Random Dozen

1. What was the last thing about which you procrastinated?

Balancing my bank statement, making my daughters orthodontist appointment, taking the DD cell phone to the phone store to see what is wrong with it, paying doctor bills (those can always wait), going to the grocery store (except when we are out of coffee and toilet paper), folding laundry, sorting laundry, doing laundry, putting laundry away why oh why can’t cloths be disposable , dusting, mopping and vacuuming…

2. How long does it take you to fall asleep, and do you sleep through the night?

That depends, if my “hores” are “moaning” then I have bouts of sleepless-ness. Melatonin helps with these sometimes.

Mostly I have good nights. I did here a radio interview with Dr. OZ the other day. He recommend that 30 minutes before bedtime you turn off the television, lower the lights and read or listen to some soothing music. He said that the active brain stimulation of watching television or working on the computer right before bedtime is very anti-sleep inducing. It wakes the brain up and then it makes it even more difficult to fall asleep.  Make sense to me!

3. Which decade would you choose to exemplify your favorite fashion styles?

What decade are sweats, tee-shirt and flip flops?

4. What is your personal best dish to feed a crowd?

Personally I think Brunch is the best menu for feeding a large crowd. Is is so much more economical that preparing a dinner menu. Almost all of it can be prepared in advance and then all you have to do is heat and eat. I have a great stuffed French toast recipe or cheese grits casserole, shrimp & grits, or hashbrown casserole, or sausage and egg casserole. Toss in a huge fruit platter and a big basket of muffins and some orange juice and you’re in brunch heaven.

If I'm doing a dinner menu then pasta or some type of soup is the way to go. A big pot of spaghetti or tray of lasagna or baked ziti, huge tossed salad and garlic bread, or a big ol’ batch of chili with all the fixens and corn muffins.

Keep it simple! Make as much of it ahead of time as you can and then enjoy yourself!

5. Are you an impulse shopper? What was the last thing you bought on impulse?

No!!! I am not an impulse shopper, I’m not a shopper by any stretch of the imagination. Baring my last forced trip to the mall last week, the last time I stepped foot upon the hallowed halls of the mall was maybe a year or more ago, maybe even longer.

I HATE TO SHOP!

6. What is one (or four) wish you have for your own funeral?

First there will need to be lots of awesome music. There is a men’s group that sings at our church called Men of Praise. I want them to come and sing at my funeral and I want our praise team to come and rock the house as well. I want it to be a joyous celebration of life and more importantly Christ!

Second, this is my grandma coming out, y’all don't send flowers to the funeral home. Give them to me now while I can enjoy them. If ya have to do something then plant a tree somewhere or make a donation to your favorite charity or go help out at the local co-op.

Third, weather permitting I want it held at the campground, no panty hose or high heels at my funeral please. Toss those shoes off and let that sawdust get in-between your toes.

Fourth, the hubs and I have decided to be cremated. I want my ashes scattered someplace beautiful, I am not sure where but it will come to me, I’m sure.

7. If it's true that joy is in found in the simple things in life, what does your joy look like today?

Anticipating fresh corn and green beans!

Remembering these moments!

and looking forward to a visit with my little sweetie bubble covered muffin head!

8. What is your favorite type of bread?

Sourdough, cinnamon raisin, whole wheat lightly toasted with orange marmalade, basically if it comes in a plastic bag with a twist tie I'm in.

However I do have a certain fondness for homemade bread! When the urge strikes I pull the old sourdough starter out of the frig and then the bread flour begins to fly. The trick is to make a double batch because then you have two additional loaves to store in the freezer. The first loaf out of the oven never makes it past the first few hours.

Fresh homemade sourdough bread warm from the oven with a little fake butter….mmmmmmmm!

9. What trait do you fear developing the most? (Laziness, greediness, grumpiness, etc.)

Indifference.

10. What trait would you like most to develop?

Boldness/Courage. I can’t count the times when faced with a confrontational situation my mind simply goes blank. However several hours later I will come up with the perfect response for the situation.

I will say that the older I get the more my hormonal fluctuations have facilitated the occasional moment of boldness.

11. Which room in your house best reflects your personality? Why?

My kitchen. I just love it there. It’s big and a wonderful buttery yellow color. All my favorite things are at hand, my lemon reamer, my micro plane, my kitchenade mixer,  my cookie sheets that look like they were excavated from an Egyptian  archeology site, the Dutch oven my grandma gave me with the missing handle on the side, Grandma's cast iron skillet, my cook books, my pantry and my good chef’s knife!

It’s just my favorite room in the house! I’m not sure what that says about my personality other that I enjoy cooking. I get so much joy in the process of putting a meal on the table for those I love. I think more families would benefit by coming together around the table every night rather that heading to the ball field. Not that I think that athletic activity aren't important it’s just that sometime I think the focus needs to shift back to family.

Nothing say family and love more that sharing a meal around the table together.

It's not about the food it about what happen around the table!

12. How do you maintain balance in your life regarding, work, family, church, other organizations and activities, and blogging?

When I see the hubs rooting around in the laundry basket I know it’s time to do laundry. When my DD comes home from school I know the first question out of her mouth will usually be “Is there anything to eat and what’s for dinner?”

At that point I know it’s time to think about what is actually for dinner. Sometimes I will have it in progress but most times not.

I’m not a fly by the seat of my pants kinda girl by any stretch of the imagination but I also do not over structure my time either. I ask myself some questions before I launch into anything new.

1. Is this something that I want to do?
2. What are my motives?
3. What do I have going on this week? (if I have two or more things going on that week then that is a huge signal that the answer should probably be no to any additional activity!)
4. Will it conflict with anything that I have already committed to?

I learned a long time ago about the value of saying ‘NO” I also learned that “NO” is in fact a complete statement. It requires no follow up explanation as to why I have just said no! So if someone ask me to do something and I don't have time to or I just don't feel called to participate then ya know what?

It’s ok to say NO!

Try it sometimes!

I’m also past the stage where my children require my constant attention, THANK YOU JESUS! However, this also means that instead of my constant physical attention they require my constant prayer attention. I spend a lot of time on my knees praying for all aspect of my children's lives.

I no longer have a part time job outside the home, but when I did, I did find it necessary to be a bit more structured and have more of a plan in place. 

From the time the DD walk out the door to go to school until she walk back through it in the afternoon I have 8 full hour to devote to basically whatever I want to do.

Some days I spend blogging, some day I devote to working in the garden, other days I have to devote to household maintenance, paying bills, grocery shopping and all the other tedious household details and other days I cook, or read or whatever…

Most of my days start with me watching the morning news, drinking my coffee, checking my FB page, check my emails and making a few blog stops.

So…what was the question?

Balance oh yea!

If I feel overly stressed or out of balance then I know that I have not spent enough time devoted to what is really important. Prayer, bible study and worship. When my connection to the vine is weakened then every other aspect of my life suffers. I try to start most mornings off with a few minutes of prayer and quiet time. With the DD clamoring around the house having major teenage wardrobe or hair issues this has been a bit problematic over these last three years of middle school.

However next year begins a new ere.

High School.

The bus comes at 6:30 and then it’s all the quite time I can handle.

Can I tell you all that I am really looking forward to getting my early quiet time back!

I’m not sure that addressed the question of balance, I’m not even sure it made any sense what so ever!

It’s been that kind of day!

For more Random Dozen y’all head over to 2nd Cup of Coffee for more!

Remember that the ol’ laptop is still out of commission so I will pop over later today or maybe tomorrow morning to read all your random wonderfulness.

Blessings

R