Hodgepodge

Here we are again ready for another Wednesday Hodgepodge! You can join in the fun right here with Joyce and the others. Thank you, Joyce. 

1. What's the last thing you did that could be described as 'taxing'?

Preparing our taxes. It was my first time EV-ER!!! For reasons I won’t go into, DH did not do them this year, although he was at my side to assist me. There are many (gobs of things) things I don’t understand about income taxes and even with Quicken to guide me through, I still had questions. Thankfully, these issues were resolved, taxes were filed, and money owing is scheduled to pay today or tomorrow. BIG ACCOMPLISHMENT for moi!

2. If you could plant a garden of anything, what would be in it?

It would be wonderful to have a garden filled with luscious vegetables on one side – several varieties of beans, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, okra, maybe some watermelon, herbs, peppers and so on. On the other half of the garden, I would have beds of sun-loving colorful flowers, zinnias, daisies, roses, marigolds, scarlet sage and hibiscus.

But then again, how about a lovely garden where I would be surrounded with lush greenery, a gazebo, a comfortable bench on which to sit and read or meditate, taking in all the scents of the roses, enjoying the quiet of the morning or a sunny afternoon, free from insects, listening to the comforting sound of water falling into a pond. Ahhh. What a fabulous garden that would be!

photo source

3. April 10-16 is National Library Week...will you celebrate with a visit to your nearest library? When did you last make a trip to the library? What are you reading right now? What's one title on your want-to-read list?

I seldom visit the library, although I used to weekly. My last visit would have been maybe a year ago as I was trying to figure out how to check out books online. I buy books for my Kindle, books to stack around me in my favorite chair, and audio books. Right now, DH and I are listening to Light from Heaven by Jan Karon. We love her books, but this will be the last one. Anybody have any recommendations for something close to the goodness of her books? Facebook continues to alert me to a book I need to check out, but I can’t remember the name. And today, a friend recommended a series by Karen Kingsbury about angels, which I may look into.

4. Share a saying or an old wives tale you heard while growing up, you believed to be true or that you paid attention to 'just in case'?

Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. I never believed it even as a child, but, just in case, and out of love and respect for my sweet mother, I always stepped over the cracks, and still find myself doing that. Another one was that you don’t have milk and fish at the same meal. ???

5. Are you a fan of onions? Garlic? Ginger? What's a dish you love that contains one, two or all three items listed?

If ground ginger counts, then it would be summer vegetables – a mixture of yellow squash, zucchini, onions, garlic, green and red peppers, all sautéed in butter and ginger.

6.  Where does nurturing end and indulging begin?

Nurturing is to care for and love someone, encouraging them and teaching life skills to be independent and handle responsibility and emotions. Nurturing them with love and affection while simultaneously teaching them that life isn’t all about them; to nurture them so they know they are valued, and to learn to value others. Indulging is to allow them and their needs to be central to everything, to try to satisfy all their needs with other means, such as money, possessions, and making excuses for their wrong behaviors. Sometimes I think people indulge out of guilt or their own lack of responsibility and their own laziness to teach, i.e., it’s easier to indulge than to nurture. Honestly, I think this question deserves more than I can give today.

What are some skills or qualities you think a person needs to possess in order to be viewed as mature?

To be kind, to be discerning, to give thought to your words and how you respond. To learn how to respond to life situations without responding in anger or manipulation, to judge fairly, to handle money and power wisely, to not use or manipulate people with emotions or anger.

I look forward to reading others' answers as I know I will gain wisdom on this!

7. What leading figure in any field would you like to hear speak, and why?

Anne Graham Lotz – a powerfully sincere, outspoken woman who doesn’t shy away from what is or isn’t politically correct. We need more like her.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Even the weeds alongside the road have

beauty in the Spring.

It’s supper time (as they say where I come from) as I’m trying to answer these questions. I had in mind what we would have, but now I’m not hungry. I took Zyrtec this morning for allergies and just feel blah! My mind is also elsewhere thinking about the early morning appointment for DH's CT scan tomorrow and what the outcome will be. 

I also wish I could figure out why the line spacing is sometimes a problem in my blogs and how I might resolve it more easily.