What is more shameful is the number of Christmas coffee mugs I own.  I had to store all of our regular mugs.  And actually, well, all of our glasses to fit the Christmas mugs.  I don’t even collect Christmas mugs.  I’m not sure how this happened except we’ve probably drank WAY too much gluhwein at one too many Christmas markets and NOT returned the mugs (don’t worry, that’s not stealing… you pay a deposit).

Soooooo, if you can guess how many I own, I’ll SEND YOU ONE!  I might send you one if you just take a guess and I like you.  Or if you don’t guess at all.  Guess what you’re getting for Christmas this year???!!!!

Before you read further, you should probably read this article.  If you are lazy like me, however, you won’t click on that link so here is the super-duper-condensed version:  Language affects the way we think.

I’m reading the article and I’m thinking to myself, yes, yes, YES!  My PROBLEM, is actually NOT a problem.  I simply don’t want a German soul.

Admittedly, I do like to borrow a bit of German in times of chaos and when disciplining.  Like, if my kids are running away from me and I need them the listen to me and to STOP, I will scream HALT!!!!  The funny thing is, they haven’t responded to my repeated screams of “stop!”.  ”HALT!!” always works.  Max dog was the same way.  If I told him to get down or stop in English he never listened to me.  I tell him “AUS!”  and he sits at attention immediately.  And really, try screaming a squeaky English “get out!” at your kids.  Then go for the German “RRRRRRAUS!”.  It’s incredibly satisfying.

You can really get behind your words in German.  I find that I simply cannot pronounce anything correctly unless I bring my voice down an octave and yell.  Talk like that for a while and you really do get visions of grandeur and world domination.  Suddenly I understand the Germans’ need for telling everyone around them what to do and how to do it.  It’s FUN in the German language.  It’s down-right necessary to yell at other people if you’re yelling anyway.

And as much as I’m THRILLED that words like “Schadenfreude” exist (and I’m not being sarcastic… it’s pretty much my mission to find a way to use it in everyday conversation), I am sort-of glad it’s not an English word.

What’s on your bedside table? Life Application Study Bible It (Craig Groeschel)

What book have you re-read most often, if ever? only the Bible

Worst book ever? I can’t recall right now, but surely some of those required reading books in high school. The only “classic” I could ever get into was “Wuthering Heights.”

Favorite genre? Christian inspirational (not sure if that’s a genre, but that’s what I call them)

Is it possible to name a favorite author? probably Andrew Wommack (for his life-changing insight of Christianity) or Craig Groeschel (for his hilarity from a Christian perspective)

What have you been into lately? I rarely read. (In fact, I’m really only going to this Life Group because it’s Jessica’s group!) I don’t find much time to read. So when I do, it needs to be some kind of book that helps me grow in my faith or helps me improve in my role as a leader in the church. “Sheet Music” doesn’t necessarily fit into either of those categories, but I’m really excited about it, nonetheless!

Jessica

What’s on your bedside table?

The Bible, All the Pretty Horses – Cormac McCarthy, Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell, Mother Warriors – Jenny McCarthy, The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole – Stephanie Doyon, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics – Kenneth Bock, A Dirty Job – Christopher Moore, Possession – A. S. Byatt, The Age of Turbulence – Alan Greenspan, Over the Moon at the Big Lizard Diner – Lisa Wingate, the Chronicles of Narnia – C.S. Lewis, Tender Mercy for a Mother’s Soul – Angela Thomas, It – Craig Groeschel, How to Talk to a Liberal – Ann Coulter, Boomsday – Christopher Buckley, Cold Sassy Tree – Olive Burns, Supernanny – Jo Frost, The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox – Maggie O’Farrell

Yes, I am easily bored, and yes, it’s a mess.  I really should work on finishing some of these….

What book have you re-read most often, if ever?

The only books I can recall ever reading more than once are the Anne of Green Gables series, the Little House on the Prairie series, Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby.  Oh, and Homer’s The Odyssey, but that was by force.

Worst book ever?

The Scarlet Letter

Favorite genre?

Chick Lit.  I cannot lie.

Is it possible to name a favorite author?

I wouldn’t have said so if it weren’t for David Sedaris

What have you been into lately?

Books relating to autism and ADHD, books on food and health and eating well i.e. French Women Don’t Get Fat and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, the Twilight series, Atlas Shrugged

The Day:  April 27th

The Time:  6:30pm

The Place:  Jessica Tankersley’s home

Be there or be square.  Really.

THE SHACK

Hey, everyone’s read it, everyone likes it.  If you haven’t read it, you must!

Monday

March 16th

6:30pm

Book to be announced VERY SOON!  Stay tuned!  If you have suggestions, leave a comment.

Jessica