essentially it’s the non-essentials
We made sure we hit all the essentials during our reunion. We talked about how we got saved, how we met our husbands, how we got into ministry. I loved those conversations and learned so much about my friends through their stories.
But I loved talking about the non-essentials even more.
The essentials, though wonderfully insightful, are things that anyone would/could know. They’re the commonly asked questions and commonly told stories. But the non-essentials, that you can’t plan for or script, are what make friendships so great.
I think the more non-essentials I know about someone, the closer I feel to them. When I had to say goodbye to Mandy and Cathi, I felt like I was saying goodbye to old, close friends. We shared a lot of non-essentials. And I loved every minute of it.
What non-essentials do you want to know about me?
(Feel free to ask me questions and I’ll reply in the comments.)
I know what size shoe you wear and I’m pretty sure that is non-essential. :lol: I feel like I’ve known you forever now! heehee
Ummm….what non-essential would I like to know? hmmm….. I’m going to think about this. It needs to be a goodin’. ;-) he he he
@cassgirl says:
come on Bran…. there are so many..
1.. is your hair color real ie. any grays yet?
2. favorite candy?
3. place you hide?
4. what brand of toothpaste do you use?
5. when did you learn how to swim?
Ew, swimming.
@cassgirl says:
swimming LOVE it!!
Ha!
Okay, Heidi. My flaughter pics are up! Are yours!?
my hair color is real. just plain ol’ mousy brown. it does have some highlights in it but they’re about grown out now. AND i do have some greys! yikes!
i’m not much of a sweets-eater but i do love reese’s peanut butter cups.
place i hide??? waddayamean?
i use crest toothpaste. i’ll have to blog a story about that someday. i told my girls about it this past weekend.
i never learned to swim!
And, Deece, I absolutely must know this:
Favorite body part?
What would you train a pet monkey to do?
my favorite body part is the wenis. i like squeezing it on people i love.
and i’d train a pet monkey to fetch starbucks chai lattes for me.
Oh, reese’s peanut butter cups.
“I hope I don’t meet Reese. Oh, sorry, man. I didn’t mean to eat your peanut butter cups.”
Genius, Alece. Good choice on the candy.
ha ha. yeah, i hope i don’t meet reese either. he might not be too pleased with me.
WENIS! Good choice. I love doing that, too! Man, we need to have some Roo’lece time.
And chai. I’ve gotta get me some chai!
haha. to fetch chai lattes for you…haha.
Wow.
What’s with your aversion to no bare feet?
(That was a Mitch Hedberg skit… about Reese.)
@cassgirl says:
In 10 minutes ROO!!
Yay!
Oh, no! Your avatar went away! :(
I bet that’s because we’re waiting for some flaughter avatar-ness. Me tooooooo! Going to change it now!
becca, you have to bring up the feet?! if you must know, i have wussy feet. they hate feeling things and touching things, so they’d rather stay snuggled up in socks or shoes.
haha. Of course I had to bring up the feet.
You wanna ask me anything? Bring it.
why do you stay stinking when you’re aware you’re stinking?
oh ho ho…so this is war, is it?
Well, frankly, because I’m not compelled to shower often.
Did everybody read that? There’s a stinky kid in Wisconsin that has a slight aversion to showering daily. In fact, I shower every two or three days- typically dependent on the condition of my hot hair.
not compelled to shower often? even when you feel stinky and gross? i don’t understand this. you can still shower and NOT wash your hair…
No. I can’t. It’s all or nothin, baby.
whatever.
Yeah.
Swat I thought.
HA! You two crack me up!
@cassgirl says:
Okay I’m done!!!
Pretty prehistoric, but I had a blast!!
i love ‘em, heidi! you are amazing!
Those are awesome! Way to go, Heidi!
@cassgirl says:
You too Roo.. upper left my fav!!!
Like the glasses..!!
Wow, thanks! I’ve got three for four right now… anyone wanna claim the upper right!? ;)
@cassgirl says:
amazing?!! good grief.
I have to tell you I smiled the WHOLE day..
A first in a long time… thanks friend!!
@cassgirl says:
okay check off list:
we are same in:
1. reesesPB- Better frozen LOVE them
2. Crest- the only way
3. Mousy brown hair – (I have tons of gray)
>>>>>>>
Different:
I love to touch things with my feet squishy mud and sand. But don’t touch them!!! Never had a pedicare because of that.
I love to swim – I was an instructor and life guard when I was… ahem skinny.
Hide??
If the roof is caving in or it seems like that where do you hide? in a book? a store? a park? etc.
i love all the similarities. but even the thought of squishing mud between my toes makes me cringe. …
if my roof is literally caving in, or blowing off (which has actually happened!), i go into my bathroom. when my life feels like it’s falling to pieces, i hide within myself. and busyness. LOTS of busyness.
@cassgirl says:
We are very similar in the caving in!!!
I get VERY quiet!!!
What is a wenis?
ha ha! isn’t it fun to say? it makes me laugh.
it’s the flabby part of your elbow when your arm is extended. go ahead and pinch yours… seeeeee??? fun, eh???
@cassgirl says:
That’s hilarious…
I could blacken someone’s eye with mine!!!
I just called them momma’s wings!!!
hey, leece! found something you might like.
@cassgirl says:
k ready for more?
Heidi, I’m uber jealous of your question-capabilities! I can never ever think of good ones!
it feels like a secret hug when i can squeeze niel’s or a friend’s in public…
momma’s wings….Interesting…
I like the wenis squeeze, I’m not gonna lie.
@cassgirl says:
So does that mean when you come to SD, I’ll get a lil tug?
For reals. I love it. My friend Amy and I do it all the time!
@cassgirl says:
Me too Becca!! it’s sound much more exotic!!
heck yeah, heidi.
and i love that you do it, too, roo.
becca, i miss your wenis.
@cassgirl says:
That is crazy!!
@cassgirl says:
k… I’m not waiting…
1. did you go to the prom?
2. on a man unshaven or shaven?
3.. favorite word
i went to a small christian school — no prom!
UNSHAVEN for sure!!
favorite word? dang that’s hard. favorites in general are hard. you should know that. i tend to go with first thing i can think of or favorite RIGHT NOW; i don’t like declaring an all-time favorite. okay, back to favorite word — i’m going with pusillanimous.
@cassgirl says:
What is pusillanimous??
cowardly, faint-hearted, timid
@cassgirl says:
Really??
I think anti should get in on this.
(I see you, anti. That you’re online.)
@cassgirl says:
It would take me forever to learn how to say it!!
I was just about to write: I don’t even know how to SAY it!
pus-ill-AN-i-muss
@cassgirl says:
anti knows alece.. this wouldnt be a challenge!!
@cassgirl says:
Hey…. something just broke loose at the house.
Off for the night!!
Have fun
Lovin and prayin!!!
uh oh… that doesn’t sound good. sending up a prayer for you right now. g’night, friend.
@atangie says:
So, Alece, would this word be where we get the saying, “Don’t be such a pussy,” from?
quite possibly!
@atangie says:
Ok – I got one for you…
How would you describe your sense of humor?
@atangie says:
[I mean - it would be so much better to experience it in person... but I will take what I can get]
YOUR FAVORITE BODY PART IS THE WENIS B/C YOU LIKE SQUEEZING IT ON PEOPLE YOU LOVE?!?!?!?!?!
WTHonk?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
girrrrrrrrlllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!
hmm…. i don’t know how to describe my sense of humor. i can be sarcastic (but it’s typically the very-obvious kind) and quite goofy (you should hear my lisp). otherwise, i don’t know… i should ask some friends who DO know me to weigh in on this one…
I didn’t even read past that. My jaw dropped too hard. I had to pick it up.
raisin bran — YOU have a wenis!!!
@atangie says:
oh yeah – about the wenis – I had a dirty thought when I read that… as I am assuming Bran Muffin did…
ROO loves squeezing a wenis?!!!!!
I am shocked. Totally. Seriously. :SHOCKITYSHOCKSHOCK:
I have been such a bad influence.
Going back to keep reading.
@atangie says:
I am glad to be informed of the ‘technical’ term for that body part…
i am cracking up over here…
angie, you should teach your kids. they’ll love it.
@atangie says:
yes – so what is the proper pronunciation?
:blush:
I just read what a wenis is.
THANK GOODNESS.
WHEW!
like just what you were thinking earlier. but with a “w” instead of a “p”!
oh bran…
@atangie says:
Ok, I got another one for you
What is your middle name – if you have one?
@atangie says:
Oh – and speaking of pronunciations and names – do you know that I asked Birgit how to pronounce her name and she told me?
Okay, I was picturing you walking around like at a family affair or something grabbing everyone’s (dudes) penis and then when Roo said she liked that I thought “YOU’RE NOT MARRIED! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” but then again you can’t do that to EVERYONE either, just Niel. Oh my.
Okay, I’m better now. :lol:
Oh dear….
Alece, in your avi pic, what are you doing? Was that from your weekend reunion?
@atangie says:
@Bran – I thought very nearly the exact same thing!
Geeze I say penis and everyone leaves. HA!! ;-)
Oh @ngie I am so glad you did!!
My eyes were like buggin out of my head thinking “maybe she didn’t need the encouragement of the red heels!” and “my, she’s forward!”
HAHAHA!!!
@atangie says:
@Bran – while I got your ear… My kids saw your avatar and they asked me, “Who is that little girl?” :-)
YOU saying you like to grab everyones wenis made MY eyes bulge.
On Will&Grace they call a penis a WENIS. In fact when everyone asked what we were having when I was pg with Dylan I said “well there’s a wenis!”
go grab jake’s wenis. you’ll like it. i promise.
(i’ve NEVER heard that will & grace thing before!)
who is that LITTLE GIRL! hahahahaha!!!!! That’s so funny. I *always* look like a little girl. Always.
@atangie says:
I get the same thing… That, and, “Don’t I know you?” All The Time!
I think Jake would like it more if I grabbed his penis. LOLOLOL!!!!
Jack on Will&Grace says wenis. CRACKS ME UP. I loooove Will&Grace. heehee
When I was pg with Dylan I worked in the base coffee shop and one of my regulars, REGULARS, who saw me everyday….thought I was a TEEN MOTHER!!!!!!!!!!
you did NOT just say that! oh. my. cow.
i know someone who can do an impersonation of the boss lady from will & grace. she does it EXACTLY and it cracks me up.
@atangie says:
Ok – I got another one for you A.N. van R.
So when you are (good) surprised what is your response?
@atangie says:
wow – teen mother – that is some serious youngness you have got going on there!
okay I need to put Mr. O to bed….. maybe I’ll see ya later!
Love you girls!
@atangie says:
That would be fun to see!
I just imagined you doing that … all alone … in the bathroom … when you saw your self-planted surprise skivvies ….
@atangie says:
g’night
@atangie says:
bran
@atangie says:
(those two one-worders were supposed to be together)
ha ha. well, with my skivvies there was no jumping or clapping. but i smiled big and “eeeee”d through clenched teeth and my eyes were squished shut.
that sounds weird.
it probably is.
i’m off to wash dishes! i’ll be back later!
@atangie says:
Goodbye Alece Nancy van Rensburg.
@atangie says:
Here are some for when you come back…
What household item would you most liken yourself to and why?
So you can only take one item in your purse on an evening out with your man. What is that item?
What do you think is the greatest invention since sliced bread and why?
That’ll do for now. Good night!
Hmmm, I’m back but y’all are gone! Just as well….I have MOUNDS of laundry. STILL.
If you’re standing at the foot of the bed looking towards the head, which side do you sleep on?
Do you wear an apron when cooking?
Do you have any wierd OCD habits? Oh wait, you did a post on that huh? Nevermind. Or not. Are there new ones? hehe
Umm…. do you like to be touching Niel when you go to bed at night? Like, legs, a foot, hands, an arm… like that? Or nothing at all?
Do you stick out your tongue when you put on makeup?
Aaaaaaaand I’m out.
Oy. I’m back. I feel like I got hit with a train ’cause I was almost sleeping and then I woke up again.
BRANDY. Oh. My. Gosh. Ness. My eyes are outta my sockets. No no no no no. I’m so glad you went back and read! AHHHHH!
Very cute….
What’s your favorite drink?
Favorite snack?
are you artistic?
do you have any scars? what from?
OK I just read all of this and I totally thought a wenis was a cute name for a penis! After you explained it was a fancy name for ARM FAT I was almost wishing that Alece really did go around garbing dicks and not THAT!! I hate arm fat! It’s so grouse and I would never touch someone else’s!! And I am glad some of you like Will & Grace, I have watched it a few times and think it’s good, but I am a HUGE FRIENDS fan and I hate to admit this amongst Christian friends, but I love Sex and the city. So shoot me now!! It’s so bad! Oh and Becca I have to agree, sometimes I think something is wrong with me because I almost hate to shower!! I’m good if I get 3 in a week! I don’t know why. oK and my question for Alece is: Do you and Neil want kids, why or why not and when and how many.
How do you all have your picture on your comments and mine is a creepy little freak?
I love this post! I noticed the feet thing. Like when you were sitting on the couch, you would take your shoes off, then try to find them when you got up…I was like “why doesn’t she just go bare foot?” But then I thought maybe you just had gross feet or something. Good…now I know. So my question: What do you think (quality you look for) makes the best kind of friend?
@ngie — i did the same (with birgit!). my middle name is nancy.
bran — yes, it’s from my reunion. (i love that you called it that!) what am i doing? just being dumb! and oh boy… your comment up there made my eyes bulge!
@Faith – If you get a wordpress account (you don’t have to switch your blog over), it will let you set up a picture. you can even still have it link back to your non-wordpress blog. wonderful, wonderful!
angie — doesn’t happen very often… but when it does i smile till my cheeks hurt. there might be jumping and clapping involved. and definitely some high-pitched “eeeeeeeee”s. my voice goes up about 19 octaves when i’m excited.
@NGIE—
What household item would you most liken yourself to and why? oooh… this is hard. how about… a cozy recliner. because i’m often a care-taker/take-carer.
So you can only take one item in your purse on an evening out with your man. What is that item? my wallet; i usually am the one who pays!
What do you think is the greatest invention since sliced bread and why? i bought peaberry the cutest little onesie that says “best thing since sliced bread”. does she count as an “invention”?!?! if not, i’ll go with… the internet!
* * *
RAISIN BRAN—
Do you wear an apron when cooking? not usually. the only time i ever really do is when i’m cooking sauce (pasta sauce) because it tends to splatter all over me!
Do you have any wierd OCD habits? Oh wait, you did a post on that huh? Nevermind. Or not. Are there new ones? hehe umm… new ocd tendencies? gosh… nothing i can think of right now. although i have the sneaky suspicion there are a few. hmph.
Umm…. do you like to be touching Niel when you go to bed at night? Like, legs, a foot, hands, an arm… like that? Or nothing at all? i like to cuddle right up until i’m ready to sleep. and then… absolutely no touching! i can’t sleep AT ALL if there’s any part of niel touching me… (sad but true)
Do you stick out your tongue when you put on makeup? nope. when i put on mascara, i do that strange thing where i make my mouth go lower and stretch out my face (know what i mean), but no tongue-stick-out-age.
* * *
ANNA—
What’s your favorite drink? favorite hot frothy beverage: starbucks chai, non-fat & extra hot. favorite cold beverage: snapple green tea (of the asian pear variety). favorite alcoholic beverage: a good merlot.
Favorite snack? i’ve discovered these “healthy” chip things here in the states on this visit, and i love the berry ones.
are you artistic? ickshnay. none. nada. zip. i wish!
do you have any scars? what from? i have a lot. tons on my knees and elbows from falling down so much as a kid. (and i was horrible with scabs; i couldn’t not pick them, so of course, scarring worsened!) and i have a pea-sized raised weird scar on my side from when i contracted tick-bite-fever in africa. nearly killed me; i’m glad i have that scar to show for it.
* * *
FAITH—- (your comment about made me choke.)
Do you and Neil want kids, why or why not and when and how many. yes, we plan on having kids at some point still to be determined. and probably two. yeah, two’s a good number.
* * *
KRISTI— (i love that you noticed my non-bare-footedness in our brief time together. what can i say, i have virgin feet!)
What do you think (quality you look for) makes the best kind of friend? wow. good question. someone willing to open their heart to me and receive mine in return (and hold it gently). someone i can trust and depend on. someone i can laugh with as well as talk deep with. someone i can do everything and nothing with. yeah, that’s a good start.
@tamhodge says:
do you sing?
whats your favorite song?
color?
are you dreading getting older?
do you like to show people your cleavage?
would you grab my wenis?
wha?!?!
do you sing? i do; i love to. but i’m not good at it.
whats your favorite song? dang these “favorites”! these days it’s michael gungor’s “grace for me”
color? blue
are you dreading getting older? yes!
do you like to show people your cleavage? only you. no seriously, i’m unbelievably modest…
would you grab my wenis? heck yeah. i hope to be able to someday.
ANGIE—
coming back to your earlier question about how to describe my sense of humor. i asked cathi for her input. this is what she said:
@Faith: :SHOCK:SHOCK:SHOCK:
hahahaha!!!
I LOVE Cathi’s description of your sense of humor! Totally sounds what I imagine of you! ;-)
awww I love you!
Wait I have people chocking and gaging? what did I say??? I’m not the one who started witht he WENIS!!!
Oh Hey Roo, thanks for the help with the pic. No more creepy purple guy. And now I have a blog that I can write things that I don’t want my family to read!! haha (no really thats so sad but right now it’s true!!)
oh Faith, I need that kind of blog too! But the problem is, I’m not sure I want ANYONE reading it! haha! ;-)
You said dick. That’s what was so shocking. And kind of funny. *stiffling laughter*
Oh sorry, Sometimes I forget what words are inappropriate. I guess having a husband did that to me.
Oh I hear ya there! :shock: ha!!
ok, come on… ‘wenis’…. there is no way on God’s good earth that anyone would guess that (in your world) refers to the extra skin on your elbow, and not a man’s body part. oh. my. wooooorrrrRRRRRDDD! you crack me up.
@atangie says:
@faith – I don’t know if you are going to come back here… but your name here on WordPress (with your cute avatar) can become a hyper-link to your xanga site, if you so desire. You go to update your profile (the place where you choose the picture) and there will be an option for ‘webpage’. Just enter whatever page you want your name to link to. It is here that you can change the nickname that is displayed with your avatar as well. Just DO NOT forget to ‘update changes’ waaaaay down at the bottom of the page before you navigate away.
@atangie says:
Wow, it is nice to get to know some new things about you.
I am glad that Cathi was able to put into words a description of your sense of humor. :-) So next time that someone asks you: what alcoholic beverage would you most liken yourself to and why? you will have a convincing answer. :-)
Also so glad to hear that you made it out alive from that evil fever. I guess we can’t say you were unscathed; but I know what you mean when you say you are glad you have the scar to remind you.
Yes, peaberry counts as an invention… and a great one at that… much better than a blackberry… har har har :-]
Kristi had an excellent question about friendship and I appreciate your poignant answer even though I totally imagined you jumping up to do the heart skit with the previous avatar look on your face to give a charade type answer.
Oh, and one last thing, for now, I eeeeeeeee in private too… but I also eeeeeeeee in public private (when I am alone in public… i.e. seeing a letter from a friend in our post office box). If you ask me a little weird is good. :-)
@danielleH says:
wow, you’re a crazy posting machine!
^^ It is SO true! Ah!
Deece, I’ve got something to show you! This is where my mind jumped when I heard “virgin feet.”
christen — you made me laugh really hard!
angie — the heart skit? wow, that brought back a flood of memories.
roo — that shirt is crazy!
Isn’t it!? HA!
@cassgirl says:
Looks like I missed some great convo here last night… So much more that I learned about Alece.
I gotta tell ya the Wenis still makes me smile today!!!!
One More question?? Ready???
Are you ready for the weekend??? :)
@ventigrace says:
I also got stuck on wenis… but read to find the answer ;)
kitty — i’m glad you kept reading! and i love seeing your avatar picture. you are SO beautiful.
heidi — am i ready for the weekend? in some ways. but i still need to pack, and answer emails, and edit curriculum, and and and… so in some ways no. but am i ready to see my man?! heck yes.
@cassgirl says:
How can you think about work when you are hours from being your man’s arms?!!
K, I don’t have time to read through all the comments here, so I don’t know if you’ve already answered this.
I want to know about this laugh Mandy talks about. I don’t remember. :)
How did you Starbucks the parrot come share your home?
Also congrats to Niel on the SA Cricket team for beating England, for the first time in over 40 years, in their recent test match.
ANNIE –
I want to know about this laugh Mandy talks about. I don’t remember. i don’t know if mandy ever did get my laugh on video. once i get going, i’m a little hard to stop!
ED –
How did you Starbucks the parrot come share your home? we bought him from a breeder (via a pet shop) in durban, a coastal city 3 hours away from us. he was just a wee little guy and we had to feed him mush through a syringe until he was old enough to eat seeds. he’s a cutie. yes, i miss my bird.
oh — and the congrats goes to me too — that i did NOT have to watch that cricket match! YAY for me!
HA! Amen on the not watching. On off days, I used to watch the clips… to see if I could figure out the sport. I never did really succeed. ;)
@cassgirl says:
do I even wanna know what cricket is?
It’s kindof an odd form of baseball… ish. But not really. British sport. All over the world, though, because of the colonization.
@cassgirl says:
Oh that sport…. I’m all about contact sports.
it sounds sooooooooo boring!!!
Hi Roo!!!