Appetizer
Name one thing nice that you could do for someone else today.
Give my hairdresser a big tip! She likes that!

Soup
When was the last time you were frightened by the weather?
Last summer. There was a tornado warning for my county (an enormous county!) while my hubby was running late (and not calling to tell me) coming home from work. I panicked. I felt like a 6 year old.

Salad
What would you say is the most useful website or blog that you visit?
Google. For sure. Second place is dexonline.com.

Main Course
Who was your favorite singer/group when you were a child?
At 4: Disco Duck
At 13: NKOTB
At 17: Pearl Jam

Dessert
Do you have any rituals? If so, what are they?
Jeesh. Sometimes I feel like my whole life is a ritual! One in particular is at night, when Honey and I are getting ready to sleep, we say, “Good night, Honey. Sleep well. Have good dreams. I’ll see you in the morning.” Something bad might happen if we don’t say it every night!

From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Holly Smith
Rukmani, a peasant from a village in India, lives a life of constant struggle, yet she is a source of strength for many. At age twelve she marries a man she has never met and moves with him to his rented farmland. Over the years their marriage fills with love, mutual respect, and children: one daughter and many sons. A tannery built near their village forever alters Rukmani’s life, for the tannery takes away farmland and silence, and while it provides jobs, they come with great costs. The changes in village life from an agricultural to an industrial community frighten Rukmani; her life becomes one of “Hope and fear. Twin forces that tugged at us first in one direction and then in another…Fear, constant companion of the peasant. Hunger, ever present to jog his elbow should he relax. Despair, ready to engulf him should he falter.” Kenny, a white doctor in Rukmani’s village, watches with a palpable foreboding his patients’ daily struggle to survive. He leaves the village suddenly and often, and just as suddenly reappears, as if life there is too much for him yet he can’t stay away. Rukmani and Kenny’s conversations make apparent their individual and shared suffering, and while their experiences of the world are completely different, their friendship is based on respect and mutual reliance. Nectar In A Sieve is a powerful, depressing, but ultimately hopeful novel of a life lived with love, faith, and inner strength.