And the winner is...

NerdMom of Nerd Family. She correctly guessed that the line was from Prince's song "1999". Remember when 1999 sounded futuristic? Now it is, well, so 1999. Happy New Year!!!

The Answers, Part 3

Question #6 - What is my favorite beverage?
I like coffee, tea, and Coke, but I LOVE Pepsi! Most people got this wrong but understandably so considering my answer to question 3!

Question #7 - For Christmas I want a:
surprise. Getting something I don't know I want is way more fun than getting something I already know I want. Brad took this even one step further this year and got me something he knew I would want but that I didn't even know existed: a Guizmo.

Question #8
My Myers-Briggs personality type is:
Unfortunately the test gave you a point for answering ESFJ, which is wrong. The correct answer is ENTJ.

The rest of the answers tomorrow!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Here's the line for this New Year's weekend:

They say two thousand zero, zero, party over,
Oops, out of time!

Email me with your shot at the title and artist.

The Answers, Part 2

Question #3 - What indulgence did I give up for the past three years?
This is the answer that needs the most explanation. Some of you (you know who you are) will argue with me on this one. The correct answer is sodas. Technically: buying sodas. More technically: buying sodas for myself. Three years ago our church began a fundraising campaign for our new building. We made a three year commitment and I decided that we could give more if I gave up ordering a soda with dinner when we went out (something I loved to do) and buying sodas at the grocery store (something I rarely did). Being the rule-oriented person I am, I started to question my commitment: Did I give up sodas completely? What if I was offered a free soda? What about buying sodas for guests to my home? So I had to come up with some rules that were consistent with the purpose: Free sodas were okay. Buying sodas when expecting company was okay, but I would buy what they would want, not necessarily what I wanted AND I wouldn't open a bottle of soda for my own consumption but would drink it after a guest had opened it. Oh yeah, and when pregnant and nursing (21 of those 36 months!), sometimes I justified a soda purchase in order to keep myself hydrated. So there's the long explanation to the short question. Oh yeah--the three years is up and I'm buying and drinking lots of my favorite soda now. But which one is that? You'll have to wait for the answer to question number 6!

Question #4 - I met Brad in college:
We weren't in the same calculus class, Brad never lived in the dorms, and I never went to a frat party. We met at an InterVarsity event.

Question #5 - What is my favorite TV show of all time?
This was a tricky one considering how much I write about American Idol. And I like all the shows I listed a great deal. But Whose Line is it Anyway beats them all by a landslide.

More answers tomorrow!

The Answers

Here I will begin to give reveal the correct answers to my quiz. I'll do two or three at a time so I can finish them this week.

Question #1 - What is NOT one of my dream jobs?
Definitely medical researcher. I love science and all but am bored (and grossed out) by most things medical. And I'm not really big on the research part either.

Question #2 - How old am I?
31. No explanation needed.

And the winner is...

Santa Claus!!! Okay, so nobody got it this week. I'll assume it was because everyone was too busy celebrating, not because you didn't recognize it, right? Well that line is from U2's Christmas hit: "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)".

80's Mystery Song Lyric

While you're doing your last minute shopping/wrapping/baking, try to place this line:

They’re singing deck the halls
But it's not like Christmas at all

Email your answer here.

This Week's Most Sung Non-Christmas Song

"I Will Lift My Eyes" by Bebo Norman
iTunes link
amazon.com link

Quizzes, Contests, and Christmas

I didn't mean for the quiz about me to replace the weekly song lyric contest. I kind of forgot it was Friday. The next few Fridays may or may not have contests depending on my busy-ness with Christmas and then taking a week's vacation after that. Maybe I'll aim for Thursdays instead... We'll see. Anyway, I think I will reveal the correct answers to the quiz about me in about a week or so. But I'll just do one question at a time--that way I can give explanations and tell you the question I almost put in its place and what option E would have been had there been one... Not that I put that much thought into it or anything... Ummm, okay. So that's for next week.

The countdown to Christmas is on. Like everyone else, I get a little stressed around this time, mostly trying to figure out how I'm going to do everything that needs to get done (shopping, cooking, baking, gift-making, wrapping) when the schedule is packed with extra stuff (Christmas parties, choir rehearsals, and family get-togethers). Until the last day or so, though, I have really been enjoying the season, not worrying or stressing about anything. It hit me last night that I had four celebratory meals to prepare over the next eight days, no menus planned, and was going to be out of town for two of the days. And then there are those gifts I started making that aren't quite done. So I'm feeling it now, but it'll all get done somehow. Even if I have to forego the weekly song lyric contest. (Was that the sound of blog-readers everywhere crying?)

The Quiz of All Quizzes

All right faithful (and not so faithful) blog readers, here's your chance to see how well you know me! Take the official test!

Create your own friendquiz here

Jeremiah: A Comedy

When you read, do you see the characters and story play out like a movie in your head? I do. I thought everyone did but I've been told that's not true. Well, if you're one of those who doesn't, you're really missing out.

My Bible study has been on break since Thanksgiving so, for some reason that I don't remember or maybe never had, I decided I would use this break to read the book of Jeremiah. Even if you've never read it, you probably have the impression that it would be filled with doom and gloom, and your impression is right. But the thing is, the movie in my head, while dramatic at times, is mostly a comedy. I'm only about halfway through, but so far God has instructed Jeremiah three times to buy things. Now, remember, this guy is a prophet of an unpopular God, and his message is mostly "repent or die"--Not a fun guy to be around. Who would employ him?--I'm assuming this is his own personal money he's spending. I don't think he's getting reimbursed out of the temple's Prophetic Object Lesson Supplies fund. And it's not just the buying things: First God tells him to buy a linen belt and then tells him to bury it, ruining it. ("Thanks, God. I finally thought I might be able to dress with some style... But not now.") Then God tells him to buy a pot ("Great! That'll spruce the place up a bit!") only to be told to break the pot to pieces. Then God tells him to buy a yoke and put it on himself no less. (I imagine he's thinking "I am NOT going to destroy this too!") And while in an argument with the false prophet Hananiah, his opponent removes the yoke and, yes, breaks it. I can't wait to find out what happens next when God tells him to buy a field!

But it's not just that. As I mentioned, Jeremiah was not the most popular guy. In fact, many people wanted to take his life and he knew this. By no coincidence, often the recipients of the messages God spoke through Jeremiah were the very people who wanted him dead. Now I don't know how these messages got from God to Jeremiah to the recipient. Sometimes I picture Jeremiah first writing the message on a scroll to be read to the recipient, but sometimes I picture God telling Jeremiah to go the person but that Jeremiah doesn't actually know the message to speak until he's standing there with the person/people face to face. Either way, but especially with the latter, Jeremiah has to be rather uncomfortable delivering a message like this: “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ...You said to Zephaniah, ‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada to be in charge of the house of the Lord; you should put any madman who acts like a prophet into the stocks and neck-irons. So why have you not reprimanded Jeremiah from Anathoth, who poses as a prophet among you?'" How can that be delivered in a way that wouldn't be funny to watch, especially if Jeremiah wasn't completely prepared to speak about himself like this?

Anyway, I'm obviously enjoying this book. There's a lot of good serious stuff in there too, but I figured you'd get that stuff on your own.

And the winner is...

... April, 80's music queen! She recognized this week's lyric from "Sussudio" by Phil Collins. Congrats April!!!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

After taking a week or two off from this little contest, it's back!!! Here's this week's line(s):

She makes me nervous and makes me scared
But I feel so good if I just say the word

Do you know it? Email your answer (title and artist) to me here.

6 Weird Things About Me

I know.... Only six? I'm only listing six--there's not room for an exhaustive list. I was tagged by April which was a tricky (and successful) way of getting me to post something. So where do we start...

1. I hate to dress up--unless it's to really dress up. Give me jeans or an evening gown, nothing in between.
2. I studied computer science in college and loved every moment of it.
3. Along those lines... as a kid I loved math and thought that it might be hard to get a job using math because everyone would want that kind of job.
4. Instead of putting on a sweatshirt, I've wrapped a blanket around my shoulders to keep me warm because it seems cozier, even though it makes it hard to type.
5. I can write backwards (mirror-image) almost as fast as I can write forward.
6. I love wrapping Christmas presents.

I always wonder if what seems weird to me is what seems weird to others. What do you think? Do I qualify as weird?

The List

I just gave up looking for a list I made a few years back. If I had found it, I would have published it here. It was a list of things I was thankful for. A long list. Several (nine, I think) Thanksgivings ago I casually mentioned to my newlywed husband that I thought I might try to list a thousand things I was thankful for before the holiday arrived. (It's always been important to me to celebrate the meaning of each holiday in some personal way, not just focus on the fluffy stuff.) Probably in an attempt to save me some disappointment, my sweet husband (who knows me better now) told me that I wouldn't be able to make a list that long. Instantly I had a challenge that I had to conquer. I found a fresh legal pad and started writing. Page after page I wrote. Day after day I wrote. I'm not quite sure if I made it to 1000 or not but I know I had at least hundreds of things listed. I thought it would be neat to find that list and read over it. (And count it of course.) In the past nine years I have only accumulated more reasons to be thankful so I should be able to make the 1000 if I hadn't already. Maybe I'll have to start over. Should I go for 2000 this time? (Just kidding Sweetie!!!)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Don't forget to take a moment yourself during what might be a very busy Thanksgiving day and consider what a long list you could write as well!

And the winner is...

Andy Beltz!!! Congrats Andy--your 80's music knowledge paid off! Well, not in the sense that you actually win anything... This week's line was from a-ha's Take On Me, a definite 80's classic!

80's Mystery Song Lyric

Let's see if this week's contest goes better than last week's...

So needless to say I'm odds and ends
But that's me, stumbling away

Know it? Email me the title and artist.

My Last Week

I have really had trouble keeping up on the blogging! Mostly I just haven't had anything to say. (Which is an excuse even I don't believe.) This last week has been a little crazy: Last Tuesday afternooon my one-year-old daughter woke up early from her nap crying. I went in to see what was up and she was fine. I hugged her and laid her back down. About 20 minutes later more crying and I open the door to find--well, not a pretty sight. She was sick and I had a huge mess to clean up. My Fresno sister was supposed to be over at any minute with her newborn and my SoCal sister was about 30 minutes away from my house coming to visit with her baby boy. The 48-hour sister-fest I had planned on enjoying was suddenly replaced by a week of cancelled plans, staying home, and wondering who was going to be sick next. I am very glad to be well again. Spending an afternoon with stomach pains so bad you are hoping you throw up makes you appreciate your health once it's back!

Plans cancelled:
- Playing with nephews
- Staying up late with sisters
- Dinner out with sisters, mom, and families
- Baking Christmas cookies with sisters
- Choir practice (twice)
- Bible study
- Leading worship
- Dessert event at church
- Picnic at park with friends

Sickness schedule:
- Tuesday/Wednesday - baby girl
- Thursday/Friday/Saturday - me
- Saturday/Sunday - my boy
- Monday/Tuesday/??? - my hubby (though he doesn't seem to be getting the worst of it)

And the winner is...

...no one! Want a second chance? How about:

Dont worry 'bout nothing cause it wont take long.
We're gonna put you in a trance with a funky song

You say you still don't know it, huh? Really, I think some of you are afraid to own up to knowing the words to this New Kids On The Block song: "Hangin' Tough"! At 13 I never would have admitted to liking their music, but once my little sister finally stopped playing her Hangin' Tough cassette over and over, I did sheepishly ask to borrow it.

80's Mystery Song Lyric

I've got one for you this week! Here it is:

Don't worry 'bout nothing cause it won't take long

Email me the title and artist. First one with the right answer wins!