20 Questions Minus 8

A local monthly magazine features a local teacher in the community and asks the person 20 questions. It’s usually a fairly young person who is successful in the community. I decided to take the questions for myself. Since I’m a good 30 years older than the average one spotlighted and I’m not a teacher, I had to amend some of the questions to fit me.

If I hadn’t been a stay-at-home-mom, I would’ve been:

Probably working in an office and hating every minute of it. That’s what I did before I had kids. Hated it. Which leads to the next question:

Where did you get the inspiration for this:

It was my best friend Debbie’s mom, Lucille. She was a SAHM and I thought she led the perfect life. Her home was spotless. She was always dressed nicely. She did her ironing watching soap operas. That is exactly what I wanted. Of course the reality for me was a bit different….

When I realized I had “made it”:

We ALL got through the teenage years!!

Top 3 songs on your playlist:

I don’t have a playlist. I don’t have a thing to play songs on., other than a CD. So I will list my top 3 artists:

Rend Collective

Puddles Pity Party

Maroon 5

Single biggest indulgence:

Books, “cat stuff” and craft supplies

Ocean or river? Beach or campsite? Why?

River and campsite. Preferably amongst the pine trees. Love that kind of setting. And if I can’t have a cabin in the woods, a campsite with HOT SHOWERS would be awesome!

What my life will look like in 5 years:

I hope we are settled wherever Sarah and her family are, and can spend some serious time with Lia.

What’s the last book you read that inspired you:

“Fervent” by Priscilla Shirer. The subtitle of her book is “A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer.” I can’t recommend this book enough. And the movie she was in, “War Room” is also about specific prayer. Awesome movie.

The last thing I binge-watched:

I don’t really do that. I might watch several episodes of Monty Python in one sitting, but that’s about it.

One thing I’m exceptionally good at:

Listening. Need a sympathetic, absorbent shoulder or soundboard? I’m here.

One thing I’m especially bad at:

Patience! Waiting on the Lord is tough. I want results NOW!

I have zero tolerance for:

Incivility/mean spiritedness

Those are the questions that applied to me. There were some others that I’ve already dealt with on my blogs, such as favorite teacher and bucket list. Looking back, I know as a mom I made a lot of mistakes. But again, we made it through the teenage years! I take pride in that. And I think I am an AWESOME grandma!

The Purge Continues

I went through another ‘purge stage’ recently, trying to pare things down a bit more in prep for a future move. By no means do I subscribe to the KonMari way of thinking, although I do acknowledge that she has some pretty good ideas. Funny story/true story: I was explaining a bit about KonMari to a friend, how you touch or hold the item, decide if it brings you joy, if it doesn’t, you thank it and let it go. My friend stopped, looked at me and said, “You mean I can get rid of spouse/boyfriend?!?” I doubt that’s what Ms. Kondo had in mind…

I’ve pretty much gone through all my clothes, shoes, purses, etc by now. And the extra closet space has been nice. I tackled the shelf and floor of the front room closet and got rid of old gloves, ski caps, old table clothes. And bags of bags! I will not have to purchase any bags for shopping any time soon. I can use these bags until they wear out and then replace them with more of the same.

Then came the downstairs closet. I had already gone through the shelves some time ago and gotten rid of old games and stuff no longer needed/wanted. This time it was the floor and the craft drawers. I had gotten a couple of 3-drawer plastic containers and stacked them on top of each other for my yarns and other craft stuff. I also had a large box of yarn and a big bag of yarn on the floor. I went through all the yarn and put the larger skeins and balls in one box and the small ones and tail ends in another. I went through the drawers and consolidated some stuff and donated stuff.

Then came the biggie…from 3 different locations I dragged out 3 boxes of MAD magazines. I absolutely loved MAD magazine. Sometime after the late 70s the magazine changed, though, and I stopped getting it. It no longer appealed to me, and the work of the older writers and artists gave way to others whose work I didn’t care for. I skimmed through every magazine, remembering the highlights and keeping the favorites. I got rid of 79 magazines, leaving me with a small box of favorites.

I continue to go through books as fast as I can read them. The permanent ones are Agatha Christie and Terry Pratchett. The rest I am reading or skimming and donating. And all the while I am blowing raspberries to Marie Kondo….only 30 books, indeed!!! Blasphemy!!!