1. The Hodgepodge falls on the last day of the month this year, a leap year. How will you spend that extra day?
Nothing too extraordinary...I'll spend a portion of the extra day waiting on Mr. Tile Guy to touch up the grout in my bathroom shower. We put a new shower in last spring and he recommended a grout re-touch a few months down the road which is where we are now.
I'll do the usual laundry-dust-meal prep, return some library books and drop off/pick up dry cleaning and hopefully finish my book club book so I can pass it on to a neighbor. I'll also spend some time organizing the trillion or so travel docs I've accumulated so far for my Asia trip happening later this spring + our graduation travel happening in May + our post-graduation family vacay happening after that. Being your own travel agent is time consuming.
2. What has recently required a leap of faith on your part?
Parenting. My girls are young adults now and I need to trust that I've poured into them what's needed in order for them to make wise decisions. Not as easy as it sounds.
I think most healthy decisions are a delicate balance of reason and emotion best reached after you've talked all the particulars over with God. At this stage of the game I have to trust that message has been sent and received.
3. We're one week into the season of Lent...are you marking these forty days in some way? Giving something up or adding something extra to normal life? How's it going so far?
I didn't grow up with the tradition of giving something up for Lent although some years I have chosen to do just that. This year I borrowed an idea I'd seen on Kelly's Korner and I'm sending a handwritten letter or a card to someone via snail mail each day of the Lenten season. I'm writing family, the children we sponsor through World Vision, friends who may need some encouragement, and anyone else who is brought to mind. I am loving this exercise!
4. When was the last time you sat beside a fire?
We have a gas fireplace in our family room but rarely turn it on. In fact we didn't use it at all the first two years we lived here but last fall I had it inspected and we've run it a time or two. Not often because it wreaks havoc with the already too high gas bill, but once in a while on super cold days we'll flip it on. Haven't had many of those this winter either. We had an outdoor firepit built last Spring and have really enjoyed that. Here's some of my family chillaxing over the Christmas break-
I think December was the last time we sat out there but I look forward to more of that once winter wraps up.
5. Surf and turf is on the menu. Do you order as is or do you ask for just the surf (lobster), just the turf (steak) or a menu so you can select another option?
Surf and turf.
Bring it.
Is it kind of obnoxious for a 51 year old woman to say bring it?
No need to respond....I think I already know the answer.
Just to reiterate-I am way younger in my head.
6. If you could have any television show back, not in reruns but in new episodes, what program would you choose?
I asked my hubs this question and we had the same answer. The first thing that popped into my head was The Andy Griffith Show. So sweet and funny, plus the whole family could watch without anyone needing to squirm or suddenly remember they needed to check on something in the other room.
It seems like most of the comedy shows that today bill themselves as 'for the family' will eventually decide to explore super serious, often controversial issues. They start off as family fare but once they gravitate towards these topics they become too overtly p.c. and inappropriate.
You could watch Andy with your grandma or your teenager or your 7-year old and everyone felt warm and fuzzy when the credits rolled.
7. They say an elephant never forgets. These days would you say your memory is more like an elephant or a gnat?
A gnat.
A gnat that has been stomped on by a big fat giant elephant.
The dulling of my memory is my second least favorite thing about mid-life.
My suddenly non-existent metabolism gets the blue ribbon in case you're wondering.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
This is the last day of the February photo challenge and, as has become my custom with this venture, I'm breaking the rules. Today's prompt is 'something you're listening to' but I prefer Monday's prompt which was-'something you ate'.
Of course I do.
I had to bring snack to Bible Study this week so I made a recipe I'd seen on Pinterest-Coconut Banana Bread with Lime Glaze.
Positively scrumptious!
You'll find the recipe here.
You're welcome.