Sunday Stealing

Much thanks to Bev, our Sunday Stealing hostess, who finds the questions we love to answer week after week!

Stolen from League of Extraordinary Penpals

1. What are your plans for August?  As has become the norm this year...I don't have any plans. The pool is finally up so I hope to spend a lot of time in it with the grandkids. I'm starting a diet on Monday. I'll continue to look for a part-time job. Mmm, yeah, that's about it.

2. Review the first half of 2020.  It has been a bit of a trial and very troubling and at times heartbreaking, but it gave us all the go-ahead to spend more time at home, with those closest to us, and to pursue things we'd been neglecting. And hey, we all learned what a weird and wacky bunch the tiger people are!

3. A place you’d go if money were no object.  Australia. Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Platypi...all things I need to see in the wild.

4. Who was your childhood best friend? That would depend on what phase of my childhood we were talking about because we moved several times while I was growing up. The last one was my bestie all through high school and she still lives just down the street. Across the street from my daughter, actually, so I know she's keeping an eye out for the kids, too.

5. The city or town you love most.  The next one down the highway from where I live. Ligonier, PA. It was part of my life for a while as a kid and I thought it was a great place then. After working there for the last 16 years, I still think that. If Norman Rockwell was going to paint the perfect small town, it's the one he'd paint.

6. How do you spend hot days?  Either laying low by the A/C or now that the pool's up...soaking in it.

7. Are you a skilled cook or baker?  I do pretty well, but I wouldn't say I'm a gourmet chef or anything.

8. One thing you wish you could currently do.  Take long walks. I loved to walk. I grew up walking. It's something my family did for entertainment. We even took walks together on holidays. We got it from my grandmother, I think. Anyway, I really, really miss walking. I haven't given up hope that between the exercises I got from physical therapy and (hopefully) losing weight on the new diet, I will be able to take walks again one day.

9. A time when you learned your lesson.  What day is it? I am hopefully learning a lesson about something every day on the journey to be a better person.

10. What consistently makes you laugh?  My grandkids, The Big Bang Theory, and the clever memes on Facebook.

11. Routines that bring you calm and peace.  My morning time with the Lord reading my Bible, working on a study, and praying.

12. Who annoys you the most?  These days that could be a very long list, but I'm trying very hard not to dwell on it. When I start to feel annoyed by someone, I change my focus, walk away, pray or whatever to distract myself. Life is much to short to spend it annoyed by every little thing.

13. Describe some of your favorite household items.  I'm not sure what your going for...mundane things that every house has or my favorite belongings. Of normal household things, my favorites would be the dishwasher, washer/dryer, indoor-flushing toilets, and the shower. My favorite belongings include my books, family photos, all the little treasures with special memories attached, and the massive corner cupboard Tim bought me for Christmas a few years ago.

14. What have you gotten better at?  Seeing both sides of something, not needing to be right, and forgiving others.

15. Share a random memory.  When I was a little girl, before I started school, my grandmother used to babysit me while my parents worked. One time she had to drive around collecting for the Heart Association or the Cancer Society...something like that. One of the houses she stopped at had chickens and I fell in love with those birds. By the time we left Nana had talked them into giving/selling (I never knew which) her a rooster and a hen. They were put in burlap (gunny) sacks and put into the trunk of the car to take back to her house. The hen was a lovely brown bantum I name Eloise, but the rooster was a gigantic, mean Leghorn. Nana spoke to a neighbor who had chickens and he gladly traded a sweet bantum rooster, a perfect mate for Eloise, for that nasty Leghorn. I named the new rooster Erik and so began several years of tamed, pet chickens who all had names that began with E.

16. How many pairs of shoes do you have?  Without counting, I'd guess around 20.

17. Who do you go to for encouragement?  The Lord.

18. References you make that others don’t get.  I can't think of anything right now. Probably something from a TV show or movie.

19. What are 10 things you consider essential for you?  My relationship with the Lord, my family, my Bible (well, one of them...I have a lot), my cell phone, friends, a journal, books, all the stuff to manage my hair, music, oh...my glasses!

20. Is there any accent you wish you had?  Not really, but if you're going to give me one I'll take an Irish one.