An Even Random Dozen

I got these questions from Linda@2nd Cup of Coffee. Here is her pretty button for this post:



1. Which is worse: a long, boring meeting or standing in a return/exchange line after Christmas?
Both sound horrid to me. At least if I was in a boring meeting, I could pretend to take notes and doodle or write a list. Standing in line would be pretty unbearable though.


2. Except for maybe Rosie O'Donnell or Ann Coulter, nobody likes confrontation, yet we all have to deal with it. When you feel cornered and defensive, do you "bite back" or become passive aggressive?
I think it depends on who cornered me and what mood I am in. Unfortunately, if it's a family member, I will likely bite back.


3. Do you know anything about your genealogical background? (What country, culture, ties to prominent historical figures, or other stuff.)
My mother is 100% Swedish, so that makes me half Swedish. (You'd never know by looking at me with my dark brown hair and dark brown eyes.) My dad is of German heritage. I don't remember my percentage on that one.) His ancestors fought in the Civil War and he has medals from them. Pretty cool. My husband's claim to fame is the fact that his 9-times great-grandfather is William Bradford. The governor of Plymouth Colony. Quite awesome.


4. What is the quickest way a person can endear him/herself to you?
By having a great sense of humor and getting my humor. By being authentic. Honest.


5. Cake, pie, cookies, or ice cream? (Note there is no "all of the above" option. You must choose one. Feel free to elaborate on flavor or memories tied to this dessert.) If you'd like, you can share a recipe, but you certainly don't have to.
Cookies. No wait, ice cream. No wait, pie. no... Choose one? Okay I'll go with cookies. I finally found/created a recipe for the perfect Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Here's a post about those yummy cookies.


6. Females: Do you regularly change your handbag to coordinate with your outfit?
Only if I am dressed up for a special occasion. I just don't like to take the time to decide which purse and which stuff to transfer.

7. Are you task-oriented or relationship-oriented?
Definitely relationship-oriented. I have been in situations with very task-oriented people and I try to talk and be more relational and it drives the task-oriented person nuts.

8. IHOP, Bob Evans or Cracker Barrel?
I like IHOP. Who doesn't like pancakes or waffles? (although my daughter-in-law was telling us the evils of carbohydrates recently...) I have never eaten at Bob Evans.

9. Have you ever left a movie in progress in a theater? Why?
Yep! The second Indiana Jones movie. (The fact I saw that in the theater shows my age doesn't it?) Temple of Doom. It was too violent. I have stopped watching a couple of rented movies too. All because of too much violence.

10. What is one area of life in which you would like to develop more discipline or organization? Attacking quilting projects. Eating and exercising. Ironing?

11. Was middle school fun or painful?
I don't remember it being strongly one way or the other. (maybe it's been too long?) I would say for my kids it was painful.

12. What is your favorite Fall beverage?
Can I say Iced Tea even though I drink it all through the year?

Just Because I Can

Gotta write a post right now. I am sitting at the airport in Kansas City and there is free Wi-Fi. So I have to post something. Just to say I did. And to appear to be a cool blogger.

I have spent a long weekend in Kansas visiting my kids. That's been a first for me (by myself). I am too wimpy to make the 8-plus hour drive all by myself, so I used the last of our frequent flyer miles to come down here. So even though I flew here, I still drove over 580 miles. 360 of those was to Columbia, MO and back.

Megan and I went to Columbia for her to meet with a friend of ours there who owns a tutoring clinic. Megan spend a couple of hours with him so he could help her know how to study for the PCAT exam she is taking in October. The PCAT is an entrance exam for Pharmacy School. She says it was a very beneficial trip. We also got to visit with some other friends while we were in town. The day was topped off with pizza at Shakespeare's (they have a really funny website, go visit it). Only the best pizza ever! With some of our best friends ever!

I think one of the funniest and funnest things Megan and I did was to get a pedicure. Just the busyness of the nail place was amusing. I wanted to take a picture or two, but didn't want to appear rude. Trust me. It was crazy. My pedicure was given by a 19 year old young man! A first for me. I think the funniest thing was the chihuahua running around with the nails on each foot painted a different color.

Well, I should post this and shut down to get ready for my flight. See you in Minnesota!

For your listening pleasure, I took this video while I was sitting on the front porch of where Megan lives. I call it "The Sound of Kansas."

Cicadas.

They sure can be loud.

In Kansas

This morning I flew to Kansas City to see my kids. I had a terrific lunch with Caleb and got to see my daughter-in-law when she had a break from classes. That was fun.

Tonight I went to a Navigators meeting with Megan. It was pretty awesome to see a room full of college kids (80 or so?) seeking and worshiping God. Megan sang on the worship team. Man I love to watch that girl sing and worship God Almighty. We sang a song that I had heard before and just love. It really can send you to your knees in worship. I will share the video with you. It's kinda long, but oh so worth it.

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

(Revelation 5:11-14)

We have studied the book of Revelation in our Small Group. While it is a hard book to understand, I find encouragement from it. Yes, we live in a sinful world and our country has really taken a sharp left turn away from God. But you know what? In the end... The Good Guy Wins. The Lord God Almighty WINS!

...been pondering the words to this hymn today. Powerful.

Labor Day Weekend

Another fun long weekend with my best friend. I never get tired of spending time with that man of mine.

Highlights:

• Picking tomatoes, basil, jalapenos, broccoli (I couldn't eat the broccoli... when I was cleaning it I found a bright green worm, so I searched carefully through it all, or so I thought. After I cooked it in the microwave and dumped it in the serving bowl I saw another worm. Cooked. Just couldn't do it. But Pete ate it. Ewww.)
  
• Seeing The Time Traveler's Wife. I was an interesting movie, but really weird. I wouldn't highly recommend it.
• Spending time with hubby cutting up lots of veggies, skinning tomatoes.
• Pete making salsa. Doesn't it look yummy?

• Bonfire with Mike & Jen. Love just relaxing by the fire and talking with good friends.
• Worshiping with our awesome church family. It did feel a little strange to have gone from 6 in our family at worship last week to just the 2 of us. Good thing I'm crazy in love with that husband of mine.
  
• Shopping in St. Cloud with that husband of mine.
  
• Being spontaneous at 8:30 at night (really a radical thing for us to do) and inviting friends over to watch Secondhand Lions. If you haven't seen it, you should rent it. It's a great movie!
• Making spaghetti sauce. Man it tastes good. I can't wait to add some spicy Italian sausage to it, cook up some pasta, and eat it along with a tossed salad and some garlic bread. Mmm.

What We Had For Supper Tonight

Yum!

God the Healer

In August I wrote about the shark attack on my niece, Julia here and here.

Julia has since moved to Mexico to teach in an American school there. (If you want to follow her blog go here.) She is really enjoying herself. Yesterday she posted some current pictures of her foot. It looks like it is healing really well. She is thankful for no infection.
She said her second graders have been begging to see the scar so she showed them earlier this week. I guess they were pretty excited.

Here's a picture of her foot after it was stitched up.

O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me. Psalm 30:2