Mardi Gras Hodgepodge Wednesday

1. The season of Lent begins on March 9th this year...do you participate and if so, in what way?

I did not grow up in a denomination that preached the practice of giving something up for Lent... but I understand and respect the meanings behind it.  I do like to focus my heart and mind on the Easter season.  You know, give up something that is near and dear to us in order to give a sense of peace to the household and focus our souls on God.  So, this year, in the spirit of discipline - I would like my youngest son to give up Star Wars, my daughter to give up arguing, my oldest son to give up rolling his eyes, and as my husband has just deployed for the next 6 months, I will do the honorable thing and give up sex.  I'm nothing if not sacrificial.  :-)

2. Traditionally pancakes are eaten on the day known as Shrove Tuesday which is the last day before Lent (March 8th this year). So....butter and syrup? Blueberry? Chocolate chip? ewww, no thanks!! What's your pleasure when it comes to eating pancakes?

You know, I don't think I ever remember hearing that we were supposed to eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday until we lived in Pensacola, FL (aka "Lower Alabama") for several years.  Mardi Gras and the whole nine yards is a VERY big deal there... and Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Lent... etc etc etc... craziness.

But when it comes to pancakes, I like really good jam on them, or Nutella - the latter thanks to my brother-in-law, Trent, who introduced me to this delicious combination.  Yum.

3. Spring is coming. (It is coming, right?) What's your favorite springtime flower and do you suffer from seasonal allergies? Two questions I know, but they're lightweights.

I love tulips and daffodils!  I do get allergies sometimes - we move so much, it's hard to tell - but they are worth. Every. Sniffle.

4. "Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves." Author unknown. Agree or Disagree? Why?

Huh?

5. Since it's "March" and also the season of Mardi Gras....have you ever been in a parade? What's the best parade you've seen?

In high school I got to march in the Pasadena Rose Parade on New Years Day - I know, awesome!  This was a huge deal, because I had had knee surgery four months before and that was my goal - to be able to march the 5 miles without incident!  Success!

Having grown up attending the Rose Parade every year, that parade always remains a favorite in my heart.  And I don't care what you say, it is NOT the same thing watching it on tv.  I always end up talking back to the bantering anchor people.  Blech.  Give me the real deal, please.

I also have very fond memories of our small town Fourth of July parade.  I know, you are thinking "Didn't you just say you grew up in Los Angeles?"  Why yes, I did.  But the town I lived in bordered a small city called Sierra Madre that has miraculously managed to keep its small town charm, and it has the CUTEST fourth of July parade.  Seriously.  You've got to go.

6. You would jump up and down and shout for joy right now if someone told you___________?

That the entire Middle East has declared peace and, for Pete's sake, decided to JUST GET ALONG and all of our troops, including one handsome man I know, could come home for good.

7. How clean is your car on the outside? Inside? Is there junk in your trunk?

Oh yikes - it's pretty bad right now.  Weeks of snow and slush and mud and highway driving have left my white car more of a dingy grey.  And our small town doesn't have a car wash.  Well, they do - the kind that you have to pay money to stand outside in the freezing wind/snow/rain and spray your car down with soap which will freeze on impact right after it gets blown all over you, soaking you completely, which will then result in you catching pneumonia, and your car will still be the dingy greyish white color.

And while I may have small ecosystems surely flourishing in the back recesess of my minivan, I have absolutely no junk in my trunk.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am exhausted after an emotional week and am feeling torn about going to the Ash Wednesday service at church tonight, and my children don't want to go, and honestly I just want to curl up on the couch and veg with my kids, but really, in my heart of hearts, I know I SHOULD go to church and my children should SEE me wanting to go to church and it will surely BLESS them to go to church and begin this Lenten season with the appropriate amount of sacrifice... and I really don't know where I'm going with this except to say that I obviously have the right amount of guilt associated with this Lenten time of year, and regardless of whether we go or not, I'd better get off the computer and make the chicken/cheese quesadillas for dinner!

:-)