Chatty Cathy

I am a Chatty Cathy. A nickname for someone who enjoys talking or is quite talkative. I spent a few moments online researching the doll Chatty Cathy to which this phrase come from I guess. I get the impression that Chatty Cathy said nice phrases like,"brush my hair please". The true innovation with Cathy was that she could say many phrases in random fashion due to her pull string mechanism and other innards. I would say that I speak much more than the original model. My phrases are longer and may include things like,"What can I feed you?" or "Get me a glass of wine please." In any case, I talk to people. LOTS of People, friends, family, neighbors, strangers in grocery stores, fitness class participants, and pretty much any warm body that shows me a smile and may need my help.

I get this trait from my mother whom I love dearly. Someone once said that my mother could talk to a tree stump, and when she got up to leave the tree stump would feel better about itself. I hope I am like that sometimes. My husband is patient with me. He lets me talk to him, to strangers, ask questions when we shop for something, and take over a bit when we are with friends. I know he can talk and others who know him, (and get him alone) will also say he talks. One time I was away with the girls and my neighbors took Jack out to dinner. My friend called Jack a chatter box! She just had never had him on his own.

I like to think that for the most part my chattiness is helpful to some or at least informative or amusing. Recently however I have seen the dark side to what I now call my "Selfish Speaking". You see Jack is away and we have challenges trying to talk each day. Our conversations and texts are somewhat brief and fit in slots of time when he can call and I am between activities for our children. In this limited space of time I chat and mostly vent. As a result I do not get to hear about the fun details of Jack's new work. I ramble on like a plow through the snow and then "ding" time is up and Jack has not been able to tell me as much. I feel as if I am taking away the importance of his new adventure. I am going to try and be better this week. Perhaps the string in my back will wear down a little so I can be more mute. Although I know even Jack does not want it to break completely.