* * *
So, for the last few years – it’ll be 4 in October! – I’ve referred to my daughter as the spud. I’m not sure why I gave her a pseudonym to begin with, just the idea of creepy people out there knowing her name, I guess, and it’s pretty much stuck.
Except that Fred wrote this book, see, and he had the nerve to use her actual name instead of referring to her as “The Spud”, and so I guess it’s time to out her.
Some of you already know her name, but most of you do not. So here we go. Here’s her first name.
Danielle.
Yes, her first name is Danielle, but her last name isn’t And3rson, so good luck, you stalkers.
Don’t be surprised if I keep referring to her as “The Spud”, though. That might be a difficult habit to break.
So, Danielle. Danielle, Danielle, Danielle. It feels odd to type her name in this box without freaking out and saying “Oops, wrong name!”, although I haven’t done that in a long time.
When she was very little, we called her Dani. When she was in first grade, she decided that that was a boy’s name, and I’d damn well better stop calling her Dani and start calling her Danielle.
Which I did, because I am nothing if not an obedient mother.
Her father still calls her Dani – or rather “Daaaaaani” – and in the past few years she’s rediscovered a fondness for the nickname. It’s too late for me, though. I’ve called her by her full name for too long, and I don’t think I can revert to Dani, so I’ll be one of those parents who always call their kids by their full name.
Fred says that when I call her for dinner, I yell “DanYELL!” Heh.
So now you know… the rest of the story!
* * *
So, I answered some questions, via email, that a New York Times reporter (who is doing a story on diet blogs) asked, and I provided my phone number in case she had any follow up questions, and now every time the phone rings, I jump and get freaked out.
Because I HATE TALKING ON THE PHONE. I have a phone phobia, I think, and it amazes me to think that I had a job (taking orders at LL Bean) wherein I did nothing BUT talk on the phone.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s why I hate it so much!
* * *
1. What’s the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country? Maine! Before that, I was in Gatlinburg, TN.
2. What’s the most bizarre/unusual thing that’s ever happened to you while traveling? Nothing bizarre or unusual has really happened to me while traveling, unless you count the fact that anytime I went near an airport last year, someone was holding me down and wanding me, due to the fact that I look all threatening and terrorist-like.
3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go? Hawaii or Australia, both of which I’d LOVE to visit.
4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car? I prefer the comfort of the car, but the speed of the plane. If I could have a private plane, I probably wouldn’t hate flying so much.
5. What’s the next place on your list to visit? We’re going to Vicksburg, Mississippi next weekend. Fred has to work and doesn’t want to go alone, so the spud will be missing school Friday, and we’ll be back on Sunday. I’ve never been to Vicksburg, and I suspect it won’t be all that exciting. Fred’s going to hit the casinos once or twice, but casinos bore the bejesus out of me. Perhaps I’ll get some reading in – I read 9 books while I was in Maine, y’know.
* * *
My brother Randy’s dog, Cola. She’s a sweetie.
]]>