Volume 18 Hodgepoge and the Luck of the Irish

It is Wednesday again and I am delighted. Joyce over at From This Side of the Pond is hosting another weekly Hodgepodge.  If you like my answers go check out the other answers on her site. 
1. What would you do if you found a pot of gold? Let's pretend that pot of gold is worth exactly $1500 (which would actually be more like a cup of gold at current values). Anyway, let's also pretend you have to spend it as opposed to making a donation somewhere. Now, tell me what you would do with that cup pot of gold?  Finance Kat and Brian's trip to Moldova this summer.  They are working in an orphanage there....who knows, they may bring a Moldavian baby home. (Fingers crossed).
2. Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day in any way, shape, or form?
Yes, I wear green and decorate my house for St. Paddy's day.  My Irish heritage has always been a great source of pride.  If I am off on Spring Break I try to visit somewhere where they hold a parade.  A couple of years ago....I actually went to Dublin and was there for the annual St. Paddy's day parade.  It was awesome.  I think it would beat anything Mardi Gras has to offer.
3. Have you been bitten by the Spring Cleaning bug? What spring cleaning job most needs doing at your house? What spring cleaning job are you most dreading?
Clean period is what I am dreading.  I am so busy during the week and it has been so pretty the last couple of weekends that being inside was not what I had in mind.  My goal is to get it done this week before the weekend.....even though I am so tired by the time I get home.  We are not bowling this week....so Thursday night is my goal date.
4. lime-shamrock-sage-forest....your favorite shade of green?
All the above except for lime.  I am a green loving person.  I love hanging the greens at Christmas...and wearing the green on St. Paddy's day....and green is a good color for me.
5. Thomas Jefferson once said, "I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." So... do you believe in luck or do you believe we make our own luck?
I agree with Joyce that there are people for whom some things in life seem to come more easily than they do for the rest of us. I think hard work pays off and adds meaning to the end result. I amn a firm believer in God....and he controls my destiny.
6. Monday (3/14) was Pi Day. Get it? 3/14 is Pi Day. Those math types are so clever, aren't they? Since I'm not one of them tell me what's your favorite piE (the edible kind)?
Key Lime by far.  We used to drive to the Key's when I was a kid just to eat it....and conch fritters.  Yummy!  I also love chocolate, banana cream, lemon icebox, cherry, blueberry....get it?  I prefer pie to cake.
7. That same date (3/14) was also the birth date of the late physicist, Albert Einstein. I bet he knew the value of pi. What do you think is more important and/or valuable in life...intelligence or common sense?
 You need a bit of both in this world. Intelligence without common sense can land one in a mess. Can you have common sense without intelligence? I know several people with common sense and no book smarts that can navigate life with great ease....but....even without book smarts....if you have common sense....you have a form of interrigence....you just have street smarts.
8. Insert your own random thought here...
This has been a trying week with all that has been going on in Japan.  My heart bleeds for them and my prayers go out to them.  This is a frightening time in that country.  It is a time when we should all "Cry Out to Jesus."

I Want To Sing A Song

Amandas post for Saturday over at  Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministries Blog  was called "Songs in the Car" and it reminded me also of some truly wonderful times in my life when music + car = memories.  I grew up in South Florida and both sets of my grandparents lived in Alabama.  The drive...back before Interstates....took close to fourteen hours.  How do you keep two small children happily occupied in the back seat of a Chevy for that long?  The answer to the bonus round question for today....is SING!  My parents loved to sing.  I could sit and listen to my parents sing for hours.  My mother would start the Song Fest off with something like, "Oh You Can't Get To Heaven In A Rocking Chair" and before the trip was over we would be singing "Bally Hi"  from the South Pacific.  It is no wonder I have a reportoire of thousands of songs.  Just think about it....three minutes per song times 14 hours......do the math...that is a lot of songs...pretty close to 300.  When it was just the three of us, after my brother died, we still sang....there were new show tunes, big band hits, you name it....we sang it.  We would even take the hymnal from the house and sing every song in it.  I thought this was how everyone traveled.  All my mom's family did....they were all musical.  Later in life I discovered that some people actually prefer to travel in silence....what a rude awakening for me....and what a boring trip.  When my children came along....we sang....we have sat in the drive way to finish belting out our favorite line from many Sandi Patti or Larnelle Harris songs.  I was delighted when Kat began to experiment with harmony because that made the music even better......Even now that my nest is empty....Frank and I have sat in our carport....or in a parking lot...so we(mostly I...though he humors me a lot) can hear the last line of something.  I love it that Frank sings too.  It thrills me to hear his rich voice blending with mine.  I have planned trips....where music was a key element....going west....songs had a western flair....or they were about states we were traveling in or through.  Oh yes....music does rock my world.  This past summer I went on a Girls Gone Wild trip to Michigan....Kat and I had loaded our Ipods with much great music....I was driving....and when I drive...I love to bump it up...and get everybody singing....and it was sort of working....until one of the passengers...felt she could not text with the music loud enough to hear.  No problem....I am a team player....and we had just gotten started....so I turned it down low....and bumped the speakers to the front.  It was then requested of me to turn it down even lower....because again it was interfering with texting.  I turned it off....totally.  Excuse me for messing with your fingers with my music.  I was glad when we stopped for gas and I could shake it off....it would have been a long 6 days if I hadn't.  Music returned and things lightened up a bit.  I learned a great deal about sharing space and actually worked on some patience skills....but that is another post.  My fondest memories all revolve around music....so let me ask you....what do some of your fondest memories revolve around?  The kitchen, a fireplace, a repeated trip...would you share it with me?  I'd love to relive a memory with you.  Happy Saturday and be sure to come back tomorrow for my week in pictures.  This has been a fun week.  I can't wait to share them with you.

There's A Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Monday kicks off the last week of school. It is not a full week for the kids (they have two full days and two half days)....but Monday through Friday I have to get up at 5 and be at school by 7, make class final exams, grade them, pack away stuff so the janitors can clean my floors over the week....it is a busy week....but after 18 weeks of kids who thought summer vacay started on January 9th....my sentence will be over and I too will be free....just like they are.  I sat here drawing a blank this morning....so I decided to wait until after church to post.  I thought some profound comment would spark what I was going to blog about...and even after leaving the second church...I still came up empty.  I was working on some photos and I found a great photo of when we were in the UK. Mary and I were exploring and  found this great tunnel picture and had to take it.  It really fits how I feel about this week.  When I look at it I am reminded that there truly is a light at the end of the tunnel. So, enjoy my picture....think about lights at the end of your own tunnels....know that God is in control...and enjoy the musical listening from Mac Powell, Third Day, and "Tunnel."  You might want to turn your volume down a bit...it is a loud song!   Have a blessed and wonderful Sunday!  P.S.  Keep your fingers crossed that I survive this week.