Hello! Welcome to episode 85 of I’d Rather Stay In. This week, Megan is getting nosy and interviewing Stephie.
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Episode transcript
Megan
Welcome to I’d rather stay in with your host Megan Myers and Stephie Predmore. This week, Megan interviews Stephie. Stay tuned.
Stephie
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Hello, hello.
Megan
Hello Stephie What’s up? Megan? I had a whole thing I was going to tell you and I completely forgot as soon as you said. No. So sad. It’s fine. Oh, I think probably that sums up how I’m doing though, actually. So honestly, this
Stephie
week has been so long.
Megan
I know every time that it’s a short week. It’s actually the longest week such a
Stephie
long week. Yeah, we normally record on Tuesdays we’re recording on Thursday. And it was labor mo said memorial day it was Labor Day on. See I don’t even know. It was Labor Day on Monday. So you know it’s supposed to be a short week. But the one the short week is like when the day off is Monday. The rest of the week is so long, like can we just make it so that the day off is always on Friday?
Megan
It’s always gonna be Friday. Why did they do this to us? Right?
Stephie
Yes, no, I multiple people I talked to at work that were like, is it Friday? Yeah, like what is happening? I don’t know. So I feel it. I feel it.
Megan
I did it make a cake today and it was good. I’ve been testing this kid is a glowing review. I was gonna say something else and I don’t I don’t know. I apparently I can’t focus today. I’ve been trying to do recipe testing for like the past week and every recipe that I’ve been doing is not going well. So I was really happy with the cake today. Oh, that’s good. What kind of cat? It is an apple spice cake. Yum. It is you I had made the last week as well. I guess that was Sunday. Yes. where I’d made it. But it was more like that one was more like a quick bread. I didn’t want to sit which is fine. But also I was trying to make sure. So this one turned out better. And I made this lovely brown butter frosting. Oh, good. He should come over tomorrow and
Stephie
get some get a little piece. I have to do that a little Yeah, snack? Yeah. lightful
Megan
How are you?
Stephie
I’m good. I feel like I also had things to talk to you about. And I don’t remember what they were either. So, you know.
Megan
We’re dogs and cats living together.
Stephie
On you had some things to say though.
Unknown Speaker
We’re just
Stephie
living our lives. Yep.
Megan
Well, you had this idea of us interviewing each other.
Stephie
Yeah, I thought it’d be fun.
Megan
And you put yourself up to be first.
Stephie
So I put out a chopping block first. Yes. I thought that you might prefer to ask the questions first, rather than be the interviewee first. So also Megan has not let me see the questions.
Megan
So what is the fun in that?
Stephie
Yeah, I just wanna be very clear. I have no idea what she’s asking me. I have not seen them. I don’t I cannot see them. Now. We’re going in blind.
Megan
It’s a wide variety. The internet is full of many, many things you should ask your friends and family resources. Including the weirdest one I found, which is did you read all of Proust? Or are you lying? Which is like, I got a lot. I got a lot of questions about this question, because
Stephie
we’re always asking their friends and family those.
Megan
I have never ever asked anyone if they had read Proust and also, why would anyone lie about that if they had or hadn’t?
Stephie
I mean, I guess if people wanted to seem like really intellectual, they would say yes. I would like the definitely line.
Megan
Great. No one has read it. No one has read all of it.
Stephie
I don’t think I’ve read any proof. I’m just fine.
Megan
Right? I saw I, I saw a naked zombie Proust ballet. Does that count?
It was in France. Okay. No other explanation need
Stephie
the longest full name? What like, like so his first name, I think like, everyone just thinks his name is Marcel Proust. Uh huh. But it’s actually, Valentin Louie. George Eugene. Marcel Proust. I didn’t say any of that correctly, because I don’t speak French.
Megan
I think you said Marcel correctly.
Stephie
Names and then Proust.
Unknown Speaker
Is he like?
Megan
Was he like royalty or something? Because I think all the Royals are named in that weird way where they have like 12 names, all the names. Yeah.
Stephie
Let’s see. He was born shortly after a bit later. He was born shortly after the conclusion of the Franco Prussian war and at the very beginning of the Third Republic. Sure.
I don’t know. It’s not telling me. His father was a prominent French pathologist and epidemiologists that are studying cholera in Europe and Asia. And his mother was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family. So I guess his parents were quite well educated. So maybe that’s why he has a million names. I don’t know that there’s gonna decide. I’m all all of them. I guess. Sort of like in Jane The Virgin? Sure.
Megan
I mean, that is like a cultural thing. But I’ve never seen that in France before. Anyway, anyway, still not mean to go down a Proust rabbit hole?
Stephie
Well, it’s this new. What happens when I google things I get approved.
Megan
So I’m gonna start off with some softballs, you know, I think it’d be learning to do like, you know, introductory kind of things. People listen to the pod. They should know you. They should know. Shit. Beer, a really weird episode to randomly hop on to,
Stephie
but Okay, well, God bless you. If this is your first episode. You’re welcome.
Megan
So, what has been your favorite place to travel to?
Stephie
Oh, um, Lisbon, Portugal. Oh, I loved Lisbon. I went there for a weekend when I was studying abroad in Madrid. So I love Spain. I love basically all of Spain. But there’s just something. There was something so delightful about Lisbon. Like, there’s so many things to do. And it’s so beautiful, but it’s not super touristy. Like, there’s just not a lot of tourists, which I like, I don’t love super tour to see areas and stuff. Because tourists are annoying. And the food was amazing. And the music was incredible. And like, I asked the lady at the front desk of our hostel, like what is I was basically like, what is like, the most quintessential, like Portuguese like thing that we need to do. And she was like, you have to go listen to there’s this type of music called fado. I think it’s how you say it. And she was like, I’m gonna make your reservation at this restaurant. And it was owned by this like, million year old little couple that have been married 50 years. And the wife like, was the cook and she also used to be this very famous, like fado singer. And the husband was adorable. And like he came out and was talking to us, he was speaking Portuguese, and we were speaking Spanish, but we were still able to like understand each other. And the music was amazing. And the food was incredible. And it was just like one of the best experiences of my life.
Megan
So that’s awesome. Lisbon. I have not been I have not been to Spain or Portugal. But for whatever reason, Portugal sounds way more interesting to me than Spain.
Stephie
I think it’s just like lesser known. And so there’s like a little Mystique to it.
Megan
Yeah. I wonder if I actually follow some people on Instagram that moved to Lisbon. And so I wonder now if it’s the same, not as touristy I know and I’m so used to be
Stephie
Yeah, that was definitely like 13 12 13 years ago. Yes, there but Yeah, it was beautiful. Also, there’s these famous Portuguese custard tarts. And there’s so many of them, because of course, obviously anytime I travel somewhere I have to figure out like, what is the food that I must have specifically what is there pastry?
Megan
Of course, like any travel surrounded by food is something that I’m there for.
Stephie
Yes.
Megan
Speaking of food, what is one food that you hate that people would be shocked by
Stephie
chocolate? spice? I
Megan
know that. Yeah, you know that?
Unknown Speaker
I don’t think I know that know that. Yeah,
Megan
my kids are actually continuously shocked by that consider
Stephie
people that have been in my life for years, like have a really hard time remembering that. I hate chocolate, because it’s so unusual. I do actually know a few other people that dislike chocolate, although very few of them dislike it to the degree that I do. I don’t even like like if you put a sugar cookie and a chocolate chip cookie in the same plastic baggie and you seal it up. I’m probably not going to want to eat the sugar cookie because it has like chocolate essence on it now. Tastes like that. Because the chocolate is so pungent to me like I can smell it from like a mile away. So yeah, I hate all chocolate. Like most other things, I most other things I will eat or I will take a bite have to be polite or like whatever chocolate would absolutely not.
Megan
My plastic bag situation is like tell me you’re you’re an only child without telling me.
Stephie
Bless my heart.
Unknown Speaker
Ah,
Megan
so what did you want to be when you were younger? I’m sure it’s not an influencer marketing. Because
Stephie
that was not like on my dream chart. I wanted to be a writer. Yeah, I think like that’s been the most consistent thing throughout my life. I think I had blips of thinking about doing other things. But honestly, being a writer was like, the most consistent thing that I’ve wanted to do. And I guess it’s actually the thing I am doing, not necessarily in the way that I thought that I might be doing it. But I I do write I i freelance, right, I am a writer, I have to write for work. If I can’t write, then I can’t do my job well. So in some very roundabout ways, I guess I am a writer.
Megan
Maybe that’s why we’re friends. Oh,
Stephie
yeah, I actually thought I was gonna major in English literature. And then I didn’t
Megan
see I purposefully, like did not major in English literature, because I thought it would be too boring to major in English. Well,
Stephie
I went to the like, because I went in to school declared as an English major. And then I like went to the the orientation meeting for the freshmen or whatever. And they handed out like the list of like, oh, here’s all the classes that you’ll have to take. And like, here’s some of the books that you’ll read over your four years. And I was like, I don’t want to read any of this shit. Like, I was like, I just don’t like, maybe I want to read it. But I don’t want to have to be told that I have to read it. So I was like, No, nevermind. And then I tested into 300 level Spanish and was took my first Spanish class and was like, This is great. I’m going to do this instead. So within two weeks, I switched my major to Spanish. And then I was like, What would go well, the Spanish, and I sort of like just looked at the like, course catalog or whatever. And I was like international studies sounds like a good sounds like a good thing to do. And I thought at first I would minor International, international studies. And then I was like, I’ll just double major. And that’s what I did. And that’s apparently how I make my life choices.
Megan
I don’t want to read books, but I’ll read books in Spanish.
Stephie
Yeah. Well ask me how many of those I actually read fully the way through? The answer is not that many. But I did a good enough job that I got A’s on all my papers.
Megan
That’s all you need. That’s all you need. I took one English class in college, it was a Shakespeare class. I can’t remember if we had to take a literature class or if I had to take it because it was a writing intensive class. But I hated it so much because of the way that the professor would like, force you to try to examine stuff. The same thing with all my art history classes, like I really liked art history, but just after While it just got to be well, you know, the way the brush goes across the camera, can we just the artists was tortured at that I’m sick pan.
Stephie
So you’re like, can you though? Can you tell that
Megan
can you
Stephie
I know I painted with his blood. My senior seminar class for Spanish I, we had our big paper, whatever and it was, we had done all of these books. All these magical realism books, it was a magical realism course, and which I love. And so I read anywhere from like a third to half of two or three of the novels that we were supposed to read. And then I went and I purchased the novel big fish. I don’t know if anyone has watched the movie, but it was a novel first. And I read big fish, which is an English and then I wrote a comparison of like all of the magical realism elements of big fish compared to the magical realism elements of the parts of the books that I had read. And I got an A Well, yeah, 15 page paper got an A.
Megan
It’s not necessarily the content. It’s the great argument that you put forth. I
Stephie
couldn’t even begin to tell you what I wrote that paper could not begin to tell you what I wrote that paper but I got a good grade on it. called it a day.
Megan
So what talents do you have? Not a lot of people know are you like secretly a mind freak or something?
Stephie
Um, I can carry a tune in a bucket. I can I can sing. I don’t like to say like, I’m a singer. I don’t know it sounds really douchey but I can carry a tune in a bucket. And I don’t think a lot of people know that because I don’t seeing a lot anymore. I use like, I’m not like currently in a choir or anything. I saying the Ave Maria at my friend Erin’s wedding. And I had like so many people at that wedding that I had known for a really long time come up to me like I had no idea you could say yeah, it’s secret talent. I guess. I don’t know. They just hadn’t known me in school so they just didn’t know I possessed that talent I guess. I think
Megan
once you’re an adult people just assume that if you are not like showing off singing all the time, then you can’t say
Stephie
right that if you’re like any or really like any musical, or like artistic talent that if you are like doing it professionally, that like you have lunch or something but
Megan
yeah, I guess spoiler alert most people do not want to be
Stephie
professionals. Exactly. Yeah, like I I can still play the clarinet a little. I was I used to be really good. But singing is the easier because it doesn’t take quite as much brushing up on but I would like to be back in a choir someday. I do enjoy singing and singing in a group very much. I used to be a first soprano. And now I typically I mean, if I was like it basically if I was like in shape, I could still sing for soprano but I prefer to sing the second soprano or alto now because I think the harmony is more fun.
Megan
Yeah,
Stephie
I got I got all the I was always a little bit bored singing for soprano anyway. So for Sopranos think their shit doesn’t stink. They’re like trumpet players. Oh man.
Megan
I’m just I’m singing back to all the first Sopranos in my choir. Yeah, yeah, very true. I don’t know why I think it also sounds better.
Stephie
I just I like singing harmony.
Megan
Yeah, I mean that the harmony part is is better but also I just think the the tone of alto voice usually sounds
Stephie
Yeah, that lower register is I don’t know it’s just a lot warmer.
Megan
Yeah, also, I never really like I don’t really like vibrato a lot so a lot of the first sopranos are like super into vibrato so I really love it
Stephie
they really are they’re no hate if you’re for soprano, cuz remember I am one too but your shit does stink Thank you.
Megan
We just have memories from choir bass true.
Stephie
Memories require infiltrated with memories from band of the trumpet players, the flutists bless.
Megan
What is one thing that you wish that you could be better at?
Stephie
Oh God, so many things. Um, I mean, as an enneagram one, I can think of like a million things that I could be better at.
Megan
But like real things not.
Stephie
Um, I wish I was better at cleaning and being organized like I genuinely do. It is not. And I, I it’s funny because Tick Tock is helping me here. not actually be more organized, necessarily. But there’s a couple of Tick Tock accounts that I follow that have pointed out that like, we put this like moral goodness around, like keeping a super tidy home. But there’s actually nothing like, morally good or bad about having a tidy home, like, okay, maybe you shouldn’t be a hoarder and have like, piles of dirt and shit in your house. But like, you shouldn’t feel any shame around just like the fact that you may or may not be a particular like good tidy, like a good at tidying. And that’s just not a thing I’m good at. And so I’m like, Oh my gosh, I don’t have to feel like shame about this just be a little chaotic. And it’s okay. But I do still wish I was better at it. I wish it came more naturally to me.
Megan
Yeah, I will say that, like, it’s totally something that you have to practice like a, like a learned behavior kind of thing. Yeah. Where, because like, I used to be like, totally, like, totally, totally messy, like our house was messy growing up. And then I took that with me when I went to college. And then I guess, like, when I started living on my own, that’s when I was like, Oh, I have to take care of my things. I guess I shouldn’t leave it all strewn about the floor all the time. And so then eventually, you get better and like still, like, I’m like in my office right now. And it’s not like,
Unknown Speaker
great.
Megan
There’s crap all over the place in here. But um, like you’re saying is like it’s functional. So right.
Stephie
What does it matter? I also, I also like, the other thing that these accounts talk about is like, is it functional for you. And like, just because it doesn’t make sense to someone else. If it functions for you, then it functions, right. And that’s like a whole new concept for me, because I think we have this like, it needs to be like Pinterest and Instagram perfect. And like, that’s just probably never going to be my house. But if I can, like get it to a place where it functions well for me and the purpose that I need, then that’s totally cool. Like, I am straight up considering getting another laundry basket, so that I can have a basket for each of us just for clean laundry. And like when it comes up, I know I knew you were gonna laugh at me for this. But then it comes out of the out of the dryer and I can put it in mine, Alex’s or Edie’s laundry basket, I will most likely fold hers first. But if it never gets folded, if the other shit never gets folded, you know what laundry basket to look at. Like, that’s actually a system that works very well for my brain.
Megan
Yeah,
Stephie
because like, I just, you know, I’m not very good at folding it. And then everything ends up in one basket. And then I’m trying to find the things that I need amongst Alex’s underwear and the baby socks. At least if I know, look in my basket. That works for me, that would work
Megan
well and that is one benefit of Eventually, she will be able to do her own laundry,
Stephie
can’t wait
Megan
for that and fold her own clothes and stuff like my kids take care of their own clothes, it takes them 20,000 years, but they do it.
Stephie
I think my parents finally like I used to because that like folding the laundry list was like one of my chores, one of my very few chores, and maybe just why don’t like it now. Um, but I my parents finally reached a point where they were like, Look, if you’re doing your own laundry, I don’t we don’t care if you fold it. We don’t care how you put it away. Whatever works for you. If you want to live out of your laundry basket until it’s dirty again. Literally, it doesn’t matter. We don’t care. Find your system. Whatever system works for you is fine.
Megan
I’m gonna fight with you about my only issue with that is that I pay for the clothes.
Stephie
I mean, I took good care of my clothes. Okay, yes, I took care of my clothes. I wasn’t like beating my clothes up. So yes, the I do think I think that’s a fair line to draw. Yes.
Megan
Also, I do not fold my husband’s laundry. Oh, I mean, that’s not a thing. I separate only do another basket.
Stephie
Yeah, I only do if it’s like mixed in with mine and then I’m like coming across it and if I’m on If I’ve had like a dopamine, a good good hit of dopamine from folding mine, then I’ll fold some. But that’s, I mean, ADHD has to like, I should be writing that, that hyper focus strain.
Megan
Our laundry is always mixed together like the our hamper isn’t mixed together. So we wash it together. But then when it comes out, I separate it.
Stephie
Yeah, I need to just do that. And it just needs to be
Megan
held. Yes. And then it just sits there for however long while I’m like the media, like I
Unknown Speaker
got to put it away. So
Megan
see, I do think it’s interesting, though, that because you’re a type one, I would expect you to be very organized. And so I always thought that was an interesting disconnect. Yeah, I you’re organized like my other ways,
Stephie
yes, my work is impeccably organized. I keep excellent spreadsheets, I have my folders are all very well filed my inbox. Like I cannot handle having just a bunch of unread shit in my inbox like that drives me crazy. Like all of that stuff. I keep very organized. And I I’ve spent a lot of time trying to dissect this about myself. Because you’re right, it doesn’t make any sense why I can be so organized there and have my planner and like all the stuff. And my physical space is so like low-key chaotic. And I do think that it is the ADHD that like, there’s like a there’s like just a disc. That’s where the disconnect is for, like the physical space. And that’s as I’m like learning more about ADHD in adults, and particularly in women. That seems to be a pretty common thread of like, you have to like hyper organized certain things, and then the rest just goes to shit. But you’re but also so like, it makes no, like, there’s no rhyme or reason to a lot of the things in my house. But I also know where they are. Like, I’m like, Oh yeah, there’s a pretty good chance. Sometimes I just straight up lose things. And I’m like running around hitting the button on my, the ping your iPhone button on my watch, which is the best function in the world. By the way, it was worth the however many dollars I spent on this watch, just to be able to ping my iPhone. I do it all the time I put my phone down. And I have no idea where I put it down on after paying my paying it on my watch. But like, for the most part, I can be like, Huh, I don’t know, I set this thing down. Oh, it’s probably one of like three weird places. And I know sort of what those three weird places are. And so I know to go look at my three weird places where I put strange things. Like, it just makes sense for my brain. My brain makes no sense to anyone else, whether they live in my house or not. But I’m more or less know where to find things. Sometimes most of the time, maybe 45% of the time, like I don’t know, it’s just I I’ve wondered what it’s like to be on medication that works and just do things that actually make sense.
Megan
Bob left his water in the closet the
Unknown Speaker
other day.
Megan
And I was just like, what is happening but he doesn’t have ADHD i don’t think i think it’s just a memory problems.
Unknown Speaker
We’ve just
Stephie
so little senility setting it.
Megan
But almost every day he loses his water. Yes. And then just wanders away or his coffee mug and just wanders around the house going where did I leave it? Like he left his coffee mug?
Stephie
By the front door
Megan
earlier this week, just like in the little ledge where the posts are. So yeah, bless kind of like that. Yeah, it’s always a beverage for him though.
Stephie
But no, no, no, it’s for me with a lot of things. I just have no object permanence. And I I mean, that’s why like that’s why I leave like cabinet doors in the kitchen open all the time. I open up something turn around. And by the time I’ve turned around, I forgotten that the door the cabinet even exists. And so it just stays open until I walk back in the kitchen and maybe I noticed that maybe I don’t maybe Alex comes in and closes behind me.
Megan
So we can never live together.
Stephie
I would drive you crazy. We would be like Grace and Frankie
Unknown Speaker
I would be lobby it’d be more like it’d be like that, but I don’t know if you’re weird, but I cannot
Megan
stand open cabinets
Stephie
all the time. All the time drives Alex insane.
Unknown Speaker
I hate it so much.
Megan
I go behind Reese when he’s emptying the dishwasher and just like close all the cabinets because he leaves all of them open. He’s like I never know what’s gonna be in the dishwasher. I’m like you have eyeballs. You can see what’s in the dishwasher.
Stephie
Yes, but then I close it and I think I’ve gotten it all for that cabinet and then I close it And then then I realized there was another bowl, and then I have to open it again. So then I just leave it and then I turn around that I forget that it’s open. At least I finished the task I was doing. Probably most likely.
Megan
I mean, I think the also the key is that you are aware of the fact that you do it.
Stephie
I am aware of the fact that I do it. It doesn’t stop it from happening, but I am aware that I am the guilty party here. Yeah. I don’t walk in and go. Hmm, who left all those cabinet doors open? Couldn’t do. Like, Oh, look, I left the cabinet door open again.
Megan
Okay, so good to ask a hard question. Okay. What has been the hardest thing about the pandemic for you?
Stephie
Oh, gosh, um, the just never ending sense of doom and gloom. Yeah, that the world is falling apart. That existential dread. Yeah. Like, genuinely, that’s like, because the staying inside I was doing that anyway. The socializing with only a handful of people. I was doing that anyway. I’m like, there’s not a whole lot of things. I mean, there’s definitely been things that are different socially. But nothing where I’m just like, Oh my gosh, I just cannot wait to get on an airplane and go somewhere. I just can’t wait to go to a wedding or I just can’t wait to do I don’t know, whatever. I’m not going to music festivals or any of that kind of shit. Like what that no. It’s the like, Oh my god, the world is falling apart. Is this the fan? Oh, snap. Like and then I can’t think about it. And so then I just have to like, Doom scroll on my phone or like, watch Netflix. Can’t think too hard about it. Yeah. Agreed. It makes me panicky. So that’s that that actually is the hardest part. And this and the like the and the the the frustration of the people that just won’t do the group project.
Megan
Yeah. And the like, the like collective gaslighting? Yeah, I guess like yes, it.
Stephie
There’s a lot of gaslighting going on and you’re like, Wait, what? Like what?
Megan
I don’t know. I just have a lot of feelings. We could probably talk about this about this question. Probably for like, three hours. Yeah, just to the whole thing. But yeah, I
Unknown Speaker
would say that’s it. That’s
Unknown Speaker
a good answer. The
Unknown Speaker
Doom
Unknown Speaker
sense.
Stephie
There’s a lot of doom.
Unknown Speaker
Yeah. So there,
Unknown Speaker
there’s that downer?
Megan
This is no zombies. fucking god.
Stephie
I wouldn’t survive long. Alex made that known pretty early on in our relationship. He was like, I love you, but the zombies would ever come for us. I don’t think you’d make it very long. And I said, you are correct, sir.
Megan
Do you think people would take it seriously, if it was zombies instead of Coronavirus though?
Stephie
Maybe Maybe because they could actually physically see it? Although there’s that like, maybe like they’re fine. There was that like tweet or something that was going around? And that was like, the person wondered why when the Walking Dead started. There was like nobody that like the prime age and well, like the population had dwindled so much by the time like The Walking Dead, like the first episode of The Walking Dead started. Because all these dummies were like, whatever, zombies it’s fine. by zombies. Yeah. So I mean, there’s something to that.
Megan
Yeah, I’ll say don’t watch the fifth episode of what if? Because, zombies.
Stephie
Oh, all right. Not
Megan
that I don’t think you were watching it anyway, necessarily. But
Stephie
I wasn’t although there’s a lot of talk about it and binge mode.
Megan
It’s a little gross. So if you were made president for one day, Oh, God, you could change you could change one thing, and it couldn’t be like contested or overturned or whatever, by Congress, the Supreme Court, whatever like it would be In effect,
Stephie
oh god, what would it be? Oh, God. Um, every day is Taco Tuesday. Yeah. Man. Um, I got to think about this for a second. Okay, well, there’s like 1000 My brain is like in a million places. I would put better regulations around adoption with a subcategory of better supports in place for women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies. Spoiler alert that does not include outlawing abortion, shock. What, but it would include support for all the things that actually wouldn’t bring down the number of abortions and women feeling like they need to be in that position. So yes, that is my
Megan
so basically like a comprehensive mother and baby program.
Stephie
Yeah. Yeah.
Megan
That’s just, you know, one tiny little,
Stephie
it’s just a tiny little thing, or you didn’t I’m sorry, did you expect me to have a very tiny answer? No.
Megan
I mean, I don’t feel like it’s a kind of thing that could be answered, like have a single, tiny little answer. And also, that’s not the way the government works anyway.
Stephie
So not because there’s like, so many like,
Megan
it’s a $5 trillion. Omnibus plan.
Stephie
Exactly. Exactly. So yes, that’s my final answer. I wholeheartedly approve. Thank you. Thank you. Do I get your vote? Yes, absolutely.
Megan
What is the most overrated thing?
Stephie
Like on the planet? Um, let’s just say I mean, I just can’t coldplay comes to mind. Cold. fucking hate coldplay so much.
Megan
Bob had a roommate who loved Coldplay play yellow all the time.
Stephie
Alright, nothing that makes me change to a radio station faster than a Coldplay song coming on. Only the only thing that comes in second to that is the Gwen’s defies. Oh my god.
Megan
I would say overrated right now. And you can’t say pumpkin spice.
Stephie
Um, oh, man. Okay, overrated right now?
Megan
Yeah, like in the last few years. I’ll play it overrated. But also they’re kind of irrelevant now. So
Stephie
they’re kind of irrelevant. Now. They still it’s still made. They still make me angry. Just the fact that they exist. And still sometimes are on on the radio. Pen. Um, gosh, I feel like I feel I feel like there’s a lot of answers and I just can’t like grab them in my brain. I don’t really understand the hype around Star Wars. Yeah, like, sorry, I just that’s not my kind of nerd. I’m not a Star Wars nerd. I’m a nerd. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine. That’s, that’s really all I’ve got to say about it. I think I think it’s a little on the overrated side. I got Can we come back to this one? I gotta I gotta think on it a minute when we talk about some others. I’m sure I’ll have a better answer shortly.
Megan
I mean, I thought you were gonna say something like how do we know what like like rae dunn or something? rae dunn is
Stephie
definitely overrated. Also, I fallen into a very specific corner of Tick Tock.
Megan
Is it the rae dunn reseller? What the hell?
Stephie
Yeah. Oh my god. Yes. We are on the same tear the same. Apparently. Bethany also got there and none of us are sure how it happened. Yes, it’s like tic tocs about like, people who work at like TJ Maxx and Marshalls and stuff and all All of the like raid done ladies come in. They’re like storming in and like demanding to know where they’ve hidden all the radon stuff like I had no idea these women existed. I like didn’t realize that rate I knew radon had like a cult following. I did not realize it was that much of a cult following.
Megan
It’s insane. I think we fall it I think we fell into this Tick Tock because we also watch the MLM tic tocs Oh, yeah, that’s probably why they’re kind of related. They are very related.
Stephie
Uh, well, we’ve talked we kind of talked about this before, but I find tiny houses to be overrated.
Megan
Yeah. Yeah. Also, those are rich people playing poor
Stephie
any dog that ends in doodle.
Megan
See, I’ve seen her name and overrated thing, and they
Stephie
just had to name it over anything. And then they were just gonna come pouring out of my mouth. Yeah, any dog that ends in doodle? Hmm. I will say no more.
Megan
As the proud owner of a mutt
Stephie
it’s just a mud. Just a mud. Scary expensive mud. People are paying 1000s and 1000s of dollars for a mutt.
Megan
They’re not even that cute. Anyway, gotta get some, some people are gonna come at us in a little bit time. So actually, we have a couple questions left. So good. Good number. I’m excited for myself.
Unknown Speaker
My own back?
Unknown Speaker
Um,
Megan
what is the biggest thing that you worry about? As Ed gets older?
Stephie
Oh, gosh, um, everything? Um,
Megan
I mean, accurate.
Stephie
But yeah. Um, I have a lot of questions about how she will process her adoption. And her story. And how Alex and I will be answering her questions or sometimes, if, depending on the question may be saying that, you know, answering with we don’t know, or, you know, might have to talk to Taylor and Jasper about that or like, whatever. I think that’s probably one of my biggest ones is just the like, not knowing how she will process things. And also like, I’m friends with a lot of adult adoptees, I follow a lot of adult adoptees, but pretty much. I mean, none too very few of them grew up in like a truly open adoption. And so there’s not a lot of like, historical precedent for how adoptees process their stories differently through their open adoption as they head into adulthood. Because, like, it’s only been in the last, like, 15 years or so that that’s really been like, quote, trendy. So you’re sort of making it up as we go along, in some ways. So that’s probably my biggest one. I mean, there’s like a million other things to worry about, too, because you know, the world but I think that’s probably at the top of my, like, anxiety list.
Megan
Yeah. I hope you are writing it all down, because you will be able to be the person giving that advice to the next generation.
Stephie
Yeah, and yeah, it’s gonna be I think, as with so many things in the world, like you learn from the mistakes that have been made previously, and then you sort of pass on your knowledge and hope that people learn from your mistakes.
Megan
Yeah. I have one final question for you. I’m ready. What weird things scare you like, Are you afraid of birds? Or Yes, Caterpillar is falling on your head.
Stephie
So clowns are terrifying. Of course, clowns are terrifying. Also in the clown category are mascots like people dressed up as things I never want to go to Disney ever because so many people dressed up as this terrifying things. They should not be dressed up as I should be able to see their faces and I can’t I don’t like it. I it’s terrifying. I have ever told you the the piece of bread story.
Megan
I don’t think so.
Stephie
You would know if I had told you, okay, everybody gets to hear the piece of bread story, okay? This has been, this is legitimately been a fear my entire life. And I was like, I was little, I was like two and a half maybe. And I was at the grocery store with my mom, there was like, one grocery store in town, the IGA. And we were at the IGA. And they were having like some sort of kids, new kids wonderbread promotion. And there was. And I was like riding along, like, I was sitting like, on the bottom of the cart very unsafely, but it was the 90s It’s fine. And everyone did that. So I was riding along on the bottom of the cart, and we turn the corner. And as part of this, like, kids Wonder Bread promotion, they had a guy in the bread aisle, dressed up as a giant piece of bread. And like it was a fully grown dude. And his face was like in the middle of the piece of bread. So like this piece, this, this bread costume was probably like 10 or 11 feet tall. And I saw it, and I completely lost my shit. Like I freaked out, I fell out of the bottom of the cart, my mom had to leave our groceries and just like hightail it out of the store. And I would not go back to the IGA for like six months, which was extremely inconvenient for my mom, because my dad works like second shift at the time. And so she had to wait for him to be home so she could go to the store, because I wasn’t in daycare or anything. And so then she finally convinced me to go back to the store. And we walk in, and there’s a mechanical gorilla waving at us from the bananas, and my mom just turned around. But like, to this day, in my brain, this giant piece of bread is like 20 feet tall, like, and I mean, to be fair, I was like, little I was like a toddler. And I was like barely preschool age. And I was like, basically on the ground looking up. So like, from my perspective, as for my tiny person perspective, like it was extremely huge. But also the piece of bread scarred me for life a little bit. So I am terrified of people dressed up like things. I also have an irrational fear that birds are going to swoop down and get stuck in my hair.
Megan
I think that is a valid fear. I do not have big curly hair. But a couple of years ago, I was in Palm Springs. And there were a bunch of hummingbirds and I swear to God, those things will just go Oh, girl, they want to go. They don’t go regard for the natural world.
Stephie
They are terrifying. Yeah, I don’t. I don’t. I don’t like birds because they just spoke down. I’m like, Oh my god, they’re gonna get my hair. I don’t like it.
Megan
Yeah. Did I ever tell you that? When I was a little kid, I had a dream about toast men chasing me. I used to eat toast for breakfast, like every morning, because I didn’t like cereal. Uh huh. And and so eventually, I had a dream about giant toast men with like cartoon arms chasing me through cartoon hills.
Stephie
Oh. Did you eat toast? after that?
Megan
I did. I still eat toast. Oh, that’s good. But I still remember apparently was not scarring enough to make me not eat toast but you still remember a dream. I was a million years ago. So I was
Stephie
personally chased by a giant piece of bread. He didn’t chase me. But he was waving because he saw a child and that was his job was to wave at the children. They did not consider that the children would be fucking terrified.
Megan
I think that should always be a consideration.
Stephie
Absolutely. I 100% like anything I’ve like been like, I’ve done things where people are like, oh, kids love clowns, or kids love things. And I’m like, No, no, no, this is a terrible idea. Do not have clowns do not have a person dressed up as a thing. That’s terrifying.
Megan
Absolutely not. clowns are scary. Santa Claus sometimes is also scary. Yes, the Easter Bunny costume should not exist.
Stephie
So horrifying. I had an agreement with one of my friends in college. He was one of the people that was our mascot. Because there’s like multiple people because there’s like laws about how long you can be in those suits. So for like a football game, you have to have like four different people like rotate out through the suit. But he was one of he was one of the Tommy’s. And we had an agreement that he was never to come anywhere near me if he was in the suit. Like, and he was a good guy. So he was like one of those people where I knew I could make this, like, make him Promise me that and he would keep the promise you wouldn’t be like a jerk and then like, go back on it because he thought it was funny. Like, I knew that Derrick was gonna keep that promise. So he would be like, I’m going to be the student like, Okay, good. Don’t come near me.
Megan
I did not know that there are laws about how long you could be in the suit, because I did the mascot at our high school football games a couple times when I don’t have
Stephie
to be horrible. Apparently, not that I’ve ever been in one. But apparently. I mean, maybe it’s not like, I don’t know if it’s, maybe it’s not a law. Or maybe it’s just like our university had a rule about it. I don’t know. But there were like, very specific rules about how long they could be in the suit at any given time. Because it like gets so hot. And like, yeah, too hard to breathe and stuff. Yeah. And then you have to like, go switch out with somebody, apparently.
Megan
Yeah. Or you have to hide underneath the like the front area where the cheerleaders have their water. Take Take your hat off. Great. That was fun.
Stephie
Yeah, that was fun. I’m excited to interview you in a couple weeks.
Megan
I didn’t want to ask like any like, super. I mean, I feel like I asked a good variety. But I didn’t want to be like, Hey, what’s your favorite color?
Stephie
We want to like a nice, that’s a surface level, but also not so deep. Yeah, good shot mega and a plus. Thank you. I started doing EMDR therapy today, which is, stands for Hold on, I have to I kind of, I have to look it up every time I have to look up every time stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. So basically, you focus on, like, disturbing memories and events and like kind of reframing around that and finding ways to cope and so that things don’t trigger you out so much, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Anyway. So we were like, kind of practicing the like, because they either do like an eye movement thing, or there’s like a tapping thing. And that eye and the idea, the way I unders as far as I understand it is to like engage both sides of your brain. So we were like kind of practicing with it. And I kept being like, Am I doing a good job?
Unknown Speaker
I’m doing a good job.
Stephie
Am I am I passing?
Unknown Speaker
Can I do it?
Stephie
Am I failing? What’s happening? And I also had to be like, I know that’s not a real thing. But can you just please assure me I’m doing a good job because I need to know. This was like, Yes, you’re doing just
Megan
this is part of the reason why I’m in therapy.
Stephie
Right? Exactly. If you hadn’t figured that out yet, here I am. Anyway, you get an A plus.
Unknown Speaker
where that came from?
What’s bringing us joy?
Megan
Well Stephie It’s time for joy. It’s time for joy. What is bringing you joy this week.
Stephie
I have clean sheets in the dryer. And that means that when we get done here, I get to put the clean sheets on my bed and climb into a freshly made bled with clean sheets and clean blankies
Megan
Oh, that’s always really nice.
Stephie
I right. So I’m excited for that.
Megan
And the temperature has it’s time for like you know to go down at night. Finally, you can also be open when you get there like nice cozy blanket warm, warm blanket chill air coming in.
Stephie
Just like the fabric. Oh my god. It’s a perfect time like the perfect sleeping weather. Yeah, so good. Yeah, so good. Megan, what’s bringing you joy? Um, I
Megan
finally bought myself some new jeans that I had been thinking about for a long time and then I never did it and then I finally did it. And a new pair of boots.
Stephie
What did you go with on both?
Megan
I got Levi’s for the jeans. Because ladies, I don’t know if you’re aware. It’s really hard to find jeans that aren’t stupid. Um, I mean, they’re still like not 100% like perfect. I would say partially because I did not want to $120 I mean, fair, um, maybe I will invest in a good print but also like, I don’t want to have to buy them online and then return them. Yes. So maybe I’ll at some point when I go to the big city, I’ll find a Levi’s store maidwell or something and spend three hours trying on jeans. But they have the biggest selection of normal ish jeans and sizes that are not based on nothing.
Stephie
Yeah.
Megan
So I got those. So excited. I haven’t actually worn them yet because I need to wash them first. And I’ve just weirdly been waiting I guess I don’t know. I didn’t want to wash the I need to wait for my other pants to be ready to wash. I really don’t know. But the boots which I also have not worn because I didn’t leave the house until today after I got them. And I forgot about them today. So I didn’t wear them today. But they are from Thursday. They make nice leather boots and shoes and other accessory type things. And I’m excited because they have a nice heel on them. Like a like treads so I’m not gonna fall on my ass. Yes, when I wear them, but also like they look pretty nice. So they’ll be not like shit boots, basically.
Stephie
Yes, I have a pair of sorels that I’ve had for a few years now. And they I love them because they look nice. But I also can still like wear them in the winter and not worry that I’m just gonna like fall on my ass.
Megan
Yeah. Um, yeah, they actually I’ve tried when I tried them on and my watch out like they felt they feel pretty good. And since they’re leather, you know, they’ll like form to my feet slash legs, right, whatever. A little bit more. So I don’t maybe I’ll just put them on and like wear them around my house.
Unknown Speaker
Gonna do mommy guys clomping around and his big old boots.
Megan
And now I feel like ready for fall new pants. I get some boots. And now you just need a new cozy sweater. And you were going to be say almost by it’s a Sharon sweater. And I really don’t need another cozy sweater. To be honest. I have so many sweaters. It looks it looks amazing. I would love to have it but I can’t bring myself do
Unknown Speaker
I know. I don’t need to know this word or
Unknown Speaker
save my money.
Stephie
Well, I’m excited for your new boots, and your new jeans. For you to walk for them to be ready to wash. I mean, they’re ready to wash. I just you weren’t ready to I mean,
Megan
I guess actually they’re not because the tags are still on. Okay, well. We established at the beginning of this episode that this week has been a whole mess. So I feel like that explains everything.
Stephie
Just all par for the course.
Unknown Speaker
It’s fine. Man.
Next week’s episode
Megan
Well, next week, we are going to be jumping into the topic of fear. Don’t be scared you guys
Stephie
gonna be okay. In the meantime, leave us a review on Apple podcasts and listen to us on your favorite platform. You can also follow us on social media at IRSIpodcast or send us an email idratherstayinpodcast@gmail.com we’d love to hear from you.
Unknown Speaker
Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai