A Most Eggs-ellent Hodgepodge

It's time to join Joyce for the Hodgepodge, and that's not an April Fool's joke!


1. In honor of the date...when were you last sent on a 'fool's errand'?

A couple of weeks ago, I was told I needed to be at work on my day off for a few hours for some training. I was less about a mile from work (it's about sixteen miles from my house) when my boss called and told me that the training would also be the next day, when I was scheduled to work, and I didn't need to come after all. So I turned around and enjoyed my day off!

2. Peter Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, The Energizer Bunny, The Easter Bunny, Rabbit (Pooh's friend), White Rabbit (of Wonderland fame), or the Trix Rabbit...which of these 'famous' rabbits can you best relate to right now?

I have pretty much eliminated all of them. Right now I'm more Flopsy - no energy! LOL

3. When did you last find yourself scrambling to get something done? Explain.

Last week, regarding some paperwork that had to be sent out of state so something could be taken care of on that end before the 31st.

4. Last time you were up at the literal crack of dawn? Why? Last time you stayed up all night? Why?

Well, since the time changed, the crack of dawn has been a little later, so probably that first week! And it's been awhile since I stayed up all night, but it was awfully close the night I got home from work at 4:00 am.

5. Crack a book, crack a bottle, crack a joke, crack an egg...which have you done most recently?

I'm sure it will not surprise anyone that my answer is crack a book!

6. What's your favorite part of a typical weekend? Tell us why that's so.

If it's my weekend off, I love Sunday afternoons. Nap, relaxing, no chores. It's just peaceful.

7. What's something I'd find on a bookshelf in your home? Other than a book I mean!

A picture frame or two.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I've said a time or twenty to anyone who will listen how much I love spring. However, there is one thing I don't like about it, and it began this week. The annual Yellow Dusting of the Cars. And Driveway. Also known as oak pollen. And right behind that come the little flowery wormy things.

View blog reactions

Springing for the Hodgepodge

I'm springing over to Joyce's website to play with the Hodgepodge today!


1. Share a favorite song, book, or movie title containing the word green?

I can think of one in each category: the song "Green Green Grass of Home" from way back (a bit morbid!), the book Green Eggs and Ham, and the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.

I don't consider any of them favorites. In fact, I have hardly anything green in my wardrobe or my home. It's just not a color I'm drawn to!

2. Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying, 'Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.' Would you agree? Are you a believer in luck?

No. I think strong men believe in God.

3. Spring water, Hot Springs, handspring, spring fling, spring break, spring fever, offspring...which 'spring' word best applies to something in your day, week, or life right now?

Oh, I've definitely got spring fever and my offspring are on spring break - one this week and one next week, which means they'll BOTH be home this weekend! And that makes me want to do a handspring!

4. What's something you do to make yourself look or feel more confident?

Dress the part; fix my hair, wear an outfit that I know I look good in, etc.

5. It's National Celery Month...are you a fan? If so, what's a snack or dish you enjoy that calls for celery?

When I think of celery, I think of the holidays - appetizers that have pimiento cheese in celery and celery in the dressing!

6. What's one thing you wish you'd learned sooner?

Self-confidence.

7. Would you like to own a second home? If so where would you want that home to be?

Not really.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

One thing I'm loving about spring besides the warm weather is seeing the fruit start appearing in the grocery store. The strawberries have been wonderful!

View blog reactions

A Bloomin' Wednesday Hodgepodge

Happy April! Last Tuesday my laptop died. I'm glad to be back in business and playing along on the Wednesday Hodgepodge!

1. Since these questions are posting on the first day of April it seems only right to ask-when was the last time you did something foolish? If you can't answer that one, try this one-when was the last time someone fooled you?

I'm sure I've done something foolish but I've successfully blocked it out of my brain! LOL Same thing with being fooled. I am fairly
gullible trusting, so I generally believe what people tell me.

2. What's the last biography or non-fiction book you've read? Was it any good?

I haven't read a biography in forever. As for non-fiction, that would be Music for Your Heart by Ace Collins. I loved it! I always enjoy reading the stories behind songs.

And the one before that was Cynthia Ruchti's Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices, which was phenomenal.

(Click the titles of both of those books to read my reviews.)

3. Garlic-friend or foe? What's your favorite dish made with garlic?

I like garlic as long as it's not too overpowering. I especially love hot and buttery garlic bread!

4. Several Spring flower festivals happen in the US during the month of April. Of those listed, which would you most like to see in person...The Skagit Tulip Festival in Skagit Washington, The Dogwood Arts Festival in Knoxville Tennessee, The North Carolina Azalea Festival in Wilmington North Carolina or the Daffodil Festival Weekend on Nantucket Island, Massachussets?

Sorry, none of those even tempt me when we have bluebonnets in Texas! You can choose from the Burnet Bluebonnet Festival, the 50th Annual Chappell Hill Bluebonnet Festival, and the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails and Festival! Or you can just drive around and enjoy the view yourself with the info that people share on bluebonnetlove.com! The towns and the festivals are not as big as the ones Joyce mentioned, but the flowers are gorgeous, and this year they are particularly stunning and abundant!

Burnet Bluebonnet Festival

5. How do you choose which blogs to read? What is something that will make you stop and read every time? Something that makes you say, 'eh, think I'll skip this one and move on to the next'?

Working has really cramped my blogging - both reading and writing! There are certain blogs that I love to read - they are usually folks I've connected with in some manner, and they generally write a mix of serious, spiritual, and lighthearted posts. Blogs I generally skip are ones with lengthy posts, music that starts playing as soon as I click on them, super-cluttered blogs with all sorts of ads, and ones with an ax to grind (usually political).

6. April is National Mathematics Education Month so tell us, when did you last use math?

Balancing my checkbook. Cooking (adjusting measurements). And as a nurse, I use math a fair amount at work for drug calculations.

7. In honor of the A-Z challenge kicking off on April 1...choose one word beginning with the letter A to describe your yesterday.

Average.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Surely you want to see a couple more bluebonnet pictures, right?! This was shared on the Bluebonnet Sightings FB page last year - taken near Ennis, just south of Dallas.

And combining my favorite things. (Brenham, the home of Blue Bell, is right in the heart of bluebonnet country!)

View blog reactions

Springing into the Hodgepodge

1. Thursday marks the first day of spring...to celebrate would you rather plant a garden or go for a walk in the woods? Would either of those activities be possible on Thursday where you live?

Go for a walk. And yes, here in Texas either of those activities would be possible weather-wise. However, I'll be at work, so I'll barely see the sun.

2. When did someone last spring something on you? (or when did you last spring something on someone?)

Happens all the time at work!

3. We often think of spring as a time for new beginnings. What's something you'd like to start doing this spring?

Sleeping more. LOL

4. Where do you like to sit in a movie theatre? When did you last sit there, and what were you watching?

Just a bit closer than half-way. My girl and I were closer than that but the last movie I saw was Saving Mr. Banks. Loved it.

5. When you meet someone for the very first time, what do you want them to think about you?

Assuming this is a social context, I generally hope they would think I'm someone they would like to get to know better.

6. March is frozen food month (yes, really!). Besides ice cream (gotta make you think a little) what's your most often purchased frozen food item?

Frozen broccoli. Or if my boy is home, frozen waffles.

7. What's something you avoid?

Pain.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My girl comes home for spring break Friday! And my schedule has worked out that I'll have several days off with her. Can't wait!

View blog reactions

Is it May-bruary?

Um, could someone please turn the thermostat back up outside? It's early May and it was dropping to around 40 degrees last night with a blustery wind. It felt like it was mid-February! I really don't want it to be 104, but 80 sounds really nice, and that's what it usually is in Central Texas right now!

I saw this on FB yesterday and it made me laugh out loud. So much for February being the shortest month!

And if you need something to curl up and read, check out the latest issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine. The featured author, Jocelyn Green, commented that she felt kind of silly being in a coat and scarf on a magazine in May. . .until it snowed where she lives yesterday! She's a delightful and gifted author and you will want to learn more about her by reading the featured interview.

View blog reactions

Springing for the Hodgepodge

Happy First Day of Spring! And welcome to another Wednesday hanging out with Joyce and the Hodgepodge!

1. March 20th is the first day of spring...is she a lion or a lamb in your part of the world?

It's been pretty lamb-like, although we have had some high winds in the past couple of weeks. Monday we had a record high of 89 degrees. I'm loving the sunshine and warm temperatures! But we have some cool fronts coming and we'll still have some lows in the 40's and highs around 70 (or cooler). I never exhale and trust the cold weather is completely gone until we are on the other side of Easter.

UPDATED ON WED MORNING: Scratch that "lamb-like" answer! We got an incredible hailstorm during the night. We probably got an inch of hail and still have hailstones in our yard, on our cars, and on our driveway. Along with most of the leaves and twigs that used to be on the trees. Our driveway looks like it is carpeted in green, and much of the roof is covered. Dreading the call to the insurance agent. We just did this a few years ago.

2. What's the most dreaded task on your spring clean to-do list? Do you have a 'plan of attack'?

I'm not an organized "spring cleaning" kind of gal.

3. Peas...love 'em or hate 'em? What's a favorite dish you make using peas?

Not a fan of peas.

4. Do you feel under-appreciated?

Don't we all at times? I don't sit and dwell on it. The best lesson I learned was in college with a roommate - whenever she got on my nerves or I felt like she wasn't doing "her share" of the chores in the apartment, the best way to get rid of the resentment was for me to do something for her: make her bed, fix a meal, etc. If I focused on "me" and my feelings, I just spiraled into a pity party. If I looked outward and did something for her, my mood and the relationship immediately improved.

5. Have you been using Google Reader? If so, what are you switching to now that GR has announced retirement? If not, how do you read your favorite blogs?

Yes. I haven't decided yet.

6. Anne Bradstreet is credited with the following quote~

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome."

Agree or Disagree? Why?

Yes, we always have a better appreciation of something whenever we've been without it.

7. When did you last 'spring for something'? What was it?

Just the other day. The large Hallmark store closest to us lost its lease and is closing. Everything is on clearance and they have a section with jewelry and scarves. My girl and I went in there Monday night and I got her a couple of darling scarves and cute notepad.

8. Insert your own random thought here?

Be sure to check out the CD giveaways at the top of my sidebar!

A good friend of mine who lives in another state has turned her art hobby into a business. She was in town last weekend and I bought this darling collage; I couldn't resist one that was book-themed! She does a variety of things, both painted and mixed media, and also takes beautiful pictures. She even does custom collages similar to this one, using the customer's items and pictures to create a unique memory for them.

I also really like this one, called Paris Spring.

You can see more of her stuff on her website leahmclain.tumblr.com/ and on her Pinterest page.

View blog reactions

TSMSS - My Father's World!

facebook.com/texasbluebonnetsightings

This is a particularly beautiful spring here in Texas. We have actually had some rain. It's not nearly enough to get us out of the drought and fill up the lakes, but the grass is perking up and the bluebonnets are stellar. We've had some gorgeous days where the temperatures are a tad cool in the mornings and evenings and warming up in the afternoon. It's absolutely my favorite time of year! The beauty of nature always causes me to praise God! It always makes me think of Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. How anyone can see the earth springing forth in all its beauty after the dormancy of winter and not recognize and praise God just astounds me.

I love this hymn, and this version by 2nd Chapter of Acts from my high school days way back in the 1970's brings back sweet memories.



Join me over at Amy's for more songs for your weekend!

View blog reactions

Signs of Spring

Yards in our neighborhood are sporting the latest fad for spring.

Like wildflowers after the rain, these are popping up everywhere you look in every color and variety: roofing company signs! Thanks to our recent hail storm, this part of the city has been flooded (pun absolutely intended!) with estimators and roofers begging and harrassing us marketing their services. We probably get 2-4 solicitations a day, varying from mailings, door hangers, or door-to-door appeals.

And apparently, quite a few have already been successful in nailing down the business, if not the shingles. While driving a distance of only about 3 blocks on one nearby street, I counted 13 signs! And at the stop sign I could see 6 more, either in front of me or in either direction on the cross street.

Unfortunately, they aren't as pretty as our Texas bluebonnets.

And I know this is just the beginning. Our insurance adjustor can't even make it out to look at our roof until the end of this week.

And with all these roofing jobs about to occur over the next few weeks, I can pretty much guarantee the next thing that will happen.

A flat tire from a stray nail in the street. Fun times!

He made darkness his covering, his canopy around Him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
Psalm 18:11-13


Photo courtesy of stock.xchng

View blog reactions

Friday Fun

Ah, spring. Flowers are blooming, birds are singing, Kelly is still buried in snow, and we now have yard-to-yard carpet on our driveway.

See, my neighborhood is called Forest North for a reason. Trees, lots and lots of beautiful, shady trees. Most of them Live Oaks. Which means that for several weeks they have been dumping their leaves. You probably rake leaves in the fall, don't you?

I'm not talking about a household putting 6-8 or even 10-12 bags of leaves out at the curb to be picked up. Try 70.

We try to shred and mulch ours, but there's only so much use you can find for that volume of leaves.

But the leaves are the least of our problems. Because after the leaves comes the oak pollen. Doesn't matter what color your car is - it's a greenish yellow if it sits in this neighborhood. There was so much falling the other day, it looked like yellow rain.

And now we're getting into the last stages where the brown flowering clumps are dropping off the trees. That is what has covered our driveway in a nice soft carpet. And there I shall leave it. Because last week I swept leaves and haven't been able to breathe all week.

This picture is not one I took, and actually, it's a relatively light amount. You can still see plenty of driveway.

Oh, and did you know that oak trees are either male or female? The males are the ones that are doing all of this pollinating. That's just a little extra info for you - no charge!

So I'm staying inside where the air is filtered and trying to park this car. Try it - I bet you can't do it in less than 5 or 15 tries!!

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

(I just hope those trees aren't full of pollen!)

View blog reactions