Lena's Deep Dark Secrets

I've been interviewed - TWICE! Both Art and Fi sent me four questions, so here's a look at all my inner secrets.

You have been with Ole for a very (very) long time. Do you ever feel as though you have missed out on anything through marrying your high school sweetie?

Ole and I have been married 40 years as of last spring (I was 10 when we got married, snicker). We dated for three years prior to getting married. Do I ever feel like I’ve missed out on anything because I married my high school sweetie? Absolutely not. When I look at my marriage compared to a lot of other married folks, there’s no way I have missed out on anything. I’m not saying there haven’t been bumps along the road, but we’ve always managed to smooth out those bumps and come back to driving on a paved highway. To quote Ole, he says, “I’m mean, evil, bad, nasty and rotten, and besides that, I’m not a nice guy.” Everyone who knows him tells him that quote is only in HIS mind because he’s a big marshmallow. He’s a very loving and kind person who was fortunate enough to be very successful in the business world because of his personality. I am so fortunate in so many ways. He’s very family oriented and is an excellent caregiver.

Craft work is important to you. What does your hand work give to you?

I only wish that I had more time to do more. I love to crochet and quilt, and both give me a sense of accomplishment and completion. They seem to allow both my creative and artistic abilities to come to the surface. The only thing is I haven’t kept much of the work I have completed – I’ve given most of it away. I love to share things with other people who appreciate the work and time involved. It’s like giving them a part of me.

Furry friends play a big part in your life. If you were a furry creature, what would you be? (If it's a dog or a cat, we need a breed please.) And why?

I have to say that I would love to be any furry creature as long as I could live in our house. No – that’s wrong. I can’t abide anything that is mouse-like, for example hamsters, gerbils, etc. But as far as other furry house pets go, they are all loveable and depend on humans for their care. Anything that lives in our house is always well loved and spoiled to the nth degree and always ends up returning the love and affection ten fold that we give out.

If you could live anywhere in the world, except where you now live (BRRRR all that snow!), where would it be? And why?

Well, now, that’s not a difficult question to answer at all. It really doesn’t make any difference where I live as long as I’m surrounded by the ones I love. Ole and I only have one daughter, and as long as she lives in this area we will be here. Should she decide to make a move to any other part of the country we would follow. We hope at some point in time that she will bless us with grandchildren and we don’t want to miss out on that wonderful event. So, Lovely Daughter, you’re stuck with us for the rest of our lives!!


How long have you been blogging, and how did you find out about it?

I’ve been blogging for almost two years now. Lovely Daughter is the guilty culprit for introducing me to this habit-forming device. She has been blogging since about the year 2000 I think, and would tell me about all the interesting people she met throughout the world. Now I spend WAY too much time on the computer on a daily basis – and it’s all her fault!!

Have you written some good gossip about someone you know and they found out you posted it?

I’ve written gossip in the past about someone I know, but to my knowledge they haven’t found out about it – at least not yet!! I’m sure I’ll know when and if they do. (See Jane, see Jane run, see Jane run before she gets SMACKED!!)

Would you describe your first motorcycle trip, and were you scared?

Oh, my goodness. You’re really asking me to go back in time now. If you’re referring to the first time I ever rode as a passenger on the back of a motorcycle, that takes me back to my high school days, and yes, I was scared. I can’t even remember the name of the guy who drove the bike, but we ended up laying it down and I got my leg burned on the exhaust pipe. Never rode with him again. Never liked bikes much after that. Then along came Ole – a biker from his high school days. But in the beginning of our marriage he didn’t own a bike. Then one night, under the cover of darkness he came home with a little bitty Honda in the back of the pickup. Backed the pickup up against the wall of the pole barn so that I wouldn’t see the motorcycle. And I didn’t for several days. When I finally noticed it I asked him what the blankety-blank he thought he was doing with that!?! I think Lovely Daughter was probably in grade school at that time. I never rode with him during that period of time because I always felt that if something happened to us and Lovely Daughter was left alone at that age, it wouldn’t be good. When she graduated from high school I finally decided that it was time to venture out and see what all the fuss was about having a Harley. He had graduated through several bikes by that time and owned his first Harley. Guess I felt she could make it on her own at that point if she had to. I have to say that he was very conscientious when I finally decided to ride on the back, and says he felt like he rode like an old woman. As time went on I became more comfortable and enjoyed riding immensely. Every year he would ask me to go to Sturgis with him and I would always refuse. When I finally decided to go there were three stipulations – 1) I would not camp in a tent like he had been doing. The weather there is too unpredictable and my idea of camping was sleeping in a bed at the Holiday Inn. 2) I would not ride on the back of the bike all the way down there (650 miles) – we would have to put the bike on a trailer. 3) There was no way I was going to wear all that black leather like all the biker women did. They looked too tough and mean. I wanted RED leather. Well, Ole managed to secure a hotel room at a first class hotel; he bought a trailer to haul the bike down behind our truck, and then told me that we would buy leather when we got there, as it was much cheaper. All went well after we arrived until we started to shop for leather for me. It was then (this was 1994 and things have changed a lot since then) that I discovered that red leather only seemed to come in a size 4 and was only worn by prostitutes! So I definitely changed my mind about the leather and bought black with brown suede trim and lots of fringes. It’s beautiful!!! And doesn’t look like it’s worn by hookers.

Now to actually answer the question: My first BIG bike trip was to Sturgis, SD in the Black Hills, and no I really wasn’t scared. I have to admit that I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew that Ole wouldn’t let me come to any harm. He’s an extremely conscientious driver, and there have been many situations that we’ve been in in traffic, that if he wasn’t so experienced and had so much training, we would have been dead.

What is the longest job that you ever had?

I’ve filled a number of positions throughout my working life, but you ask for the longest – not the most fun. I worked for 8 years in the Spanish Department of a local private college. I loved the work and loved working with the students. My daughter was a college student at the time so it really kept me in touch with the happenings of kids that age. She didn’t attend the college I worked at, but attended a different private college about a hundred miles from home. Unfortunately, the chair of the Spanish Department that I worked in demanded that I do a lot of things that went against my ethical and moral nature and I eventually walked out on her one day when I’d had enough. By the time I got home (a 20 minute drive) my phone was ringing and it was the director of human resources. Word had already gotten to her about what happened in our department that day and I was asked if I would make a written report to the President of the college. Following the completion of my report and the presentation to the President she (the chair) was put on probation and was eventually removed from her position as chair. Now if you want to know about the most FUN job, just ask.