Hodgepodge: Spring, Sun, and Sneak Peek at Son's Wedding

Before I plunge into the Hodgepodge Q & A, I want to announce that today is our eldest child's 24th birthday. This year his gift came early, eleven days ago. The gift of a beautiful wife, who said to him in her vows, "I hope to grow really, really, REALLY old with you!"

Happy birthday, Ben, and God bless your marriage. We love you and Dee very much.

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Now, on to the HP.

1. The first day of spring is here...do you enjoy working in the yard? Weeding, raking, mowing, planting-your favorite springtime garden chore? How about your least favorite?

I enjoy yardwork initially, when spring is still a novelty. My favorite chore is planting annuals in borders and baskets. I also enjoy watching my hubby and sons spread a truckload of mulch around and my daughter taking joy in her herbs and veggie garden. I really love to sit back and swing on the porch swing at 5 in the afternoon with a tall glass of lemonade and just admire the beauty of all the new color, inhale the smell of new bark mulch, and think about putting the hose away when I'm good and rested.

My least favorite springtime garden chore is weeding. Apparently God doesn't enjoy it, either. He likes to plant and water as do I, but delegates the weeding to me, which I,following His example, delegate to my children.

2. What puts a spring in your step?

Anticipating any kind of pampering--and relishing the results. Before the wedding I had many springs in my step. A pedicure with polish that matched my dress. A manicure with French tips (or is that tips with a French manicure?) The tips were something I'd never had, but I like them a lot). I also got a makeover at Nordstrum and the gal who did my makeup told me that pink looks great on me because my skin has pink undertones. Now I am rethinking what I've been living by since 1987--when a "Color Me Beautiful" consultant told me I'm an autumn. I've been wearing fall colors on body and face. I am now suffering PSID (Personal Seasonal Identity Disorder). Help! What do YOU think? Am I a spring or an autumn?

3. Describe a time when you had to spring into action.

En route to my sister's college graduation in Baltimore City, about 12 years ago, I saw a little boy step off the curb on a busy street and a second later heard a "thud!" He'd been hit by an SUV that was next to us. I told my dad to pull over and I sprang out of the car to help the child. He was flat on his back but conscious. I stood over his skinny little black body and wiped the gravel off his pink hands. He was scared, and his friends who had dared him to step off, stood back, equally scared and apologizing and crying.

It was a bright sunny May day at high noon, and while I was nervous as all get-out on the inside, I was calm on the outside and began delegating action (see a theme here?) . I got the boy's mom's number and called her with pertinent info. Someone had called the ambulance already. I knelt down and asked if I could pray for him. (I'll call him Tyrone.) He asked, "Are you an angel?" That scared me because I thought it meant he was seeing the bright lights of heaven. I calmly said, "No, Tyrone, I'm not an angel, but I love Jesus and want to help you." He screamed, "I can't see anything!" I thought for sure that meant he'd hit his head so hard that his optic nerves had been damaged. But in the next second, I was told by another bystander, "He's just looking at the sun." So I moved a bit to the left and instantly there was shade on him. He smiled, "Oh, that's better! I can see! I can see!" and I was happy that being fat enough to eclipse the sun maybe isn't the worst thing in the world.

4. We're having carrots for dinner...would you prefer yours raw or cooked?

Let me answer that by asking you this: Are you serving them in salad or in stew? I like them raw in my salad and cooked in my stew.

Sorry for being a smart-mouth today. Can't help myself sometimes. Even with a delete button at my disposal.

5. Do you take the shampoos and other sundries from your hotel room when its time to check out?

Yes, ma'am. I figured we paid for them. Why not? I take the coffee and creamers, too. Sometimes when I run out of my regular supply, you will find me digging through the pantry like a drug addict in my pj's, muttering "Where's that hotel coffee? I need coffee so bad, where is that HOTEL coffee???!!!"

6. What's the most enjoyable team or club you've belonged to and what was it that made it so?

The Varsity Cheerleading Squad in high school. Actually I was chosen in 7th grade for the JV, but in 8th grade made Varsity. I enjoyed the camaraderie we shared . It was a Christian school, and we had devotions and prayer before every practice. I was in really good shape and had a petite frame, coordination, and flexibility which have all long since vanished. The school spirit, the getting out early for away games, the kissing my basketball player boyfriend in clandestine encounters in the dark history classroom. Well, you asked what made it enjoyable! I cannot tell a lie.

7. Is cloning a sign of progress?

It might be scientific progress, but I think it's dangerous to messing around in God's territory with DNA.

That's all I will say about it.

No, actually, I will add one more thing (of course): The day they decide to clone me will be the day the world declares that science has REgressed. "All of me is more than enough for all of you..." Woops, I think I just butchered some lyrics there.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Here's Ben being made perfectly presentable by his dad. Ben's face is getting pink from nerves. Paul's lips are pursed in his signature "Mr. Fix-it" face. This is real stuff, not just "pretend for the camera" nonsense.






Here's Dee, being primped for the last time before Ben sees her. Her mama is holding her train and veil. This is the start of the photo session behind the Historical Society building in Haddonfield, NJ. It was a private courtyard where the bridal party and parents met to witness the "first look" .

















I will reveal more pageantry very soon and blog about various segments of the big event so that I can re-savor the moments.