Wednesday Hodgepodge

1.  I recently read here about four secrets to happiness from around the world. They were-

Overcome your fears by facing them head on, allow yourself to relax and reset, work to live versus living to work, and find the good in life. Not sure if these are the actual secret to happiness, but which of the four do you struggle with most? Which one comes most easily to you?

Of the four, I probably struggle the most with allowing myself to relax.  When I try to all I see is the dishes that aren't getting done and the laundry that still needs to be folded and the sheer amount of STUFF that is still everywhere in spite of trying to stay on top of it.

I feel like I'm pretty good at finding the good in life.

2. How would you spend a found $20 bill today?

Stuff for the Lord's Pantry at our church.

3. Ego trip, power trip, guilt trip, round trip, trip the light fantastic, or trip over your own two feet...which 'trip' have you experienced or dealt with most recently? Explain.

Does a round trip to a distant ophthalmologist's office count?  My daughter's eye exam was today and it's kind of a hike to get there.

4. If you could master any physical skill in the world what would it be, and how would you use that skill?

Probably bowling.  Then I would teach my kids.

5. As July draws to a close, let's take inventory of our summer fun. Since the official first day of (North American) summer (June 20th) have you...

been swimming? no--our trip to camp was just before the beginning of summer 
enjoyed an ice cream cone? yes, yum!
seen a summer blockbuster? I don't get to see movies these days, though I'm not sure one is out this summer that I'm interested in
camped? no, I like camping in the fall when it isn't overwhelmingly stuffy in the evenings
eaten corn on the cob? oh yes.
gardened? tried to--first the rain wouldn't stop, now it's bone dry outside.  I'll probably go water my plants tomorrow.
deliberately unplugged? yes and no...unplugging is hard for me!
watched a ballgame? several!  Love baseball.
picked fruit off the vine? yes, the raspberries in my backyard flourished this year.  They were faboo.
taken a road trip? to drop the kids off at camp? yes.
read a book?  tried to--three weeks from the library doesn't seem to be long enough in the summer for me.
Are any of these activities on your must-do-before-summer-ends list?
I am very hopeful that my son and I will finally finish The Hunger Games with my son.

6. The Republican Presidential candidates will debate on August 6th. What's your question?

What is wrong with the whole lot of you?

7. What's your most listened to song so far this summer?

I don't get to listen to a great deal of music, but a lot of Neil Young seems to show up on my playlist.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I've tried to make it a point of discussing my daughter's medical struggles calmly with my kids--I've worried that if they see me panicking, they'll panic too.

That sort of unraveled today, when we were on the way to Sunshine's eye appointment, and Scout asked why she doesn't go to the same eye doctor the rest of us do.  So I calmly explained that she has growths called gliomas on her optic nerves.

He freaked out and asked me how I could say something like that so calmly.  So I guess staying calm isn't the answer.