Hodgepodge and a New Birth in God's Family

1. July 20th marks the anniversary of the first time man stood on the moon. Flash forward 42 years to July 8, 2011 which marked the start of the final Space Shuttle mission. Should we continue to explore space? Should nations devote more or fewer of their resources to exploring space? Would you want to go into space if the opportunity arose?

I don't think we should abort the mission of exploring space altogether (it's putting a LOT of people out of work--many thousands) but I don't know how much more we really need to know about things light years away when we could be building schools and putting teachers to work. I say that as mom whose daughter is not optimistic about using her degree when she graduates in December. I'm partial to astronauts because my hubby was named for John Glenn. :) Little bit of trivia I thought you might wanna know.

Would I go into space if the opportunity arose? Not on your life! There are only two things that appeal to me about being in outer space--weightlessness and the magnificent awesomeness of the views. But the claustrophia, the fear of heights, the rocket science, the being far from home and hospitals, the "facilities," not to mention the freeze-dried monkey food they have to eat. Fuhgettaboudit!

2. What are three things in your freezer?

mahi-mahi, therapy bags, and Skinny Minty ice cream.

3. If you could see any band/artist perform live tonite who would it be? It has to be someone living...no Beatles, Elvis, etc.

Nobody famous, but someone great in God's kingdom, someone I love dearly and miss terribly--my son, Steve, who is away as a camp counselor all summer. I would love to hear him play drums right now. And hear him play the theme to "Peanuts" on the piano. When I see the worship band at church on Sunday without him , I'm a little sad. But ...drumroll please...he led a camper to Christ last week. Yay! {{Cue the Crashing cymbals}}

4. Ice-cubed or crushed? Or are you one of those people who don't like ice?

Crushed. I'm one of those people who likes to taste ice chips with every sip. And crunch on them. But who can't stand to hear others do the same. I know. Big hypocrite. It gives me the heebie-jeebies when others crunch on ice--and then spit it back into their glass. I won't say who does that.

5. The owner of a small restaurant outside of Pittsburgh recently announced he was banning children under six, saying they regularly disrupted other customer's meals. You can read the story in more detail here but isn't this a perfect topic to discuss in our Wednesday Hodgepodge? Have at it friends...what are your thoughts?

I posted this question on this very topic on my Facebook page when the story hit a few days ago. About 15 people chimed in and 14 of them were in favor of the ban. (One doesn't like the idea of banning children from anything.) The 14 in favor of the ban said if they are paying for a "nice" meal and paying a babysitter to stay home with their noisy kids, and they were looking forward to adult conversation/quiet atmosphere, then rowdy, ill-behaved kids in restaurants can ruin the evening. I would agree. From the proprietor's standpoint, I think if you own a business, you should be able to monitor who gets in and who has to stay out. Why jeopardize the success of your company because of some bad apples? My thoughts are--take kids out to restaurants to practice good manners, but don't take them to upscale joints till they have proven themselves.

6. What was your first car? How did it come to be yours?

It was a 1980 Chevy Chevette. Blue with black cloth interior. No AC. 5-speed. I needed a car after coming back to Maryland from an out-of-state college. Living on my own in the city necessitated having wheels. My dad helped me negotiate for it by a tactic I am still learning: keep quiet. Let the other guy do the talking.

7. If I had a nickel for every time I thought about losing weight, I'd be rich.

8. Please pray that the enrollment for our new, little school increases. If it does, it increases my chances of getting hired to teach art. (See how it's all about me? ) As it stands, they don't have enough to pay an extra teacher. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than teach. I think I'd enjoy trying my hand at the florist, but other than that, what would I do that doesn't feel like work that would still pay?