Hodgepodge: Punt, Pass, and Propose

 Written on Tuesday

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams. Are you a fan? Who do you root for? If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

I am a football fan, but I only watch my home team, the Baltimore Ravens, with any enthusiasm. I'm not one to just watch football for football's sake. Last night we had our first real game, and "our boys" started the season with  a "W" against the Bengals.  It's funny; I didn't used to be a football fan, but the rest of the family's craziness has rubbed off on me.

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?

Gifts put up for people as I find little things throughout the year. These usually are for stocking stuffers or my Samaritan's Purse shoebox child, but sometimes I pull out a giftie just because I can't wait to give it.  My daughter-in-law was the most recent recipient a month after their honeymoon to Dominican Republic. I gave her some Tropical Passion scented hand soap that seemed perfectly named for the couple who were (and still are) all over each other! She giggled when I gave it to her--and I think she blushed, too. (I'm horrible that way.) She held it up to Ben and said, "Look, babe!" and he just nods, "Mmmhhh. Yeah." 

3. Share one of your earliest memories.

Is this a Hodgepodge question or a therapy session, Joyce? Tee hee.  I had a counselor ask the same thing a year ago, and I had two "earliest memories,"  one good and one traumatic. (She said that our earliest memory has a huge bearing on how we subsequently relate to authority the rest of our lives. How they responded  to us at the time is pivotal, albeit buried deep in our subconscious.)

My earliest good memory was when I was in preschool. (I've blogged about this before.) I had a teacher in Sunday School named Miss Iney. I can't recall her face or the way she smelled or anything she said  verbatim, but I remembered her soft, plump lap, and soft, plump arms holding me when I walked into the classroom every week. Hers was a lap of love; I didn't have to answer any questions right to get a chance in her lap. I didn't have to be on my best behavior or my worst behavior. She might have been teaching or might have been singing or might have been having playtime or snacktime, I don't remember. It was simply a place I looked forward to being every Sunday, so early on I associated church with a place I wanted to be. Miss Iney's love had no conditions; her arms and lap were the arms and lap of Jesus.   That's why I believe there's no such thing as "just a nursery
worker," and I am quick to remind  a two-year-olds teacher (my daughter) that just because they think a child isn't getting anything out of her "lesson," that child is associating her Sunday School teacher with Jesus. The impact is lifelong. I t hink I've spent my whole life loving to be  (or longing to be) in the company of (soft, plump) older, godly women.

I won't share the other memory right now. You asked for one. I'm abiding by the rules, for a change.

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?

"Swinging from the trapeze with the greatest of ease." The week started on a high Sunday when I visited our old church again, and I saw many familiar faces of people I love. 

I 'let go' and grabbed the other trapeze of bidding my hubby farewell that afternoon, as he had to catch a train to Greenwich. I knew he was dreading the travel and the meetings. I mean, how exciting can a two-day seminar on Catastrophic Commercial Insurance  Coverage be?  You tell me.

I went from the low of seeing him unhappy and stressed, to  my Monday morning high of starting a drawing class. I am taking a non-credit course at the local college for ten weeks. The teacher, who has cobalt blue hair and is probably my age,  had encouragement and practical tips for everyone.  I learned a lot in two and a half hours as a student and as a teacher.  Mainly I learned that I was unprepared to stand at an easel for 2.5 hours . Ballet flats are for ballet class. This was clearly not a ballet class.

Last night I came down from the high when the old  dog peed on the kitchen floor yet again. This morning I was "up" again preparing Beef Burgundy in the crock pot and then going to a Bible study for the first time (with this group). These are among the most loving and fervently praying women I've ever known. I like that they prayed hard to start to beging the meeting, not 'hurried up and prayed real quick" to end the meeting.

Now I am swinging easy on the computer (as I write this on Tuesday) but have to swing back out to do carpool and swing back to spruce up the digs for a weary travelin' man whose been a stone's throw from Ground Zero, today, 9/11, 11 years after the world as we know it, changed.

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?

Grits.

6. Describe your summer in three words.

I think this question was asked before, and I answered it on a day I was feeling sorry for myself about not getting a summer vacation this year.  Granted, that was a huge letdown, but I learned a lot about myself from the disappointment. So, let me give  three positive words that have fun pictures to go along.

-Basketball

                                          Sorry about the blur,but I shoots 'em as I sees 'em.

-Art camp (okay, that's technically two words, but I'm taking literary license here)

-Engagement (more pictures coming. This is the teaser photo.)

7. Where were you on September 11, 2001? Will you do anything special to mark the day this year?

I was sitting at the kitchen table, schooling the three older kids who were 13, 12, and 10.  I was pregnant with my youngest. The phone rang ; it was my husband asking me if I had seen the news. No, I don't watch TV during the day. He told me I would probably want to tune in. I knew it had to be important if he would interrupt our school day with "turn on the TV."  I asked if I could get a recap later on the evening news. He said something about  a plane crashing into the World Trade Center which might not have been an accident because the skies were blue and clear.  Just like today.

For days after, I cried and cried for the survivors. I recently saw the 9/11 memorial on the NJ side of the Hudson,  and, oh dear, there.are.no.words.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

1 Peter 5:8
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.