>Your Questions Answered

>I had a fabulous birthday, thank you very much. My postpartum hormone thing allowed me to entirely forget that I was 32 for long periods of time, plus I managed to fit cupcakes-for-breakfast/present-opening/a major-shopping-spree/
lunch-at-Aquarium/a 500-calorie-burning-workout/Panerra-salads-for-dinner all into one day, while still taking care of Bruiser and enduring Punky’s whiny phase (which is another post for another time, but more than once that day, I said, “You are ruining Mommy’s birthday with your whining!” and I don’t even feel guilty about it).

You all had such good ideas for posting (well, aside from the midget porn idea) that I’m going to try and address some of them here, sort of like a Q & A. I’m saving all the stepmothering questions, though, for a later date. I have a really exciting new project coming up that I can’t reveal yet, but it will address that very subject, among other things. Okay, here goes…

From Anonymous: Here’s a topic: Age is just a label – and they can be removed.

Unfortunately for me, age is also creaky joints, the appearance of fine lines around my eyes, and hangovers that now begin about halfway through my first glass of wine. The line sure sounds good, though. Keep using it.

From Amy: As a thirtysomething single gal in the city, how does the dating thing work when you are the last single gal in your group? Do the smug marrieds that you spend time with really understand what your life as a single gal is like? And the age old question, where do you find nice, decent, mature single men (in Nashville)?

I have several friends who are unmarried and in their 30s- What I’m noticing is that newly-divorced men in their 40s are starting to creep into their social set. So as long as you’re okay with that, presto! You’ve got a brand new dating pool!

Smug marrieds actually are jealous of all the free time and disposable income you have, not to mention the fact that you can get up at three in the morning and download a song on your iPod without your husband leaning over the bed, staring at you hooking up your computer on the floor and asking, “What the hell are you doing?” That is very annoying. Not that I’m necessarily speaking from experience…

Nice single men in Nashville? If you’re religious, I’d say church or synagogue or wherever it is you go is a great place to look for a man. Most religious places have very active singles groups and you’re more likely to find guys there, I think, who could offer similar values and a potentially solid foundation for marriage. Other than that, I noticed REI tends to attract rugged guys and I wondered why more women haven’t caught onto the fact that it would be easy to find a date there…

Nicole asked: At what age do you become a ma’am? Is age irrelevant – is it just a polite title?

I am definitely a ma’am to the baggers at the grocery store and I’m fine with that. I need to be sure they don’t put the Oxy-Clean in with the eggs and somehow I think it would be more difficult for me to assert my authority in that department if they were calling me “mommy” or “chick.” If a bartender ever calls me ma’am, though, I will probably have a breakdown.

Darth Doc asked: How will you be teaching Punky and eventually bruiser to address adults, (your contemporaries)?

Punky calls my friends “Miss Amy” or “Miss Rachael” and Bruiser will too. Last names are too formal for me. I also have the advantage of raising teenagers, whose friends call me by my first name (because my girls do) and I think it’s a lot cooler to come to “Lindsay’s house” than it would be to come to “Mrs. Ferrier’s house.” All I know is that a lot of teenagers are always over here and I like it that way- I like to know where my girls are, who their friends are and what they’re doing and that’s way more important to me than being called by my last name.

Veronica Mitchell: I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this article.

I haven’t done a whole lot of reading lately on women’s issues in the middle east, but I did take an Islamic Thought class in college and the professor never called on the girls in the class. Not one time. I was furious. So I imagine how that felt and multiply it by 100,000 and I think I have an inkling of how some women over there must feel.

Holly suggested: You could write about tube socks or ankle socks or those socks with the little pompoms on the back of them.

I always liked over-the-knee socks, but I had a moment last summer when I realized I’d never wear them again, that they had been collecting dust in my sock drawer since college and that I was too old for them. It was a sad, sad moment. I gave them to my stepdaughter.

Anonymous said: How about a post defending your guilty pleasures.

That is a great idea. Coming soon.

Stl Mom said: I think you should write about something you do with your kids that is unique to Nashville. As an out-of-town reader, I’d be interested.

There is a popsicle shop here called Las Paletas that we love. The popsicles are like nothing you’ve ever tasted before and come in flavors like rice, corn, chocolate & chile, and rose petal. We go there as often as possible in the summer, which, unfortunately, is not very often. My other favorite local thing to do is to go canoeing down the Harpeth River. The canoe rental place is about ten minutes from our house and it takes 4 hours to make the run. It’s beautiful and a terrific family adventure.

Hoss wanted to know: How was u as a athlete, Lucinda? Tell us about your life and times in the pits.

I was a cheerleader. Seventh grade until 12th grade. Total waste of time and energy. I’m so glad both my girls are soccer players and that soccer is the cool thing for girls to do now at their schools.

Raehan asked: In an alternate universe, if you weren’t married with four kids, what would you be doing right now?

I would either be anchoring the news in a Nashville-sized market or reporting in a big city like Chicago or DC or, most likely, Atlanta, where I’m from. That would have been the next career move for me.

Sensible One: Lurkers vs. stalkers. Something I’m dealing with at the moment.

I haven’t had any trouble with stalkers on the Internet. I don’t get much hate mail, either. I’ve been really lucky. As for lurkers, I do wonder who’s reading that knows (or knew) me in real life. I have some ideas, looking at my stats…

Okay kids, that’s all we have time for today. Check back tomorrow and I’ll address more of your topics.