Beth did something similar on her site, and since I am too lazy to write it myself, I hired her (hmm, not sure it’s hiring if you don’t pay them) to compose the following. It’s 99% Beth, I just made slight adjustments.

Kristina was born in the Florida panhandle (a true native), and her family moved around a bit before settling in a tiny town in Central Florida. She grew up being the only girl with two older brothers and, because they did not allow her to play Monopoly or Trivial Pursuit with them, became fixated with Nickelodeon, The Cartoon Express, and all forms of 80s TV. She may not know when the Battle of Hastings took place, but she sure as hell can sing you the theme song to “Growing Pains.” In fact, 80s theme songs is one of her trivia specialties. One of her parents is from Alabama, and the other is from Thailand, so Kristina is part of an elite group known as the Alabaman Asians.

She stayed in that little town for high school and college before bolting for Boston…without checking the weather report first (mea culpa, mea maxima culpa). Luckily, she excels at making friends, and plenty of existing ones moved to New England, too, so there is no shortage of socializing. She doesn’t love the excruciatingly cold bits so much, but she does love Copley Flair, cider, and her fiancé, Nate, who she met through a Boston friend.

I apologize for getting into astrology here, but it’s just too tempting: Kristina is the most Gemini-est of the Geminis. For example, she can be almost frustratingly optimistic, but at the same time, never loses the cynical edge that makes her Kristina. Plus, she often changes her mind at a lightning-fast speed that makes my eyelids hurt. She rarely cries, not even when she’s alone, but favors melancholy movies and novels.

Random: Kristina ran a 5k in Boston, only reads magazines backwards, over-packs for every trip she takes, is mildly obsessed with Hallmark and greeting cards, and loves soft things, whether they be blankets, socks, or one of her menagerie of cute pets. She isn’t capable of leaving Target without spending a minimum of $47, has a dozen half-finished craft projects, and thrives on 1,000 piece puzzles.

She has a finance degree, but probably should have majored in psychology or sociology instead, if only because the world could benefit from having Kristina help people professionally. In fact, she’s looking into getting a master’s degree in counseling or similar. I am all for this, as long as she never is too busy to psychoanalyze me, because she is *good*. She’s perceptive in a way that Dr. Phil only wishes he could emulate, and is the best at putting things in perspective. Also, she’s far too smart to be in the job she has now, where she pretty much has to listen to people three rungs below her on the intelligence ladder tell her what to do, and then show them how to work the copier for the 48th time.

Goals for this year: move out of Boston, replenish vitamin D stores, visit Beth in Florida, and write more awesomeness on the blog.

The weekend before Valentine’s Day we had a decent blizzard hit the area. Nate and I had been up in Portsmouth Saturday night and had to drive back in the white-out conditions. As seen here:

When we got back, all Toby wanted to do was go outside. Finally, he has some justification for wearing a heavy coat 365 days a year. There’s a fenced in area for dogs to run around in at our complex, so I let him loose. He looks so funny in this picture, like someone is after him:

When he is in the apartment, he insists on having the sliding glass door open 24-7. Even when it’s 10 degrees out. Bob also enjoys the great outdoors (well, he likes getting near it):

This is just a hot birthday month. Tuesday was my Grandmother’s, she turned 75. Here we are a couple of years ago. She hates having her picture taken, but I think this one’s cute:

Today would have been my Grandaddy’s 85th birthday. Don’t ask me why my grandparents name endings don’t match (like Grandma and Grandpa vs. Grandmother and Grandfather). It’s a strange thing my dad’s family has. He has always referred to them as “Mother and Daddy” and whenever he talks about my mom he says “your mother.” So, it turn, I have always called them Grandmother and Grandaddy. Anyhoo, on this special occasion, I have included a picture of him as well. With my brother and I when we were small:

I had my bloodwork done a few weeks ago. I went back to the doctor for the results and everything looks to be in tip-top shape. Except for one thing. He said I have an extremely low level of Vitamin D. He asks if I know where that comes from. Dairy products? Yes, he says, but even more than that it comes from the sun.

THE SUN? No freaking surprise there, my man. Now he’s looking at me a little strange. I knew it! Now I have proof, this place is killing me! He sorta laughs in a scared way, and tells me that because it is so low, I need to start a regimen of taking a weekly supplement for the next six weeks. However, I’m too into this “the sunless north is killing me” idea, because all I could think was how I need to get the hell out of dodge

So my Mom’s birthday was a few weeks ago, on Feb 1st. For the longest time (say 15 years) we always celebrated it on the 2nd, because that’s when we all thought it was, you know? Until one day she’s like “you know my birthday is the 1st, right?” Um, WTF? NO? Yeah, apparently she just thought we were one day off for the fun of it. In actuality, the day doesn’t really matter to her. Since she was born in Thailand in a small village where they didn’t keep spectacular records, she has no idea (for certain) when her birthday is. We’re talking no running water, no shoes, people die of tuberculosis and gangrene, kind of village. So she picked that day according to the month/time of year that family had told her. Can you imagine?

I don’t have a pic of us on her birthday, but here’s one from mine:

I call her to wish her a happy birthday and afterwards decide to send her some flowers. I find a local florist in DeLand and have them send her a bouquet of mixed flowers in a basket. I want to get roses, but apparently it’s just a bad time of year (V Day) and they convince me I could get more for my money with other flowers. So I thought, fine, Mom has a garden and loves flowers of all kind.

I call her a few hours later to see if she had received them
(please imagine her voice with a heavy “asian mother” accent.)
“Oooh, someone sent me flowers.”
Yes Mom, I know, I sent them. Do you like them?
“Ahhh, yeah. They in basket.”
I know.
“Yeah, they nice. Roses are my favorite.”
Yes Mom, I know. But how about these? Are they pretty?
“Yeah, they all different colors. I love the smell of roses.”
Right….but these smell too. Do they smell good?
“I don’t know, I didn’t smell them.”
Well, why don’t you go and smell them?
“I’m cooking right now! I like the smell of roses. I didn’t smell them because I don’t know if they poisonous.”
I’m sorry? Poisonous?
“Yeah! Some flowers poisonous!”
Are you going to EAT the flowers, Mom?
“No, but some flowers are poisonous to smell.”
Mom, seriously, I’ve never heard of this. Why the hell would a florist send flowers that are POISONOUS?!
“I don’t know, some are! I like roses, I like to smell roses.”
Fine.

I told my Dad about this several days later and apparently he yelled at her for it. She called me afterwards.
“Your fatha’ yelled at me about the flowers. Did you tell him I didn’t like them?”
Yes Mom.
“That’s not true, I said I liked them.”
Mom, you went off about how you only love roses and were afraid to smell the flowers!
“Yeah, but I never said I didn’t like them! I just said I prefer roses. Do you want me to lie to you??”
NO MOM.
“I’m not going to be like your fatha’, playing games and lying.”
What? What the hell are you on lady?
“I was just telling you what I like!”
Mom, I get it, but if you really want roses next time, you should try acting more grateful for the flowers you were sent. Otherwise, no one will want to buy you more!
“I not going to play games! I tell the truth!”
Whatever.

For Valentine’s Day, Nate actually sent me some roses and was teasing me to call my mom and tell her. Just to get her all riled up I decided to pass on that one.