"Nerve-worthy" Hodgepodge?

1. Summertime is a season of reunions, weddings, and other family celebrations and gatherings...are any of the above on your calendar in the next two months?

~ Nope, not a one....unless you count having one of Tim's sisters and her husband (who live several states away) joining us on our vacation.  That's sort of a reunion.

2. June is National Iced Tea Month...are you an iced tea drinker? If so, how do you like yours (sweet, flavored, etc)? 

~ I don't drink a lot of it, but when I do it's peach flavored.

3. When were you last nervous?  Looking back, was the 'event' actually nerve-worthy?

~ Probably when I got the tests done to analyze my neuropathy.  "Nerve-worthy?"  Maybe not, but it wasn't exactly fun to have electric jolts fired through my nerves.

4. The bristle toothbrush was invented in China on June 26, 1498...not sure how that date was pinned down so precisely but, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being sick to your stomach and 1 being not at all, how nervous do you feel when you're headed to the dentist?  Do you see your dentist twice a year?

~ I used to HATE it.  As a kid they had to gas me up with nitrous oxide.  I'm a lot calmer these days, but I'm still not crazy about it.  I guess maybe I'm about a 3 or 4....maybe with higher spikes depending on what's getting done.

5. What's making news in your town this week?

~ Nothing much in all honesty.  I can't think of a thing.  That's good, right?  Oh...they are doing something with the whole "Birthplace of the Banana Split" thing in time for the Fourth and there are plenty of pre-Fourth activities happening (the Fourth of July is a HUGE deal here).

6. Curtains, drapes, blinds...your window treatment of choice? Are there any bare windows in your house? Is that by choice or because you haven't gotten around to covering them? 

~ I don't really have a preference...just whatever I see that I like and looks good.  No, no bare windows.  I admit I would like to have shutters on some of my windows one day.  I've always liked that look.

7. Summertime is officially here (in the Northern hemisphere anyway)...whatone song is a must-have on your summer playlist?

~ Only one???  Oh, you are a tough task master.  Um......I guess if I have only one choice it would be.....All Summer Long by Kid Rock.  I wanted to put the video in for you, but Kid's blocked all sharing.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  

~ Do you have regrets about how you raised your children?  I just finished reading Happy, Happy, Happy by Phil Robertson and have started The Duck Commander Family by Willie & Korie Robertson.  Some (emphasis on SOME because those Robertson kids had a very unorthodox upbringing) of the things I'm reading in those, along with some things we've been talking about in Bible study kind of having me wishing for a do-over.  I don't think I was a horrible mom, but there are things I think I'd do differently if I could and maybe avoid a lot of the problems we're facing today.

Big Daddy Hodgepodge

1. What do you think makes a good dad?
~ Someone who loves his children unconditionally (and shows it), keeps them safe (without coddling them), and teaches them the important lessons and values in life.

2.  What's something you learned from your own father?
~ I learned a lot of valuable things from my dad, the two biggies would be...

1. If a job is worth doing, it's worth doing well.  Why bother doing a job at all if you're going to do it poorly?  Not too many people seem to get this today.
2. If you want something, WORK for it.  Nobody owes you anything.  Again, something few seem to grasp in today's world.

3. It's your birthday-what kind of cake will we be having?

~ Either chocolate or marble...with whipped icing.  Buttercream is just too sweet and heavy.

4. When you're faced with a big decision are you more of a go with your gut type of person, or are you someone who reasons it all out, weighing the pros and cons? 
~ Most of the time I'm a go with the gut kind of person.  Sometimes that's a good thing.  Sometimes not so much.

5. June is National Dairy Month. What's your favorite dairy item? Most often purchased dairy item? 
~ Cheese.....glorious cheese!

6. Explorer Jacques Cousteau was born on June 11, 1910....what's something you've recently discovered or something you'd like to explore?
~ We're going to Chincoteague in July.  We've gone there on family vacations when the kids were younger.  I'm looking forward to exploring the adult life of the island.

7. Are you typical of your generation?
~ I don't know.  Probably not.  I'm a devout Christian, politically conservative, anti-abortion, and pro-gun rights.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Saw this on Pinterest this week and loved it.  So very true.

Don't Sweat the Hodgepodge

1. Have you learned more from success or failure? Explain.
~ Success is sweet, but well, it's success so there's nothing more to do...you move on.  Failure, on the other hand, tends to suck and most people don't want to repeat the sucky-ness, so that means you go back to the drawing board, the books, or whatever and study the problem, figure out what went wrong, and fix it if you can.  Not that there aren't lessons in success, but there are more lessons in failure.

2.  What did you call your grandparents when you were growing up? If you have children, what do they call your parents? If you have grandchildren, what do they call you?
~ I called my grandparents Pappy, Nana, and Grandma.  My kids called theirs Old Nana, Nanny, Amma, and Pap Pap.  My granddaughter calls us Pappy and Nanny.

3.  You're invited to a luau.  In keeping with that theme, what dish will you bring to share? 
~ Probably this chicken recipe I have for tenderloins cooked with pineapple, soy sauce, and brown sugar in the crock pot.

4. Besides Jesus, what one person's life story do you think everyone should know about?
~ Just one?  Wow.  I don't think I can narrow it to one.  I think everyone should be a student of history, because it does tend to repeat itself and we should understand the lessons of the past to perhaps avoid troubles today.  I think early history of the United States is filled with important people to know about from the Pilgrims through the patriots and framers of the Constitution...but then the Civil War and Lincoln are so important.  Everyone should know the evil perpetrated by Hitler.  Can you believe there are those who believe it never happened?  The Cold War and its players.  Yeah....I can't pick just one.

5. "Don't sweat the small stuff." Agree or Disagree? Why?
~ If by sweat, you mean worry...then I agree.  Worry doesn't change anything.  If you mean don't bother with the small things then I might disagree.  Some small things are important...like saying please and thank you, showing respect to your elders, being nice to others, etc.

6.  June is National Rivers Month. When were you last on a river? What's the prettiest river you've ever seen? What's a river you'd like to see? 
~ Actually on a river?  It's been over 10 years.  Tim and I took a dinner cruise on a paddle boat in Pittsburgh for one of our anniversaries.  Other than that, I go over them all the time.  We have lots around here.  Prettiest I've ever seen?  I don't know.  One I'd like to see?  The Nile, the Amazon, or the Yangtze.

7.  Speaking of rivers-paddling, fishing, swimming, or bird watching safely from the shore? Which activity would you choose? Yes-you have to choose. 
~ Probably, I'd choose canoeing.  I spent some time on the Delaware River the summer before my senior year of high school when I worked for the Youth Conservation Corps.  I loved every minute of it.  I swam in it, too, but I'd probably pass on that these days.  East Coast rivers are not usually the cleanest.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Today was the last day for the last school I drive for.  As of 12:30 this afternoon, I am a free woman until August 26.  Bring on summer!

A Rosy Hodgepodge

1. What question do you often ask yourself?
~ Does the laundry breed while it's in the hamper?  What am I going to make for supper and why do I have to do all the cooking?  Do I really want to stay with this job?  Am I going to go back to school?  What was I thinking?

2. Do you grow roses? What's your favorite color of rose?  Ever been given a dozen roses?  Where was the prettiest rose or rose garden you remember seeing?
~ I have a few rose bushes.  Some do better than others.  I've always liked pink roses best, but Megan gave me a sort of yellow-apricot bush for Mother's Day and I think it may be the new favorite.  Tim used to give me roses all the time.

My rose bush from Megan.

3. Do you read the freshness dates on grocery store products?  Will you use eggs past the ir 'use by' date?  Take medication that's expired? Buy a dented can?
~ I do check on most things...and even some I never thought to until I got burned on them, getting them home and finding them spoiled or mold when I opened them.  I admit to using eggs a bit past the date and milk, too.  Most foods have a "Sell By" date not an expiration date.  Never medication, though it usually won't hurt you, it's most likely just lost its effectiveness.  Dented can?  Only if I really, really need the item and there aren't any others on the shelf.  

4. Should athletes be role models?
~ I'd say that should be based on the individual just as with any other profession.  Personally, I think Tim Tebow makes a good role model.  Others...not so much.

5. Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first explorers to reach the top of Mt. Everest on this date (May 29) back in 1953. What's something you hope to achieve in your lifetime?
~ Getting all the remodeling and repairs done on the house so we can just chill in our old age and not have to worry about it.

6. What would you do if you had twenty acres of land and the money to develop it any way you choose?
~ Easy one!  Big garden...beef cattle...a horse or two...orchard...chickens and maybe a turkey...pond stocked with bass or trout...lots of insulation from "neighbors"....big barn/garage....and a comfy, rustic house with enough room for everyone.

7. If I invite you to a party with a 7 PM start time, what time will I actually see you there?
~ Probably 7:30 - 8:00 if it's just to hang out.  If there's a dinner or event that starts at that time we'd probably get there on time.  Probably.  Just tell me it starts at 6:30.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ It's taken me roughly 3 hours to get this post finished!  I've been doing laundry, Facebooking (yes, I believe it can be a verb...don't judge me), and friends from church were here to pull out all the ugly, overgrown shrubs in front of the porch.  Yea!!  It looks so different, but so much neater.  Once Tim gets done working on the porch I think I will turn all that nicely churned up dirt into flower beds.

Pedaling Through the Hodgepodge

1. It's National Bike Week...do you own a bicycle? When did you last ride a bike? 
~ Not currently, unless you count the stationary bike.  I just saw a really cute one....basket on the front, big fenders....at Wal-mart that I really like, so maybe I'll have one soon.  The last bike I had was never quite right as far as the brakes went.  I gave it to a man who fixes bikes up and gives them to people who can't afford them.

2. What's something you learned in school that wasn't part of the curriculum?
~ I am sure I learned a LOT of things in school that weren't part of the curriculum...or very beneficial.  I guess you might call them painful lessons.

3. What's a food you've never tried, but want to try? What's a food you've tried and will never try again?
~ I really can't think of anything I haven't tried, but want to.  I'm fairly adventurous when it comes to food.  As for a food I have tried and will never try again....eggplant.  I have had it prepared in a variety of ways.  It is gross no matter what you do.

4. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Why? Do you think that's a good trend?
~ I've definitely been more demanding...part of my One Word campaign to be more "intentional" don't you know.  I think it's a good thing.  I'm trying to take control of my life.

5. Who is your favorite book, movie, or TV show villain? 
~ For years when I was growing up and a young adult it was Stefano on Days of Our Lives.  Jack Nicholson makes a good bad guy.  Other than that, I don't think I've ever had a favorite one.

6. How concerned are you about identity theft? 
~ Given the amount of stuff I do online...and the fact that I've had my bank card hacked....probably not enough.

7. I saw this last question on Dawn's blog a couple of week's ago and asked if I could share. Everybody hop over and say hi, but first answer this...would you rather have an ordinary home in an extraordinary place or an extraordinary home in an ordinary place? 
~ As far as the location goes, I think it would depend on where it is.  On top of the Tibetan Alps would be extraordinary, but I wouldn't want to live there no matter what kind of house I had.  On the whole, though, I think I'd like an ordinary home in a location of my choosing...which would be somewhere between the ordinaryness of here and the Tibetan Alps.  lol

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ A weather front is due to move through here later today.  I think it's the same front that moved through Oklahoma earlier this week.  Severe storms are predicted for late afternoon through the night.  Understandably, people are feeling nervous.  This part of Pennsylvania is no stranger to tornadoes and severe thunderstorms so we tend to perk up and pay attention.  It's only been two years since we were slammed by mega-hail.

Somewhere Over the Hodgepodge

1. May is National Blood Pressure Month...what sends yours soaring, either literally or figuratively? What calms you down? When did you last have your bp checked?
~ The stupid, stupid things our government does, the President himself, family stress....all raise my blood pressure.  Talking to God, my dogs and music all calm me down.   I last had my blood pressure checked...maybe a month ago?  Mine is always pretty good and the stress levels have to be through the roof to raise it, but once or twice in the past I've felt like the top of my head was going to blow off.

2. You just found $1-what do you spend it on? How about 10$ 100?
~ I'd probably just stick it in my wallet with the rest.  I found 10 cents?  I probably wouldn't even bother bending over to pick it up. lol  100.....maybe go out for a nice dinner with Tim or to see a movie or buy more books.

3. Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been proposed, but not enacted in the US. How much attention do you give food labels before you buy? Are you in favor of labeling if it means an increase in food prices? Is this an issue you've been following and feel strongly about, or is this the first you've heard of the controversy?
~ I haven't been paying much attention until recently...when the government put Monsanto in charge of this stuff (what the *bleep* were they thinking??).  I'm actually a lot more watchful since my poodle died and I am convinced his death was due to a lifetime of eating questionable food.  I look at all the people I know with cancer and other diseases that used to be rare...something is causing them.  I'd like to have them labeled, but isn't it ridiculous that we have to label natural food?

4. May 15th marks the birthdate of Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. At this point in time, are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain.
~ Brains, I guess.  Then maybe I could figure out a way to make more money.  lol

5. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement?
~ It's been a while.

6.  Steak...yes please or no thank you? What cut do you prefer and how do you like yours cooked? Sauce or no sauce? Besides your own kitchen, where's a place you like to go to get a great steak? 
~ Love a good steak!  I guess T-bone is my favorite.  If it's seasoned and cooked well, no sauce.  We really like A-1's New York Steakhouse marinade when we cook steaks at home....good flavor and the steaks just melt in your mouth.  We like to go to Longhorn Steakhouse as far as chains go and locally we like a little place called Turillos.  You can get a 1-inch thick T-bone dinner done to perfection for $16.95!

7. When was the last time you were in a genuine hurry?
~ All the time!  I'm always running late.  Sigh.  I was raised to always be early then married a man who runs late and had sisters who were always running late (at least when we were younger) and my kids always ran kind of late.....I guess somewhere along the way I must have decided "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Dear daughter is unemployed again.  She loved her job at the garden center, but there was one woman (in her 50s so you would have thought she'd be more mature) who gave her grief from day one.  Yesterday this woman laid into my girl, even though she is not a boss.  I mean really blind-sided her and got nasty.  Meg had taken all she could take and let her have it right back.  The woman ran to the owners and told them all about how mean Meg was and how she never did her work.  The owners told her the garden center wasn't the right place for her and that she should go home.  Sigh.  Are there no nice people left in the world?

Hodgepodge Nostalgia

1. When the children of today grow up, what do you think they'll say about this period in time? What do you most hope they remember?
~ I am not at all sure what they will say or what I hope they will remember.  These are such turbulent and confusing times.  I guess I hope they overlook the bad and remember their childhoods the way we do....as the very best of times.

2. National Teacher's Day is celebrated in the US of A on the first Tuesday in May, this year May 7th...share how a particular teacher positively impacted you. 
~ Mr. Giotto was my homeroom teacher all through high school.  He was also one of the boys' gym teachers and a coach for football and track.  Mr. G was a hottie back in the day....a real Italian stud muffin....but that's not why I feel lucky to have had him.  As a homeroom teacher, he didn't actually teach us a class.  His duties were to take attendance and once a month when we didn't have Wednesday morning activity period to talk to us, sort of as a guidance counselor.  Most of the homeroom teachers didn't do that.  Mr. G did, though.  He took the time to get to know us, find out what was happening in our lives, talk to us, and listen.  He wasn't a whole lot older than us so it was kind of like having a big brother.  Once in a while on those Wednesdays he'd get our homeroom together with the homeroom of another gym teacher and we'd play volleyball and we girls would make snacks and bring them in.  We were pretty much family in Mr. G's room.  I didn't stay in touch with him, but to this day when I run into him anywhere he remembers me and I get a big bear hug.  

3. What's a dish your mama made, that if set in front of you today would whisk you right back to childhood?                                                                         
~ Hungarian goulash.  Mom used a recipe from a set of cards given as premiums at a gas station (remember when gas stations gave you things for filling up the tank?).  It has a lot of spices and wine and was really quite the gourmet meal back in the 70s.  Mom used to make it when we lived in the wildlife preserve and had a crowd of research staff and students to feed after a hunt.  I found the same set of cards at a flea market not long after Tim and I were married and I continue to make the goulash a couple of times a year.

4. Mother May I was a game we played when I was growing up...no pieces, parts, or plugs required. What games from childhood do you remember loving that were also pieces, parts, and plug-free?
~ Freeze-tag, Red Light-Green Light, Hide 'n' Seek, 

5. Besides your own mother, tell us about a woman who influenced you as a child?
~ That would be my grandmother, whom I called Nana.  I wrote about her (and my grandfather) here.

6. Mamma Mia! What's the best play or musical you've ever seen? 
~ It's got to be, hands down, Grease for me.  The movie with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John was HUGE my senior year of high school.  My class song was even "We Go Together" from the closing scene.

7. What are three smells that make you feel nostalgic?
~ Camay soap reminds me of my dad's mom's house.  There is a smell I can't describe, a combination of dampness, pine, and I'm not sure what else that smells like the log cabin up the road from my grandparents' house.  And fresh cut wood takes me back to hours spent in my grandfather's workshop.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Getting some more tests done today....an electromyography and nerve conduction velocity on either my arms or legs (I'll have it done to which ever extremities they don't do today on Monday).  It's another step in trying to find out why I'm experiencing tingling in my hands and feet.  I've already had a ton of bloodwork.  I had upped the dosage on my prescription over the weekend, but stopped taking it yesterday and last night went back to the lower dosage.  I did that because while I really like the effects of the lower dose, the higher one made my body hurt so much I could barely make myself walk across the room and yesterday morning my mind felt....well, not right.  I don't know how to describe it.  Sure hoping this gets figured out soon.  This getting older business is not for sissies!

It's a Beautiful Day in the Hodgepodge Neighborhood

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It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like YOU, so, would you be mine, could you be mine, won't you be my neighbor?  Truly, it is seriously gorgemous today!

Just FYI.....I happen to live in the original neighborhood.  Yep, Latrobe is the hometown of Fred Rogers.  Hang around long enough and somebody will point out his childhood home and you'll see other familiar names from the show around town, too.  Like McFeely (which was his mother's maiden name and is his middle name) and Okonak.  Someone will undoubtedly tell you to hit the local amusement park where you can ride a real trolley through and interactive, animated Neighborhood of Make-Believe.  Oh, and he's buried here, too, but nobody will tell you where....even though we know.

 

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1.  This week's Hodgepodge is Volume 123.  What's something you've done recently that was as easy as 1-2-3? 
~ Tonight's supper will fall into that category.  In honor of the beautiful weather we'll be having grilled burgers, corn on the cob, and fried zuchinni.

2.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge also happens to fall on the first day of May ...what is something you may do this month? 
~ We may go to Erie over Memorial Day weekend.  We both have family up there that we could visit and we promised the sister going on vacation with us in July that we'd visit the wineries near Erie and stock up on some of the fruit blend wines her husband likes so much.

3. The Englishman Horace Walpole is credited as saying, "The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think"  How do you see it?
~ I suppose it could be a little bit of both.  If you watch enough of the news you're bound to think we're doomed.  I think we are still in the middle, though moving more toward tragedy.  On the whole, though, I try to focus on the positive and just appreciate the wonder of God's creation.

4.  May is National Hamburger Month...how often do you eat a burger? What are your must-haves when it comes to burgers?  I assume you vegetarians won't be celebrating so tell us what you'd like instead? 
~ We're actually having burgers today!  We usually don't have them more than once a month.  I like mine with ketchup (has to be Heinz....it's a 'Burgh thing) on the bottom bun, under the burger and then cheese melted on the burger and lettuce and tomato on top.

5. Pansies, petunias, geraniums, impatiens...of the four mentioned, which is your favorite in a patio pot? Will there be pots on your patio this spring? (Or whenever spring comes to your part of the globe?) Who does the gardening at your house?
~ Yes, there will be pots!  I always have pots.  I like geraniums and impatiens.  Pansies and petunias are pretty, but they tend to get fried in our sun....there isn't a lot of shade anywhere that I put pots.

6. When did you last (literally or figuratively) shout "Mayday, Mayday!"
~ Figuratively, I'd say it was when I wiped out on the ice in the parking lot at work and couldn't get up.  It would have been literally if I'd thought of it.  That would have been really funny.

7.  Say farewell to your April in ten words or less. 
~ Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

~ The parental units are in Texas today.  They only have about another 150 miles to go to reach Houston.  They went down there for the NRA's national convention.  Megan and I both asked for Duck Commander/Duck Dynasty stuff for our gift.  We know Willie will be there because he is running for the board of directors.  Mom says she's going to get her picture with him so she can tell us "neener, neener, neener."  Thanks Mom.  Unless somebody points him out to her, she probably won't even know him if she falls over him since I don't think she's ever watched the show.

April Showers Bring...the Wednesday Hodgepodge!

1. April showers bring May flowers...what have you been showered with this month?
~ Blessings.

2. What is the nature of compassion?  Is it learned or innate?  Can compassion be learned?  If you're a parent is this something you've purposely sought to instill in your children, and if so how?
~ I think compassion is when you take empathy and act on it.  It may be innate in some people, but on the whole I think it's learned.   I did try to instill it in my kids.  They saw it modeled in the home and when I was a youth leader I set up many projects that gave them the opportunity to "put legs on it."

3. Do you prefer to watch romantic comedy or romantic drama...or are you rolling your eyes saying bring on the action flicks?
~ I like a pretty wide variety of movies.  I will admittedly probably choose a comedy (not necessarily romantic) first, but I really like adventure movies like Indiana Jones, National Treasure, and the like.  But  then my favorite movie of all time is one of the sappiest chick-flicks ever....Dirty Dancing.

4.  It's April which means baseball season is officially upon us here in the US of A. Humphrey Bogart is quoted as saying "A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." Agree or Disagree?
~ I could live without either.

5. What's something in your community or city that needs fixing or improving?
~ Appearance.  We have a large, beautiful park with trails but the town itself is kind of ugly.

6. Share a song you enjoy that mentions flowers or a specific flower in its title.

7. April 22nd is Earth Day...do you believe there's life on other planets?  That wasn't the question you were expecting was it? ~ I believe life on other planets is at least.....possible.  The Bible says God created the heavens and Earth.  There's a lot of stuff out there in the heavens.  It's a big universe.  Would any life out there look like us?  Probably not.  I do believe we are his masterpiece, made in his own image.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Have you been following any of the side stories accompanying the Boston bombing news?  There are some who are saying that the Saudi national, that "person of interest" that Michelle Obama herself went to see, who never should have had a student visa because he was on a terrorism watch list....they're saying he might be Osama bin Laden's son.  Wouldn't that be something?  Not a good something, but....something.

A Taxing Hodgepodge

1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income tax returns.  What's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'? 
~ Trying to keep this place clean.  I'm not Felix Unger, but I live with TWO Oscar Madisons.  

2. I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge, and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on Day O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food? ~ Of those?  What "wonderful" choices.  
~Um, I guess onions.  I love them cooked in things, just not raw.

3.  What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience? 
~ Living in a wildlife preserve.

4. Term limits for our elected officials...your thoughts? 
~ Yes, please!!!  

5. On April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous 'midnight ride'...when did you last make a midnight ride?  Perhaps the fate of a nation wasn't hanging in the balance, but tell us where you were headed anyway.
~ Either to take my daughter to work or pick her up from work.

6.  What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider? 
~ Definitely the mouse.  I'm not afraid of them, but they are dirty little germ and disease carriers.

7. I love it when people ask me________________________?
~ How old I am.....because most people think I'm a good bit younger than I am.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 
~ Do you ever look at your blog stats?  I like to look and see where people come from and then I start wondering what they were searching for.  I actually get a fair amount of visits from the middle east.  I don't know how I feel about that in these turbulent times....especially if they were looking at something weird.  Does what you find in your stats ever creep you out?  It does me.  The creepiest search?  I did a birthday post for my daughter 2 years ago.  I happened to call her a redneck girl in it.  At this point her picture lists high in a Google search for "redneck girls" and the blog gets a lot of hits because of it.  As far as I can tell, foreign men are attracted to American "redneck" girls.  Particularly the "hot" ones (and no, I didn't list my girl that way).

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It Really Is a (Wednesday) Hodgepodge!

1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.
~ The young adults from our church organized an open mic night and invited several local Christian musicians.  Tim didn't go, but Megan did!!  It was a lot of fun.

2.  April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?
~ No siblings for me.  Yes, I did wish for a sibling...an older brother to be specific (don't ask me how I thought that would happen). 

3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank. 
~ Wellllllll, it's kind of important, but I don't really go out of my way to find "made in America" stuff.  If it's  there, it's made in America and the price and quality of the product is comparable to the same item made else where then I will buy the American product.  Sadly, all too often the price is higher or the quality inferior.  In that case it comes down to the better value for my hard-earned dollars.

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?
~ If I'm being honest, in my younger, pre-Christian days I was greatly influenced by Confessions of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach, the same man who wrote Jonathan Livingston Seagull.  Complete new age drivel.

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today? 
~ I'm not a fan of endless rainy days one after the other....the gray begins to depress me.  However, I love a good thunderstorm and there is nothing like a nice all day rain in the summer as an excuse to close the blinds, pop some popcorn, and pop a favorite chick flick in (mine is Dirty Dancing).  As for being caught in a rainstorm....I don't know, probably last Fall.  Not a lot is blooming here, yet.  The crocus are up and I did see a few daffodils yesterday, but that's pretty much it.

6. What's your favorite yellow food?
~ Fresh corn on the cob, cooked on the grill, dripping with butter, and seasoned with a pinch of seasoned salt.

7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special?
~ I've always liked The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.  I like the imagery of facing a fork in life's path and having to choose and the choice making a difference in how life turns out.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

~ I just finished up Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen this week.  My friend, Dawn, over at Beneath the Surface: Breath of Faith invited her readers to join her in following the daily prayer prompts and to meet up once a week on her blog to reflect and share on our experiences.  We actually followed the prompts for longer than 40 days because we did this over Easter and the book contains special reflections for Holy Week.  Today is the final meet up and the author, Rachel G. Hackenberg is hanging out with us.  Head over if you've been following along or if you just heard today and you're curious.

Easter Hodgepodge

Please *click* the button to visit Joyce,
the creator and hostess of the blog hop
known as the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. What are your plans for Easter? Are you cooking a big lunch or dinner?  Dyeing eggs? Attending a sun rise service?  Eating too much chocolate?

~ We are going to church at 10:00.  My mom and her husband and our daughter are going with us.  After that, since our son and his family won't be here, we are all going with a group of people from church to a buffet.  I am really excited that Mom and John and Megan are going.

2.  What is something you feel too young to do?
~ Have grey hair, pluck my chin, have arthritis, hear the kids on the bus talk about a celebrity and ask "Who?"....

3.  "Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs..."  

Of the characteristics mentioned in the biblical definition of love which do you find most difficult to live out and why?
~ I'm not sure....maybe the one about keeping no record of wrongs.  It's tough not to dredge up old stuff when we're hurt or angry and want the other person to KNOW how much they've hurt us.

4. What's a springtime flower you associate with your childhood?
~ Daffodils.  When we lived in the wildlife preserve the woods around the houses were filled with them.  Someone had planted them a long time ago, I guess, and then they just took off.  It was beautiful.

5.  Ever sung karaoke? If so, what's your go-to song? If not and you're given the opportunity, would you? 
~Never have.  Never will.  The bucket in which I carry my tune has rusted clear through.  I do not sing in front of anyone with the ability to hear.  I do, however, rock out in the car.  Regularly.  So if you're in Pennsylvania, a little south and east of Pittsburgh and you see a little silver Toyota Rav 4 rockin' all over the road....wave and say "hi!"

6. What is something you keep in a basket?
~ All my eggs?  Laundry?  Guess that's about it.

7.  When was the last time you felt foolish?
~ Pfffffft!  That's an every day occurrence.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ My random thought is that I don't really like the random thought portion of the meme.  I inevitably draw a blank and then agonize over trying to think of something profound or incredibly witty.

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Wednesday also means it's time to check in with the Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen crowd over at Dawn's blog, Beneath The Surface: Breath of Faith.  Stop over and be blessed by Dawn's writing and see what everyone is saying.

"Springing" Into Writing & the Hodgepodge

Good morning and a big thank you to Dawn of Beneath the Surface: Breath of Faith for inviting me to guest-host this week!  I am so honored to share in this journey of Writing to God with you.

I've been keeping journals since I was about 8 years old and bought my first little blue diary with a tiny silver key at the local G.C. Murphy's.  So, it felt pretty natural to start journaling about my journey once I became a Christian and once I got over my pre-Christian hangups about what prayer should and shouldn't be, I started writing a lot of my prayers down.  As someone who struggles with ADD, writing my prayers down helped (and still helps) me keep my focus.  

When Dawn first introduced her plan to form a little community of people all working through the same devotional book I was intrigued, but honestly thought "I do not need another thing to do."  It kept coming back to me, though, and after praying about it I decided to join in.  What I was already doing was very similar, so it wouldn't be too big of an adjustment.  I thought it would be nice to have the directed prompts every day and the feedback from the other people who where doing it.

**Read the rest of the post over at Dawn's blog.

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1. March 20th is the first day of spring...is she a lion or a lamb in your part of the world? 
~ Okay, I admit I'm doing this on Tuesday evening, but it's cold, windy and every now and then there are some snow flurries out there, but from the sound of things....Wednesday will see Spring come roaring in like a lion.  Wake up temperature in the 20's with a windchill in the teens and snow later in the day.  (Somebody shoot the groundhog!)

2. What's the most dreaded task on your spring clean to-do list?  Do you have a 'plan of attack'?
~ It's probably my bedroom.  It's the one room in the house we've never done anything to in the 19 years we've lived here.  Yes, you read that right....19 years!  At this point it's looking every one of those years.  I don't really have a plan other than I'd love to gut it and start over from scratch.

3. Peas...love 'em or hate 'em?  What's a favorite dish you make using peas?
~ I don't hate them, but can't say I'm all that excited about them, either.  I will eat them, but not enough to have an actual favorite pea recipe.

4.  Do you feel under appreciated?
~ Big time, especially by my kids, but I'm learning that's my issue, not theirs.  I can't do anything about their attitudes and behavior, but I can control my reaction.

5. Have you been using Google Reader?  If so, what are you switching to now that GR has announced retirement?  If not, how do you read your favorite blogs? 
~ Is it terrible to admit as someone who has been blogging since 2001 that I really don't know if I use Google Reader or not because I don't really know what Google Reader does?  I have blogs in my sidebar and I've bookmarked blogs.  If I want to read a blog I actually go visit it.  Switching?  I don't know.  Do I have to have a reader?  I am hopeless at the technical stuff.

6. Anne Bradstreet is credited with the following quote~

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant;  if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome." 

Agree or Disagree?  Why?
~ Agree!  Just look at the kids (and adults) in the world who have had everything handed to them.  They don't appreciate what they have and just sort of expect things.  If we didn't get sick, we wouldn't know how great health is.  We need both sides of the coin.

7.  When did you last 'spring for something'?  What was it?
~ Spring for??  When dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

8.  Insert your own random thought here?
~ The boys in Ohio....the ones who raped a girl at a party, video taped it, and posted it to YouTube....how do you feel about their sentence?  Do you think the penalty for what they did was severe enough?  Do you think it was too severe?  At 16 and 17 they were sentenced as juveniles.  Do you agree with that?  At those ages do you think they've reached the age of accountability?  If they don't have compassion at that age, will they "grow into it"?

I admit I struggle with my feelings on this one.  As a Christian I believe in forgiveness, but I also believe that doesn't mean we escape the consequences of our actions.  And these boys....at 16 and 17....I feel they know right from wrong.  I'm just not sure I agree with sentencing them as juveniles.  I love football, but I have "issues" with the system that brings these boys up from a very young age (if they have talent and ability) to think they are "golden" and "untouchable" that someone will fix it, whatever it is.  Disagree?  Just look around the NFL at all the things players do and mostly get away with.  It's only been recently that the league is beginning to crack down.

Anyway.....just curious how others are viewing it.

Breathe Truth

I'm joining up again today with Dawn and the others participating in the Writing to God: 40 Days of Praying with My Pen.  It's not a blog hop in the traditional sense.  It's more of a....community, I guess.  We are all reading the devotions and writing our prayers according to each day's prompt on our own, but each Wednesday throughout the exercise we meet up on Dawn's blog to connect and share how God has been using the exercise to speak to us.

What I noticed this past week is that over and over the same "theme" kept coming up and not just in the devotions and prayer, but also in the women's group lesson and in the message at church Saturday evening.  I don't believe in coincidence, but I do believe in Godincidences....things that there's just no way they happened randomly, but were orchestrated by God to make something happen, teach something, or provide something.

The "theme" I kept seeing repeated was breathe.  God has poured out the knowledge that I am to be filled to overflowing with the absolute Truth.

Last Friday I wrote:

Fill me, Spirit! Fill my heart. Fill my soul.  Fill every cell that is me.  Fill me that I might BE prayer.  That every thought, every action would be a prayer - of praise, of worship, of thanksgiving, of submission, of supplication, and of intervention.

And Monday, after a weekend filled with Godincidences, these are the words that flowed from my heart:

Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out...I need to take deep, deep, restful, filling breaths of you, of Truth.  

Yes, breathe in Truth, breathe out Truth on each breath even as I breathe in more.  Fill me, consume me, make my very life Truth.

Dawn has asked me to guest host the community on an upcoming Wednesday of my choosing.  I think I'm going to tell her I'll be glad to do it next week.  I hope you'll come over to her blog and visit me there.

Now, on to the Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce.

1. Do you play games of luck/chance for money? Have you ever played bingo for money? Visited a casino?  Placed a bet on a horse? Bought a lottery ticket?
~ Yes, to all of the above, but not with any regularity or any huge amounts of money.  When we go to Chincoteague the firemen have a bingo game running nightly at the carnival.  Cost to play?  25 cents per card.  Even when the jackpot is $300 million, we don't buy more than $5 worth of tickets and sometimes we don't buy any.  We never make a special trip to go to a casino, but if there is one when we go somewhere we will stop in.  We usually allow ourselves $20 seed money and that's it.  We'll play with anything we win, but we never kick in more.

2.  Will you be preparing and/or dining on the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal this St. Patrick's Day? Mashed-baked-hash browned-french fried...your favorite way to have potatoes? 
~ I haven't even thought about it.  I usually make corned beef and cabbage.  I am Irish, after all, but I'm not sure I've recovered from making it as a covered dish for church last year....and having an entire crockpot of the stuff spill in my trunk.  What a mess!  My favorite way to eat a potato?  Baked.

3. What's the last thing you felt 'green with envy' over? 
~ People who have great relationships with their grown children.

4.  What's at the end of your rainbow?
~ I would be happy with either a Ford Mustang (in Grab Me Blue, thank you) or a larger house or at least an addition to this one....not so I can have more stuff, but so more people can be here.  It's pretty snug for a party or hosting Tim's humongous family for anything.

5. March 12th marks the anniversary of the death of Anne Frank (June 12, 1929-March, 1945).  Anne's diary detailing her time spent hiding from the Nazi's during the war ranks as one of the best selling books of all time.  Besides your blog, do you keep any sort of diary or journal?  Was this a habit you developed as a child or is journaling something new for you?
~ Journaling is a life-long habit for me.  I bought my first little blue diary with a key when I was 7.  I've kept journals ever since.  I keep a personal journal and a prayer journal.  The post above today's Hodgepodge is about a 40-Day written prayer journey I am on with some other bloggers.

6. What's an item in your home or closet that contains every color of the rainbow?
~ All I can think of is a beach towel.

7.  Write a limerick with you as the subject.  You can do it!!  Just remember this is a family friendly blog...don't make me get out my wooden spoon. 
~ There once was a lady named Stacy,
   Who was told not to write racy.
    It was hard as could be,
    I give up, said she
   And went to put on something lacy.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
~ Did you hear the news story about the golfer in Illinois?  Can you imagine....you're just standing there playing a round of golf and....whooooomp!  You're 20 feet underground!  That had to be absolutely terrifying.  I can't even imagine.  

They say you have better odds of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery.  I wonder what the odds were of standing on THAT particular spot at THAT particular time?