For the "Anonymous" Who Emailed Me Some Questions

Anonymous #2 asked: Okay....where did you come up with spookygem and miss quicksilver? Have you had the urge for another tattoo? Have you had the urge to remove a tattoo? Do you think you are aging well mentally and physically? Do you ever just bust out laughing when you are all by yourself because you thought about something funny? What is the biggest surprise about being a mother? Does parenting fill the urge to parent like you thought it would when you so wanted a baby?

I think this might be my favourite mess of questions, so here we go:

Where did you come up with spookygem and miss quicksilver?
Spookygem - I was trying to open a new email account, and I always like to incorporate "gemini" somehow, but everything I came up with seemed to already be in use. I think it was somewhere around halloween, and Spookygem just popped into my head.
Miss Quicksilver - The term quicksilver is generally used in reference to mercury - the noun is actually a description of the liquid metal (sorry, getting to editor-ish here) - but the adjective of quicksilver is: Unpredictable; mercurial: "a quicksilver character, cool and willful at one moment, utterly fragile the next" (Sven Birkerts). - which, again pulling in my Gemini star sign - sums me up almost perfectly.

Have you had the urge for another tattoo?
Yes. Plans are in the works right now for something small and delicate to incorporate Ellery into my body art.

Have you had the urge to remove a tattoo?
No - though I do wish now that I would have went somewhere else to have the one on the inside of my wrist done. It could have been so much more beautiful if I hadn't had such a lazy tattoo artist.

Do you think you are aging well mentally and physically?
Mentally - I like to think I've grown up a lot in recent years, but to tell you the truth, I like the idea of always feeling just a little bit like a kid. It allows me to really be myself, and have a lot of fun doing it.
Physically - well, I could always stand to be in better shape. Boo.

Do you ever just bust out laughing when you are all by yourself because you thought about something funny?
All.the.time. I also do it when I'm out alone, but in the middle of a crowd of people where I don't know anyone. I'm sure people think I'm crazy. I also talk to myself, lol.

What is the biggest surprise about being a mother?
Thinking about someone other than myself. I mean, I always think about other people, but it was just husband and I for so long, that we never thought twice about doing anything, because there was never anyone else to worry about. Now my first thought is always Ellery. I knew it would happen, I just didn't realize how every little thing would have to be thought through once she was born.

Does parenting fill the urge to parent like you thought it would when you so wanted a baby?
Yes. I was born to be a lot of things, but being a parent is the most important. I have never felt so much joy in my entire life as when I'm taking care of that child.