Resting on my Laurels for Today's Hodgepodge

I'm up early with the athletes of the world, but since our internet KEEPS going in and out, publishing is late, so who knows what traffic will come through my personal Olympic Village this late in the day (1:00 PM).  Seems if you don't get in the queue by 2 a.m. , no one throws flowers--er, comments--into your arena.

I participated in my own version of the triathlon in this morning: lifting (the coffee cup to the my mouth), javelin throwing (okay, so it was just the mayonnaise knife I threw into the sink after making the mens' breakfast sandwiches), and a 50 meter dash (to quickly move one car so my son could get another out of the driveway).   

Now, for the 400 meter relay, take a lap around my Hodgepodge track and then pass the baton by way of leaving a comment, will you? Thanks. I'll do the same.

1. The Summer Olympics begin next week and London is playing host. If you had the chance to go in person which (non-Olympic) London site would you most like to visit?

Probably Westminster Abbey.

 Or Buckingham Palace for the touristy thing. But honestly, what I'd rather do is lay on a green hillside watching sheep graze.

2. What is something in your life right now that feels like an Olympic event?

            It's not something I'm ready to share on my blog, but suffice it to say that in the central part of our family's life, a huge change is taking place that affects every other area of our lives. Don't worry, our marriage is not dissolving!

3. What's your favorite supper to prepare and serve when it's too hot to cook?

           Cereal.  Does that count? I mean, I have to pull the Life (capital L) out of the pantry, the bowls out of the cabinet, the milk out of the fridge,the spoons out of the drawer.  If that doesn't count, as "prepare and serve,"  then  how about this? I head out for rotisserie chicken and some salad bar fixings (veggies and fruit) from the local grocery store.  I might pop some baking potatoes in the microwave for a starchy side dish.  But if it's truly too hot to cook, I usually prepare for dinner service by talking my hubby into taking us all to our favorite Mexican restaurant.

4. July 18th is National Get Out of the Doghouse Day...when was the last time you were 'in the doghouse'?

           I feel like I live in the doghouse most of the time.  But maybe I'm confusing the term "doghouse" with being the object of people's complaints around here. ("Who used the last of the toilet paper?  Where is that library book you read that was on my card and now I can't find? Are we out of dog food again? How long has the van been making THAT noise?)  But the last time I made a major blunder of the super "uh-oh" type? I can't remember. I have probably repressed it.  

5. What television advertisement do you find particularly irritating or inappropriate? You may not answer with 'all of them'. I know some of you were thinking about it.

          The ones for the--how shall I put this?--the male performance enhancing drugs.   Two years ago, my then 8-year-old son stopped me from using the remote when that commercial blared during prime time.  "Don't worry, Mom. I know what E.D. is.  It's Explosive Diarrhea!"    

6. Share one piece of interesting news from the year you were born.

          The US entered the Vietnam War.  Not that I'd label it "interesting." I'd call it bad news. The good news?  My birth took my parents' minds off it for several hours a day and several more at night.

That IS good news, right? Being so stinkin' cute they can't take their eyes off me? Being such a babbling socialite that they just love to hear every "word" from the mouth of their own curly-headed babe?   Truth be told, the first six weeks of my life were touch-and-go for my mom, who had to be hospitalized  with thrombophlebitis. My Grandma Dauber came from Kansas to
take care of me  (and my 14-month old sister!) for those six long weeks.  I am sure the bond I always felt with that Grandma (and I only felt bonded to one of my three grandmas) began in August of '65.

7. What's the best part of your average day?

Great question. I've given it much thought.  I have concluded that I have many "best parts" in the course of my average day.  I love my morning coffee (recently made even better by  a Keurig purchased by my usually-NON-coffee-drinking hubby, of his own volition). I love the way the upstairs smells after everyone's showers.  I love breakfast chats with my youngest child who still has  a preadolescent musical voice and a sense of humor that keeps me laughing.  I love rubbing my dogs' ears and seeing their eagerness to be fed and listening to them fall asleep.  I love my daughter's laugh
and my second son's temperament--always pleasant.  I love a good nap (not that it's daily).  I love readng all my blogging friends' blogs.  I love the occasions when, reading my Bible, I sense God's voice speaking to me, especially lately, after a long, long, LONG spiritual drought.

But what I enjoy the most is  knowing, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that--feeling or not not feeling God's presence--KNOWING that God is with me and he hears me and He is holding me in the palm of his hand, and that there is no such thing as an Olympic feat for Him. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Being German by birth and Polish by marriage, this joke from Reader's Digest cracked me up.

             A news reporter wanders through Olympic Village and happens upon a man carrying an 8-foot metal stick.
             "Are you a pole vaulter?" asks the reporter.
             "No, I'm German, but how did you know my name is Walter?"