I is for Intrepid and Ingenious in the Hodgepodge

Joyce took a much needed spring break last week from posting a Hodgepodge, but is back this week. Yay!  

For anyone here from the A to Z Challenge,  I am taking this day to veer away from my theme since Wednesdays are my fullest days and I need a bit of margin.  So instead  
of writing two posts, I am writing one. 

Read the answer to #2 if you'd like to focus your eye on my I. 



1. Share one fun thing you did last week, while the Hodgepodge was on 'spring break'.

Found curtain material for my new craft room. And, might I add, at quite a bargain.  It's a nubby, pale yellow fabric with flecks of pastel jewel tones, regularly $19.99/ yd. With sale and coupon, I got enough to do the two windows and a matching throw pillow for just $12. Woot!

2.  April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close? Share a favorite story featuring one or all of your siblings. If you don't have siblings, did you ever wish you did?

I have three sisters and we are close in heart, though two of them live in the south and southwest. But they are all coming to the wedding in June!!! Favorite story. Oh, there are so many, but I was reminded of one this past week when I was getting rid of my daughter's old trophies (at her request).


We lived way out in the country in a split-level home.  Houses were far apart and the closest police station was 20 miles away. I always felt safe unless home alone at night. My sisters provided some comfort, but no real sense of protection.  My older sister, Rachel, being the brainiac of the family, has amassed a veritable shrine to her intellect with all her trophies--French I, French II, Creative Writing, Speech, Math Tournament, you name it. I had one or two. Mama kept them on top of a low bookcase in the living room.

One night we three girls were home while my parents were at choir practice.  (We were teenagers.) It was a dark, hot, summer night when the windows were open and we heard a car come up the long, gravel driveway, but its lights were off. The car stopped at the side of the house, and did not pull around to the parking area. We knew it couldn't be our parents. They always drove with lights on and pulled around back.

I ran and hid in the hallway near the top of the stairs.
My little sister ran to her bedroom.
The shelties ran around in circles, barking wildly.

Rachel ran to the bookcase and grabbed her biggest trophy to use as a club. She hid in front of me, ready to clobber the bad guy if he broke in.

We heard a second car door shut. Two bad guys?? One trophy to kill them with?
I was huddling behind my killer sister . Her arm was raised, the sharp part of the trophy poised to stab the intruder.

Someone jiggled the front door knob. The dogs charged down the stairs.  The door opened, a man stepped in, flipped the light on, and we screamed, "HYAH!!!!"

My dad yelped like a girl and my mom stumbled backward, nearly falling off the front stop.

"What on EARTH are you girls doing? Why, you scared us half to death!" Daddy said.   "And what is that in your hand, Rachel?"

By this time we were doubled over, laughing so hard at the thought of committing murder with a French trophy, we couldn't explain.  When we finally did ask them about their strange behavior, they said they didn't want us to know they were home so they could stay out and "talk" more.


3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'? Why or why not? How much of an effort do you make to 'buy American'? If you're not American, insert your own country in the blank. 

It's important, but not AS important to me as trying not buy from China. Which, of course, is nearly impossible. We are car shopping now, and we are fond of German engineering, so our vehicle will most likely not be American.

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

Because He Loves Me, by Elise Fitzpatrick. It really convinced me of my identity in Christ. I had really struggled to understand that I am in Christ, and this book clarified and solidified the truth of that.

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm? What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I can handle rain  for two days. By the third day, though, watch out! I'm cranky and depressed. I am only calmed by the naps I can take on rainy days, but the grey and cold affect my mood something awful.  Last caught in a rainstorm? Well, it was pretty nasty last Thursday at midnight when I went to pick my girl up from the airport. My wipers were dull and I was praying that God would halt the rain so that I could see the lines and signs.  It did, after I picked her up.  Daffodils are in bloom, lots of grass, certain trees. Did you know that depresssion is an allergic reaction to things in bloom? Every April for 8 years I have not been able to pinpoint why in  April do I feel so angry, so down, so lonely, so sad? My sister (the brainiac) told me to take an allergy pill even though my symptoms aren't itchy eyes, sneezing or typical allergic reactions. It has helped.

In Maryland, more suicides happen between April and June than any other time of year, and many people just do not understand that there's a real link between spring blooms and
sudden depression.

That said, I'll gladly take prayer whenever you think lovely spring thoughts. Sometimes mine are dark and make no rational sense during this beautiful season.

6. What's your favorite yellow food?   

Mac 'n cheese.


It's one my husband wrote to me as a gift one year. My prized possession. But I have given him my solemn oath I won't share it in public. He is self-conscious about the "quality" of it. 



8.  Insert your own random thought here.

One day during spring break last week, I was feeling sad and missing our old dog Brownie. I hadn't really missed her since we put her down on Valentine's Day. That day, though, I was suddenly sad  I was missing her sweet spirit and gentle face, and the way she'd blink when I asked if she was happy here.

Imagine my reaction when I found this surprise waiting on my porch. It was from the sisters whose mother had owned Brownie and couldn't take of the dog any longer last June.