♥ What are your middle names?
Joyce and David
♥ How long have you been together?
We’ll be celebrating 42 years of married “bliss” this May. Just so you know, I was 10 years old when we got married (chuckle).
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating?
We met when we were seniors in high school, and after a couple of weeks of giving each other the “eye” started dating.
♥ Who asked who out?
Well, technically I guess I asked him out on a real date first. I asked him to the Sadie Hawkins dance. But somehow, prior to me asking him to that dance, we ended up together in his car “dragging Broadway,” just like in American Graffiti.
♥ How old are each of you?Now you KNOW you never ask a lady her age, but Ole will be 62 shortly.
♥ Whose siblings do/ did you see the most?
Well, considering Ole has one sister that lives on the west coast and due to the fact that they haven’t spoken to each other since 1986, we don’t see her at all. Lovely Daughter calls her the Wicked Witch of the West (snicker). My Big Brother lives in the southwest and we’re best buds. We visit him at least once a year.
♥ Do you have any children together?
Yes, Lovely Daughter.
♥ What about pets?
Well now, technically or emotionally? There’s a difference you know. I am owned by two cats, Senior Citizen Simon (17) and Lucy (1). Technically we don’t have two dogs, they belong to Lovely Daughter – BUT – we ended up taking Beau and Daisy with us traveling this past winter because Lovely Daughter and hubby bought a house in the Big City and their yard isn’t fenced yet. She also found out that if she has two German Shepherds on her property in town that her homeowners insurance will be raised by $75 a month due to the liabilities!!! So do you see the handwriting on the wall here? (chuckle).
♥ Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
Now that’s really a hard one to answer at this point because situations have changed so much since Ole retired 7 years ago. He used to travel a lot in his job – and that was difficult for me. But since that’s not an issue anymore I can’t think of anything!!
♥ Did you go to the same school?
Yup. Sure did. Ole often says we both graduated from our school with a complex because our mascot was a potato. We were called the Moorhead Spuds because we live in the middle of the Red River Valley which is famous for growing potatoes/spuds. Just imagine going to a high school basketball or football game and the opposition cheerleaders would get out on the floor and yell, “Mash those spuds, mash those spuds!!”
♥ Are you from the same home town?
Well, not exactly. He grew up in the Big City, I grew up in little village, just a half mile from where we live right now.
♥ Who is smarter?
Ole is a very intelligent person with a lot of common sense. One doesn’t always go with the other, you know. And he always tells me I’m the smartest person he knows. So either he doesn’t know many smart people or - - well, I don’t know. We both grew up in the School of Hard Knocks so we had to have a lot of common sense. He’s an extremely mechanically minded person and can figure things out just by looking at them. I’m much more analytical. I don’t know – does any of this make sense? Oh, well . . .
♥ Who is more sensitive?
Definitely me. You know how men are. Sometimes they just don’t get it.
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple?
We’ve really cut back on that this winter – out of boredom I think. We’ve got a number of favorite restaurants, but always seem to end up at The Watering Hole for burgers. That’s the little hole in the wall bar/grille in our little town. Sometimes it’s just too much effort to go elsewhere so we settle for that. They make great burgers – big enough that they flop over the edge of the bun.
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
All over Europe and the Mediterranean. Lived in Iceland for two years.
♥ Who has the craziest exes?
Neither of us – it’s the “first” marriage for both of us. Ole says I’m still on probation though. He hasn’t decided whether he’s actually going to keep me or not.
♥ Who has the worse temper?
That would be me!! It takes a lot to make me mad, and a long time, but when you’ve finally got me backed into a corner, look out. Ole just bought me a .38 special (that’s a revolver) when we were down south, for self-protection in this crazy world. Now he’s beginning to wonder if that truly was a good idea!! (just kidding, people, just kidding.)
♥ Who does the cooking?
Since Ole retired he’s taken on more of that responsibility. He had to if he wanted to eat (snicker). When he retired I told him I had been cooking for 35 years and I was going to retire from that too!!
♥ Who is more social?
Ole is. He’s always got to be going somewhere and doing something. I reach a point of saturation where I just need time alone and time at home.
♥ Who is the neat-freak?
I am, most definitely. If it was up to Ole there would be a path from the back door to the refrigerator and then to the bed. I must say I’ve lightened up over the last years, though. I’m more prone to leave the dog hair on the floor for a day or two and not vacuum every day.
♥ Who is more stubborn?
That’s definitely a tie. Sure is a good thing we’re not stubborn about the same issues.
♥ Who hogs the bed?
Boy is that an easy one. That’s definitely Ole. He wants his half – the middle half. We have a king at home so it’s not a problem, but there’s only a queen in the RV – so that created a problem, especially when the doggers thought they had to be in bed too. Needless to say, they’re NOT ALLOWED on the bed here at home.
♥ Who wakes up earlier?
That would be me. It didn’t used to be that way until the doggers came to live with us. They are definitely on a schedule (their own) and want to get out promptly at 6:30 every morning. Somehow Ole manages to sleep through the cold noses poking on your arms and the dog breath panting in your face, so they come over to me and start being obnoxious.
♥ Where was your first date?
Well, our very first date, technically, was the Sadie Hawkens dance, which I invited him to of course, being it was Sadie Hawkins Day and everything. But we went out again the following weekend and played miniature golf – and I beat him.
♥ Who has the bigger family?
Neither of us has a big family. Both of Ole’s parents are gone as are mine. Ole has one sister that he hasn’t communicated with since 1986 (she’s a real witch). I have one brother and had a sister who passed in 1993 at the age of 56 from a heart attack. I consider my nieces and nephews part of my family. Big Brother has one son who is married and has two wonderful little boys. They’re the ones we visited when we were in Vegas last winter. My sister had three children, two girls and a boy, none of whom speak to me anymore due to issues over my mother’s estate. Mom had a will and a trust which was administered by a trust officer, not by a family member. When Mom died everything was passed out according to her will. Long story short, my sister’s three kids didn’t think they got their fair share, when in reality they got about 30% more than the other grandchildren. Now, isn’t that more than you wanted to know about who has the bigger family?
♥ Do you get flowers often?
Well, yes and no. Ole doesn’t have bouquets delivered, if that’s what you mean. But every once in awhile will come home with something from the grocery store or a potted plant or something to plant in my garden. Just as thoughtful and longer lasting.
♥ How do you spend the holidays?
Always as a family – Ole and me and Lovely Daughter and Lars. I’ve always done all the cooking and hosting, etc., but now that Lovely Daughter and her hubby have moved into a “real” house we’re invited there for Easter. I’m excited.
♥ How long did it take to get serious?
Serious about what? I would imagine you mean about each other? Well, that was after the first date I think. From that point on neither of us went out with anyone else. So I guess that’s pretty serious.
♥ Who eats more?
That’s a good question – difficult to tell by our waistlines especially after this winter of traveling and not enough exercise. Even poor Daisy (dogger) got chubby. Ole eats more at one sitting but only eats three times a day. I consume small amounts throughout the day.
♥ Who does/ did the laundry?
That would definitely be me. Ole makes ‘em dirty and I make ‘em clean.
♥ Who’s better with the computer?
That would be me too. I think it must be genetically absorbed from Big Brother. He’s a computer nerd and I seem to be able to figure things out too – where when Ole runs into a problem he asks me to fix it.
♥ Who drives when you are together?
Ole always drives the RV. I haven’t tackled that yet, although I know I need to. I drove our old one, but that was much smaller. This one is 40 feet and usually has a car or trailer of some sort dragging behind. That’s a lot of “stuff” going down the road, you know. When we go somewhere in my car, I usually drive. When we go somewhere in the pickup, Ole usually drives. I think it’s because we’ve each got different settings for the seat and steering wheel and it’s a pain to be readjusting them all the time. And of course he drives the Harley and I just ride behind taking in all the sights. I always tell him I’m the official Picture Taker.
Well, there you have it Folks. More than you probably want to know. I’m sick of writing about the flood so it’s nice to have a diversion. Just for your info, the Red River has gone down some, but we now have a second flood crest predicted for about the middle of the month – prediction is that it will be higher than the first one which was a record setter. I was in town running errands yesterday and got tangled up in all the dikes trying to find my way home – what a mess and so confusing. I feel so sorry for the people who are living on the wrong side of the dikes. They haven’t a prayer.
Now you all chime in - I'd love to know everything about all of you!!
Love Lena
