Back to Winter Wednesday

1. What does retirement mean to you? Are you planning for it, not thinking about it, looking forward to it, or dreading it?
Retirement means I have the time to do the things I want to do, mostly when I want to do them; like substitute teaching so I can afford to volunteer... and take those beach vacations!  

2. It's International Guitar Month...do you play? Does anyone in your family play? What's a song you especially like to hear played on the guitar or a favorite song featuring the guitar?

I don't play but my husband does as does our youngest son and his wife. Wow... so many songs. I love to hear my husband play... any and all love songs!

3. What's your comfort food?
I have several. In the winter, I LOVE pancakes with real maple syrup.  Any time of year, I love rice with butter, salt and pepper.  I crave cinnamon toast, too.  But probably to curl up on the couch with a bowl of buttered (real) and salted popcorn fresh from the popper would be "it."  

4. What's one activity or area of your life where you absolutely never procrastinate?
Never procrastinate?  I always procrastinate to some degree!   I suppose going to the bathroom first thing in the morning...   I know, TMI.

5. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Does your local store bag the groceries for you or is it a do-it-yourself kind of place? Do you like someone packing your groceries?  
Mostly, I do the shopping. I go to two different stores on a regular basis. One bags, the other doesn't. I don't care who bags my groceries as long as I can get in, find what I'm looking for and get out.  I dislike standing in line. 

6. What's the coolest thing you've seen in nature?
Wow... I never have my camera when I need it.  Having parrots fly past my head while on a mission trip to Venezuela years ago was pretty cool!  Colorful, too. Double rainbows always fascinate me. A monkey monkeying around in a tree outside our room while in Costa Rica was amusing - had the camera, but it was not close enough for a picture :-(   However, I think the birth of our kittens tops them all! 

7. Share a favorite quote about home.

A little long and I know it's really a song, but it does belong to Steve Green and so, I quote him:  "Here we are at the start; committed to each other by His Word and from our hearts. We will be a family in a house that will be a HOME; and with faith, we'll build it strong. We'll build a household of faith, that together we canl make and when the strong winds blow it won't fall down.  As one in Him we'll grow, and the whole world will know we are a household of faith." 

8. Insert your own random thought here.  

From 4 years ago: It rained every day on our trip to Costa Rica but we had a wonderful time both at the conference and at a beach resort! 

Wow! Wednesday!

1. What are two or three expectations you have of yourself? 
Losing weight; Staying young at heart; Keeping fit.  Two out of three isn't too bad!  I must keep plugging along...

2. In what way does your outdoor space need sprucing up this spring?

Decks need to be repaired. Flower beds need some TLC. I have the time but not the patience. We are getting an inground pool so I must get my act together and start being a little fussy!  The local Amish produce auction will have some plants, trees pretty soon and that should rev me up! 

3. According to this site (Roadtrippers), six of North America's most wondrous waterfalls are-Webster's Falls in Ontario, Upper Whitewater Falls in North Carolina, Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon, Multnomah Falls in Oregon, The Lower Yellowstone Falls, and Niagara. Have you seen any on the list? Which one on the list would you most like to visit? Prettiest waterfall not on the list that you've seen in person?

We've been to Niagara... whoa!!!!  In the winter, they are frozen over and the mist freezes 6-10 inches thick on the railings of the fence!  There's a small but wide waterfall on a back road near where I grew up.  They didn't have a name for it... I wish I could lay my hands on the picture!  A friend just visited Yosemite Falls and her pics and video were amazing!

4. Looking back, what's something you wish you'd done as a teenager?
Studied harder so I could have had better grades. 

5. Ham...yes please or no thank you? If you said yes please which of the following do you like best-baked ham with all the trimmings, a ham and cheese sandwich, prosciutto with melon, a ham biscuit, a bowl of split pea and ham soup, or a slice of pizza topped with ham and pineapple?
I love all of the above except the pizza...it was ruined with pineapple :-(   

6. Are you typical of your generation? How so?

Probably not. I never tried drugs. Not even marijuana. I'm guessing that 1/2 of my graduation class smoked a joint at least once. I had no desire. My desire was to love the Lord my God and be someone people younger than me could look up to.  I wanted to serve God more than serve myself. I wasn't always successful, but He understood... and never gave up on my desire to serve.  I can look back and see where he was leading and at the time, I thought I was wandering! HAHA!  Hey...  This scenario has repeated itself many times...  There is always grace, hope, love and forgiveness when there is repentance.

7. April rolls in at the end of the week, and in keeping with that theme...'act the fool', 'nobody's fool', 'a fool's errand', 'could have fooled me'...which foolish idiom most recently applies to you? Explain.
Tough one. April 1st is our 2nd son's birthday.  Called my mom at 3AM that morning, over 30 years ago and she thought I was fooling!  Yeah, Mom! I waited up til 3AM to play a joke... She said, "I mean about you having another boy!"  More laughter!!  Not fooling about that, either! 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Here he is about 34 years ago: