April Showers May Bring a Hodgepodge

April Showers...let's just say "showers" is an understatement here in my state.  April floods. April deluge. Maybe you can relate?

Anyway, let's jump into the Hodgepodge, shall we?

1. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes. Are you blooming where you're planted as we begin the month of May?

I think so.  In my home I've gotten a surge of energy to redo some things.
In my part-time job as a tutor I definitely feel like I'm in a beautiful garden brimming with the fragrance and color of learning. Spiritually I'm not quite blooming, but I feel the roots have gone deeper in Christ in the past two years and I feel ready to bear new fruit.

2. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being no big deal, and 10 being full scale panic, rank your fear of spiders.

The size of the spider is directly proportional to the number on that scale.  Actually, my fear of imagining a spider to be where I can't quite see is frightening.  But generally if I see a spider I kill it if I'm alone. If my dragon slayer is around, he does the deed.

3. May is National Salad Month (who knew???)...besides lettuce, what are two must-have ingredients in your favorite salad?

tomatoes and cucumbers   OR tomatoes and bacon   OR tomatoes and cheese  OR tomatoes and croutons

My hubby hates tomatoes and so I can always count on getting his share as well as mine when we order salad in a restaurant.

4. I mentioned on my blog last week that my Daughter1 will be moving to Washington State after she is married. Of the following sites in the Northwest, which would you most like to see in person-Crater Lake (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), Vancouver (British Columbia), San Juan Islands (Washington),  Mt. Rainer (Washington) Oregon Coast (Oregon), Mt. St. Helens (Washington), or Olympic National Park (Washington)

I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, but I'd love to.  I think I'd start with the San Juan Islands.

5. This coming weekend marks the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby...when did you last race (literally or figuratively) to cross a finish line?

Literally I have not run a race since middle school.  Figuratively, today it felt I was in a race to get from my son's school at 9 am, to my daughter's school by 11:30, which included a stop at Home Depot and the florist for my daughter-in-law's birthday, then to her house for a surprise delivery, then back to the florist because I decided I really wanted to give my daughter a pick-me-up bouquet because she's overwhelmed. Then had lunch with her and a few kids, then tutored, then returned to my son's school because he became ill in the late afternoon. All this in POURING, FLOODING RAIN in two counties and a beltway. 

6. What is something little you love?

My baby niece. Pictures coming soon.  



7. Would you say you are more of a visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner? Elaborate.

Visual, definitely.  I have to see things written down. I like pictures, charts, graphs, and such.   I'm a flashcard queen.   But I tend to be a kinesthetic teacher--getting kids to hop while counting by twos, learning letters by writing in sand, playing review games that involve throwing things. I only remember things auditorially if they're put to music.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Our family welcomed a brand new baby today.  A little girl, long awaited, and she was born to my nephew Danny and his wife Lisa.  I can't wait to meet her! 

Y is for Youthful Goals

This is one of my favorite pages (number 94)  in the whole legacy book that my dad wrote.   Not only does the content make my heart swell--to know how many of my father's dreams he realized (and these were written in 1999)--but his organized, methodical, structured analysis (and underlined conclusions) of those dreams makes me nod and say to myself, "Yup. That's Daddy for ya."  Gushy husband, proud father, humble pastor, brilliant engineer.

The question at the top of the page reads as such:


What were your youthful goals and ambitions for life? Which ones have you been able to fulfill?

Daddy said,

I aspired to a good life filled with happiness.  I wanted a good, professional job, a beautiful wife, lovely and loving children/grandchildren, a home with yard and trees, and a good education.   All these came to be fulfilled. 

                              I wanted to work for God and be pleasing to Him. I wanted respect. I wanted a car that didn't have to be cranked or pushed to get it started.  I wanted to be able to travel. 

All these have, to a good degree, been fulfilled. 

I wanted to serve in the Army. I wanted to be a scientist and inventor.  I wanted to become an athlete of renown.   I scored a 10, a 5, and a 0 on these respective ambitions. 

I can't boast very much about my accomplishments, but I can boast about the goodness of God, the loving relationship of my wife, Brenda, and my progeny.  No man has been blessed more than me!

                              

X is for Xtraordinary Man

I won't be copying from my dad's journal today but I do want to highlight what I find extraordinary about this man.

1.  I've never heard him disrespect my mother in my whole life.
2.  He has never raised his voice in anger.  He has been stressed and we knew it when his voice          would squeak a little and he'd call us "dear heart" or "honey-child."   When bills came due,              we knew not to ask Daddy for money for anything . "Honey-child, not now, please."
3.   I've only ever heard him use a 4-letter word one time, and that was when he was trying to tell
      some terrible tenants why he had to evict them.  "There is dog S@#$ all over the basement!"
      he told the man on the phone. When I asked him later why he said that bad word, he very
      apologetically but firmly said, "Because some people just don't understand any other language."
4.   I've never heard him use God's name in vain.
5.   He has never told an off-color joke.
6.   So honest is he, that one time after driving away from a toll booth, realizing he had received back  ten cents too much, he paid it back at the next toll booth--the kind that looked like a urinal
for change? Do you remember those?


Oh, there are plenty more reasons why I think Daddy is extraordinary, but those six right there
set him in class of his own.

W is for Words of Wisdom

W is also for wondering "Are we there yet?"   I'm weary.  Just a few more letters to go.  Anyone who is blogging for the A to Z Challenge understands this odyssey.

My daddy's words continue in list form today.   I think they are wise words worthy of the worldwide web.

Daddy,

Recall for me five of the most important lessons you have learned in life.

He replies:

1.  Don't believe an hypothesis without first checking it out.

2.  I'm not always right.  Respect other, even when you disagree with them.

3.  "Common sense" is not always common to all, an on examination sometimes makes no sense.

4.  Find the loveliest, most loving, godly woman in the world, then marry her. I did.

5.  Don't try to please everyone.   Everyone is different.   Just do what is right.