Random Dozen - And A Giveaway!

Sigh. Usually, I do the Random Dozen meme because the questions stir something in my spirit and I just gotta post answers. This time, I said I'd do it before I saw the questions...and I'm afraid my answers are going to be pretty lame-o. Not sure if it's because I am having a creativity drought, or if it's because I'm still feeling the effects of dental anesthesia (can I claim that if it's been 10 hours since the dental appointment?). Anyway, if you can endure to the end of my lame-o answers, there's a giveaway at the end for those faint not... ;)

You can click on the icon to go to the linkup and read, I'm sure, everyone else's stellar and amazingly witty responses...



1. What is your favorite Mexican dish?
It's gotta be chicken fajitas. Because you can order it in large quantities for carry-out, eat 'till everyone's full, then take the leftover veggies and chicken and throw it in bottled alfredo sauce and serve it over pasta the next night and the family thinks you're a chef!

2. When you were a kid, did you get started on your homework right away after school, or did you procrastinate?
Procrastination was and is my middle name. But don't tell my kids.

3. What is your favorite store for home furnishings?
Um, I haven't purchased any new home furnishings in so long I can't even answer that question. I like to go in about any home store and look around. Maybe someday we'll buy something new instead of getting things from friends who are moving and buying new stuff...

4. When you were young, did you like school lunches?
At $1.25 for a week's worth of lunches, it didn't matter if I liked them or not. It was what I got to eat. Beef stew was good...um, if I think hard, I might come up with something else that was good. Unfortunately, the salmon patties they served when I was in 1-3 grade were so awful that to this day I cannot stand the taste of salmon...

5. Is religion a crutch?
Um, I think of religion as practiced by most people as being mankind's schemes for trying to impress God. That's not so much of a crutch as it is a stumbling block, keeping people from genuine faith. God defines religion as, 'to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.' (James 1:29, AMP). Not much crutchliness there.[edited the next day...ooo! I don't normally edit these things, but I just had a flash of inspiration...'Religion focuses on what I do - faith focuses on what God does.']

6. In your region, what is the "big" (most popular in the community or state) high school sport?
Are you kidding? I live in Alabama. 'Nuff said.

7. Do you consider yourself rich?
Actually...yes. Compared to the vast majority of the people on this planet, I am incredibly, unbelievably wealthy. It humbles me and shames me a bit. Ouch.

8. Which of these would you have the best chance for success in administering:
A) CPR
B) Heimlich Maneuver
C) Changing a flat tire
I hope I never have to find out!

9. Which dance would you prefer to learn & why:
A) Salsa
B) Hip Hop
C) Waltz
D) Swing
Definitely D - swing. We did a wee bit of swing dancing back in the day when I was in high school and it was really fun....

10. What's the worst news you've ever delivered to someone?
This is the honest truth...I know I have given people bad news, but I don't have any real memories of it. I think I've blocked 'em.

11. Name something you learned in college that had nothing to do with classes or academics.
I grew up on a farm in central Indiana. I wore hand me downs and clothes I made. I really didn't pay that much attention to style or fashion or what I looked like. Was the garment clean and did it fit? That was good enough.
Then...one lovely spring day in 1978 I was at the drug store across campus from my dorm. I'd purchased a few things, and I was waiting on the light to change so I could cross the street and head back to the dorm. A really old (to my 18-year-old eyes, anyway) scruffy-looking geezer pulled up in a pickup truck and commenced to try to give me a ride. He was quite insistent that I should get in the truck and let him take me where I needed to go. I was polite, then I was annoyed...then I was scared. When the light changed, I headed across the street and went straight through campus instead of around by the walkways, so that he couldn't follow me. When I got to my room, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror...and then I took a long look at my appearance. I had on a fairly low-necked tank-top, cut-off shorts that, if truth be told, were pretty close to Daisy Dukes, and a pair of Dr Scholl's sandals. It'd never occurred to me what other folks might think to see me dressed like that.

I learned that day that what you wear can say more about you than you really want said.

12. New variation on an old question: If there's a song in your head that just won't get out, what is your favorite (or most repeated) line in that song?
I think the most often 'stuck in my head' song of late is a song that we've been doing for worship in church...Everlasting God (no, that's not our church...)...We set our hope on You, we set our hope on the Love, we set our hope on the One who is the Everlasting God...

Now, for the giveaway. Actually, it ties in a bit to my answer for number 5, about caring for orphans....

After our weekend services, we ended up with two copies of this book:

The second book was a freebie, and, even though we said we already had one, we were encouraged to take it anyway, and give it away.

Now, there are a lot of people I know who would like to have the book, but they already know the story of Stella's House and the Moldovan Orphans. I'd like to give the book to someone who hasn't heard of them before. So...if you leave a comment on the blog at any point in the next week and MENTION THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THOSE KIDS, I'll put your name in a hat and draw out someone to receive our extra copy of the book next Tuesday.

And, things being what they are (that is, knowing that only a handful of folks stop by here on a regular basis), if no one says they'd like the book, well, I'll find something else to do with it. ;-)