Five Quirky Things: Part IV

For the fourth installment (and Valentine’s Day edition) of Five Quirky Things We’ve Taught Each Other, I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from Beth about bed coverings, and she’ll be teaching you some new words:

4. Michael’s List: Always use a top sheet.
Prior to getting married, I slept with an heirloom of sorts, a light-green nylon blanket. It has been in my family ever since my oldest brothers were in elementary school. Mom was in a fabric store when she found them. She bought one for Milt, Reid and Tim.

As a child, I would always find Tim’s blanket on a lazy afternoon and wrap myself in a tight cocoon before drifting off into a delicious sleep. He left his when he moved out for college, and I quickly adopted it as my own. Through the years, I came to prefer the silky nylon of my green blanket above all other bed coverings. My blanket traveled with me to school in Florida and even went with me on vacations. I didn’t realize how attached to it I was until I was talking with Beth a couple of weeks before our wedding.

“What’s that?” she asked noticing my blanket draped across the bed.

“This is my favorite blanket in the world, my silky blanket.”

She came closer, examining my blanket before I pulled the comforter over to finish making my bed. “Where’s your top sheet?” she asked.

“I don’t need a top sheet. I’ve got my silky blanket,” I said.

“You don’t sleep with a top sheet?”

“No.”

“Well, I think that’s going to change.”

“Wait a minute, when we get married we’re going to be sleeping under Mr. Silky together,” I said as I grabbed my blanket and held him close to my heart.

“Mr. Silky? You’ve named your blanket?”

“Yeah, I just came up with that. It makes him sound more like part of the family.”

“Look at Mr. Silky,” she said. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but he’s a little gross. He’s a sickly green, and he looks like he’s coming unraveled. Do you ever wash him?”

“Yes, I wash him, but not too often otherwise I’m afraid he’ll disintegrate.”

“Oh Michael,” Beth said as she left the room giggling.

I followed her bringing Mr. Silky with me. “Beth, marrying me means loving Mr. Silky too.” For some reason that made her laugh harder.

“Michael, we’re going to have to talk more about this,” she said. But, for that moment, the conversation was over.

At this point, my memory fails me. All I know is that to this very day, Mr. Silky sits neatly folded in the top of our laundry closet. It wasn’t long after this that I started getting used to sleeping under a top sheet in preparation for the day that Beth and I would share a bed. So, perhaps I’ve grown out of sleeping with Mr. Silky, but he’ll always hold a special place in my heart.

4. Beth’s List: When any old word won’t do, make up a new one.
Michael has a habit of making up new words. If we have children, he says that he plans to pass his words off to them as actual words that everyone else uses. Although I won’t let that happen, I do look forward to “expanding” their vocabularies with some of our favorites:

naneinka (noun) – mischievous or naughty boy
Example: “Michael, you’re acting like a naneinka. Stop squirting me with the water hose!”
Origin: Michael has this mischievous alternate personality that I’m often the only one to see. He helped me come up with this term as an appropriate label for times when he’s acting particularly nutty.

sunaki (noun) – back scratch or rub
Example: A good sunaki helps to relieve stress after a hard day of work.
Origin: We both come from families that appreciate a good back rub. So much in fact that we decided it needed its own special name.

boungalchingala (term of endearment) – synonyms: honey or sweetie pie
Example: “Beth, I love you my boungalchingala.”
Origin: For those times when honey or sweetie pie just won’t do.

Read the last post in this series: Five Quirky Things: Part V