MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #4

The 4th installment of the MilSpouse Friday Fill-in from Wife of a Sailor:

1. What food reminds you of your spouse?

Crawfish. But where I come from we call them Crayfish. They are gross little creatures who live in the mud/muck, but they are apparently pretty tasty to some people. According to Mr. V, its basically a sin if you are from Louisiana and you don't eat crawfish. Thankfully, I am not from Louisiana, and therefore have no reason to ever include these beady eyed creatures as part of my diet. I do however, occasionally have to watch Mr.V devour a plate of them.

2. Who would you rather sit next to in a cross-country plane ride: an irritating non-stop talker, or a quiet stare-er?

This one's easy, even though I know from several personal experiences that neither one is the ideal seat-mate. I'd rather have the quiet stare-er. Without a doubt, it drives me insane to have someone stare at me for 5 hours straight (I once sat next to a woman who didn't speak English, and she stared at me for an entire 5 hour flight, and whenever I made eye contact she'd give me a huge smile - creepy), but I can easily zone out on a plane, and like to use it as a good time to catch up on my reading, or napping. I can ignore a person staring at me while I read my book, and if someone wants to stare at me while my eyes are closed, then I don't really know that they are staring at me right? However, I can't read a book while someone is talking to me, and I certainly can't sleep while someone is rambling in my ear, so nothing drives me crazier on a plane than the person who can clearly see that I have a book open, or that my eyes are closed, but yet he STILL insists on talking to me! I really wonder why there are sooo many people out there who do that. Do they consciously decide that they will do whatever it takes to annoy the person sitting next to them on a plane?

3. What are your best tips on how to save money?

I grew up with a very frugal mother, and Mr. V grew up with a cheap, cheap father, so thankfully we see eye to eye on this question. We save money in several ways. First, coupons, coupons, coupons! I have met so many people who hate to use coupons and I have no idea why. It may only be a few cents that you save at one time, but when you start to add that up over a year, you can save quite a bit of money. We also buy generic instead of name brand (on most things, but not all - some name brands just can't be substituted in my opinion). We also check out free sample sites online and sign up for whatever we can. You'd be surprised at how much money you can save when you have constant samples of shampoo, toothpaste and body wash arriving in the mail daily. And finally - thrift stores, garage sales, and Freecycle. I'm always amazed at the things I can find at any of these places. People tend to throw away a lot of stuff that is still in perfect condition, so if I can get something that looks brand new, for 1/4 of the price it originally was, then I am happy :-).

4.What is your favorite summer memory?

Without a doubt its working at my old Girl Scout Camp, Camp Lou Henry Hoover. I camped as a Girl Scout back in the day, and then worked at the camp as a counselor for 4 summers (my last summer there was 2000 and I still miss it!). I made some of my best friends there, who I am still great friends with today. It kind of sounds cheesy, but it really was a fun place full of friends and adventure, and I honestly don't know how to describe how wonderful it was, if you've never experienced it.

5. Do you believe in ghosts?

Now this is a tricky question. The logical part of me says "no". I need to see things to believe them. But the other side of me says "yes". I've had a few weird, unexplained experiences that I don't like to think about, because I don't have an explanation for them. Also, I have to admit that I love watching Ghosthunters and there are some things they find that make it hard to NOT believe in ghosts. So I guess I stand somewhere in the middle. Can I say that I sort of believe? And I'm fine with keeping it that way. As much as I need to see to believe, I would be happy never having to actually see a ghost. As it stands, I would be perfectly happy if I never have to experience some weird, unexplained experience again too.