥ Who is smarter?
I think he is.  I always took school very seriously, made good grades, earned a degree.  He did none of those things, but I truly think he is the smarter one.  I don't know if he'd agree or not, and I'm not willing to find out!

♥ Who is more sensitive?
Me, though I've learned that he is more sensitive than I've given him credit for in the past.  Maybe he's becoming more sensitive as he gets older or something.  I've seen a much more vulnerable side of him over the last couple of years.  I like it.  He doesn't.  Men.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Usually Thai food, because that's become his favorite in recent years and I'm usually so happy to just get out of the house that I'll go wherever he wants.  However, we both love trying new places and will give any restaurant with lots of vegetarian options and good reviews a chance.  I do try to steer us away from pizza when we're out without the kids because pizza is usually what we get when the boys are with us.

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Orlando, Florida, for his cousin's wedding. 

♥ Who has the worse temper?
This used to be a definitive "HIM!"  Now, not so much.  Age, stress and parenting have brought out a rather ugly part of me and I now find myself flying off the handle on occasion too.  His fuse is much, much shorter than mine so he will go from zero to pissed-off in no time flat.  I'm more of a stewer.  I'll take something and take it and take it for a while before I reach my boiling point and then...watch out.  I can also say, though, that we are both trying to watch our tempers better and sometimes we even succeed.

♥ Who does the cooking?
I do almost all of the cooking.  It used to be more 50/50 when Little M. was a baby and wouldn't tolerate being out of my arms for more than 10 minutes, but now it's pretty much all me.  I don't mind it.  I've even come to enjoy it most of the time and I really like seeking out new, healthy recipes that we'll enjoy.  He does all the clean-up, so I can't complain for sure!

♥ Who is more social?
This is an odd dynamic in our relationship...one that bugs me just a little.  I am by far the more social of the two, but he is the one with the more active social life.  My friends are spread out all over the state and the only good friend I have that lives in my town works completely opposite hours from me, so I have very few opportunities to socialize.  His friends are mostly local and they plan a lot of road trips together, as well as get together for concerts and bonfires every so often.  It's frustrating for me sometimes because he craves his alone time and I'm just DYING for some social interactions, but that's just the way it is around here.

♥ Who is the neat-freak?
Me.  Always me.  Though I have to qualify this by saying that keeping things "neat" and keeping them "clean" are 2 different things.  I don't care if there's an inch of dust on the book shelf as long as all the books are put away neatly.  I keep my kitchen and bathrooms truly clean, but if it weren't for Mr. EM the rest of the house would be neat but filthy.

♥ Who is more stubborn?
I think we're about even here.  We are both pretty flexible people and we work hard to compromise so as not to argue, but when we dig in our heels there is no budging either of us.

♥ Who hogs the bed?
Neither.  We sleep very harmoniously. 

♥ Who wakes up earlier?
Him.  Even when he can sleep late he is usually unable.  Sometimes this bothers him, but most of the time he's fine with being up early in a quiet house.  It's rarely quiet for long, though.  Little M. is an early riser too.

♥ Where was your first date?
Technically, the wedding he felt compelled to attend is the first time we went out together.  However, we consider our first date to be the following day when we went to a small music festival together.

♥ Who has the bigger family?
He has more siblings, but I have a much larger extended family.

♥ Do you get flowers often?
No.  *sigh*  Mr. EM is not much of a romantic and he thinks cut flowers are a silly gift because of their short lifespan.  On the one hand, I agree, but the feminine side of me wouldn't mind a small bouquet every once in a while. 

♥ How do you spend the holidays?
We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between his mom's and my family.  It's the best way to do things so that the grandparents get equal time with our kids, but I miss my family a lot when we're not with them.  Holidays at his mom's are very quiet, it's just us and her and her husband.  I prefer a more festive occasion.

♥ How long did it take to get serious?
Not long at all.  After that first date we started hanging out pretty much every night.  We said, "I love you," within a month of dating and were talking marriage just a few months after that.  We moved in together before we'd been dating a year.  When you know, you know!

♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
I do.  All of it.  The sorting, the pre-treating, the washing, the drying, the folding.  The boys put their own laundry away, but I put away all of ours.  I am very OCD about laundry and Mr. EM, god love him, just doesn't do it right.  It's ok.  He does plenty of other household chores around here.  I'm cool with handling the laundry.

♥ Who’s better with the computer?
He is.  I can do everything I want to do on a computer and I have no desire to learn more.  He finds technology fascinating and throws himself into learning more about it. 

♥ Who drives when you are together?
He does.  All the time.  He loves to drive.  I don't.  We're a good team.