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Answer Me This . . . In Which I Don’t (But Now I Do)

by | Jun 1, 2014 | Answer Me This | 21 comments

 . . . answer anything. 
Here are this week’s questions! I’m, um, running late again. I just have a husband who keeps surprising me with date nights on nights I plan to blog. I KNOW, it’s terrible.
I’m going to throw this up for anyone who wants to link up tonight, and I’ll be back in a few with my answers and the tags and the questions for next week. So, do check back.

Updated! Now with all relevant information present and accounted for.

1. Do you have a smart phone?

I . . . do not. I am home almost all the time. So, I really don’t NEED a smart phone. My slightly contrary self takes a bit of pride in being the only person in Los Angeles without an iPhone. I just checked, the last other person without an iPhone just got one. So, I’m the only one.

I have this:

Don’t let all those little app-y looking things fool you. It just makes phone calls. And I can text on it. And it HAS a camera, but it’s really not worth bothering with.

Anyway. That’s why I’m not on Instagram.

But it’s PURPLE!

2. Which is your favorite meal of the day?

Breakfast. Breakfast. Breakfast.

All the yummiest stuff is for breakfast.

Oatmeal. English muffins. Bananas. Yogurt. Granola. Tea. Cranberry juice.

Hmm. That actually seems like a pretty lame list of stuff to get excited about.

But seriously, oatmeal is my favorite.

3. Shower or bath?

In 1799, Elizabeth Drinker had her first ever shower. She wrote in her diary: “I found the shock much greater than expected . . . . not having been wett all over at once, for 28 years past.”

That’s how I feel every time I take a shower. I find them just terribly unpleasant. The parts of me that aren’t in the water are always cold. And I just don’t like the spraying sensation.

A bath is just lovely. And I think that Mrs. Drinker would agree, just more natural.

4. Think of a person you love. How many days have you been in love with that person? (Don’t worry, this site will do the math for you. And, hey, now you can order this card!)

I’m not good with dates. And I’m not the type of gal who keeps track of the anniversaries of things like first dates and what not. So I don’t know the exact date I fell in love with my husband. I knew I was going to marry him the first time I saw him, which would have been in September.

But I can say with utmost certainty that I was in love with him when he took me to the Marine Corps Ball.

Obviously. The uniform. The flowers. I mean c’mon.

So that would have been on or about November 10th (the Marine Corps Birthday, of course) 2000. And that makes 4952 days. Lovely.

We’ve done quite a lot with those days. Here’s to thousands more.

5. What’s the best church you’ve ever been inside?

This question is a plant, of course. Since I’m in the middle of recapping our recent trip to France and seeing all the lovely churches.

In case you missed any of them:

FRANCE RECAP #1 IN WHICH WE GO TO CANADA, NOT FRANCE

#3: IN WHICH WE GO TO LISIEUX, NOT THE ZOO, MUCH TO FRANKIE’S DISAPPOINTMENT

We’ve also visited extraordinarily historic and beautiful churches in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. And I visited the Holy Land with my parents, and saw amazing churches there. But this trip to France really solidified in me a slight preference for the more modern 19th and early 20th century mosaic basilicas over the carved stone and marble cathedrals of earlier centuries.

I love them all. But those are the ones that really sing to me.

Also, I’m kind of a fruit fly and tend to live in the now. So, even though I have seen really, really beautiful churches all over the world, I’m just going to pick my four favorite churches from France.

I’d have to say #4 The Rosary Basilica at Lourdes,

#3 The Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris,

#2 The Basilica of St. Therese in Lisieux,

and my favorite all time: Sacre Coeur in Paris.

Tied for my not-favorite are the L.A. Cathedral with it’s purposeful lack of right angles (why? WHY!) and all churches that look like spaceships.

6. Happy Feast of the Visitation (on Saturday)! Has anyone ever come to help YOU?

And happy Feast of the Ascension on Sunday for all us chumps who didn’t get to have it on Thursday. Better late than never!

Yes, people have come to help me. And I have needed it. 
My parents and my in-laws have always been really generous with their time. It was really all the six of us could do to try to look after baby Jack those first few weeks after he was born. And I’ve always been able to count on my parents for two weeks of in my house help after every single baby. What a sanity-saver that has been.
My third was born three days late in wintery Chicago, after my parents had come from San Diego to stay with us a week or so early, just to be sure they were there. About four days after the birth, my dad announced they’d probably be heading back home. And I burst into tears at the breakfast table. My mom assured me they would stay two weeks.
I wrote here about some of the other great stuff people have done for me (including the one time I really did enjoy a shower).
And I’ll never forget the family friend who, when she found out that Jim had been diagnosed with cancer, just called up and said that she’d rearranged her work schedule and planned to come over on Wednesday afternoons. She came every week, and the kids love her so much that now, seven years later she still usually comes once a month!
In case you’re not on Facebook, here are some graphics I made to celebrate recent feasts!

I hope your Feast of St. Joan of Arc and the Visitation were lovely!
And one I didn’t make. Just ’cause.
Happy Sunday!
For next week I’m tagging:

Lauren from WaldenMommy. Post to check out: Respecting all stages of life.


and

Ashley from The Wannabe Catholic. Post to check out: Family Size: Large Marges and Tiny Tims


Next week’s questions for them and for your are . . . 
1. Do you have a land line?
2. What is your least favorite food?
3. What’s on your summer reading list?
4. Is there something that people consistently ask for your advice on? What is it?
5. What’s the most physically demanding thing you’ve ever done?
6. How do you feel about massages?

Next week’s installment will go live at 10pm Pacific Saturday night, and will be open until 10pm Wednesday night.

So, please, answer this week’s questions for yourself in the comments. If you have a blog, answer the questions there, link back to this post, and link your blog post up below. Thanks for playing along.

21 Comments

  2. Christine
    Christine on June 1, 2014 at 10:32 am

    When you said breakfast, I was all "It certainly is!", but then you went on to say all sorts of things like oatmeal and granola and yogurt and I was all, "Huh. That's not why." The meme about eating the same thing made me laugh. So true.
    Beautiful photos of the churches.

  3. Lindsay
    Lindsay on June 1, 2014 at 11:33 am

    Sacre Coeur is my favorite too. And, um, 2010? I'm terrible with numbers and I don't know your life but are you maybe off by a decade or so?

    • Betsy
      Betsy on June 1, 2014 at 11:56 am

      I was thinking the same thing! Did you mean 2001, Kendra??? Because if you really mean 2010 then my husband and I have been married longer than you and I'm preeeeetty sure that's not the case 🙂

    • Ann-Marie Ulczynski
      Ann-Marie Ulczynski on June 1, 2014 at 12:11 pm

      Yes. I regret the fact that I had to challenge my brain with MATH before 8 am on a Sunday trying to figure that out!

      Yes, yes, yes with breakfast. Oatmeal, but with brown sugar, apples, pecans, dried cherries, and cinnamon. So, basically, the oatmeal being the glue to hold all the other yummy stuff together to get it to my mouth 🙂

    • Lindsay
      Lindsay on June 1, 2014 at 10:11 pm

      I just thought maybe it took you a really long time to warm up to him. 😉

  4. Erica Saint
    Erica Saint on June 1, 2014 at 1:31 pm

    I love oatmeal, but I like it with a little salt and a little coconut oil. Very plain. No sugar for me, please.

  6. Heather
    Heather on June 1, 2014 at 3:11 pm

    I have the EXACT same phone. Like you, I'm always home and it just doesn't make sense to have a fancy phone. Mine is a hand-me-down from my mom. My parents both have smart phones and they crack me up sitting there staring at them like teenagers!

    Is that date correct for when you fell in love with your husband? You listed it as November 2010. I think that may be why the number of days was less than you thought.

    Can't wait to hear the rest of your travel stories!

  7. Elizabeth
    Elizabeth on June 1, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    I don't even have a cell phone, so I win ;). I haven't had one for years, and I really don't want to spend the money. We have a land line with unlimited long distance, since we are far from family. I do hope to get an emergency pay-as-you-go phone in the near future — I see the value in having a phone for emergencies or a quick text for change of plans. My husband has a pay-as-you-go phone, so occasionally he turns it on if he knows I won't be able to reach him by email via our home Internet. We maybe spend $100/year on cell phones.

    For relatives who do not have land lines, we rarely talk on the phone — Even in this high-tech age, my sisters and I all find cell phones to offer significantly lower quality conversation experiences. And I'm 33; I'm not particularly tech resistant. I just don't see the value in spending all that money.

    I help a law office file bankruptcies, and I am always astounded at what people pay for cell phones on a monthly basis. Cell phones and cars! There is value to having fancy phones, but I think the current prices far outstrip the value.

  8. Amanda
    Amanda on June 1, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    I just succumbed to a smart phone too late this past fall 🙂 It took a little getting used to and I refuse to download games or fancy apps (besides fertility friend and blogger) much to the chagrin of my children. I do love, love, love the camera function. No it doesn't take awesome photos but neither does our lame regular camera. The thing is, I am not the type of paparazzi mom who takes her camera everywhere just in case I might see something sweet or beautiful or new. But I always have my phone. So when Tahlia tried out a swing for the first time and, unlike her stick-in-the-mud-brothers, LOVED it and giggled and smiled and kicked her little feet, I could snap up several pictures.

    Also, after seeing your picture of the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris it is now my favorite church ever and I must travel to Paris just to see it. Seriously, it looks like heaven on earth.

  9. Dianna@The Kennedy Adventures
    Dianna@The Kennedy Adventures on June 1, 2014 at 6:50 pm

    I love the story of you and your husband at the Marine Corps Ball! For us, I knew I was in love with my husband when we went to Derby. (the Kentucky Derby, for all you non-Louisville folks!)

    Love the pictures of the different chapels. GORGEOUS!

  11. M.E.
    M.E. on June 1, 2014 at 8:44 pm

    Answer me this:
    1) smart phone – yes 🙂
    2) breakfast – fave meal of the day
    3) shower or bath – love 'em both
    4) 8730 days – 23 years, 10 months, 25 days
    5) hard to pick just one church as THE MOST beautiful, but follow this link to see one of my all-time favorites – the Rosary Chapel by Henri Matisse in Vence, France. http://theculturetrip.com/europe/france/articles/matisse-s-masterpiece-vence-s-chapelle-du-rosaire-/
    5) My wonderful, lovely mother always helped me wit everything & especially, when the children were born. Love her so much (swak)!

  12. M.E.
    M.E. on June 1, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    I hope you can follow this link to a YouTube video by the BBC which is about Matisse's chapel; in it you will see how much the narrator is moved by being there. I found it to be true on my visit there, too. Enjoy & happy weekend to everyone!
    http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=APaXLXAVkmQ

  13. M.E.
    M.E. on June 1, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    If you'd like to try this link, the video I referenced above is embedded with the article here:

    landofcompassion.com › 2012/06/29

  14. bobbi @ revolution of love blog.com
    bobbi @ revolution of love blog.com on June 1, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    I don't care much for breakfast food in the morning but at least every other week I cook breakfast for dinner. Weird. Also, I just saw on facebook that Andrea M and I both had the same exact number for days we've been in love – 5,638. Freaky. Lastly, I am glad I waited until now to read your post because I kept clicking on a link which led me to another link and another. I have been reading your backstory – how you met your hubby, baby stories, cancer battles… the cancer battle especially touched me. It is so encouraging to hear of someone else's husband who fought and won. Brian has 2 1/2 cycles left until he is done with chemo. Still praying. Anyway, thanks for sharing so much. Loved all the trip photos too! Jealous. 😉

  15. Abby S.
    Abby S. on June 3, 2014 at 6:26 am

    1. Smart phone – yup, and love it!
    2. Favorite meal is probably dinner. So many, many good things to eat.
    3. Showers only, please. Also, I don't really like hot tubs.
    4. 6822 days, at least from our first date. Mike and I have been together half our lives this year. Crazy.
    5. Love the St. Louis Cathedral. Lovely, lovely mosaics.
    6. My mom comes when I have a baby, and lots in between births. She's amazing with my kids and does all sorts of things I don't have the patience to do with them (marathon monopoly games, anybody!?!).

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Hi! I’m Kendra.

For twenty years now, I’ve been using food, prayer, and conversation based around the liturgical calendar to share the lives of the saints and the beautiful truths and traditions of our Catholic faith. My own ten children, our friends and neighbors, and people just like you have been on this journey with me.

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