Wednesday Hodgepodge - Lenten edition

Once again, Joyce has come up with some interesting questions ... and I can't wait to see what everyone else's answers are.  If you'd like to join us, click on the button above.


1. The season of Lent begins on March 9th this year...do you participate and if so, in what way?
I've never attended a church that has observed Lent, so I've never participated.  

2. Traditionally pancakes are eaten on the day known as Shrove Tuesday which is the last day before Lent (March 8th this year). So....butter and syrup? Blueberry? Chocolate chip? ewww, no thanks!! What's your pleasure when it comes to eating pancakes?
Butter and syrup.  I do like blueberry pancakes, but only if the blueberries are in the pancake batter, not served on top of the cooked pancake.  I will say that I prefer waffles over pancakes.

3. Spring is coming. (It is coming, right?) What's your favorite springtime flower and do you suffer from seasonal allergies? Two questions I know, but they're lightweights.
I like tulips ... because they are sure signs that spring is here.  I have a lot of spring-blooming plants in my landscaping ... azaleas, dogwood tree, flowering pear tree, flowering cherry tree, lilac, and a couple of bushes that were here when we moved in.  This fall I'm definitely planting some bulbs for flowers next spring! 

I'm not certain whether I suffer from seasonal allergies.  I never used to, but the last 2-3 falls, I've had sneezing/congestion with no other symptoms.  I wonder if I'm developing a seasonal allergy.  Ah, gotta love this getting older business.  :-(   

4. "Our opinion of people depends less upon what we see in them than upon what they make us see in ourselves." Author unknown. Agree or Disagree? Why?
Yes.  :-)  Seriously, I suspect that initially, we base our opinion of others on what we see in them.  But as time goes by and our relationship grows, we find that our opinion of them is based on what we see in them and on what they make us see in ourselves (both good and bad).

5. Since it's "March" and also the season of Mardi Gras....have you ever been in a parade? What's the best parade you've seen?
I walked in a Halloween parade one year.  The town we used to live in had parades for almost any and every reason, and one of the annual parades was a Halloween parade.  Our church had a float, and I walked alongside it, tossing candy to the kids in the crowd.

I've not seen many parades, but the "best" I've seen would have to be the evening parade at Disney World when we were there with DD & her family almost 3 years ago.  I'm not a big parade person, but seeing it through the littles' eyes made it awfully special. 

6. You would jump up and down and shout for joy right now if someone told you___________?
that DD & her family were going to join us on our trip to Florida (Disney World and the beach).  I'm working on getting them to go with us next year. 

7. How clean is your car on the outside? Inside? Is there junk in your trunk?
My car is fairly clean on the outside (because I ran it through the car wash about a week ago).  I'm sure that it's not quite as neat on the inside; the Ts had dinner in my van on the way to youth groups a couple of weeks ago, so I'm sure that there are some crumbs and empty juice packs scattered amongst the books and toys in the back seats (a small price to pay for time with the Ts, I'd say).  The trunk area of my mini van is empty.  

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I am so ready for spring.  I'm tired of the cold wet weather that has replaced the cold snowy weather ... I'm ready for warm sunny weather, for walks through the neighborhood, for dinner cooked on the grill and served on the deck, for windows open, for short-sleeved shirts ... I'm ready for spring.