Blue Genes

Currently listening to: The Album Leaf's "Seal Beach" album
Reminds me of: Summer nights in Irvine, even though I just heard it for the first time tonight

The other day Nathan and I were talking about character traits that are innate versus learned, the whole "nature vs. nurture" debate. So I started thinking about where I picked up the things that make me who I am. Here are some of the things I inherited and where they came from:

My tendency to be melancholy, and to be overcome by sadness in the face of beauty (Mom)

My love of organizing and categorizing (Dad)

My infinite patience for working jigsaw puzzles and my ability to pick up a piece and know exactly where it goes (Dad)

My self-appointed job in the family of making sure everyone's happy and having a good time (Mom)

My food accidents, where I end up dropping food on myself at almost every meal (Dad) (Nathan TOTALLY makes fun of me when this happens, but I swear it's genetic)

My love of taking the prettiest road even if it's not the most direct way to get somewhere (Mom)

My habit of packing too much into a day and trying to make it work, to the exasperation of other more realistic family members (Mom)

My inability to throw out anything, including greeting cards and fortune cookie fortunes, that has sentimental value or a memory attached to it (Mom)

And then there are some things that are all my own:

My laziness (though my mom claims to be lazy, too)

My avoidance of tomatoes

My preference for being out all the time rather than at home

The bizarre part of my sense of humor

My love of going to places that aren't necessarily "safe" or "accepted" by our conservative crowd

My somewhat white trash habit of eating Little Smokies cold

And on and on.... I still haven't answered the question really. I don't know if these things are things I picked up from watching my parents or if they're really part of my personality. I think a lot can be attributed to birth order as well. Alright, enough for tonight. It's been a big day. My mom and I hosted a tea party this morning for Morgan, Zoe, and Lindsay and all their Cabbage Patch Kids. We ate at a table on my parents' patio, and the dolls hung out on the patio swing. Judah hung out with the dolls, fitting right into the lineup. He's about the same size as the dolls and looked hysterical sitting there with them. Then tonight we all went down to Corona del Mar for the first beach party of the season. So I feel contentedly tired. And I smell like beach fire smoke, which is always a good thing.