Just Peachy!

You know, I can never get it right when it comes to the Hodgepodge - I'm actually just laughing at myself right now... because either I forget, remembering only at 10:00 am on Wednesday, at which point I know if I post I won't get any visitors - or I eagerly anticipate it, forgetting that Joyce is taking the week off (and rightfully so!  She works so hard for us each week!)  but I forget, and so check her blog several times before remembering!  Or today - where I checked the questions this morning... and only just now, at 11:40 pm remembered to do my blog!  Good grief... some day, perhaps, all the dates and times and such will align and there will be Hodgepodge blogging synchronicity... or not... ;-)

At any rate...  on to the Hodgepodge!  :-)

1. How often do you check the weather? How do you check the weather?

I've got to admit, I don't often check the weather - my hubby, who flies for the Air Force, is usually VERY well informed on what the weather predictions are!  So, I can always ask him!  Or, if not, then my handy dandy iPhone will tell me... or the Satellite Radio in my car... gosh we have it easy these days... ridiculous, really.

2. Since this is volume 84 of the Wednesday Hodgepodge, and since I (Joyce, that is - not me, I was 11 in 1984) got married in 1984, and since I'm attending a wedding this weekend it only seems right to post something related here.

"Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the dispositions of the parties are ever so well known to each other or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it is better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life."

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

Agree or Disagree. Why?

Ummm... is this an ok time to realize I missed the gene that absolutely loves all things Jane Austen?  I have a distant appreciation... but honestly, I kind of either nod off or argue internally with the characters in her books, which either way is exhausting.

But I digress.

I don't believe that happiness in marriage is a matter of chance.  For Pete's sake, why on earth would you marry someone who didn't make you laugh and smile?  Of course, when you marry, you should grow together as a couple, changing ever so slightly until you become a true unit - not identical, but complimentary.  With just enough conflict to sharpen what is really important, and enough soft edges to make it all work in the end.  As to "knowing the defects beforehand" - I'll admit that if I had known that this school teacher I was marrying would decide to become a fighter pilot 6 years later, moving us across the country every couple of years, and then, 18 years later, would choose another career completely different, I may have taken the road more commonly traveled, and run the other way.  But I am so, so glad I didn't.  Not knowing what you are up against has it's advantages sometimes.

3. Do you like to dance? Have you ever taken dance lessons?

Nope, don't like to dance.  Never have.  I did take a "Contemporary Dance" class in college... I thought I would learn how to dance in clubs, and instead I learned how to "Dance as though you are the color purple".  I am not kidding.  It was bizarre.  I did an interpretative dance about a battle between angels and demons, and I was wearing lingerie at the time.  Bizarre... truly...

So no, I don't dance.

4. Fresh from the oven peach pie or home made peach ice cream? Pick one.

Home made peach ice cream, bar none.  YUM.

5. Should people accept unfairness and learn to make the best of it?

I guess this depends on your definition of "unfairness".  If you are talking about an oppressive government or regime that tortures its citizens, women, and/or children - then no, unfairness should not be tolerated.

If you are my teenager, who neglected one of his chores and so his father woke him up at 5 in the morning to complete it, and yet complained that "it's not fair" - then I say, nope... completely fair... I shouldn't have to wake up to a sink full of dishes when you were reminded 3 times to wash them yesterday!  Awake with you, boy!  :-)

6. The top five all time summer movie blockbusters (released between May and August and grossing at least 100 million dollars) are-Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars (the original), Ghostbusters, and ET. Which one's your favorite?

You just can't get any better than Raisers of the Lost Ark.  "Snakes... i hate snakes!"  Classic, fun,yep...  

7. If given the chance, would you like to visit the moon?

oh yes!  I can't even imagine standing there, surrounded by absolute nothingness - just billions of stars, looking down on our gorgeous earth... what an awe inspiring moment that would be, to be oh, so aware of how small and insignificant my life is, and yet how precious my life is to God, that He would send His son to die for me.  Wow.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

This question goes out to all of you who are parents of teenagers right now:  How do you draw the line between allowing them to be a participant in today's technology - ipods, Skype, Facebook - without exposing them to the dangers that lurk within all of those things?  And how do you maintain their privacy, and yet protect them?  Sexting, mature games, messages from strangers...  it's so scary out there, and it's EVERYWHERE.  You can say that "if you raise a child right, He won't turn from it" but still, they are kids... they don't realize the dangers... and how precious this time in their life is, and how quickly it can be destroyed...  Anyone have any advice for me?  I'm really struggling with this right now.  Sigh.