Erica Revealed
UPDATED AGAIN!
Tessie asked “I would like to know about your college experience. What was it like?”
Hellish. I went to a small private religious college in Ohio. Quaker, of all religions. There were fines for swearing on campus. It was SO the wrong choice for me, but I didn’t know it. I made it a whole semester before leaving. I hated my roommate, mandatory Chapel and my 8:00am MWF math class. I went home for Christmas break and never went back. To be fair, I should also tell you that I was at the peak of my “evil incarnate” period. I was probably hated by many a person on campus and justifiably so.
I lived the dropout life for the rest of the school year and then enrolled at St. Louis Community College (Meramec campus (shout out to Bananafana and MOTY!)) I went there for two years and did really well. It was a great school, especially for a community college. Then, my parents moved to Idaho after my dad graduated from Seminary and I moved here to Texas. I’ve been a dropout ever since. I’m considering going back this fall, but have yet to decide fully.
The New Girl asked: “If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?”
I’d have to go with mind control. Can you imagine how great that would be with a toddler? You WILL nap now! You WILL eat! You WILL stop whining for crissake! Not to mention the benefits with husbands…
Love asked “if you could be a flavor of ice cream…what would it be?”
Something decadent made with real cream. I’m not for the feint of heart or for those who just need a “little taste of something sweet.” I’m more overwhelming. Maybe Haagen Daz Creme Brulee.
Bananafana asked “did you post tattoo pics and I missed it? I want to know what you have and why . . .”
You haven’t missed it. I need Gerald to take a pic of one of them for me, and I keep forgetting to ask him to do it. I have four of them and in chronological order they are: a gecko on my inside left ankle, the Eye of Horus on the left side of my chest, a butterfly on my right shoulder blade and a small fish on the top of my right foot. I’ll take pics and give explanations in my next post. (I still haven’t decided what to get to commemorate my initiation into motherhood.)
SemiDesperate Housewife asked “Oh, I have one I have ALWAYS wanted to ask you and never had the guts: are your tubes tied? Because I always thought, based on a comment you made in one of your posts right before Maddie was born, that you planned on getting your tubes tied right after the C-section. And then you’ve also made comments about knowing you were done having kids. But then lately, it seems like maybe you’re open to the idea of having more? So am I confused about the whole tubes tied thing, or are you just considering having them UNTIED or something?”
I’m not surprised that someone asked this question. I was sort of vague on the whole thing. Here’s the story: When I first met with my OB, I told him I wanted a scheduled c-section and to have my tubes tied. Gerald and were both only children and we had agreed that we only wanted one child ourselves. My OB agreed and off we went. Fast forward to my 32 or 34 week check up. My OB said that he wouldn’t tie my tubes because I’m too young and he was pretty sure I was going to want more children. So, he proposed the Mirena IUD for five years. He said he’d tie my tubes at the end of the five years if I wanted him to. I agreed because, frankly, I was already having second thoughts about having them tied. At the time, I emphatically did not want more children or to EVER be pregnant again, but the tying seemed too final for me. I had my c-section at 36 weeks and 6 days and at eight weeks postpartum, I got the Mirena. It’s been almost a year now and I really like it. It’s thoughtless birth control and it was CHEAP. I paid my $25 copay and that’s it. For FIVE YEARS worth of birth control. My only complaint in that I break out a lot now, but I think that’s the lack of birth control pills and not the Mirena.
As far as other children go, I’m not sure. When Maddie was four or five months old, I went through a huge hormone surge where another baby was all I could think about. I mourned Maddie getting older and not being my little newborn anymore. This lasted for maybe six months. Now, I’m pretty sure I’d like one more, but I’m ok if we don’t have anymore, too. I love being able to devote all my time to Maddie and not having to juggle multiple kids with their multiple demands. But, I think about how much I love Maddie and wouldn’t it be great to make another child that I’d love just as much?
finefornow asked “I don’t think I know your age, or Gerald’s for that matter!”
I’m 31, almost 32. Gerald is 39, almost 40.
Jana asked “I know you’re not too fond of Texas, so where would you live if you had the choice?”
Pacific Northwest. Or Alaska. I’m a mountains and pine tree kind of girl. If we’re talking leaving the U.S., I’d have to go with New Zealand.
Shelly asked “Other than a mom, what would your dream job be?”
Archaeologist/Egyptologist. I went to school for this, but never finished. I ended up working in the finance/investment world. I’d also love to be the director of acquisitions for the British Museum in Cairo.
Jenna asked “How did you and Gerald meet?”
eHarmony. The first time we talked on the phone, we talked from 8:00 at night until 6:00 the next morning. Our first date was a whole weekend long and we were engaged three weeks after we met. We were married six months later. We’re about to celebrate our fourth anniversary next month.
mom of the year asked “I’m dying to know if you were punk-ish in high school or college, or if you had punk tendencies.”
Totally. I had Manic Panic blue hair, a pierced nose and the de rigeur doc martens. But I was kind of a poser. I wanted to be really punk, but my dad was in the Seminary and so I had to be respectable looking. Plus, we were completely poor when my dad was at the Sem, as most familes are, so there were limited funds for things like clothes and makeup. I had to buy all of that myself with my after school job which paid crap per hour.
Mommy Daisy asked “What were your pre-Maddie days like? What types of things were you into? Were your days carefree and wild?”
I got into a serious relationship when I was 20 and it lasted for almost seven years. I never did any of that typical 20 year old stuff. No partying, no drinking, no living on my own and “finding myself.” When the relationship ended, I sort of went a little crazy. I was living on my own for the first time in my whole life and I had great friends who loved to party and drink. I spent about six or eight months in an alcohol haze. Then, I met Gerald and things tapered off to normal shortly thereafter. When we were newly married, we still went out to bars and took frequent road trips. We were pretty care-free, but not wild. Then we settled into our new house and got to be home-bodies. By the time Maddie came along, we were really sedate and ready for the responsibility of being parents.
jmc asked “What’s the best vacation you’ve ever been on?”
That would have to be my honeymoon. Does that count as a “vacation?” Gerald and I took a cruise out of Miami to Grand Cayman and Jamaica. It was SO. MUCH.FUN.
This was great! Thank you for asking : )
Filed under: daily on March 28th, 2008


This is great. It’s like a little bigger peek into the world that is Erica. Thanks.
Very interesting….thanks for doing this!
This was totally fun. Do it again some day, please.
Oh, I MISSED IT!
Darn.
Thanks for answering! Good luck with your decision- I can still see the pros of having an only child, even now, though I definitely believe we made the right choice for us by having more. It’s a very big decision, jumping that hurdle from parents and child to parents and KIDS.
This is so fun. My favorite answers were about tied tubes and about your relationship with Gerald.
Ha! I just found out that a co-worker of mine went to college about 15 minutes away from that small private religious college - from which I graduated & loved it, and when I told her that’s where I had gone she was like “Really? Didn’t you guys get fined for swearing?”
For the record, I can’t think of anyone I knew getting fined for swearing - and that’s not because we didn’t swear. But I do remember my friend Brian, when he was an RA, having to write up a guy for having a girl in his room during non-visitation hours, and when she got up to leave, Brian saw that she wasn’t wearing any pants. He had no idea how to put that in whatever report he had to write, so at the end he just added “P.S., no pants”. And a catchphrase was born.
I KNEW IT! You punk, you. Yeah, Docs. Mama had them, too. Still want the nose ring. Never did the blue hair, but had a great shade of eggplant at one time and oxblood at another. You + me = soulmates. Still want the nose ring. AM I too old for that? God, I miss college…