History, parts 4 & 5

I can't remember the exact wording of the questions. I had them on my nightstand, but Nils cleaned our room yesterday (which, by the way, looks AMAZING! We forgot about all that carpet!) and now I can't find them. Pardon me while I make up my own wording.

What is the story behind your name? Do you like your name?

My mom's name is Kathryn. After my sister Heidi was born, my parents wanted to have another daughter named Kristina. They proceeded to have four sons. By the time I came along, they were sick of the name Kristina, but wanted to name me after my mom. They thought they were being really creative and thought of the name Katrina as a nice little mix of Kristina and Kathryn. When I was little I didn't like my name because I thought it was too fancy. All of my siblings have pretty traditional names, so I didn't think my name really matched theirs. Now, I can't think of any other name that I'd rather be called. I think Katrina fits me pretty well. I have to say, though, that I always wished I had a middle name. I always thought it would be so fun and exotic. So, I live vicariously through my daughters, who all have middle names. And lemme tell ya.... it's totally fun and exotic. Oh. Yeah.

(Incidentally, Ava's middle name is Catherine. I wanted to spell it with a C because I think it's pretty that way. Wanna know what else? On my mom's original birth certificate, her name is spelled 'Catherine', but there was some feud when she was a baby, so it's always been spelled 'Kathryn' everywhere else. So, I claimed I was just sticking with the original spelling. Ha!)

Next question:

Was there a point when you knew your siblings and family accepted your spouse?

My family loves Nils more than they love me. He's been a part of the family from day one. My brother got married a couple of months after Nils and I met, and Nils is in the family picture at the wedding. That was about three years before Nils and I were actually married. My brother is no longer married to that woman, but the picture remains. When Nils went into the MTC, my family was there. They love him. What's not to love? He's just a lovable guy. He's funny, handy, quick-witted, genuinely nice, and he can eat his weight in mashed potatoes, which they all enjoy watching. Nils winterizes my mom's swamp cooler every year, gets it working again in the spring, changes her horrible fluorescent light bulbs when needed, fixes leaky faucets, and basically does whatever needs to be done around her house. No wonder she loves him more than she loves me. It's because he's got the skills, people. Nilsy Nils has got the skills.

I Think I Like Soccer

Anders played soccer for the fall season. Here's a brief history of Anders' experience with sports: Crying, being carried off the field, being carried off the basketball court, whining about games, etc. So imagine my delight when he told us he wanted to play soccer this fall. Joyous rapture. At his first practice, he was arguing with the coach and picking grass. I thought I was gonna lose it on the boy. After that practice, I told him that A) We PAY for him to play. B) Driving 10 minutes away and sitting for an hour and a half at his practice is not #1 on my list of things I most love doing, especially if he's going to pick grass and not listen to the coach. C) He will not play sports if he's not going to try his best and have a good attitude. Seriously.

He turned it around. Holy cow, the kid really came through. His coach was fantastic. He taught the kids to play their positions, so they're not a herd chasing the ball. I really enjoyed watching his games. His team was a little bit like the Bad News Bears, but I was so happy with how much Anders improved. I love how soccer is all about teamwork. And I loved that Anders only had to be carried off the field once during the whole season.

He was sad when his last game was over. He really enjoyed playing! So, I decided that if Anders wants to play soccer, I'm happy to support him. I think it's a great game.

But basketball starts in January, and he wants to play. Heaven help us.

A Little History, part 3

Did you have pets? What were their names? Were they usually strays? How did you acquire them?

There were several pets that made their way through the Vander Werff compound. There were two cats when I was very young. They were strays that we would feed, so they hung around. We named them Lion and Tiger. Such original cat names, yes. We had them for a few years, I think, but when we moved a few blocks away, they didn't follow us and we were sad. We tried to take them with us but they freaked out and ran away. 

When I was in 4th grade we got a dog for Christmas. His name was Ralphie, after the kid in the movie "A Christmas Story". He was a great dog. He died when I was in 10th grade. I don't like to talk about it. It was sad.  A year or two later, my brother brought another dog home and named him Champ. Champ was also a great dog. Eventually my brother moved away and couldn't take Champ with him, so he stayed with my mom. She took good care of him. He was her walking partner, etc. My sister took Champ after awhile and he was their family dog. He was happy. Then he got hit by a car and died. It was horribly tragic. Yeah, I don't like talking about that one, either. 

Wow. Think I've got some pet issues? 

A Little History, part 2

Question: What kind of chores were you required to do for the family?

There are a few chores I remember well. #1 was dusting. For some reason, it was always my job to dust the staircase, coffee tables, side tables, bookshelves, etc. Man, I hated it. In fact, I rarely dust now because I really, really hate it. I know, gross. In my defense, I don't have a lot of surfaces that require dusting. I probably do that on purpose subconsciously because of my traumatic childhood dusting duty. I used to write my name on the coffee table with Pledge. Aaah, I can still smell the lemony freshness.

#2- Weeding. Holy crap, the weeding. My brothers and I each had a section of yard that we had to weed on Saturdays. It was torture. We had these neighbors across the street that always won the "Yard of the Week" award from the city. It was obnoxious because our yard always looked like crap compared to theirs. They had curbing around their dirt mounds- we didn't. Mystery solved. Unlike dusting, I don't mind yard work so much now.

#3- Cleaning toilets. When I was a small child I enjoyed cleaning the toilets. Granted, my brothers had their own disgusting bathroom downstairs that I wasn't required to clean, so it wasn't bad at all. My love of cleaning toilets has since died. It's the stench that drives me to do it now.

And that's all I have to say about that.

A Little History, part 1

Baaa. Again. For Nils' birthday, his parents gave him the gift of writing a personal history, one question at a time. They stuffed a cute little jar full of random life questions in hopes that he'll pick one question every week and write about it. He's been doing this on his blog. I've been thinking about following his shining example, because I've been rather uninspired as of late as far as this little blog is concerned. So, I'll do one question a week, and maybe that will bring back some of the bloggy inspiration. Maybe not. At any rate, you'll all get to know some random things about little ol' me. Tender. I feel closer to you already.

Question: What did you discover about yourself in high school? Did you learn a skill that you could take out into the world with you?


First of all, I was a pretty lousy student in high school. My dad died the summer before my freshman year, and I really think that made what is already a difficult time in everone's life extra wonky for me. I went into 9th grade with virtually no friends. I think the friends I had had previously were weirded out by the fact that my dad died and didn't know how to behave around me. I hung out with a rogue group that year. We toilet papered a lot of houses and played a lot of Scum (the card game). It was basically a year of survival for me. My grades were terrible. In the district I grew up in, 9th grade was still at the jr. high- still high school credit, but we didn't go to the actual high school until 10th grade.

Sophomore year I was able to make a really good group of friends, which was a tremendous blessing for me. I still consider those girls good friends. They were a positive influence on me and accepted me, warts and all.

My junior & senior years I was able to pull myself together and start getting better grades. I was never an honor roll student- ever. I loathed math and science. I never had to try hard in English, history, social studies, etc. I joined the swim team, which was one of the best opportunities I could have asked for. As far as skills I learned and have used: I learned how to write an essay. I learned how to sew, but now sewing fills my soul with anger and I avoid it. I learned how to do a mean backstroke. I learned that the cool kids really aren't all that cool.

I look back on high school with a general sense of "blech". It wasn't so bad at the time, but I have never missed it or longed to go back. You couldn't have wiped the smile off my face on graduation day. I was truly ecstatic to be done. I do miss hanging out with my friends every day, going to Macey's for bulk candy, watching "Sixteen Candles", listening to ABBA and disco skating. How we loved the Disco Saturday Nights! When I think about high school, I think about the gang and all of the ridiculous, innocently lame things we did to entertain ourselves. I'm very thankful. And I still love to swim.