Phisch's blog

QotD: Homes Sweet Homes

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 06:44:06 -0500

How many houses have you lived in? How is where you live now different from where you grew up?

Let's see: five houses, one apartment, one condo. The houses: the one I grew up in, the one I moved to when I was 16, the home I moved to when I got married (my MIL's), the one we owned in California and the one I live in now. Then there was the apartment and then our first purchase of a condo.

I must say, with respect to the purchases of a condo and two houses, all of them were perfectly timed by God financially and otherwise.

How different is my house now from the one I grew up in? The house I grew up in was very different. It had four bedrooms then changed to five bedrooms after renovation. Although, one bedroom was used as a library instead of a room because it was on the side of the house that got the punishing afternoon sun. That house had a lot of room to play, at least two acres of property and, when I was little, most of that was dedicated to a garden. We had a pool and a pond and a playscape and lots and lots of trees to climb. Since my grandma had botanists in her family, the garden was full of unusual plants and trees, including fruit trees (mango, papaya, lanzones, mabolo, duhat, aratiles, kamias, guava, santol). We enjoyed having a variety of things to just pick, wash and eat. Except for the peppers...I had a bad experience with a chili pepper plant. Our house was surrounded by a high cement block wall that separated us from the outside. Behind our house was a tall manufacturing plant wall. We had a door in our wall to the plant since my dad once owned then co-owned it before he closed it down (or sold it, I don't know really). When I was little, I would "take him" to work every morning and then run back inside the house.

My home now is a lot smaller. We have a tiny lot compared to the home I grew up in but there are no high cement block walls, just a fence. We probably have as much living space as I had when I was little and my kids don't have to share a room. There's room for them to play out front and neighbors to play with and if they want to go swimming, we go to a community pool. We can hear the bells and sounds of school during the day, but since we home school those sounds don't mean as much as they could. I like the smaller size because I can't imagine having to clean more than we have now!

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QotD: The Meanest Teacher

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sat, 31 May 2008 10:31:14 -0500

Who was the meanest teacher you had in school?

4th grade history teacher. I don't know her name, but I remember her face. Her idea of teaching was to yell at us and slam her ruler on the board (it was really a yardstick). She would write everything she said on the board so at the end of class it was full of her handwriting from top left to bottom right. It's a wonder I remember her face at all since we spent most of our time looking at her back, writing in our notebooks and looking at the board.

Well, at least the class was mostly quiet.

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QotD: Ten Years From Now...

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:31:35 -0500

Where do you want to be in ten years?
Submitted by baby3194.

Selfish me: in heaven enjoying God and nothing but.

Pragmatic me: here, enjoying God and doing what He wants me to do without complaining.

Most of the time, Prideful Me says "I am learning to be content" but then reality bites and I hear myself grumbling and complaining. Ah! I see where the kids get it. Then I have to tell God I'm sorry and thanks for being my Heavenly Father and above and beyond all my gripes and worry.

So: in ten years, the where is anyplace, really, just so long as I have learned to be truly content.

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QotD: Oh Sorry, Did I Offend You?

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:52:04 -0500

Who was the last person you offended?
Submitted by May.

Oh good gracious. Any number of people I talk to or read my blog will probably be offended by something I said. And I was just getting over the hang up of offending people, too. Heh.

But seriously, it's a talent I have. I've come to be quite familiar with the taste of shoe leather and it's not like chicken.

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QotD: Almost Famous

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:18:43 -0500

What do you want to be famous for?
Submitted by bluemoon07.

Famous? Absolutely nothing. Ironic in a sense, since I have a blog, but I really don't like the idea of being followed around or people coming up to me and all that. Wallflower, background, silent partner: all concepts I love. Is limelight-a-phobia an official diagnosis? Because I think I might have it.

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QotD: Here's the Skinny...

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:39:24 -0500

Have you ever been skinny dipping?

No. Never had the guts to, doubt I ever will.

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QotD: Stranger in a Strange Land

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:01:06 -0600

When you travel, do you use a guidebook so that you're well prepared, or do you go without much prior knowledge so that you're surprised?
Submitted by Jack Yan.

Guidebook? I scour the internet, Craigslist forums, and whatever online resources I can find online. If I can find a forum locals use, so much the better as they would know the ins and outs of their hometown, what's a must-see and what's a tourist trap. We travel with too much information and then pick and choose what we do once we get there. I do try of making a point of getting lost at least once because that's how serendipitous things happen.

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QotD: On Blogging

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:45:40 -0600

What inspires you to blog?

My awful memory. I have to write things down or else they are forgotten. It's important for me to remember when my kids did what, who we saw, what we learned, and how God is working in and through us.

At the time when I decided that I would move my blog to Vox exclusively (instead of use Word Press), I read through a lot of my old blog posts and had a good laugh---and cry. So many memories! It's nice to be able to share them with my family who isn't near, of course.

It wouldn't be entirely honest to leave out the fact that, ahem, this is also a venting and plugging place. A girl's gotta have a place for that!

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QotD: Today is the Greatest...

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 16:44:59 -0600

What's the best thing about today?

1.) I'm alive.
2.) I'm Alive.
3.) I feel so much better! That's the nice thing about spending two days in bed when you're sick.

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QotD: Get Me Outta Here

nobody@vox.com(Phisch) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 20:30:33 -0600

If you could teleport to any place in the world right this second, where would you go?

I was going to quote to you Revelation 21 but decided against it because my reasons are totally selfish. I wouldn't mind going to the Philippines to visit my sister&family and dear friends. But you know what? I have to say I'm really happy to be in my chair, at my desk, setting up to knit :D

oh wait! that's selfish, too!

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