Questions for Couples: Auctions

What do you think about art auctions? Have you ever been to one? would you like to go to one in the future? Have you ever purchased anything at an art auction? What kind of art would you buy at one? Would you try to find something collectible? what about a print from a famous person? Thomas Kinkade? Would you rather have a print from a famous person or an original from someone you've never heard of? How do you feel about prints that are signed and numbered? What if they aren't?

How do you feel about silent Auctions? Blind auctions? Do you have a funny habit of scratching your nose at just the wrong time? Are you the type of person that would set a budget for yourself before attending an auction? Could you stick to your budget? 
Would you attend a charity Auction? Would you rather get a great deal at a charitable auction, or make a generous contribution? Would you be more likely to attend if it was highly publicized, or if it was by invitation only? Would you be more likely to buy something at a big public auction, or something more intimate... like a cub scout cake auction? Have you been to one of those... they get crazy. How much would you be willing to pay for a cake? Would you by the cake that is so fancy you're sure it was the model for one of those cooking magazines, or the one that gave it a good effort, but was clearly made by a cub scout? Would you look for certain cake flavors? or toppings? or lack thereof?


Have you ever purchased a car at an automobile auction? Do you think this is a good way to find a car? Do you know how to find out where and when these things happen? Would you buy a used car that was puke green, but cheap? Would you buy an alternative fuel source vehicle at auction?


Have you ever been to a livestock auction? can you talk like an auctioneer? was that a yes... could you please demonstrate? Would you buy something at a livestock auction? would you sell there?

What is your favorite thing about auctions? least favorite thing? Would you buy something at an auction and then try to sell it for a profit? on TV? are you good at that kind of thing? Do you have a special auction ritual? If you had a special auction ritual would it involve not changing your socks? or going to a certain restaurant?

Questions for Couples: Pets

Did you grow up with any pets? Did you have a favorite pet? Did you ever treat a little brother or sister like a pet? Did you have a pet rock? Was his name Rockenstein?

Do you prefer outside pets or pets that mostly stay in the house with you? What type of pet would you be most likely to own? What kind of pet would you be least likely to own? Is there a pet that you have always dreamed of owning, but would probably never actually follow through with?
Are you more likely to own a pet for yourself or for the kids? Really? If your kids asked enough would you finally decide to get them a pet? Would you ever consider owning a snake? a fish? gerbils? Birds? Would you rather have a bird that talks or one that does not talk? If you had a pet that could talk, what kind of words would you teach it?

Do you think pets should be kept on leashes? Do you think having a fence is important if you have an outside pet? Would it bother you if you had to constantly repair your pets "escape routes?" How do you feel about electric fences? Are invisible fences better? Do you think a pet should have their own fenced in area, even if your yard already has a fence? Would you put a tracking chip on your pets collar? would you add one to a pet by surgery or other means?

Questions for Couples: Germs II

Do you go to work even if you're sick? Are you more likely to stay home so you don't get other people sick... or just because you might want a day off? How sick do you have to be to take a sick day? Will you visit friends when you're sick? Do you visit friends when they are sick? Do you make your decision based on the type of illness? Do you ever tell people to stay away when you're  sick? What about when they are sick?

Do you cover your mouth when you sneeze? Do you sneeze into your  elbow? Do you ever sneeze into your shirt? Do you make funny noises when you sneeze? Do you think it might be bad for you to try to suppress a sneeze?

Do you ever carry tissues with you? Do you always carry tissues? Is it ever ok to reuse a tissue? What about handkerchiefs, can they be reused? How do you feel about sharing a handkerchief?

Do you think kissing is an unsanitary practice? Do you believe the reports that say kissing can actually boost your immune system? Or do you think those were probably just made up by somebody looking for some action? Do you think kissing someones hand is more hygienic or less so than a traditional kiss? Would you ever kiss someones feet? Would it gross you out if somebody kissed your feet? Would you ever kiss some one when you were sick? What about if they were sick? Is a sick person fair game as long as you are sick as well... or vice versa? Have you ever had mono...?

Questions for Couples: Perks of Work

If you had to go on a trip for work would you take your spouse? What if you took a lot of trips for work would you want to take your spouse? Would you feel it was fair to take work trips without your spouse? What if your trips had a recreational element to them? What if you got a nice trip as a bonus or reward and you could take a second person if you paid for them but you didn't have a lot of money? Would you be jealous if your spouse was taking trips without you? what if your spouse got to eat at fancy restaurants on their trips?

Do you ever have to do something really hard for work... like go golfing? If your work requires or allows you to do something that you enjoy is it really work? If you were the sole breadwinner in the family would you want your spouse to be able to participate in an equal amount of enjoyable activities? Even if your activities were for work?

Do you ever go out to eat when you are working? Do you work at Google and have gourmet restaurants on your campus? If you get to eat out for work is it fair for your spouse to eat at home all the time? What if it's not convenient for you to eat at home? Are you willing to brown bag it sometimes?

If you get a bonus at work is that bonus money for the whole family, or is that money to be used at your discretion? What about a year end or christmas bonus would that be the same? What if your company had a big Christmas party every year, and at that party they had a really nice selection of Presents (or year end prizes or awards) like big-screen tvs, and iPads and blenders (not one of those cheapo blenders but a lean mean Ice-crushing machine) who would have the most say in which year end bonus... or present you got?

How would you feel if your work required you to buy certain outfits or uniforms? what if they provided them for you? Would you feel like your spouse was entitled to a new outfit for each outfit you got? how would you new clothes needed for work with other new clothes? Do you think new clothes are fun? even if they are for work? What if your work required really fancy clothes like tuxedos and ball gowns, would that be fun for you or would you find that annoying? If you had to wear a tuxedo for work would you perhaps fancy yourself as 007? and if people listened closely do you think they would hear you humming the James bond theme song?

Questions for Couples: Sleep III

Do you like to sleep on a certain side of bed? Do you have to sleep on that side? How do you feel about sleeping next to a wall? Can you sleep on a small bed? How large does your bed need to be for you to be comfortable?

Can you sleep in a chair ? what about on the floor? What if the carpet is really soft? Can you sleep on a  mattress on the floor? How do you feel about mattresses that are high off the ground? What if the mattress is high because it is on a two year supply of food?

Do you have to sleep in your own bed? can you sleep anywhere?
Do you like to have a headboard on your bed? How do you feel about footboards?
What about side rails?... you know... so you don't fall out. 

Do you like to sleep with a fan? Does a fan keep you awake? How do you feel about sleeping with a humidifier? Can you sleep when it's not perfectly quite? Do you prefer to have some sound to help you go to sleep? Do you go to sleep to the sound of the ocean? can you sleep if you can hear the traffic outside your window? What if you can hear a train? what if the train comes after you are asleep... would it wake you? Do you ever sleep with earplugs to block out sounds? Like the sound of a crying baby (trust me it's genius... I mean someone's got to attend to the bawling, but sometimes perhaps it's your turn for the earplugs).

Questions for Couples: Etiquette

When is it ok to pick out the lint from your belly button? What should you do with it? (and how did it get there?)
When is it ok to pick your teeth? when is it not ok? If it is ok to pick your teeth in public what is an acceptable implement of such picking? toothpick? finger? paper? cardboard? Plastic? Is it ok to floss in public?
What about brushing your teeth in public? Can you brush your teeth around other people? While walking? While on the phone?
Is it ok to shave in public? What about shaving your legs? What about guys shaving their legs in public?
What in your opinion the proper way to handle the passing of gas? Does it embarrass you?
Do you use an anti-perspirant? Do you use deodorant? Often? Daily? Do you prefer a deodorant with a strong smell? Is it ok to apply your deodorant in public? On a date?
How often do you shower? How often do you wash your hair?
Do you use mouthwash? Breathmints? A tongue scraper? Binaca?
What is your favorite type (or brand) of bad breath remedy?

Questions for Couples: Germs

How do you feel about sharing your food? How do you feel about sharing someone else food?
What if they licked it?  If your food falls on the floor will you still eat it? What if it was really expensive? What if it was the last Twinkie on Earth?

Do you believe in the 10 second rule? what if someone else breaks the 10 second rule? What if your food  falls but doesn't reach the floor, because it is saved by a chair? what if something falls on the table? Have you been known to slurp up a drink if you spill it?

Do you ever worry about the germs you might be exposed to at a supermarket? On a shopping cart? Public restrooms? Do you worry about germs at restaurants? on the menus? Restaurant chairs?

Do you carry hand sanitizer with you everywhere? Do you use it? a lot?
Do you always wash your hands after you use the restroom? with soap? Do you think it is important to dry your hands after you wash them? with a towel? should it be disposable?

Do you wash your hands before you eat?  What if it's just a snack? How do you know when your hands are clean? Do you sing a song to know if you have washed enough? Is it "Happy birthday to you?"

How do you feel about reusing towels? what if somebody else used a towel? If a person has cleaned themselves before using a towel, is it then fine for another person to use that towel? Does it bother you if your guest use your nice towels to dry their hands? What should they do instead if it does?  How many times can you reuse a towel? Is it better to put out fresh towels for your guests, or to wait until after you have guests... because surely the towels will just get dirty with guests in the house? Do you take you own towel with you when you travel? Is it because you read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?

Questions for Couples: Shopping

How do you feel about thrift stores? Do you have a favorite? Do you buy a lot of things at thrift stores? Do you buy all your clothes at thrift stores? Are there some things you like to buy at thrift stores? Are there things you won't  buy at a thrift store? Have you ever found something really cool at a thrift store? Was it a grand piano? Do you think a person can really save a lot of money at thrift stores? Do you think thrift stores are cool?

How often do you go to yard sales?  Do you search the newspaper diligently to find yard sales? Are yard sales the same as garage sales? If not which is better? Do you ever drive around just to see if you can find a sale? What kind of things would you buy at a yard or garage sale? Would you know a treasure if you saw it there? Would you buy a bunch of paintings, jewelry, or "antiques," just incase per chance you could find something of great value?

How do you feel about estates sales? Repos? Surplus sales?
Would you bid on storage containers?  Are you addicted to Storage Wars? Or other treasure seeking shows?

Questions for Couples: Safety

Do you like fireworks? Do you ever light your own? Do you like the illegal ones? Do you take safety precautions with your fireworks? What precautions do you take?

How would you feel about your kids lighting fireworks?
Do you light fireworks only during officially designated times? How do you feel about firework restrictions? Designated firework lighting areas or parking lots? Do you know a good way to put out a fire? Do you know multiple ways to put out a fire? Have you ever "put out a fire," but later found out that your fire was still burning?

Is your house properly protected by smoke alarms? Do you smoke alarms ever go off for no good reason? Have your smoke alarms ever gone off for a good reason? Do you set off your smoke alarms often? Do you think heat sensors are better than smoke alarms? How do do feel about infrared sensors? Do you think it is important to have sprinklers in your house? Do you think your fire alarms should be connected to a monitoring service? Do you have an evacuation plan if your house catches on fire? Do you have a designated meeting place in case of emergency? Do you have one of those cool rope ladders to help you get out of a building? Have you ever tried to use one? In other words in an emergency would you know what to do? or are you more likely to just "wing-it" and hope things go well?

Questions for Couples: Excercise III

Do you wear shoes when you exercise? Do you like specific brands of shoes? Types of shoes? What about vibram five fingers?  Have you ever used a kettle bell? exercise ball? Have you ever used an exercise ball for jousting? Ball rolling?

Do you use a heart rate monitor? Pedometer? Thigh Master?  Do you like using a treadmill? Elliptical? Stationary Bike? Rowing machine? Stair stepper?
How long can you do wall squat? Plank? How many different types of plank do you do? Do you ever go planking in strange places? and post it to YouTube? Can you do a pushup on your knees? Toes?
Can you do a one handed push-up? How many can you do? Will you please demonstrate for me? How about sit ups? Do you think crunches are actually better than sit-ups? Is your physique natural? Really?

Do you have a favorite trainer? Do you follow them religiously? Do you follow your trainer more religiously than your religion? Do you buy their supplements? and other endorsed products? no matter what? What if you were to learn that they were a computer generated hologram? Would that shake your exercise testimony?

Do you feel inspired to exercise more when you watch the Olympics?

Questions for Couples: Safety

Do you consider yourself a safe person?
Would owning a gun make you feel safer?
Would you carry a gun? To the store?
How do you feel about concealed carry permits?

Have you ever taken a hunters safety course? did you pass? was it because they felt sorry for you?
Would you ever let your kids own a gun? How old would your kids have to be to own a gun?
How old would you want your kids before you would let them use a gun?
Would you take special measures to make sure your guns were safe? A gun safe?
Safety locks? Locked cases where the guns are visible? Do you think your guns would be safe if you put them on a high shelf? or under your mattress?
Do you know how to tell if the safety is on on a gun?

How do you feel about knives? Would you lockup your kitchen knives?
Would you ever own decorative knives? How do you feel about combat knives?
What would you do to keep your knives safe? or how would you keep your children safe around knives?

Do you own any oriental throwing stars? Would it bother you if your kids wanted some? what if your spouse wanted some?
Nun-chucks? staffs? Spears?
Do you own a mace? what about a can of mace?

Questions for Couples: Jealousy

Do you consider yourself to be a jealous person?
Do others consider you to be very jealous?
Do you think others should be jealous of you?
Do you like it when other people are jealous of you?
What is your most enviable attribute?

What kind of things make you jealous? Money? Things? Big Houses? "Perfect Families"? Vacations? Physically fit people/ a nice body? People with a lot of free time? Is the grass really always greener on the other side? Are you jealous of people who have a well developed talent?

Do you get jealous when your significant other makes more money than you? Does it  make you jealous when somebody has more friends than you? Would you be jealous if your spouse wanted to spend time with some of their other friends? Would you be jealous if your spouse was talking with someone of the opposite gender? What if your spouse was kind of flirtatious? What if the flirting was just so they could get better service, free stuff, or good deals?

Would it bother you if your spouse kept in contact with old girlfriends/boyfriends? What if an old love interest wanted to meet for drinks? dinner? a movie? Would if bother you if one of your spouses former girlfriends/boyfriends lived in your neighborhood? What if they gave your spouse gifts?

Would you be jealous if your spouse wanted to spend time with their family? Do you think your spouse should love you more than their family? Do you measure the size of your brownies to make sure your spouse doesn't get a bigger piece than you?

Questions for Couples: Excercise II

Why do you excerise?
Do you prefer to exercise in the morning? at night? So late that no one else is awake?

Can a person exercise too much? How much is enough?

Do you like to compete against others while exercising? Do you like to compete as a team while exercising? Do you compete with yourself? Do you track your exercise? Do you feel like you are making progress?

Do you warm up before exercise? Do you stretch after you excercise? Is that your favorite part? Have you ever thrown up during a workout? After? Before? Do you enjoy certain types of exercise more than others? Do you prefer to exercise inside? outside? 

What do you think of Yoga? How many positions do you know? Do you do Pilates? Calisthenics? Aerobics? Plyometrics? Kickboxing? Weight lifting? How much can you lift each way? Have you ever done Insanity?  Heard of it? How about P90X? Did you buy the DVD... try it once and then put it on your shelf and never think of it again? Have you ever tried circuit training? Interval training? HITT?  Are you the kind of person that always thinks those infomercials for different exercise programs sound really good? So you buy a lot of them, but don't actually use them as much as you think you should?

Questions for Couples: Sleep II

Do you like to sleep on the right side of the bed or the left? center? diagonally? upside down?
Have you ever turned upside down while you sleep?

Do you like a hard bed / firm bed or a soft one? How do you feel about waterbeds?
What about other specialty beds? Air mattresses?
Do you sleep with a pillow? Multiple pillows? A body pillow? A body double?
How do you feel about sleeping with pets? How do you feel about sleeping with kids?

Do you like to sleep with a lot of blankets? A special blanket? Do you like to sleep with the covers on or off? Do you prefer to have your covers tucked in? Do you kick off your covers in the night?


Do you talk in your sleep? Walk in your sleep? Impersonate Elvis?
Do you sleep in your socks? Big fuzzy socks?
Would it bother you if your spouse put their cold feet on you while sleeping?
What about their big fuzzy socks?

Do you hit or kick in your sleep? Would you forgive your spouse if  they hit you while sleeping? Would you feel they were justified if they were having a bad dream? How would you resolve the situation if your spouse was accidentally hitting you in the night?

Questions for Couples: Communication

What is your favorite way to talk with friends? What about family members?
Do you prefer to talk with people face to face? Does talking face to face scare you? What if it's a really ugly face? What if it's a really pretty face?

How do you feel about text messages? If somebody sends you a txt, how quickly will you respond?
Does every txt require a response? How do you feel about texts that only have one word in them? what about one letter? Blank text messages?

Do you write a blog? Have you ever told someone that you couldn't tell them something because it was in your blog? Do you like Instant messaging? How do you feel about communicating through Facebook?

Have you ever used a video chat service? Do you think video calling is the way of the future? Have you ever noticed yourself doing something weird while video chatting?
Have you ever sent a telegram? A singing Telegram?

Do you like to talk on the phone? For hours at a time? Have you ever said "no, you hang up first." or "I love you more"?

Do you write a lot of emails? Do you like to communicate through emails? How important is spelling in an email? Do all your emails include a salutation? Do you sign your emails? All of them? Does your computer/ email client sign them for you?

Do you ever write a letter? By hand? Do you like to receive hand written letters? Mail? How often do you write thank you notes? Does a thank you note merit a thank you note in return?

How do you feel about conversations that continue in perpetuity? Is it better to have a lot of little conversations? or one conversation that just picks up where it left off?

Questions for Couples: Ice Breakers

If you could pick any 5 stores to spend time in what would you pick? What are your favorite stores to buy things from? What makes them your favorite?
What are your top five favorite restaurants? What do you like about them? What do you look for in a restaurant? What turns you off in a restaurant?
Do you have favorite hotel chains? or hotels? What are your primary factors in choosing where to stay?

If you could drive any car in the world what would you pick? Why? What are the top five cars you would like to own? Why would you pick them?
What is your ideal type/size of city? Is there a specific city you would like to live in? Is it underground?
What are the five states that you would like to live in the most? Why?
If you could live in any other country in the world what one(s) would you pick?
What if you could live on any planet?

What are your favorite leisure activities? What are your favorite things to do at home? someone elses home? not at a home?
What are your five favorite foods? Favorite snacks? Are your favorite snacks different if no one is looking?
What are your top five current TV shows? All-time favorite TV shows?

What are your favorite clothing brands? least favorite clothing brands?
Is it favorite or favourite?
What are your favorite types of fairs, expos, or festivals?
What is your favorite "fair food"?
What are your five favorite types of flowers?
What were your favorite classes in School? What were your least favorite?
Who were your favorite teachers? and why?

Questions for Couples: Sleep

Do you like to go to bed early or are you more of a night owl? How early is early?
Can you tell when someone is tired? Will you tell a person when you are tired? How hard is it for you to adjust to another persons sleep schedule? How important is your sleep schedule to you?

Do you use something to help you get to sleep? Music? TV? Movies? Tranquilizers?

Do you sleep with the door open or closed?
Can you sleep with the lights on? Can you sleep when there is noise? a baby crying?
Do you sleep with a night light?

Do you sleep with a window open? With two windows open to create a breeze? Do you feel less safe if your window is open at night?

Do you wake up naturally each morning? Do you have an internal alarm clock? can you pick the time?
Do you like to wake up to the sunlight? what about a rooster? Do you use an alarm clock? Clock radio? Do you wake up to the smell of bacon? From a bacon bakin' clock?

Special Edition: Date Ideas - Winter II

Communication is the foundation of any good relationship. That is the main purpose of this blog, however, a good date never hurt any relationship. Here are some fun ideas for winter dates that may also provide a good atmosphere for communication.

1. Find a local sporting good store, or university or outdoors club and rent some snowshoes.  Go snowshoeing.
2. Rent cross country skis, pack a picnic and go for an adventure. 
3. Buy some large tubes from your local tire store fill them with air, and find a nice hill to tube down.
4. Go to a local ski resort and go skiing, or snowboarding... Make sure you ride the chairlift with your date, and maybe even enjoy some hot chocolate, so you have some time to talk. :-)
5. Go to your favorite ski resort, but don't ski, just sit and talk by the fire. Maybe pretend you can hear what the other guests are saying as they come into, or out of the resort. Take turns "being the voice" for different guests.
6. Karaoke
7. Go Country dancing, line dancing, swing dancing... or just dancing. Not perhaps the best activity to promote communication, but it can be a lot of fun, get your heart pumping, and it usually happens in a nice warm building... sometimes vary warm.
8. Buy some poster paper and some finger-paints and recreate your favorite artistic masterpieces together. 
9. Find a couple snow shovels and clean the sidewalks of your neighbors... or random strangers. Ü
10. Visit people at a care center, or find a local widow (or Widows) and play boardgames with them.
11. Get a few other couples and have a progressive dinner.  One couple is in charge of the appetizer. One couple takes the main course, one couple takes desert. Maybe one couple does a salad. Etc. Go from one house to the next for each course.
12. Find a recipe for something fun that you've always wanted to make... Like bougatsa, or baklava, or even sugar cookies. Make it together. (Note: if this is experimental, it may take longer than you expected it to, this is not necessarily a bad thing Ü) 
13. Go Ice Skating... or Rollerskating if you can't find any place to ice skate, but you have access to a roller rink. If you are new to ice skating stay close to your date so you can help them if they fall... but not so close that you cause them to fall. :-)
14. Set up a tent in your living room. Light a fire if you have a fireplace. Tell ghost stories, and roast marshmallows (and make s'mores of course). If you don't have a fireplace you can also melt your marshmallows in the microwave... it only takes a few seconds. You can also roast marshmallows on a stove (In my experience gas stoves may flavor your mallow a bit, but a nice electric stove top is amazing!)
15. Cook breakfast for dinner. Make pancakes or waffles or my personal favorite, French toast. Most breakfast foods are surprisingly simple to prepare, but if you're not confident in your abilities, there are some great breakfast foods in the freezer section. Spruce it up a bit with fresh berries or juice. ;)

Questions for Couples: Camping

How much do you like camping?
How often do you go camping? how often would you go if you could?
What do you consider camping? is it anything away from home? Is a motorhome camping? Can you have electricity and still be camping? what about a cabin? tent? Do you believe that all real camping is out under the stars? even if it's raining?

How do you feel about camping in the snow? Rain? Heat? Wind?
Can you start a fire? with a single match? without any matches? can you teach me how?

Are you usually the first person to get up in the morning when you go camping? are you the last one to get up?
Do you like to get up and get the fire going? what about food? do you like to wait until breakfast is ready to get up?

How do you feel about living off the land while you camp? Wild mushrooms? Fishing?
Do you like fishing? are you any good? Does that question inspire you to tell a "fish story?" Do you prefer fly fishing? catch and release? trolling? casting?

Do you own a boat? Kayaks? do you like boating? Kayaking? canoeing?

How often when you go camping do you take boats? Bikes? other recreational activities? Gameboys? Ipods? Cell phones?

When was the last time you went camping?
Do you like to camp with reservations? on reservations? along the side of the road? in the middle of nowhere?
in caves? with bears?

Questions for Couples (Advanced): Anger

These are advanced questions. That means they may not be the kind of thing that would be fun to talk about on a first date, but they are questions/ or a topics are important to discuss as a relationship progresses.

Do you play Angry Birds? And why are those birds so angry?
What kind of things make you angry?
Traffic? Work? Family? Friends? The World? Other?
Are there things that make you really angry?
 
How often do you get angry?
When was the last time you got really angry? What was the circumstance?

How do you act when you feel angry?
Do you keep it to your self? Do you talk about it? Do you yell? Do you say mean things? Does it make you want to hit something? Do you ever feel the need to take out your anger on another person?
When you get angry do hit people? Slap? Kick? Push?
Do you ever feel the need to restrain or control someone? Are there other things of a physical nature that you do when you are angry? How often do you get physical because of your anger?

How frequently do you feel like you have anger that is uncontrollable (ie you just can't help yelling at someone)?

Since turning 18 (and becoming an adult), has your anger changed? Has the way you deal with your anger changed? In general, how do you deal with your anger? What do you do to try to get over your feelings of anger? What do you do to deescalate your anger? Do you think it is better to sleep on a problem, or to make sure that you never go to bed angry?
If you could pick one role model from Sesame Street would you pick Oscar?