Wherefore Art Thou?

Oh Happy Wednesday, friends!  Time for our weekly Hodgepodge - that few moments of respite in the middle of the week... if you would like to join in on the hodgepodge, jump on over to Joyce's page here - it's like a whole new group of friends you get to meet with every week - so much fun!  


1. William Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated on April 23rd...when did you last read Shakespeare? What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

Um, I think the last time I read Shakespeare was in high school... which was 20 years ago.  But I'm sure, with my eldest C starting high school next year, I'll be reading it again with him!  My favorite play was Macbeth... I don't really know why... just bizarre and dramatic and dark... kinda cool...

2. What food(s) would you recommend a foreign visitor try when they visit your home country?

That's a hard one - having lived so many different places around the US, each place has it's own unique foods that it calls its own - remember, I walked into a restaurant in Mississippi and didn't recognize a SINGLE THING on the menu! - but really, you can't get more American than a good 'ol hamburger from the grill with fresh tomato, lettuce, Tillamook cheese, and a sesame seed bun, with a fresh fruit salad on the side, potato salad too of course, and then roasted marshmallows as a dessert.  Or apple pie, if you really want to go all-out.  Yum

Now I'm hungry.

3. What's a lie you often tell yourself?

That someday I will master the ability to have everyone's clothes washed, dried, folded, and put away all at once, while the house is freshly dusted and vacuumed, all dishes washed and put away, and every ingredient ready for the week's menus.  

It will happen... right?

In the absence of attaining such lofty goals, I cling to this quote:  "Is a standard of perfection driving you further into despair and depression?  Listen carefully:  That's not God's standard or expectation; it's someone else's.  God doesn't enslave his sons or daughters; He frees them and enables them to serve.  Do not keep trying to measure up to a standard that's not His.  If need be, get some outside help, but take some serious steps to cut the shackles holding you down.  Oh, what a relief it will be!"  - from Steve Brown, "When Perfect Isn't Enough"

* this quote was actually quoted in a book I am doing with some of my dear friends called "When Perfect Isn't Good Enough" by Nancy Kennedy - it is a hilarious, yet insightful, look at the quest to be the Proverbs 31 woman.  Great for either individual study or group!  Here is a link to the book, if you are interested... you won't be sorry!

4. What's something you're good at that might surprise us? Remember this is a family friendly blog!

OK - first of all, it CRACKS ME UP that Joyce felt she had to write that it was a "family friendly blog" at the end of that question!  HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Ok, so, in the interest of being family friendly... I make really, really, really good scrambled eggs.  I know, it doesn't sound like much... but all of my kids rave about them... which is saying something!

5. Who is your favorite animal character from a book?

Black Beauty.  No contest.

6. April showers bring May flowers...do you have a green thumb?

I do, in that I can purchase already-growing pots of flowers or seedlings and keep them alive and flourishing.  I don't do so well with starting from seeds, and my vegetables are questionable.  And lets not talk about roses.  Sigh. But perhaps someday we will live somewhere for more than 2 years so I can really learn the climate and growing seasons and have a flourishing garden.

7. Speaking of rainy days...which one of the following activities would you most want to spend time doing on a rainy day-

sort photos and create albums

bake cookies

read a good book

hold an all-day movie marathon

organize closets, cupboards, or bookshelves

try a new recipe

fix something that needs fixing

Oh wow - they all sound good!  Honestly, what I end up doing depends on what kind of week I have already had - if it has been pretty mellow and most household chores are done already, then an all-day movie marathon or cleaning out a closet sounds great!  Fixing something rarely sounds like fun at the time, but the end result is a satisfaction that can not be beat!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

THANK YOU so much to everyone who prayed for my friend's son, who was missing, last week.  Praise God, they found him in Oregon on Friday night - he was physically ok, but obviously dealing with some serious addiction issues.  But at least his family knows that he is still with us.  Please continue to pray for him, as he battles the choices of drugs vs family, and for his family to have the strength needed to love him right now.