Birthday Open Mic: Answers! (Part Two)

In case you missed it (or forgot all about it, like I nearly did), back on my birthday I asked for questions and got some great ones! I answered some random ones right away...one more a little later...and now here is another group:

If somebody gave you $100 to blow on yourself today, what would you do with it? NO paying bills, etc. You have to spend it on YOU and YOU alone.

This is a tough one! I am a saver, not a spender, so what I’d really like to do with it is bank it and deduct from it gradually, serendipitously, when I see or think of something that would be a nice, pampering little luxury. I like luxuries that last: a pair of super-soft socks or cute summer sandals, a new pair of earrings, Bath and Bodyworks lotion, an Old Navy parka that makes me feel like a teenager, a really good kitchen knife. Those are all items I own and enjoy regularly.

You might think I could blow it all on books, but the truth is, I’d rather read books from the library and only buy the ones that I know I really want to own. Right now, in house-selling mode, I can’t think of any books I really need to store and move; plus, I have plenty sitting on my shelf that I haven’t read yet.

I know! I bet I could spend it on audiobooks--although I already own what I would consider essential listening: the unabridged Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Screwtape Letters read by John Cleese, P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories and most of Focus on the Family's Radio Theater productions. But I could pick out a few more of those, plus the audio version of the unabridged Chronicles of Narnia--if I really HAD to spend that $100 in one day!

What's your favorite song?

I’ve been trying, honestly, to think of an answer to this question, and I despair. I enjoy so many different types of music, yet I can’t even think of a favorite in each genre!

So I will just throw out a few of my favorite albums and composers:

Eva Cassidy (Songbird)

Sixpence None the Richer

Chris Rice

Bach (especially the Goldberg Variations)

Handel (everything)

Mozart (especially Eine Kleine Nachtmusic)

Manhattan Transfer (especially their Best of… album)

Yes (90125—high-energy housecleaning music!)

Basia (Time & Tide—ditto)

Musicals—of course (especially Les Miserables, Anthing Goes, and anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber)

What makes you most happy?

--beauty, when I take time to enjoy it: art, music, little "islands of beauty" around my house (like my orchid in bloom right now)

--when my older kids interact kindly and positively with their younger siblings

--the 5 and under crowd: their soft smooth skin, sparkling eyes, and kissable little bodies

--pulling into the parking lot at Panera, in anticipation of time alone with God and my own thoughts

--settling down in my seat in church and waiting for the service to begin

--the twinkle in my husband's eye when he looks at me and I know that the next thing out of his mouth is going to be "You are so beautiful"

Tell us a little about where you live now and where you will be moving to. Is there a huge contrast? Are you a country or town girl at heart?

Where I live now is basically upper middle class suburbia, though we don't live in a typical subdivision but in an older portion of town that feels like Main Street USA. There's a little more of a blue collar feel to our particular neighborhood too, despite the relative affluence of this part of the country. Though it's been nothing like growing up on a farm, as I did, I feel so blessed that our kids have had the run of the neighbor's two acres, climbing his trees, picking his raspberries, and building forts in his bushy wilderness.

Where we're moving will be quite similar, I think--but of course it depends on where we actually buy a house, what our property is like, who our neighbors are--and how close we are to the lake!

Country or town girl? As they say, you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl. I LOVE the family farm where I grew up and part of me would love to live in the country again, if my whole family were all excited about it and eager to pitch in with the work that a farm requires, but that doesn't really describe us. So I'm happy being a town/suburbs kinda girl for now. I love being within blocks of the library, a grocery store, a park, a Walgreen's, our mechanic and my haircut place.

Tomorrow: The final installment, in which I'll answer the last two questions--about how we disciple our kids and handle some of their tough spiritual questions.