Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Indescribable Chit-Chat: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Want to join the party?  Go on over to From This Side of the Pond  for the Hodgepodge questions.

  

April 22nd is Earth Day. Are you inspired by nature? In what way?
For me, nature inspires my art.  On of my favorite projects are still life paintings of flowers.  There are so many different kinds of flowers that it will take my whole life to learn to paint just a fraction of them.   Nature inspires worship.  Seeing God's hand in the beauty around me shows His creativity and His utter awesomeness.

Down to earth, four corners of the earth, move heaven and earth, not have an earthly chance, or salt of the earth...which earthly idiom have you most recently encountered? Explain.
I'd say "down to earth" and "salt of the earth."  I've been spending a lot of time with my friend Sue.  She's one of my God-grandmothers who is very down to earth and tells it like it is.  There's nothing pretentious about her.  She's also one of those salt of the earth people who loves to help people however she can. 
Share one piece of advice you might give a newly engaged couple.
 
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READ THIS BOOK AND DO IT!  Most marriage squabbles happen over money!

When did you last engage someone to perform a job, task, service, home repair, or improvement? On a scale of 1-10 (ten being the best) how would you rate their work and/or your satisfaction with the job or service provided?
Don't get me started.  Every time I call the maintenance department for my apartment complex, I never know what kind of service I'll get.  They've got one guy who works hard to make sure things are done right.  I rarely get him.  Then, there's the other guy who doesn't want to fix anything, speak to you, or pull up his pants (eww!).  This is the same guy who told me I didn't have a leak under my kitchen sink (btw-I'm still collecting buckets of water underneath my non-dripping sink) and told me I just needed to keep the sink dry.  Do what?  It's a SINK!  The two best repair people I've ever dealt with for other issues are Scot, who has a bicycle repair shop, and Steve, who runs an appliance repair business.
When did you last find yourself engaged in small talk? Are you awkward or an expert or somewhere in between?
I volunteered at Sav-A-Life today.  We're professional chit-chatters.  Along with the work we do, chatting with my friends is one of the things I look forward to every week.  I'm pretty good at it.  Give me long enough and I can always find the funny in it.
What was the last historic place you visited?
Well, I visit the refurbished train depot on the Ladiga Trail quite often.  I've often wondered if I should sign the guest book every time I use their bathroom?

The world would be a better place if we just ______________.
Love God and love one another.
Insert your own random thought here.
This is the first time in a long while that I've had a little bit of the blues.  Not depression or anything--thank God--just a little bummed.  I think it's a combination of looking at everyone else's good times from Easter weekend (family joy and stuff), an upcoming list of church fellowships that I long to be a part of but can't, the anniversary of an event I'd rather not relive, and the onslaught of the "week of woman."  Oh joy.  Hopefully, this funk will be gone by morning.
 

10 comments:

  1. I agree with that Dave Ramsey advice! So many couples enter marriage already in debt. Others are under the impression that if they can afford monthly payments on something, they can afford it. Wrong.

    Enjoyed your Hodgepodge!

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  2. Love your advice to the newly engaged : ) Or anyone really! I hope you find your way back into the sunshine soon. Some seasons are so hard.

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    1. Thanks, Joyce. Usually winter is the hardest season for me. I love spring, but all this stuff piling on all at once just got to me a bit.

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  3. I love the Chris Tomlin song. It's one of my favorites. And how can we not be inspired by the beauty of God's creation? We serve a big God.
    Hope things are looking brighter to you soon. We have sunshine today, and that always helps me.

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    1. Thanks, Susan. This funk won't last long. Just a bump in the road. Things are looking up.

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  4. You definitely CANNOT go wrong with Dave Ramsey...excellent advice!

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    1. Thanks. I love what he says about his show: "Giving you the same financial advice your grandmother would...only we keep our teeth in."

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  5. Very insightful, as always. You always HAVE found the funny in everything: it's one of the things I really like about you. Your maintenance guy who said to keep your sink dry??? He MUST be related to Nancy Pelosi!!! Don't let him NEAR your home!!! Love you, and God bless you!!!

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    1. If I had a choice, I wouldn't let him come "fix" anything else.

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