keeping it real

MY FAMILY


My husband and I at the Emmys


I'm following in the footsteps of Heather and Kerri and posting my own "real" post.

I've met so many friends online yet never met them in person and for all I know, they are just tiny little postage stamp sized icons which is all I ever see! So here I am in my glory.

My real name is Mary Elizabeth but my family has always called me Bitsy, which was also my aunt's nickname. I answer to Mary and Bitsy and I really hate it when someone who knew me as Bitsy calls me Mary but I don't mind being Mary.

I wanted a white picket fence life, kids, husband, homemaker. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and my mother stayed home with us. I also wanted to travel to exotic places. I never had kids because by the time I got married, it was too late and then my first husband flaked on me. By the time I met my husband Cesar, it really was too late. It's hard on me but I keep busy and don't think about it and surround myself with pets.

Rocky (died in Sept) and Rosie

Speaking of pets. I have a keeshond, Rosie, 4 finches and a fishpond with two koi and 7 goldfish. I have had two other keeshond who died; one in 2005 and one last September, Rocky. I got Rocky after my divorce and he was my best friend. His death was really hard on me.

I started sewing when I was 10 and my mother took my sister and I to a neighbor's house where she taught us. I remember making culottes and a white tennis dress. Later, I sewed a lot in home ec and made so many of my clothes. I stopped sewing in college but picked it up in the form of quilting after college (in the early 80s). I was in a quilt group with women from my church.


I grew up in a church and was missionary in Africa, I also went to Haiti on a mission trip. I wanted to be a missionary so badly but I got homesick! I came home and never went back.

I have been to the countries: Africa, Haiti, Italy, England, Venezuela, Bonaire. I really want to go to France, Holland, Greece, Finland, Sweden, China, Japan.


My husband, Cesar, is from Havana, Cuba. We met when I went on an educational tour there in 2003. He came to the US in 2004 and we got married. He is a photojournalist for a Spanish TV network and won an Emmy for a short film he did in 2006. He has met and had his photo taken with Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain during the elections. I have never even seen a US president in person. I did meet Sarah, the duchess of York when I was with my first husband, at a party in New Jersey. I shook her hand and did not call her your royal highness. I think I was supposed to.


My husband and I come from such different backgrounds but we make our marriage work in spite of all the questions we sometimes get. I don't speak Spanish but he does speak English. He is 12 years younger than I am and I pay the mortgage. I'm pretty bossy and headstrong and he puts up with me. We have grown into love more after we had a passionate meeting. We had to date long distance so it was quite a risk when we got married but I feel so fortunate that he is a super guy.


Here's another list, one of those Facebook things that my niece sent me but it actually reveals a lot about me:

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Mary Elizabeth is my maternal grandmother and my nickname, Bitsy, is also the nickname of my aunt, on my mother's side, Frances Elizabeth.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Watching a sappy movie the other night

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Only a grownup kid (aka husband) and a fur-covered keeshond.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Yes, I would be my BFF

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
ALL the time.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Yes. But for the right price, I will sell them.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely not. Not even if I were promised that I would never have to work in an office again. That's a pretty serious negative.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Alpha-Bits and I also like Honey bunches of Oats but I never eat them.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Yes.
(where is 12?)

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Is there any other ice cream flavor? Mint Chocolate Chip all the way!

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
I don't even know. Whatever is most prominent about them.

15. RED OR PINK? PINK!!!!!!!
Pink first, then red

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
That I don't have any flaws (see number 7 above)

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Wow. Hm. I don't know. I miss both of my grandmothers. I miss my estranged sister. My pup Rocky who died in September. That still makes me cry.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Only if they want.

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans and red felt clogs

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Entertainment Tonight is on TV in the other room (good reminder to change the channel!)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I would be a tube of cerulean blue oil paint, not a crayon!

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Real lavender, garlic,

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My team at work on a conference call

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
She's my niece!

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
The only sports I watch on TV are the Olympics. OH and the Puppy Bowl, if that's a sport.

27. HAIR COLOR? Blonde (real blonde)

28. EYE COLOR? blue, like my father

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes- since I was 15 (glasses since I was in 3rd grade)

30. FAVORITE FOODS? Good food, anything with garlic, fresh or artisan cheeses, French dishes, pain au chocolat, steak, fresh veggies, am I too picky?

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happily ever after all the way

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Love Happens

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? pink

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? I have to have both, wow, I can't choose

35. HUGS OR KISSES? Yes

37. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP.
OHMYGOSH, when Nelle (my youngest sister) was about 5, she made me this pencil cup by coloring on construction paper and covering a tin can. That's what I still use!

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?
Mary Cassatt used to be one of my favorites. I really love all kinds of art though.

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? The Friday Night Knitting Club. I have Telex From Cuba waiting after that.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? My mouse pad is a replica of an oriental rug

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? The news, American Idol and Bizarre Foods

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S) birds singing, the sound of my dogs and husband sleeping (not snoring mind you)

43. BEATLES OR ROLLING STONES: Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Physically, Hawaii, culturally Africa.
(WHEN IS THE LIST GOING TO END?)

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
I'm pretty good at spending money

46 WHERE WERE U BORN? Davis Hospital, Pine Bluff, Arkansas

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY? Anything with meaning, I have some earrings from my 18th birthday, pearls from my 21st birthday, earrings I bought in Florence on the Ponte Vecchio.

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER? On a trip to Havana, Cuba. It was very romantic.

My BFF Wendy who lives in New York


My Scooter


Our house

So, that's me. I'd love to hear about YOU.