Five Question Friday-29 October 2010

Howdy folks, it's the weekend all over again!  I'd love for you to join me and Mama M at My Little Life for Five Question Friday blog hop.  Check out her blog to get the official rules and copy and paste the questions.  Then, you can link up with other bloggers who are participating.  It's a lot of fun and the questions aren't all that hard.  If you'd like you can also answer the questions in a comment below, too.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.  Here we go...

1. If you could be a fly on any wall, which would you choose?

I am nosy by nature and would want to be on a lot of different walls...my kids' bedrooms so I could hear what they and their friends are talking about.  I'd like to be a fly on the wall in a bakery or restaurant and find out about secret ingredients and techniques used to create culinary delights.  Then again, a food preparation work area is no place for a fly!  Furthermore, I might learn some things I wish I hadn't.

2. Do you budget your Christmas shopping or just get it done without budgeting?
Everything is budgeted around here, sort of (in my mind anyway). The hubs and I usually decide on a set amount we’re going to spend on Christmas, and I set out to take care of as many gifts as I can on said amount...practically down to the penny. Then, on Christmas morning some big ticket items miraculously show up for the kids. I have learned not to be the Grinch about such thing because it only dampens the Christmas spirit, but I’m the one who will have to find a way to juggle paying all of the regular bills when there is no longer an extra “cushion” in the savings account! Bah humbug!

3. What is the craziest fad diet you have ever done?
I can honestly say I’ve never done a diet, fad or otherwise, of any kind. Diet is a four-letter word, and I was taught early on about the perils of using those-anybody else remember the taste of the original orange bar of Dial soap? It’s also “die” with a t tacked on for good measure. I like food from all of the food groups and I couldn’t see myself surviving for long on just rice and grapefruit or all meat and no carbs. I get super cranky when my blood sugar gets too low—you know, kind of like whatever sets off the Incredible Hulk only I don’t turn quite that green. Muscles may pop out on my neck and I may scream and roar, though, so dieting is generally not a good idea for me.

4. Is there a TV show that you have seen every episode/season of?
I must say I was quite the Miami Vice fan back in the day and probably saw most of those episodes. I’m sure I have a drawer full of episodes recorded on VHS tapes from the Fridays when I was babysitting or otherwise occupied. Nowadays, though, I don’t really watch much TV so I haven’t seen every episode or season of any of the new stuff. I love The Office, and my daughter checks out the DVDs with episodes from an entire season recorded back to back. I sometimes see a little of that (as in “Mom, come here…watch this part!”)

5. What one song always pulls at your heart?
Maybe if you’d rephrased the question to say what song doesn’t pull at my heart I could answer it more succinctly, but since you asked…I’m going to go with “I Can Only Imagine” by Mercy Me. Every time I hear it, I can’t help but sing along (usually in a very loud voice much to my children’s chagrin) and wonder how I’ll react when I am in God’s presence in Heaven. Another good one is “How Great Thou Art.” I’m usually balling by the last verse that talks about Christ coming (with shouts of adoration) to take me home…Oh wait, there it says in this verse how I’m going to respond, “Then I shall bow in humble adoration, and there proclaim ‘My God, how great thou Art!’” I guess I don’t have to “only imagine” anymore. All kidding aside, any song that reminds me of Jesus dying on the cross for me, a lowly sinner, will tug on the old heartstrings and bring tears to my eyes.

Five Question Friday-13Aug10

Well, folks, it's that time of the week once again. I just love these theme days that make it so easy to blog! Just click on the Five Question Friday button to visit Mama M. and get the questions and rules for joining the fun. You can also link your blog with her linky and visit others who are participating in 5QF.

1. Have you ever visited another country?

I have been on a couple of cruises, but since the other countries were just ports of call I don't really consider that "visiting." I have been to Mexico, Jamaica, Grenada (Eastern Caribbean). I lived in Honduras, Central America for 2+ years as a Peace Corps Volunteer working a rural health education assignment. I also had the good fortune to visit Costa Rica (by way of El Salvador and Nicaragua) after I completed my service.

2. Where is the strangest place you have ever been?

I think the strangest place I've ever been would have to be the Bay Islands off of the northern coast of Honduras. It was primitive in a candles and outhouses sort of way, and I thought the native people were speaking another language. It turned out they were descendants of some Dutch culture and they were speaking English with a very strange lilt to it. I had to pay close attention to understand what they were saying!

I have to tell you a little story about this question and why it cracks me up. *WARNING: Crude humor to follow; skip to question #3 if you feel you may be offended.* Anybody remember The Newlywed Game? It was a game show back in the 70's and 80's where host Bob Eubanks brought three newlywed couples on the set. They had to answer questions separately and then come together and compare answers. The winner was the couple whose answers matched the closest. Making whoopee was the euphemism for you-know-what. Anyway...on one episode the host asked, "Where is the strangest place you've ever made whoopee?" (see the similarity to this question?). The one husband answered, "I'd have to say, 'up the butt, Bob'!" My Peace Corps buddies and I got a lot of laughs from that silly phrase. I think the contestant might have misunderstood the question. Then again, maybe not. LOL!

3. What is your favorite season?

I love spring and all of its signs of new life-rain, baby animals, budding trees, blooming flowers. It is such a welcome change from the cooped up, cold days of winter. Okay, okay, so I live in Texas and we sometimes don't have a "real" winter per se, but I'm sure those of you in colder climates might be able to relate to my love of spring. Don't hate!

4. What song will always cheer you up?

Time for confessions of a closet country music lover. I love "Keep on the Sunny Side" from the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou? I don't know if it's considered blue grass or country music or what, but I love wailing right along with the CD in my finest Texas twang (much to my kids' and cousin's chagrin). Most people would never have guessed that I listen to that let alone know every word.

5. What disney character do you resemble most?

Although Tatiana from the latest Princess and the Frog movie might be the "obvious" answer since she's the only African-American Disney princess, I don't think I have as much spunk, vision and gumption as she does. Furthermore, Lord knows I don't consider myself a princess. I think I'd have to be Jiminy Cricket because he was always hopping around trying to get Pinocchio to follow the rules and do the right thing.