Five Easy Questions

I was reading a friend's blog post in which she was sent the following five questions to answer. My understanding is that she was to then forward them to someone else. In an effort not to make another feel uncomfortable if they were not interested in answering, she left it as an open invitation for those willing to share. So, here are my answers to the "five easy questions".


1. What was I doing ten years ago?

As I think about this question, I realize that not much has changed in the last ten years. Ten years ago my girls were five and eight and required a little more entertainment and supervision from me, but I am still rearing kids. I am teaching the same classes at the same school. No, I am not one of those teachers that did a lesson plan the first time I taught the course and have not changed it since. Things change on a semester to semester basis.


BK and I had just published Holding Your Prayers and it is still selling quite well today. Our spiritual director told us back then that things like this usually run their course rather quickly. He was wrong, but that is OK; he was right on about many other things.


None of the pets that we have now did we have ten years ago - definitely no donkeys, or llama or even cats back then - and we live in a different house. Ten years ago we were just beginning the process of selling one house and designing and building another. We are now at the point of having to start those repairs on the then new house that are needed due to the effects of time.


2. What are five things on my to-do list today?

• Rewash the load of clothes that I put in the washer Saturday and make sure I get it in the dryer this time.


• spend some time cleaning my office


• ask Bk to help me fix the mistake I have in my lace shawl (which she did . . .several times:))


• respond to my sister-in-law's email about a good time for her to come visit this month. This is a tough one. Brooke does not come home for a few more weeks. Erin is going on a mission trip. I am going on a retreat. And, the window of opportunity for when there is no dog hair on the floor and no cat hair on the bed in the guest room is very small.

3. Snacks I enjoy

I enjoy almost any kind of snack. In fact I am willing to, and did tonight, make a meal of snack food. Tonight for dinner I had chips and pico de (or is it da? I only eat it. I usually don'thave to spell it too!) gallo, sliced Edam cheese and whole wheat everything crackers, and fruit salad. I like pretzels, hummus and celery, apples and peanut butter, almonds, and I am also a sucker for chocolate chip cookies.

4. Places I have lived.

Because I am a Navy brat, I have lived on both coasts and in Hawaii. The various states include: Florida, South Carolina, California, Rhode Island, Hawaii, Virginia, and briefly Delaware with my grandparents while my dad was stationed overseas. I have lived in Texas 25 years, more than half my life though I really don't have an answer to the question, "Where are you from?" My people, at least by genetic association, are from Delaware but I really only lived there for six weeks. I graduated from high school in Virginia Beach, Va, but I am not from there. I have not been there since I graduated. We moved right after graduation and I broke up with my high school boy friend so I had no reason to go back. And even though I have lived in Texas for a quarter of a century, my friends who are native Texans make it clear to me that I am a transplant and am not from Texas.

Where would I like to live.

Because I moved so much as a child, I learned to adapt to new places rather easily. I honestly believe that I can be happy any place that I live as long as there is a book store, a knit shop, and a few good people around. I do love the mountains, though I have never spent an entire winter in a mountainous region. That may change my mind. Really, I am perfectly happy right where I am - out in the country with cows, horses, bullfrogs, and coyotes but close enough to Dallas to enjoy the advantages that a big city has to offer. I must say that if given a choice, I would not live in Dallas or any of its suburbs.

5. Things I'd do if I were a billionaire.

I am bad at money questions. There is really nothing that I need or, right now, really want. I suppose I would have the house painted and maybe have a real concrete driveway poured - not because I want a concrete driveway, but because I would not have to pull the weeds out of the gravel driveway. Maybe I could just hire a yard/driveway man.

Truthfully, I would probably buy things for other people. That is a lot of money and no one person needs that much. If I had it, I would buy each of you something you want. I would give more of it away to charity - Doctors Without Borders, Franciscans International, agencies that do research on cancer, multiple sclerosis, and lupus.

Oh, I would buy Erin her own Wii because Brooke is taking hers (the only one we have right now) back to school in the fall. Erin and I don't want to hear the "sad music" for not having exercised every day.

There you have it, simple answers to five easy questions.