Cooking style

Tagged for this by Adriane. Seems like a good Mother's Day blog topic. (Okay, I started it on Mother's Day, then got too sleepy to finish.)

1. What's your cooking style?

Home cooking with an experimental twist. I like to play with my recipes, adding and subtracting ingredients. I like to try to recreate meals we've had in restaurants. I learned the basics pretty well from my mom and my grandmothers: how to prepare meat in different ways, good gravy and white sauce, the right techniques for baking, preparing fresh vegetables, homemade salad dressing, etc. I've learned to spice things up, turn that white sauce to a bechamel or make red gravy, and to experiment with the basics I know. I'm a big fan of comfort food, and a lot of what I cook would fall into that category, but I love taking the mac and cheese with Velveeta that I grew up with and changing the flavor with different cheeses and spices. I love making soup, just throwing things into the post and seeing what comes out.

2. What inspires your kitchen?

My mom and my grandmas, the cooking shows I've been addicted to since I started watching Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet when I was a kid, and the family I have the privilege to feed.

3. What is your favorite kitchen tool or element?

It's a tie:
My stockpot is used almost almost every day for either soup or pasta, but my KitchenAid stand mixer has changed my life. Seriously, baking is so much better with my monster mixer.

4. Best cooking advice or tip you ever received:

Taste while you cook. Taste before salting. Taste taste taste.

5. Biggest challenge in your kitchen:

Time. I just don't have enough time to spend in my kitchen.

6. Biggest indulgence:

Quality ingredients. I spend money on good meat, quality cheeses, good spices, excellent extra-virgin olive oil, farm-fresh eggs. etc. I keep all of the extras in my pantry that I might want: pesto, tapenade, artichoke hearts, olives, roasted red peppers, good vinegar, decent wine. There are very few times that I am willing to sacrifice flavor for price.

7. Dream tool or splurge:

A set of Le Creuset pans. I have one. I love it.

8. What are you cooking this week?

Not much. This is a weird week. The boys are gone for a few days. We have things going on Wednesday and Thursday nights and a garage sale Friday and Saturday. There will not be a lot of cooking. Last week I made portabella mushroom ravioli with a light bechamel sauce, salad and bread for Monday night. On Cinco de Mayo I made beef and chicken tacos. I made clam chowder Wednesday night. On Thursday night I made chicken cacciatore and garlic mashed potatoes. And Friday night I made smoked salmon caesar salads.

9. What cookbook has inspired you the most?

Hmmmmmm. I like to read lots of cookbooks and cooking magazines, but I don't really have any one that has inspired me. I have gotten the most use--by far--out of my Red Plaid Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.

10. What's the most memorable meal you've cooked in this kitchen?

That's hard. There have been so many good meals with good friends and family in this house. I guess the winner will have to be the whole beef tenderloin that I made for Christmas when Nathan and Katie Fischer joined us in 2007. It is the first and only one I have made and it was perfect! We also had twice baked potatoes, salad, bread, and a really good Pinot Noir.

Consider yourself tagged, if you would like to be.

Books and more books

Saw this on Facebook, but decided to do it on my blog instead. I'm not sure where the list came from, but it's books, so I'll go for it.

X means I read it.
S means I started it.
A number means the number I've read in the series.

[X]Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
[X]The Martian Chronicles (Ray Bradbury)
[X]Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)
[X]Ender's Shadow (Orson Scott Card)
[]House of Leaves (Mark Z. Danielewski)
[3]The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
[S]The Hobbit (Tolkien)
[S]The Silmarillion (Tolkien)
[]Dune (Frank Herbert )
[X]Beowulf (unknown)
[]The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Laurence Sterne)
[2]The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
[X]Till We Have Faces (CS Lewis)
[X]Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë)
[X]Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
[4]Twilight series (Stephenie Meyer)
[7]Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)
[]Les Miserables (Victor Hugo)
[x]Let Freedom Ring (Sean Hannity)
[x]Deliver Us from Evil (Sean Hannity)
[]Who's Looking Out For You? (Bill O'Reilly)
[]The Forgotten Man (Amity Shlaes)
[X]Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll)
[X]Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll)
[X]Gulliver's Travels (Jonathan Swift)
[x]Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
[x]Great Expectation (Charles Dickens)
[x]The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens)
[x]A Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens)
[]David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
[]A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
[]War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
[X]Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
[X]Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
[X]The Prince and the Pauper (Mark Twain)
[X]Catch 22 (Joseph Heller)
[X]The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
[6]Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
[2]Any Sherlock Holmes (Arthur Conan Doyle)
[]The Lost World (Arthur Conan Doyle)
[X]War of the Worlds (H.G. Wells)
[X]Time Machine (H.G. Wells)
[X]The Invisible Man (H.G. Wells)
[]Journey to the Center of the Earth (Jules Verne)
[]20,000 leagues under the sea (Jules Verne)
[]From the Earth to the Moon (Jules Verne)
[X]Around the World in Eighty Days (Jules Verne)
[X]Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling)
[X]Treasure Island (R.L. Stevenson)
[]Kidnapped (R.L. Stevenson)
[X]Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (R.L. Stevenson)
[X]Animal Farm (George Orwell)
[]The Princess Bride (S. Morgenstern/William Goldman)
[]The Princess and the Goblin (George Macdonald)
[]At the Back of the North Wind (George Macdonald)
[]the Club of Queer Trades (G.K. Chesterton)
[2]any Father Brown (G.K. Chesterton)
[]Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)
[X]The World of Pooh (A.A. Milne)
[]The Never Ending Story (Ende)
[X]The Grapes of Wrath (SteinBECK) (Steinbeck, and EW.)
[X]The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
[S]For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
[]The Once and Future King (T.H. White)
[X]The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame)
[4]A Wrinkle in Time (L'Engle) [I AM COUNTING THIS AS A SERIES OKAY] [OKAY.]
[X]Watership Down (Richard Adams)
[]The Plague Dogs (Richard Adams)
[X]1984 (George Orwell)
[X]Brave New World ( Aldous Huxley)
[4]Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket/Daniel Handler)
[]Artemis Fowl (Eoin Colfer)
[X]Betsy-Tacy (Maud Hart Lovelace)
[]Inkheart trilogy (Cornelia Funke)
[X]Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine)
[X]Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Patterson)
[X]To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
[]Great Gilly Hopkins (Katherine Patterson) (Stupid book.)
[]All Creatures Great and Small (James Herriot) [ALSO A SERIES]
[]Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh)
[X]Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
[]The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man (Lloyd Alexander)
[]The Prydain Chronicles (Lloyd Alexander)
[X]Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis)
[]Dracula (Bram Stoker)
[]Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury)
[all]any Agatha Christie (just count 'em up)
[X]A Little Princess (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
[S]The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
[X]The House of Mirth ( Edith Wharton)
[X]The Scarlet Pimpernel (Baroness Emmuska Orczy)
[X]Captain Blood ( Rafael Sabatini)
[]Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
[X]Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
[X]Rebecca (Daphne du Maurier)
[X]The Magnificent Ambersons (Booth Tarkington)
[ALL]Peter Wimsey mysteries (Dorothy Sayers)
[10+]Any P.G. Wodehouse
[X]Sarum (Edward Rutherfurd)
[X]Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
[X]The Metamorphoses (Ovid)
[]The Metamorphosis (Franz Kafka) (PARTS, IN GERMAN)
[X]Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare)
[ALL] all other Shakespeare (just count 'em)
[]The King of Elfland's Daughter (Lord Dunsany)
[]The Char-Woman's Shadow (Lord Dunsany)
[]Wonder Tales (Lord Dunsany)
[]The Worm Ouroboros (ER Eddison)
[]Mistress of Mistresses (ER Eddison)
[]Lud-in-the-Mist (Hope Mirrlees)
[]Jurgen (James Branch Cabell)
[]Something About Eve: A Comedy of Fig-Leaves (James Branch Cabell)
[]The Silver Stallion (James Branch Cabell)
[]The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian (Robert E. Howard)
[]The Bloody Crown of Conan (Robert E. Howard)
[]The Conquering Sword of Conan (Robert E. Howard)
[]Savage Tales of Solomon Kane (Robert E. Howard)
[]The Well at the World's End (William Gibson)
[X]Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
[X]Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe)
[X]The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck) (SO GROSS)
[X]Peter Pan (James Barrie)
[]The Search for Delicious (Natalie Babbitt)
[X]All Quiet on the Western Front (Remarch)
[]M.A.S.H. (Richard Hooker)
[6]The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
[X]Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
[]2001: A Space Odyssey (Arthur C. Clarke)
[]The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Patricia C. Wrede)
[X]The Pushcart War (Jean Merrill)

Interesting book list. I bet it was made by a homeschooler.

Quite a few of my friends have done this one, and since I'm busy with the buying and wrapping of presents and baking of cookies, I up for the lazy blogger thing.

The idea is to bold the ones I've done. So here goes.

1. Started your own blog (um, yeah)
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (I played flute in elementary and junior high school)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (No, but I have on Lake Michigan)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning (!st & worst, Bruno's in Lafayette, Indiana)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice (I still can't believe we didn't take a gondola ride!)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (My family has been in this area for seven generations)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (trying)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David (in Florence!)
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving (but I've been parasailing!)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (if fish counts)
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (Harry Potter!)

Okay. enough about me. Any of you who decide to do this, be sure to leave a link.

Seven weird random things

Cheryl tagged me to tell you seven weird, random things about me. Random is usually something I'm good at, so I'll give this a try.

1. I have the same recurring dream as Cheryl. (That is weird!)

2. I attended four colleges and had six different majors. I graduated with almost 150 credit hours.

3. All of my children have dark hair and brown eyes. All seven of my nieces and nephews (not step) have blond hair and light eyes.

4. I love to dust and iron. When I was a kid I'd beg for things to iron. (I'd also beg for math problems to do,so you know something was wrong.)

5. None of my children were born in the same town. (And they were born in three states.)

6. Eating oranges makes me feel sick, except when I was pregnant. Then they helped my morning sickness.

7. I was a lesson junkie when I was a kid. I had lessons in tap, ballet, tumbling, piano, guitar, flute, voice, tennis, swimming, ceramics, bowling, breadmaking, trampoline, roller skating, and horseback riding. There may be more that I'm forgetting.

I'll tag a few people, avoiding those already tagged. But if I don't tag you and you want to play, do it! Bethany, Mossback Meadow, Jan, Shawn, and Jonathan.

My kind of award

Really, what better blog award could an unschooler get? Thanks, Meg. I always learn something from your blog, too.

This award didn't come with specific instructions for passing it along, and there are so many of you that I learn things from, so I will just name a few. I know some of you aren't the award passing out type, and that's okay. And I'll leave some really good ones for those of you who are to name.

Cyberstones, and not just because he's my pastor. Thinking-out-loud. Rebellious Pastor's Wife. Concordian Sisters of Perpetual Parturition. Bi-Coloured Python Rock Snake. Father Hollywood.

So honored

Someone thinks I'm brillante. Cool. Especially since it's Meg, who is one smart cookie.

So now I need to pass this on to seven other bloggers. The only other rule is that I need to link back to the one who gave it to me.

This is going to be really, really hard. I have way more than seven that come to mind, so I'm going to pick the seven of those who I think are the most likely to actually do this themselves, and are not currently on vacation. This is probably going to be heavy on people who write well about theology, because that's my writing weakness, and they leave me in awe.

1. Susan's Pendulum Homeschool mom and my unschooling role model. I badgered Susan to start a blog for years. She did, and it's one of my favorites. Interesting. Often reflective. Eclectic. Smart. And yes, she writes well about theology.

2. Rebellious Pastor's Wife She is younger than me and has younger kids, but I often find myself looking up to her, because she's so darn wise. And yes, she writes well about theology.

3. Concordian Sisters These ladies are one of the newer additions to my blog addiction. They are proof that being mothers at home with young children doesn't mean they can't think. And when they write about theology, it's good.

4. Elephant's Child So young. So smart. So original.

5. thinking-out-loud Pastor Rick Stuckwisch is not only a top-notch theologian, but also a devoted husband and father of a lovely family. His blog is the most likely to make me cry.

6. A Round Unvarnish'd Tale Cheryl is another smart, talented homeschool mom who always has something interesting to say.

7. Principled Discovery My one blog from outside the Lutheran blogosphere. Dana's has become my favorite homeschooling blog. She gets it.

So there you have it. Brilliant bloggers.

Ten years ago and more

Rebellious Pastor's Wife Tagged me for this one. Good thing, because I am tired and feeling a bit blocked today.

What was I doing ten years ago?

I was in the process of getting settled in a new area. We had just moved to Columbus, Indiana a couple of months before, so I was finding out about things like homeschool groups, choir for Bethany, soccer teams, etc. Andrew, who was two, spent most of the summer in a figure-eight brace for his broken collarbone. Colin was working Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning in Chicagoland and then coming home to Columbus for the rest of the week. Bethany was away at camp in Wisconsin.

What are 5 things on my to-do list for tomorrow?
(tomorrow is very abnormal)

VBS
Have company (my in-laws and Sean & Anne are coming)
Send an overdue birthday card
Give myself a pedicure
Send email to some of my high school classmates about reunion plans

Snacks I enjoy:

Triscuits & cheese, fruit, homemade cookies

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

Fund college for my kids & nieces & nephews
Buy a condo on the beach in Florida and open it up to our friends and family
Buy a big lake house and open it up to our friends and family
Build a house in the country with a wonderful gourmet kitchen and room for everyone to come over
Rehab houses and sell them with no interest loans
Give lots to charity

Places I have lived:
Indiana: Decatur, Anderson, Bloomington, West Lafayette, Columbus, Fort Wayne
Illinois: Lake in the Hills, Vernon Hills, Island Lake, Spring Grove
Topeka, Kansas
New Berlin, Wisconsin

Jobs I have had:
Wendy's
Dormitory Food Service
Movie theater: Concessions
Usher
Assistant Manager
Bookstore Clerk (Three different times/places)
Banquet Server (Two times/places)
Shoe Department Sales/Assistant Manager
Department Store Receiving
Cocktail Waitress
Bartender
Weight Watchers Leader
Market Research Interviewer
Waitress
Tutor
House cleaner
Real Estate Agent
Independent Sales Rep (Books)
Real Estate Assistant
Mystery Shopper
Self-employed

Six people who I would like to know more about:

I know this has made the rounds pretty well, but here are a few possibilities:
Bethany
Beth
Mel
Julie

Life Soundtrack

My daughter took the liberty of doing this for me after she saw it on a friend's blog. It is pretty entertaining to see the results. So if you do it and post it, let me know!

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
Here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...
7. Include commentary

Opening Credits: Rapper's Delight, Sugar Hill Gang ( I love this! What a bizarre song for my opening credits!)

Waking Up: I Can't Fight This Feeling, REO Speedwagon (In a way this fits, because I ALWAYS try to fight the feeling that I need to get up.)

First Day at School: Good Riddance, Green Day (The time of your life??????)

Falling in Love: The Party's Over, Journey (If you only knew.)

Fight Song: St. Elmo's Fire, John Parr (Perfect, because Colin hates everything about St. Elmo's Fire.)

Breaking Up: Kyrie, Mr. Mister (Well, I love the song...)

Prom: We Belong, Pat Benatar (Prom as cult event)

Life's Ok: Kokomo, The Beach Boys (Soooooo Perfect!!!)

Mental Breakdown: The Search is Over, Survivor (Hmmmmm)

Driving: Don't Stop Believin', Journey (This is one of my favorite songs to drive to!)

Flashback: Hold On Loosely, .38 Special (Again, perfect.)

Getting Back Together: Danny's Song, Kenny Loggins (There's a miss.)

Wedding: Rockin' Into the Night, Survivor (LOLOLOLOL)

Birth of Child: Love Hurts, Nazareth (YEAH)

Final Battle: Mother, Father, Journey (Good angsty song for final battle. I think it means I lose.)

Death Scene: The Long Run, The Eagles ("I used to hurry a lot, I used to worry a lot....Oh, I didn't get it. It was high time I quit it.")

Funeral Song: Who Says You Can't Go Home, Bon Jovi (What could be better, since I don't have "Behold a Host Arrayed in White" on my iTunes?)

End Credits: Believe, Cher (Upbeat, you can dance to it, and in Heaven I know I'll be dancin'!)

Book thing

Okay, RPW tagged me in the book meme that's going around. She would catch me on the couch where I have no interesting books at hand.

Instructions
1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

From Indiana Off the Beaten Path. "That was before Ladyhawk came down with a mysterious illness that even the famed Mayo Clinic couldn't treat. In desperation, they turned to an alternative treatment that involved a special macrobiotic diet. Ladyhawk recovered, and to supply the special foods that she needed, the Youngs opened up a health food store in a converted stable behind their home.

Tagging: Bethany, Meg, Laura, Me

More lazy blogging

This looked like a fun diversion. My friends RPW and Cheryl both answered these on their blogs, so I thought I'd try it, too.

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged

Two names you go by: Jane and Mama

Two things you are wearing right now: cream fisherman sweater that is a hand-me-down from my youngest brother-in-law and pink turtleneck

Two of your favorite things to do: read and hang around with people I like

Two things you want very badly: more time and more sleep

Two favorite pets you have had/have: Ben, Bethany's three year old cat and Shakes (short for Shakespeare) the cat that I had in high school

Two people you think will fill this out: Bethany. Other than that I don't know.

Two things you ate today: FiberWise Cinnamon Clusters Cereal and vanilla yogurt

Two people you last talked to today: my mother and Patrick

Two things you're doing tomorrow: going to the BMV and getting an external hard drive

Two longest car rides: Spring Grove, IL to Siesta Key, FL and Spring Grove to Hightstown, NJ

Two favorite holidays: Easter (with the Vigil!). Nothing else really competes.

Two favorite beverages: Alcoholic--a good top-shelf maragarita. Non-alcoholic: good dark coffee

Christmas questions

Got this from my friend Meg's blog. Since I've been a bit blog-challenged lately I decided that these questions were just the thing I need.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper.

2. Tree - Real or Artificial? Real. We go to a local tree farm and pick the perfect tree.

3. When do you put the Christmas tree up? Sometime between the 20-23.

4. When do you take the tree down? After Epiphany.

5. Like Egg Nog? Love it. Especially spiked and topped with real whipped cream and fresh grated nutmeg.

6. Do you have a nativity scene? A couple of them

7. Favorite gift received as a child? I'm not sure. Probably the baby doll and carriage that I got when I was about four. Or maybe the guitar that I got in seventh grade.

8. Hardest person to buy for? My youngest brother-in-law. He's single and really lacks nothing that he wants.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Bethany. Hands down.

10. Worst Christmas gift? Can't say. :)

11. Mail or email a Christmas Card? Mail. Ideally. When I get them done. Which isn't often.

12. Favorite Christmas movie? White Christmas

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? The day after TG

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? shhhhhh--yep!

15. Favorite food to eat on Christmas? Cookies!

16. Clear or colored tree lights? colored

17. Favorite Christmas Song? probably Hark the Herald Angels Sing

18. Travel during Christmas or stay home? Stay home as much as possible. For the first fifteen years we were married we lived out of state most of the time, so we had to travel, attend less-than-stellar Christmas services, and cram in tons of stuff into a couple of days. We vastly prefer to be at home, relax and enjoy our church services!

19. Can you name Santa’s reindeer’s? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph - but then Meg had them done already.

20. Angel or Star on tree top? Angel, now, but I want a star.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? All of the debates, blather etc., about the secularization of Christmas. The commercial Christmas season is secular. It's become a part of the American culture. But nothing anyone else does or doesn't do can secularize the season of Advent or the Christ-mass that we celebrate. I enjoy both parts for what they are!

Now the tagging: I'm feeling lazy. I may come back and do real tags later, but for right now, if you read this, consider yourself tagged.

Blue Tea for Five

Tagged! My fellow Hoosier homeschooler Meg tagged me with this really cool meme.

It was started by a lady who has a blog called Blue Tea. (Thus the name!)

According to the original poster, the rules for this meme are: “Devise a list of 5-10 courses you would take to fix your life. It’s more fun to be in classes with friends, so include one class from the person who tagged you that you’d also like to take. Tag five.”

Meg's classes all look really cool, but I think I'll take this one: Carpentry and woodworking class. This is an area where I have very little skill. I've done a bit of refinishing, but I have more that needs to be done.

What else would I take?

Oh, my......this is tough!

I would take Guitar. I haven't played for years and I miss it. I would even cut my fingernails.

Excel. Yes, I know it isn't exciting, but it would sure make my treasurer job easier if I could do Excel without calling my husband for help.

German. The class would need to include reading old German writing. That would be quite helpful in my genealogy research.

Church history. This is an area where I really feel a lack of knowledge. I know I could just read some books, but sometimes it's fun to just have someone tell you.

Organic gardening. Yes, our garden did fabulously well this year. That was beginner's luck! I would love a class where someone help me know the best time to plant certain things, how to have nice healthy compost, how to deal with certain pests, etc.

Sewing. Sewing, sewing, sewing.

Digital photography. I do okay, but I would love for my pictures to be better, and I'd love to learn how to use all of the functions that the camera has.

Finally, although I believe it is hopeless and likely pointless, I would take a class in Organization.

Now for the tags. Hmmm. This is hard. The good thing is, I know you all will tag everyone I couldn't. Melynda. Barb TEG. Lora. Susan. Cheryl.

Tagged!

I've been tagged by my friend Melynda, which is an awesome way to prod a lazy blogger into blogging.

The rules:
1. Link the person who has tagged you.
2. Tell seven true things about yourself.
3. Tag seven new people.
4. Leave a message with the person you have tagged so they know about it. I am supposed to name seven truths about myself............. and tag seven new people.

Hmmmmmmm, seven true things about me.

1. I need coffee to function at anything resembling an effective level.

2. I love to buy gifts.

3. I would rather read than just about anything.

4. My house is a wreck. (Hmmmmm, could there be a causal relationship between those last two?)

5. I wish that I could go to the beach, even just for one day.

6. Then I could read on the beach.

7. I do not color my hair.

7. My house is a wreck.

Now for the tags. I haven't been getting around to blogs much so I don't know who else may have been tagged. If you read this, consider yourself tagged. Except for Bethany. You are tagged.

Yellow, hmmm...

Saw this on Barb's blog. Apparently we're even the same color.

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

Personal Style

I was tagged for this meme, about one of my favorite topics, by Not Worthy.

Personal Style Quiz
Rules: You have to choose one of the two. You cannot answer "neither" or "both." You can indicate that you like both or neither, but you must state a preference.

Animal fiber or plant? Plants all the way, with the exception of leather on my feet. (I'm allergic to wool.)

Natural or synthetic? Natural

Ornate or simple? Simple

Color or Neutral? What is black? I think that's neutral.

Pastel or Vibrant? Umm--this depends on my mood, really! Mostly pastel, I think.

Blue/Green or Red/Orange? Blue/Green

White Gold or Yellow Gold? White Gold

Gems or texture? I like sparkle, but most of mine comes from silver. I think I'm more texture.

Watch or no-watch? Watch

Comfort or fashion? Another hard one....I love fashion, but comfort usually wins in the end.

Trendy or classic? Classic

Cables or lace? Both add bulk. But I love my one cotton cable knit fisherman's sweater. And I loved cable knit knee socks. :)

Heels or flats? Heels

Flip-flops or sandals? Sandals--flip flops make most people shuffle.

Skirts or pants? It used to be pants, but its more and more skirts for me. (Have you ever noticed that as women age skirts are much more flattering than pants?)

Geometric or floral? floral

V-neck or turtle-neck? V-necks are my friends.

Skulls or butterflies? Butterflies

Loose or snug? Loose.

Long hair or short? On the shortish side. I wish I could do long, but my hair doesn't.

Headbands or barrettes? Headbands

Shoulder bag or handbag? Shoulder bag!

Now I get to tag some people. Three people immediately came to mind: Bethany, Favorite Apron, and Hoffman Homemaker.

What do I want to be when I grow up?

I was tagged by RPW for this meme, which actually looks harder to me than some. Here it is.... "What did you want to be when you were 5, 10, 15, and 20?

When I was five I am pretty sure that I wanted to be a teacher. I made my three year old brother and my mom be my students so that I could play school. I also wanted to be a ballet dancer. That was before the I understood the reality of the body type that I possess. It is a type that has served generations of sturdy German farm wives very well. It is not a ballet body.

When I was 10 I wanted to manage a department store because my friend Jandha had the best clothes and her dad was the manager at J.C. Penney.

When I was 15 I wanted to be a writer.

When I was 20 I still wanted to be a writer.

Now I'm 42 and I still want to be a writer. I've written a lot and have even been paid for some of it, but I want to do more.

Who can I tag? I don't think that there are any Loopers left so I'll go outside the Looper bounds and tag Jen and Bethany.

Tagged: Seven Things

My friend Jennifer tagged me. I am supposed to write seven unrelated, random, uninteresting things about myself. Then I need to tag seven other people.

1. In the last 40 hours I have driven over 600 miles, been sunburned, drenched by rain and food poisoned.

2. When I was in junior high I wrote with a purple Flair and dotted my i's with a little flower.

3. I am allergic to the smell of lilacs.

4. I prefer silver jewelry to gold.

5. I like to write on yellow legal pads or graph paper.

6. I went to Girl Scout camp when I was a kid.

7. I met my husband when he was our family's paper boy.

I tag Melynda, Julie, Polly, Bethany, Marie, Lora, and Susan.

What's in your fridge?

There was an article in the Indy Star about what was in Quinn Buckner's fridge.

I can't resist. This has all the makings of a great meme. I'm sure that all of us have lots of stuff in our fridges, so just list five things in each category. Pick what makes your fridge original, embarrassing or average. It's up to you.

On the Shelves: eggs, flax seeds, salsa, tortillas, leftover pasta

Drinks: Milk, Honey Brown, Baileys, Guiness, Mountain Dew

In the Cheese Drawer: shredded cheddar, sliced swiss, parmagiano reggiano, Gourmandise with kirsch, colby

In the Produce Bin: celery, romaine, tangerines, turnips, cabbage

In the Door: salad dressing, Red Gold Ketchup, Frank's hot sauce, half & half, dijon mustard
In the Freezer: Breyers Vanilla Bean ice cream, pecans, slivered almonds, brats, broccoli

If you read this, consider yourself tagged. Let us know in the comments if you played.

HT: Opening Arguments