If I were a fiction character

I’ve decided to treat myself like a fiction character, filling out one of those “Character charts”. Hopefully some people will find this interesting. If you like it, grab it and

• What is your name? Do you have a nickname? — Marie Cachet Beausoleil is my married name. I grew up with a name that sounded completely English (Mary Wood) until you heard my middle name – Cachet. I honestly don’t know what my parents were thinking. When Pierre and I met, he began referring to me as Marie in that sexy French accent. I soon realized that I really liked my “new” name. My mom still calls me Mary, though.

• What is your hair color? Eye color? — Blue and brown. (Wait … the other way around.)

• What kind of distinguishing facial features do you have? — A mole on my belly.

• Does your character have a birthmark? Where is it? What about scars? How did he get them? — I have a scar on my right breast from having a mole removed, and scars on my head from having a tumour removed. No birthmarks, though.

• Who are your friends and family? Who do you surround herself with? Who are the people you are closest to? Who do you wish you were closest to? — I have a mother, a brother and a sister. My father died a few years ago. I have three sons. I try to surround myself with happy and energetic people, although that often doesn’t mean family members. I wish I were closer to my family, although I know that we’d all have each other’s back in a pinch. I am closest to my husband. He’s my best friend.

• Where were you born? Where have you lived since then? Where do you call home? — I was born in a small town in eastern Canada. I have lived in several places around eastern and central Canada. I have never been further south than New York state. Currently, I live outside the city of Greater Sudbury in northern Ontario.

• Where do you go when you’re angry? — When I’m angry, I generally rant to friends. If it’s something that really bothers me, I go to a Metis group that I belong to, and then I rant to a counselor there. However, there’s not a lot in my life that gets me that angry.

• What is your biggest fear? — My greatest fear is losing my husband and my children.

• Do you have a secret? — Of course. Everyone does.

• What makes you laugh out loud? — My husband when he tells jokes. He’s a funny man.

• When have you been in love? Had a broken heart? — I have loved three men. The second one broke my heart and then trampled on the pieces. As much as Pierre loves me now, I still sometimes cry from the pain. I’m not sure that it ever goes away. And then I stop and wonder if my first love still sometimes cries for me.

• What is in your refrigerator right now? On your bedroom floor? On your nightstand? In your garbage can? — LOL I wonder if anyone is going to read this, or if you’re going to skip over this question.

In my refrigerator: A bag of milk, a block of old cheddar, a plastic container of homemade stew, assorted condiments, a Brita pitcher, and something that used to be a cucumber … oops. (Guess I’d better go clean out the fridge now)

On my bedroom floor: Only a laundry hamper.

On my nightstand: A brush, body lotion, a novel, and a table runner-thingie.

In my garbage can: Blech! A dirty diaper, and an empty milk bag. Pierre took out the garbage before he left for work.

• Look at your feet. Describe what you see there. Do you wear dress shoes, gym shoes, or none at all? Are you in socks that are ratty and full of holes? Or are you wearing a pair of blue and gold slippers knitted by your grandmother? — White socks, and a pair of fuzzy green slippers that my mom gave me. My house is chilly, so it’s not a socks *or* slippers issue. We wear both around here.

• When you think of your childhood kitchen, what smell do you associate with it? Sauerkraut? Oatmeal cookies? Paint? Why is that smell so resonant for you? — Homemade bread! My mother makes the most wonderful homemade bread in the world. She used to work at  bakery. When I was growing up, she would make her bread dough in a huge metal bowl, but then she would have to put it out on the counter for the final rise because it overflowed the bowl. Mom usually made bread twice a week.

• You are doing intense spring cleaning. What is easy for you to throw out? What is difficult for you to part with? Why? — Pierre and I actually do this fairly regularly. He’s more of a packrat than I am, so I have to say that it’s easiest for me to throw out his stuff. I’m constantly tossing out things, and he says, “Mais non! We may need that!” For both of us, it is hard to toss out books. We own many, many books.

• It’s Saturday at noon. What are you doing? Give details. — At noon? We have a one year old, so noon generally means naptime. So I’m probably sitting in front of my computer writing a blog entry. I sit in the livingroom, looking out on the small mountain in front of my house. (Well, it’s called a mountain, but I don’t know – pretty rinky-dink mountain if you ask me.) Pierre is nearby on his own computer. We’re such nerds.

• You are getting ready for a night out. Where are you going? What do you wear? Who will you be with? — A night out? Oh, my. We don’t do that very often. We are probably heading out for Chinese food, and I’m wearing my jeans and a pretty shirt. Of course, I’m with Pierre.

Well, that was fun.