Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Have you ever been 'asked' to report for jury duty? Were you chosen to serve? If not, were you happy or disappointed?

Yes, I have had to report for jury duty several times. Only once did I get called to the jury box and was questioned. They didn't like my answers, so they let me go home. I was relieved.
 

2. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very), how mechanically inclined are you? Give an example to back up your answer.

I'm about a 3, I suppose. I become very familiar with my office equipment, particularly. Up until a couple weeks ago we had this very large digital duplicator for about 10 years. I knew by the sounds it made if it was malfunctioning. I knew what to do if the masters wouldn't spit out of the machine. On more than one occasion I had a pair of tweezers in there trying to get the bands positioned back on the rollers. Of course, my hands were always covered with ink when I was finished.

That's about the extent of my mechanical abilities, though.
 

3. Beets-cabbage-cauliflower-butternut squash....of the four, which is your favorite fall vegetable?

I can happily say that I eat all of those vegetables, but as for a favorite... I suppose I'd choose butternut squash, simply because I eat all the others year-round. I eat butternut squash a couple times in the fall. It's very good with butter and brown sugar.
 

4. What do you recommend to overcome self-pity?

Reading the Bible helps, and meditating on what Christ did for us on the cross and His great love and mercy lavished on us.

5. Do you enjoy classical music?

I will listen to it, but I have to work to enjoy it. 
 

6. October is National Book Month...what's on your reading list this month?

Okay... how did I miss that this is National Book Month? I'm hopelessly in love with books. I am currently reading His Steadfast Love by Golden Keyes Parsons and The Essentials of Prayer by E.M. Bounds. I'm expecting several other books in the mail for me to review in a few weeks, like The Doctor's Lady by Jody Hedlund, House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson, and Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin. I can't wait!
 

7. What is your idea of 'cute'?

 My little Dixie girl, my Sheltie

 8. Insert your own random thought here. 
 My favorite season is summer, but I do enjoy the fall colors. We've been enjoying temperatures in the 70's and 80's through the last week, so I've got to enjoy a little mix of summer and fall. I like it!

If you're interested in seeing how other bloggers answered these questions, pay From This Side of the Pond a visit.

Musings Monday: Non-Fiction

The Musings Monday question for today is...What types of nonfiction do you read? Can do multiple choices.

 CHOICES:

 - e-books

- Mythology/Folklore
- Travel/Locations
- Humor
- History
- Art, including art history
- Science including forensics
- Gardening/Nature
- Political
- Financial/Economical
- Religious
- Self-help
- How-to books
- Books on writing
- Audio books
- Biography
- Autobiography
- Sports
- Architecture
- Fitness/Exercise/Nutrition/Beauty
- Other
- None of the Above

I read Religious and Biography.  Specifically, I read books on Bible doctrine and Christian living. I try to be in a biblical book all the time in addition to my fiction selections. I've never really been a fan of biographies, but after being required last spring to read Shadow of the Almighty (about the life of missionary Jim Elliot),  I realized how beneficial Christian biographies are. 

What kind of non-fiction do you read?

A Very Random Random Dozen

                                      

It's Wednesday and another session with Linda and her Random Dozen.  Does anyone see the irony in the fact that I have to display this picture of donuts on my blog every time I do this meme?  Oh, Lid, if you only knew...

 

1. Ever had any run-ins with the "library police?"

I never had a librarian come after me, but I did have one get a little stern with me once.  Many years ago my record showed that I had 2 books that had been overdue for something like a year.  What didn't make sense was that they were books from the children's department.  Something about science experiments, if I remember correctly.  Well, I don't have children, so I'd have no need for checking out children's books.  The librarian tried to pin it on me, and I continued to insist I don't check out kids' books.  She finally gave up and marked it as lost in the system.

2. Do you have a special organizational plan and place for wrapping paper, gift bags, etc., or do you just purchase whatever you need as you give gifts?

Gift wrap organization?  What's that?  I basically put tubes of wrapping paper in a corner in the spare bedroom and keep a small tote with tissue paper and odds and ends.  I never purchase the stuff ahead of time, though.  I buy it as needed.

3. Have you ever been in (first-hand witness) a natural disaster?

No, I can't say that I have.  It's amazing that I've lived in Indiana for 37 years and have never experienced a tornado.  I've been nearby when some have come through and have seen high winds and green-colored sky, but I've never actually been in the middle of one.

4. What's your favorite Barry Manilow song?

"Weekend In New England" YouTube video

Barry who????  Okay, I am sooo kidding.  I do know who Barry Manilow is, but that's only because a long time ago my mom had all his records, which were played a lot at my house in the 70's.  I was a kid. 

I didn't actually know the title of my favorite song, but I knew what it sounded like.  So I just went looking for it on YouTube and discovered it is called Weekend in New England.  Oh, my heart, I love that song.  I think it's the melody and the words combined in such a way that just tugs at my heart.  If you need to see Barry perform this, here's the video for your own enjoyment.  You know, I only provide quality entertainment here at the blog...

5. What's the best costume you've ever worn?

I'm going to take a lot of liberty with my answer.  When I turned 7 my parents threw a surprise party for me and invited all my little schoolmate girlfriends.  Although it wasn't a costume, per se, Mom had made me a skirt and bonnet out of a red calico that matched, and she made each of the girls matching bonnets to wear at the party, too.  It was a Holly Hobby theme because I was really into her at the time.

6. Which do you use more often, the dictionary or the thesaurus?

I use the dictionary more.  Usually I'm looking to see if a word means what I think it means.  You know how you use a word for years, and then you go to use it in your blog and aren't even sure if you've been using it correctly?  (Like for question #5 I had to look up "per se")

7. What's your favorite breakfast food?

I love granola.

8. Have you ever purchased anything from an infomercial?

I remember when I got my first credit card after entering college I saw this hair flip tool that would turn your ponytail inside out.  I ordered it and used it about 5 times.  I could never get my hair to look quite right. 

9. Have you ever crawled through a window?

It's funny that Lid would ask this question because of my blog post of yesterday about my husband getting locked out of the house.  I don't think I've ever had to crawl through a window. 

10. Do you believe in love at first sight?

No, I don't.  Infatuation, yes.  Love, no.

11. How man pairs of jeans do you own?

I own 5 pairs of jeans that I wear.  I have a couple others in my drawer that I've been holding onto for skinny Liz, but I haven't seen her in a long time.  Sure wish she'd come back and wear her jeans already.

12. If someone were going to bake a cake to honor/represent you, what would it be? (Think creatively, like Duff and Crew on "Ace of Cakes.")

I think it would probably be a piano.  That's what I think I'm most known for in church ministry because it's what I've been doing the longest.  I think it would be cool if it had a bar of music floating out and into the air.  Someone recently gave me a gift for playing at their daughter's wedding.  It's a grand piano encased in a crystal cube, and the music is floating out the top of the piano.  It's beautiful.  This is a picture of it.

                                 

For more Random Dozen or to link up with your own, hop on over to Linda's 2nd Cup of Coffee.

  

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Just Fluff Today

Not sure I have anything pertinent or witty to say today, so I'm just having fun with this little meme.  The idea is to answer the questions with one word.

1. Where is your cell phone? Pocket
2. your hair? Unruly
3. your father? Pastor
4. your mother? Helper
5. your favorite thing? Dixie
6. your dream last night? IM'ing
7. your favorite drink? Starbucks
8. your dream/goal? Sanctification
9. the room you are in? Office
10. your fear? Fire
11. where do you want to be in 6 years? Heaven
12. muffins? Banana
13. one of your wish list items? Car
14. where you grew up? Indiana
15. the last thing you did? Typed
16. what are you wearing? Silver
17. your tv? HGTV
18. your computer? Obsession!
19. your life? Hard
20. your mood? Changing
21. missing someone? Yes
22. your car? Clunky
23. favorite store? Kohl's
24. your summer? Anticipated
25. your favorite color? Blue
26. when is the last time you laughed? Unsure
27. last time you cried? Devotions
28. someone who emails me? Judy
29. a favorite food? Chinese
30. place I would rather be right now? Disney

Looking for more randomness and "just for fun" posts?  Visit Andrea's blog every Friday.

 

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Discovering Liz: A Year In Review - 2008

Well, this little idea came from ohamanda.com today, and I thought it looked fun.  Do a little recap of your blog over the last year by posting the first sentence of the first blog of each month.  I found mine to be fairly interesting, and it jogged a lot of memories for me.  Seems I had forgotten a few things.

Here we go...

January:  Musings of a Housewife is asking bloggers about the things they love right now.

February:  It's been a crazy week here with my bloggy giveaway.

March:  We had dinner with our friends Mark and Kelli tonight.

April:  Ten Things You'd Fix in Your Home (if you had the time and money)

May:  I feel like my car is on its last legs...or should that be tires?

June:  I've been wanting to tell you about something, but since I'm not very good at following through on exercise commitments, I decided not to tell anybody about it until I had a few days under my belt.

July:  Something just hit me like a ton of bricks a minute ago.

August:  Thank goodness for Ronnica, who is trying to give me some hints on blog topics.

September:  I've got bangs!!!!

October:  Has anyone ever died from being too tired?

November:  Now back by popular demand, I give you A Day at the Office: Edition #2.

December:  Hoo, buddy! Did I have a special surprise this morning.

Tagged: "Got the Picture"

I've been tagged again, which hasn't happened in quite some time.  My bloggy friend, Ronnica over at Tale of a Kansas Girl, wanted me to post with this photo meme.  So here's the deal:

• Go to your sixth picture folder, then pick your sixth picture.
• Pray that you remember the details.
• Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

This is the picture I found in the specified folder.  It's my dog Dixie, who is the doggy love of my life.  There's really no story behind the photo.  I just enjoy snapping shots of my dog, and this one is particularly sweet.  She's sort of tossing her head back, so she appears a tad glamorous.  Don't you think?

I don't feel like tagging anyone today.  If you want to post this one yourself, then go for it...and leave a link to your post in my comments so I can check it out.

Blogging and Its Effects

Are you a blogger?  Have you thought about the positive and/or negative effects that it's had on your life?  I guess I've never just sat down and thought about it.

This little meme has been floating around the community this week, and I thought I would sit down and put into words how blogging has affected me.

Here are the rules:
1. Write about 5 specific ways blogging has affected you, either positively or negatively.
2. link back to the person who tagged you
3. link back to this parent post
4. tag a few friends or five, or none at all
5. post these rules— or just have fun breaking them

1. Postitive:  My blog has provided an outlet that I had been in search of for years.  I have enjoyed creating freebie web sites in the past, learning html, and have wanted to have my own site to be able to communicate anything and everything I want to say about whatever my favorite thing of the day is.  Finally, I found the blog to be exactly what I was looking for.
2. Positive:  I've found sisters in Christ in the blog community, people like Ronnica (Tale of a Kansas Girl), Amanda (OhAmanda), Lisa (Simply His), Amy Beth(Ministry So Fabulous) and Melanie (Big Mama), just to name a few.  The things they write about make me think, encourage me, and definitely entertain.  Some make me laugh out loud!  I do enjoy knowing that when I log on to the internet first thing in the morning, I'm going to have something interesting to read.
3. Positive:  Blogging helps me work on my writing.  I used to write so much more when I was in high school and college.  I kept journals, as well as worked at creative writing for my English classes.  Once I left the classroom environment, writing took a backseat to... well... life.  Now I have opportunity to turn things around and write about life, and sometimes that helps bring perspective when things seem a little cloudy.
4. Negative:  I'm a little too concerned with my popularity now that I blog.  I compare the number of comments I get to my blog friends' numbers, and I feel like I'm on the bottom of the pile.  Then my thoughts go to wondering whether there's any point to this whole blogging thing or not.  My site meter really bums me out most of the time.   I want to make people laugh, and I also want to influence them for God.  I feel like I'm not succeeding when I look at the numbers.  This is a negative effect because I obviously lose my focus on what's really important in life.
5. Negative:  Last but not least, my thoughts through the day tend to drift to blogs frequently - writing my own and reading my favorites.  Maybe more than they should.  Of course, if you've noticed how sporadic my posting is, you can tell how much of that thinking actually comes to fruition by way of writing.  (Not much)  This is also a negative in that I'm easily distracted from things I should be doing... like making dinner or doing housework.

So there you have it, the positive and negative effects that blogging has on my life.  Since I found this topic at Tale of a Kansas Girl, you can go over now and read what Ronnica's thoughts are on this.  I won't be tagging anyone, but feel free to use this meme if you like.

Time For a Meme

This is a really good day for a meme, dontcha think?  I'll answer that for you.  Yes, it is.  I woke up dizzy in the night from straining my neck when I mowed the lawn yesterday.  I popped half a Dramamine and have paid the consequences for that ever since.  Talk about d-r-o-w-s-y.  So, off with the meme...

What is the worst meal you ever had? 

I can't remember a meal, but I do remember the day I tried brussel sprouts for the first time.  I was at Old Country Buffet and figured since they had them, I'd try them.  I popped one in my mouth, and...OH.MY.WORD.....thought I'd choke on it.  There was no swallowing.  It totally went into a napkin.

Name one place you could vacation every year? 

C'mon!  Where else would I go?  Disney World all the way, baby!

5 things that drive you crazy?

1.  Misspelled words

2.  When Rich goes to bed and then our cat Teddy decides to go into wild mode.  Do you know he shoved my bunch of bananas off the counter the other night?  (hey, there go my Google banana rankings again)

3.  Kids who ride their bikes or walk down the middle of the street without looking for traffic.

4.  Having wet hair that soaks into my shirt.  (Bleck!!)

5.  Restraining myself from buying a donut when I go to the grocery store.

Name 3 people from your past that make you stop and think, “Hey, I wonder what ever happened to…”

1.  Nancy

2.  Sean

3.  Edward (my kindergarten boyfriend)

Kids' TV show you might actually enjoy more than your kids do? 

I don't have kids, so I really can't answer that.

Worst movie you’ve ever seen? 

Madagascar.  We watched the whole thing, and when it was over I said, "Why did we waste our time watching that?" 

Most under-rated TV show you watch regularly? 

I guess I don't watch much primetime regularly.  I sometimes watch Bones, but I don't know how underrated that is.

Most popular TV show you never watch? 

Lost.  I tried watching the first episode, and I couldn't follow it.  So I gave up trying.  It's now dawning on me WHY the show is called "Lost".

Celebrity whose looks you’d like to have? 

I don't know.  I guess I don't get into the glam.

Celeb you can’t stand? 

I think I have a LIST, but I guess Rosie O'Donnell would be at the top.

What did you do today? 

Slept in because I took Dramamine for dizziness in the middle of the night.  Went into work late.  Ran a couple laps.  Ate lunch and went back to bed.  Watched Brady Bunch.  Had grilled steaks for dinner.  And now I'm blogging. 

Who are you tagging? 

Nobody.  Grab this one, if you'd like.

Friday Fill-In

This is another new blog I found that provides a Friday meme.  Thought I might try it out and see how I like it.  And of course, I've got my whole NaBloPoMo obligation to fill, so I should put these kind of posts to good use.  Right?  The idea is that I'm supposed to fill in the blank, so the parts in bold are my answers.

1. I love springtime in April!  Now if we could just get the snow to stay away for good until next winter.... 
2. Banana Pecan Stuffed Pancakes and Strawberry Banana Crepes from Bob Evans or a Pineapple & Ham Omelette are foods I love to eat for breakfast.
3. It seems I'm always searching for a snack that fits within the limits of my First Place diet.
4. A bowl of ice cream is a great way to end the day.
5. I think I want to take a vacation to Disney World really bad...like next week, if I could!
6. Coldstone Creamery and Chinese food is what I've been craving lately.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to blogging a little, tomorrow my plans include shopping for shoes and Sunday, I want to go to church then take a nap as usual!

Can you tell that I've been feeling a little hungry this week?  I think I better lock myself in the house until the food cravings pass.  Aiy-Aiy-Aiy!

Things I Love Right Now

Musings of a Housewife is asking bloggers about the things they love right now. So here's my list in random order:

1. Watching my dog Dixie romp through the snow in the morning (It's up to her neck!)



2. Being able to stick to my First Place live-it plan and shed some pounds



3. Starting a new year of reading through the Bible



4. Being able to do in the spiritual what is impossible in the natural



5. Blogging



6. Being with my best friend



7. Reading fiction



8. Fresh baked bread made in my new bread maker

I'm sure there are other things I'll think of once I hit "publish," but this is what is first on my mind at this moment.

Know & Tell Friday

To Know Him hosts a "Know & Tell Friday" every week, and since I'm addicted to I enjoy blogging I'm going to answer these questions for yet another blog post in one day.

Question 1: What is the name of your very first friend?

Becca - We grew up together practically from birth. We have home movies of my 3rd birthday when she tried to steal my new baby-doll stroller. Aren't best friends great?

Question 2: Do you believe in love at first sight?

No, not really. I don't think it's true love if you don't really know a person.

Question 3: Clean Freak or Total Slob?

I don't think I could be considered either. I like to be neat and hate clutter, but it doesn't bother me if there are dishes in my sink, the floor hasn't been vacuumed in a month, or the toilet needs to be cleaned. I'm more of an "everything must be in its place" kind of a person.

Question 4: Last book you read?

I just finished reading Forever Christmas. It's a bit of a "fluffy" read, but it's been fun to read during the holiday, being off work and all. I'm in the middle of another book Boo Who by Rene Gutteridge, which is hysterical if you're looking for something funny to read. Quirky characters in a small town. The main character reminds me very much of Kristin Chenoweth, the actress/singer. If they made a movie of these books, she would fit the character perfectly.

Bonus Question: Give me one word that would sum up your goals for 2008?

Growth - Spiritual growth, that is. I hope I can become more loving, patient, long suffering, merciful and glorifying to God in 2008, and that will only come as I read the Bible, pray and apply Truth to my daily living.

What Are You Into This Month?

I don't often find memes that I can answer all the questions on, but someone posted this one today and I thought I could do it. So here is What I'm Into This Month...

The Thing I've Been Working On The Most: Probably trying to lose weight by sticking to my "First Place" live-it plan.

TV Show Worth Watching: I don't know if there's any TV show worth watching. I did enjoy Kid Nation when it was running, though.

The Christmas Present I'm Loving: My sister gave me a blue sweater, and I love it.

My Favorite Blog Entry From This Month: I really enjoyed Big Mama's entry about putting up the Christmas lights on her house. Cracked me up!

Blog I Am Always Visiting: OhAmanda! is my FAVORITE.

Movie I’ve Seen (In or Out of a theater): "Christmas With the Kranks" I didn't see it until this Christmas, and I thought it was hysterical.

What I'm Most Looking Forward To Next Month: Call me crazy, but I'm looking forward to starting a new calendar. I'm also excited and maybe a little sentimental that my niece *M* is turning 10 YEARS OLD! Where did the time go? (Sniff. Sniff.)

If you want to participate in this little meme on your blog, visit Adventures in Babywearing and leave your Mr. Linky.