Ch-Ch-Changes…

Welcome

SPRING!!!

Random Dozen… PLINK!

So, are you ready to play Plinko?

Definition of plink: “Plinking refers to informal target shooting done at non-traditional targets such as tin cans, glass bottles, and balloons filled with water.” Plinko is also a carnival game we play at Oneighty, but pot-luck shots fits this meme better, I think.

So here are your random plinko questions lined up in a row just like tin cans:  (My answers in bold)

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?
I have no-eye-deer! But I do know that I am not good at throwing things out (and also I rarely wear my dress shoes), so I suspect there are some that are at least 10 years old!

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety?
I make a point of buying from every Girl Scout who asks me. This year, that was only 2 girls, but I think we bought about 11 boxes. They freeze well, although my husband took 4 or 5 boxes to work and the rest are …somewhere… oh, and the guys opened and ate the first package on Sunday.

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?
It’s been a while since I’ve danced, but yes, SuperDad and I can ballroom dance. It’s fun!

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager?
Oh, yes!!

5. How many of this year’s Oscar-nominated movies did you see?
If you tell me what was nominated, I’ll tell you what I’ve seen…
Um, yeah, the answer is probably NONE. But I do want to see Crazy Heart before it leaves the theaters!

6. If you’re going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself?
I have to look away if it’s my own blood being drawn. I can watch the kids, though, and pretend it is not so bad.

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why?
I love Sunday! I get to worship with members of the family of God.   It’s also my day to take a nap and a walk and just relax.

8. Do you miss anyone right now?
My friend ~D~ is in the hospital and I miss her.

9. Do hospitals make you queasy?
I don’t mind at all the visiting of other people in the hospital. My husband works in a hospital. Being in the hospital for the purpose of having a baby was not a bad thing. But the last time I was in the hospital was a bad experience. Queasy? No. Ever being admitted again? I’m very leery of it.

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you.
You’re right, I wouldn’t do such a thing. I can’t even imagine it! But I suppose if I had to purchase all new furniture for some awful reason and I had the money to do  it, I would enjoy a nice furniture store.

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items?
I much prefer Diet Coke over Diet Pepsi. Name-brand ice creams tend to taste better to me than store brands. But other than that, I am getting over the idea of needing to purchase such-and-such brand of canned peaches or green beans or ketchup.

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels?
Perhaps equally both?

OK … ready, aim, PLINK and LINK!

You can find Mr. Linky here.

Friday memes

Friday 5

1. I’ve been blessed to be a part of a wonderful group of women who are rallying around a friend in need.
2. The internet is full of incredible resources for organizing help for people!
3. I’m hosting breakfast for about 18 people tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.
4.  My house is a mess!
5. Only one family member has been down with the 24 hour flu bug… so far…

Weekending

A meme I think I’ve stolen/borrowed from Janet

Today I… need to run a few errands, care for someone else’s kitties, and clean like crazy!  Somewhere in there I think I am making some bran muffins.

Tomorrow I… am hosting a breakfast (I already told you that) and Bible study (but luckily someone else gets to lead)! Then a group of us are going to clean someone else’s house.

And on Sunday… the group I sing with is leading worship at both services.  When I get home, I think I will take a nap!

What are your plans?

Helping

When I was a kid, Marlo Thomas and friends created a project called Free To Be You & Me

I cannot tell you how many times I listened to that wonderful album, but today I still have those songs run through my head at random times.  Some tracks are silly and some are poignant, but the song that is running through my head today is “Helping” which was sung by Tom Smothers.

Lately there has been a lot of discussion about hate and flaming on the internet. Yesterday it was the hot topic over at The Women’s Colony.  Melanie wrote Ten Tips For Making Friends and Influencing People which really resonated with me, especially as I wrestle with who I am and how I come across to others …particularly when I want to talk about faith.

“Some kind of help is the kind of help that helping’s all about
And some kind of help is the kind of help we all can do without!”

from the song “Helping”

Please discuss.

Reflection

I wanted to post this yesterday (Sunday) but the kids were in need of the computer for (gasp!) homework.

So here is my “Sunday musing” on a Monday morning…

Still waters run deep, or so the saying goes.

One of the challenges I face in life and with blogging is “keeping it real.”  I want to share who I am along with my joys and challenges, but sometimes I have trouble articulating it all. When it comes to sharing the faith-piece of me, I’ve got a Paul Problem; that is to say, no big conversion story in my life, just a quiet journey.

Today I am thinking about two things. One is from the passage in the New Testament gospel of Matthew, where Jesus is being questioned (with intent to trick) by the religious leaders who ask him,

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22:36-40, New International Version [translation])

The other thing I am thinking about today is a quote from Martha Grace Reese:

“The heart of faith-sharing is one person giving another a vision of what it’s like to be in love with God.”

Your thoughts and reflections? Please comment.

Jaw-dropper

In my effort to catch up on reading blogs (and some of you post WaaaaAAAaaay too often for me to ever catch up!) I ran across the link to this video over at NieNie’s (see my sidebar for the badge).  At first I thought I was watching a clip from the Lawrence Welk show…

Now my jaw hurts from hanging open in astonishment for nearly the entire video clip.

Friday 5 on March 5

There is an official Friday 5 (or is it Fave 5 on Friday?) meme out there somewhere, but I just do my own thing here.

I am thinking about 5 great things today:

5. It’s FRIDAY!!!  Let’s have a celebration:

Yes, it was from 1984 — the year I graduated from high school.  These guys sound just as good now as they did then AND I was lucky enough to see them in concert 2 years ago:

I’ve been a RUSH fan for 30 years! But let’s not dwell too much on a number like that, okay?

4. I’ve gone to bed before midnight every night this week.  Most nights I’ve been in bed by 9:30pm!  I’m a night owl by nature, but I get up early with my husband each work morning, so it is healthiest if I can get to sleep sooner than later.  I hope I’m not bringing on a case of insomnia tonight by talking about this run of wonderful sleep!

DOUBLE BLESSINGS:
Before going to bed on Wednesday night, I prepared a breakfast bake (you know, the kind with bread, eggs, cheese, chiles, and milk) AND put together the Basil Chicken in the crockpot. Both dishes went into the fridge, then I cleaned the kitchen and started the dishwasher before going to bed. When I woke up at 5:45am, I smelled something…  cooking?!? … and panicked.  Had I actually started cooking something instead of putting it in the fridge?!? (I had been really tired and yawned through the whole process the night before.)  Nope! 😛  My husband told me that the 17-year-old had been up cooking from midnight to 2am, making a dish for Spanish Class.  Apparently the boy had known about it for a week and waited for the last minute to take care of the requirements.  (SuperDad heard EB washing up & brushing his teeth at 2am. I slept through it all.)  So, that’s the back-story. The great things are:

3. EB figured it all out on his own and dealt with the problem WITHOUT calling on me for help. I went to sleep without a worry in my sleepy head because I didn’t know anything about it.  I’m thrilled that he took full responsibility for his project.  (And did I mention? I slept through it! 😀 )

2. I came downstairs to what had been a clean kitchen the night before and it WASN’T a huge mess. EB had left a note for me asking for me to please put the cooled Majao in a plastic container that he could take to school because it had been too hot at 2am for that step AND he APOLOGIZED for the dirty dishes left in the sink!!  WOW!! 😀

1. And the #1 reason to celebrate:  SuperDad and I were married 22 years ago today (although it was a Saturday, not a Friday)

What is good about your Friday?

Random Dozen #10 for me

As always, the Random Dozen is brought to us by “Lidna” at 2nd Cup of Coffee (head on over there to link up via Mr. Linky and see others’ answers).  Most people post on Wednesday, but I guess I’m a rebel. I post when I get around to it!

Linda writes: I’m feelin’ a little Irish this week, so a couple of this week’s questions are Irish flavored. No, not Bailey’s.

*Note that all questions involving Irish stereotypes are meant as light-hearted, fun questions, not meant to be offensive in any way.*

Here are your dozen for this first week of March. You know the drill; read, ruminate, write, for tomorrow we post and link. Did that sound just a tad Irish?

1. Do you prefer even or odd numbers? Any particular reason?
Even numbers are easier for my brain

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “not at all” and 10 being Carly Simon-worthy, how vain are you?
Maybe a 2? I have to remind myself to not go to the store looking like a total slouch.

3. Among these Irish stereotypes, with which do you identify most closely? Talkative, Proud, Inquisitive, Love to party, Hot-tempered
Talkative!

4. How lucky do you consider yourself?
Really very blessed

5. What is the subject of your favorite post that you’ve written?
I’ve written over 450 posts and you want me to choose the favorite one?!? That would take more time than I have — and trust me, it’s a rare commodity here this week.

6. Describe March weather where you live in three words.
Totally unpredictable extremes

7. How apt are you at detecting blarney when you hear it? (Smooth talk, flattery)
I think I can detect it pretty well

8. How “green” are you, environmentally speaking?
I’m fairly uptight about recycling, but I’m nowhere near as environmentally conscious as I should be.

9. What is your favorite song this week?
One of my all-time faves:

But I can’t choose just one…

I really miss this band.  These 3 guys went their separate ways to do solo projects.

10. You are walking along and see a coin on the ground. What denomination does it have to be before you will stop to pick it up?
Sometimes a penny, usually a nickle or greater

11. Complete the sentence: “Every time I look outside my window ….”
I see snow.

12. What was the #1 song on the day you were born? See this site to find out.
“We Can Work It Out” by The Beatles was #1 in the USA and the UK

Very IDK

Yesterday was Tuesday — the day I normally post a Weekly Words Challenge — but the day, much like the week, slipped through my keyboarding fingers.

VERY busy fits my week.
I Don’t Know what pictures to post for either of those! My creative streak went on vacation without me. However, if you have any ideas, please let me know that you have posted some yourself.

I hope to have my Random Dozen up tomorrow.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures at icanhascheezburger.com

Of Olympic importance

Today is a special day, a day to grant honor and compassion to special people, important people — perhaps people you know personally.

Today is a day to “Spread the word to end the word.”

It’s about the son of my friend ~P~, her sweet little boy with the sunny disposition and occasional mischievous grin.

It’s about children and adults all over the world who are often shunned by people who don’t understand them.

The word “ritard” is appropriate as a musical term. It means to slow the tempo.

The word “retard” has always been cruelly used and cruelly meant. I understood that when I was an elementary school student and so did you. I was going to copy some of the phrases I found on the first page of a Google search, but they were so offensive to me that I can’t even put them on my blog.

The sign below was created by Melli for her own blog.  A very good friend of mine keeps these words posted in her classroom as well:

Find out more about this day and how to be a fan of hope, fun, and generosity by going to www.specialolympics.org/spread-the-word-to-end-the-word.