Meme, Meme, Meme!

I'm still a little wired from class (though I'm about to fall dead asleep at any moment, I think), so I thought I'd finally get to the two tags I had from Sunny. (Sorry I took so long, and I'm also sorry if I'm doing this on the wrong blog.)

Meme Number One: Five Favorite Parables!

I actually avoided this one for a while because I have SUCH a hard time with it. I can tell you the parable I have the most trouble with, but not so easily tell you my favorites. But I'll try.

1. The Seeds and the Sower (sorry, but I'm a wee bit too tired to look up specific chapter and verses) - I like this one because it makes clear that we must persevere in order to be saved.
2. The Lost Sheep - I am, quite frequently, that lost sheep. Know what the shepherds would do to sheep who got lost constantly? They'd break their little legs so they couldn't run, then carry the little guy around until he healed. By the time it was over, the sheep didn't want to run away because he had to let the shepherd carry him and he just got used to depending on him. So, if you're in a tough spot because you've kept running away, just think of it as Jesus breaking your legs. Well, sort of. You know what I mean, right?
3. The Workers in the Vineyard - This one actually bugs the heck out of Soccer Dad. Business guy that he is, it's tough to see why that last group, the ones who came in and did five minutes of weed-pulling, get paid the same as the bunch that came in at sunrise and broke their backs all day long. But I noted this Sunday that this is quite like the Lord's Divine Mercy! From what I understand, Christ told Saint Faustina that He offers His Mercy to each and every dying soul. And so those souls who accept at that moment of death are like the guys who pull weeds for five minutes and get a full day's wage. And, considering I came in at sunrise, took an extra-long lunchbreak and about a dozen smoking breaks along the way, I'm pretty glad that my reward for persevering will be the same as someone as saintly as Saint Therese or Blessed Imelda.
4. The Vineyard Owner's Son & the Rotten Tenants - I can't tell you how many times I heard this before I realized it was about how Israel treated God's prophets and that Jesus was predicting His own death. Every three years until I was about 35 or so. Yeah, I'm dense. But, then again, every time I hear the story of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac (and I hear it at every Easter Vigil!), I think I get something new from it.
5. Finally, the one I struggle with so much that it's on my favorites list ... The Prodigal Son - I am TOTALLY the older son here. I'm the older sibling and everything, too. I am overjoyed, as a mother, when the younger son comes home. Being a parent has changed me in how I see this parable today. God is slowly softening my heart towards His story. But I still struggle with the idea that that younger brother grouched at his father for his inheritance (early!), took off, spent it on debauchery, and then got a party when he came home. Every time we get to it in our cycle of readings, I pray that I'll understand it better and come to terms with it. After all, I'm not just the older son. I'm prodigal, too.

Now, for Meme Number Two: Questions About Me!

This one isn't hard; I'm just swamped with work lately! Here goes!

The rules are:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:

• Ten years ago I was vomitting constantly. (I was only a few months pregnant with Big Girl. I'd stop - and be off the Thorazine - just after Mother's Day.) I was also trying desperately not to fail Beginning Teacher Plan (again).

Five things on my To Do List today: (not in any particular order)

1. Sleep some
2. Study for my class
3. Help the girls with Religion and Greek Mythology
4. Fold that last bit of laundry
5. Oh! Soccer practice! If it's not raining, I'll bring Big Girl there and make a few Rosaries, as long as it's not too cold for me to move my fingers.

Snacks I enjoy:

• I have been on a Wheat Thins binge lately - reduced fat and/or Sun-dried Tomato and Basil
• Raspberry yogurt with chocolate chips
• chocolate chip cookies
• kettle corn
• pretzels

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Pay the debts off for our family plus our extended family
• Buy a farmhouse with a minimum of 5 acres
• Buy back my minivan (Hey! I sold it! Guy's coming Thursday to pick it up and hand over the rest of the money!)
• Pay off the parish's debt and add copious amounts of money to the stained glass window and decorations fund
• Get a ton of stuff for our crisis pregnancy ministry
• Invest well and live off the interest
• Go to see the Vatican
• Give away as much as I could!!

Three of my bad habits:

1. Procrastination
2. Lazy (at least I'm honest about it)
3. I steal ideas from other peoples' memes. (Both of the first two were actually Sunny's! But they are my bad habits, too.)

Five places I have lived:

1. Fort Bragg/Fayetteville, NC
2. Roselle Park, NJ
3. Toms River, NJ (Go Indians!)
4. Lake Mary, FL
5. Southwest Virginia (Sorry, can't be too specific! Blue Ridge Mountains is as good as you get.)

Five jobs I’ve had:

1. Library page (responsible for shelving books after they were checked in, and no, I wasn't really supposed to sit and read for 45 minutes at a time)
2. Waitress at Perkins, The Office Lounge (TR, NJ), TGIFridays (Altamonte Springs, FL)
3. Retail sales at two different stores (neither of which is known by their original name)
4. Teacher's Assistant/Interpreter and (later) just plain Interpreter/Live Captionist for the Deaf
5. Third Grade Teacher

I am breaking the last rule by leaving an open tag. Just leave a link in the com boxes if you want to play along with either one!

Please browse my eBay items. Thank you.