The Wizard of All Hodgepodges

The Hodgepodge will get your blood pressure up and start you longing for home ... or flying monkeys.  Now you know you want to join in, don't you?

1. May is National Blood Pressure Month...what sends yours soaring, either literally or figuratively? What calms you down? When did you last have your bp checked?
Sometimes my blood pressure goes up just contemplating the Hodgepodge questions.

2. You just found $1-what do you spend it on? How about 10$ 100?
Whatever I found would probably go towards groceries. Four teenage boys in the house means we never have leftovers and we're always out of something. I finally had to restrict the boys to eating only four eggs a day. Each. They also eat all the cheese, and are continually reminding me that we're out of cereal. They've also gone through countless bottles of barbeque sauce. I haven't asked if they're eating all that together.

I don't want to know.

3. Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been proposed, but not enacted in the US. How much attention do you give food labels before you buy? Are you in favor of labeling if it means an increase in food prices? Is this an issue you've been following and feel strongly about, or is this the first you've heard of the controversy?
If you read my last answer, you can probably guess that I don't want anything that raises the price of food. If it hasn't killed us by now, we're probably immune to it.

4. May 15th marks the birthdate of Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. At this point in time, are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain.
I'm already home, but sometimes it takes all three (and more than I've got) to crawl out from under the covers in the morning.

5. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement?
Probably the last time I put on a pair of red shoes. Another story (along with Cinderella) which proves that a great pair of shoes can change your life.

6.  Steak...yes please or no thank you? What cut do you prefer and how do you like yours cooked? Sauce or no sauce? Besides your own kitchen, where's a place you like to go to get a great steak? 
I can't get a great steak in my own kitchen since my cooking skills can be summed up in one word:  mediocrity.

7. When was the last time you were in a genuine hurry?
Probably the last time I was trying to get my Hodgepodge answers linked up so that I didn't end up being the last one on the list.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
This week I was thinking of several different things I wanted to blog about--thinking about it and doing it are obviously two separate issues--but none of those thoughts were worth a whole blog post. Then it hit me! These are random thoughts! I could have an answer to #8 for a month or more! Of course, now I can't remember any of them.

On a more serious note, many of you have asked about a date for Stephanie's wedding. I'm not ignoring you, but I can't mention the date until after the fact. If you've read the post on her story, you probably realize that there are people from her past that she doesn't want involved in her future. For that reason, I won't be giving specifics until after the fact. 

There are two things you can be sure of: she will be married by the end of summer, and I will tell you more than you could possibly want to know after that.

The Hodgepodge Stroll Down Memory Lane

So Joyce gets all nostalgic this week and asks us questions about our childhood. My growing up years were about as normal as my kids' growing up years are ... and that says a lot! So why don't you read what all I have to say, then leave a comment and click on this link (the big Hodgepodge button, duh!) and see what everyone else did on memory lane.

1. When the children of today grow up, what do you think they'll say about this period in time? What do you most hope they remember?
I hope they don't look back and say, "I remember when we had freedom ..."


2. National Teacher's Day is celebrated in the US of A on the first Tuesday in May, this year May 7th...share how a particular teacher positively impacted you. 
I like English, and I liked my English teacher in college. Her name was Miss Hermes. She was strict, but she and I got along well enough that some unkind souls took to calling me a "Hermite".


They were just jealous because they didn't qualify for the Geek Club.

3. What's a dish your mama made, that if set in front of you today would whisk you right back to childhood?
Mashed potatoes. She would be horrified if she knew how often I used instant. She'd be even more horrified to find out that my children prefer it so.


The shame! The shame!

4. Mother May I was a game we played when I was growing up...no pieces, parts, or plugs required. What games from childhood do you remember loving that were also pieces, parts, and plug-free?
I liked playing tackle football with the neighborhood boys. Of course, we did use a football, which is technically a "piece" or a "part". But then my mother told me I was too old to be tackling boys anymore. Come to think of it, I didn't always wait for them to have the football before I tackled them ...


5. Besides your own mother, tell us about a woman who influenced you as a child?
Wonder Woman. Her magic bracelets were both pretty and practical. I try to make sure my jewelry is the same. (Although none of my jewelry will stop a bullet. Just sayin'.)


6. Mamma Mia! What's the best play or musical you've ever seen? 
Are you kidding me? With these guys, there's a production going on almost every night at our house.


7. What are three smells that make you feel nostalgic?
Decaying leaves. New mown grass. Not sure about the third, but I think someday the smell of dirty socks and old sneakers will make me nostalgic for a household of teenage of boys. Nostalgic or nauseous, one or the other.


8.  Insert your own random thought here.
i just purchased my third dress for my daughter's wedding. Not that I'm wearing three dresses. I'm just having trouble choosing one dress. And unfortunately, it's not because they all look so great on me.

This is a very big decision. After all, last time I had a supporting role as Mother of the Groom. This time I've got the starring role of Mother of the Bride.

What do you mean it's still not all about me?!?!?

It Was the Buff Guy's Fault

In my recent quest for fitness and health, I've taken up tennis and biking. After 4-5 weeks, I can proudly admit that I still totally stink at tennis--although I do enjoy playing. Surprisingly enough, I also enjoy meandering flying down the bike trail in our area. The particular trail I use has a 7-1/2 mile loop if I follow it through one time. The trail actually goes further than that, but it goes out of the woods and along a busy street. I'm uncoordinated enough that I worry about falling off my bike and into traffic. I'm also compassionate enough that I don't think all those people headed to work need to see me riding along beside them. It's not a pretty sight.

At any rate, I accidentally biked twenty miles today (that is not a typo). I'd only planned on doing thirteen, but then I ran into a problem. Each morning as I haul my bike out of the truck, I decide just how many miles I'm going to bike that day. My number depends on how much time I have, and whether I feel full of energy or if I feel every single one of my forty plus years. (Never mind how many plus.) The point is to make my decision, and then stick to it until I accomplish my goal. I freely admit that, in the past, I often would "try" to do a certain amount of exercise, but then wimp out long before reaching my goal. Hence the reason I need to lose so much weight. (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the amount of sweets I consume.)

This time around, I've determined that I can add miles after I start biking, but I can never do less than the amount I set in my head. This morning I set out with the number 13 in mind. I try to double up on certain sections of the trail (re: parts where it's fairly level) in order to get in my set number. Today I was going to do a loop between mile markers 11 and 12, so that I could add a total of two miles to that stretch of the trail.

I was biking along, looking for the mile marker when I happened to pass a Very Buff Guy jogging in my direction. Very Buff Guy was also very shirtless. I did not gawk. I took a moment to very briefly appreciate God's creation as I passed, and then went back to looking for the mile marker.

Unfortunately, the mile marker came up right after I passed Very Buff Guy. If I turned around here, would it look like I was trying to follow him? Worse yet, I'd eventually have to pass him again since even someone like me on a bike tends to go faster than someone jogging. I did NOT want Very Buff Guy to think I was angling for him to give me attention. It's not just that I wasn't interested, but as I mentioned, I'm not very coordinated. I enjoy riding, but it's not necessarily a pretty sight. Plus, I was sweating profusely and worried about anyone having to be downwind of me for very long.

So in the interest of not giving the wrong message, I continued in the same direction, determined to make up those two miles somewhere else. By the time I got back to the trailhead, I still had 1.5 miles to go in order to make my goal for the day. As I turned around and headed back to the next mile marker, I did some math in my head. Doing one more mile out and back would give me 13-1/2 miles. That was over my goal, but a mile and a half short of the fifteen miles I did on Tuesday. I quickly decided to ride two more miles and then turn around, so that I'd do a little better than I did on Tuesday.

I should have realized all that math would catch up with me. I was getting tired, and really hoping the next mile marker was around the corner when I looked up and realized Very Buff Guy had turned around and was once again jogging toward me.

Just beyond him was the mile marker I was looking for as my turning point. What were the odds?!? I reluctantly biked on past the marker. After all, I reasoned, I was only another mile from the point where I turned away from the busy street. Why not add another two miles to my total?

I was almost at my turning point when I realized I was coming up behind another Very Buff Shirtless Guy.

Are you kidding me?!?

The next mile marker was just beyond him, and I would have to turn around almost immediately after passing him. Once again I risked sending the wrong message (or just embarrassing myself by falling off my bike as I made the turn.) I slowed down, thinking I'd let him get past the mile marker, but after awhile it just looked like I was tailing him. Eventually, I turned a little short of my goal and headed back down the trail.

Cutting off that tenth of a mile bothered me, so I biked a little past the trailhead again, just to make sure I made up for it. Then I crossed the street to my truck, loaded the bike and headed home. As I congratulated myself on what I had accomplished that day--not embarrassing myself ranked almost as high as the amount of miles I'd done--I realized that once again my math had been faulty. I was trying to make up time, but since I can't add correctly, I'd actually gone 20.5 miles before I was done.

I'd be proud of myself, except for the fact that I can hardly move. Those extra miles really did me in.

Stupid Buff Guys!

The Curve Ball Hodgepodge

With baseball season in full swing, Joyce throws us the weekly Hodgepodge, which includes a few curve ball questions. So hey, batter, batter, batter, batter--swing!

1. April showers bring May flowers...what have you been showered with this month?
Mostly water. A little bit of soap. Shampoo and conditioner.


2. What is the nature of compassion?  Is it learned or innate?  Can compassion belearned?  If you're a parent is this something you've purposely sought to instill in your children, and if so how?
Hello! I warned you there were a few curve balls, didn't I? This is a deep one, so here goes. There are times for compassion and there are times when you have to tell your kids people to suck it up and don't call me unless you're bleeding so badly a bandaid won't fix it. The real talent lies in knowing which time calls for which response.


3. Do you prefer to watch romantic comedy or romantic drama...or are you rolling your eyes saying bring on the action flicks?
With all the testosterone in this house, it's not a movie unless someone gets shot in the first five minutes.


4.  It's April which means baseball season is officially upon us here in the US of A. Humphrey Bogart is quoted as saying "A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz." Agree or Disagree?
I can handle either one. What I don't agree with is a hot dog at the Ritz. That's just not appropriate.


5. What's something in your community or city that needs fixing or improving?
Well perhaps we should do something with the HOA nazis that feel the need to have our city police sit in unmarked cars, watching for residents who don't make complete stops at stop signs. Like there isn't any crime going on anywhere else in the city?

6. Share a song you enjoy that mentions flowers or a specific flower in its title.

I can't even keep flowers in my yard; how am I supposed to find them in a song?

7. April 22nd is Earth Day...do you believe there's life on other planets?  That wasn't the question you were expecting was it? 
And in case you weren't sure, this would be the other curve ball. The answer is no. No matter how much some might wish it were otherwise, we are the most intelligent created beings in the universe.


When I look at examples of our so-called intelligence, I find that kind of sad.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I tried to explain female mood swings to the boys this week. They weren't getting it until my nineteen year old interpreted: "It means keep the house clean this week, and don't tick Mom off." 

Not quite what I was getting at, but I'll take it.

Hodgepodge!

If you've ever thought about joining the Hodgepodge, or you've read other people's answers--other than mine--and said, "I could do better than that!", than this is your chance. Great questions, plus if you put it off for another week, you're actually putting it off for two weeks because there won't be a Hodgepodge next week, although there will be one the week after that.

Confused much?

Well you shouldn't be confused about what comes next. Read, comment and then go here and visit Joyce. She always has great answers, and a link up to see what everyone else in the world has to say. Or at least, everyone else in the world who is someone because that's who participates in the Hodgepodge! (Dontcha want to play now?)

1. What are your plans for Easter? Are you cooking a big lunch or dinner? Dyeing eggs? Attending a sun rise service? Eating too much chocolate?
We're all about being healthy this year (that sounds so boring, I yawned when I typed it). We're not doing ham since that's bad for Indiana, but I think I'm going to cook a turkey breast. And there will not be dyed eggs, but there will be deviled ones which will disappear much too quickly. My boys tend to eat like, well, like teenage boys.

 

Here's Luke with his first helping from dinner last night. And, yes, both plates are part of his first helping. (I find it annoying that he stays so slim.)

And here's the rest of the crew. They clean up nicely (new suits for the upcoming wedding), but they can definitely eat their weight in--well in anything.

2. What is something you feel too young to do?
Grow old.

3. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud...it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs..."  Of the characteristics mentioned in the biblical definition of love which do you find most difficult to live out and why?
Whether in the bounds of love or not, I've got a little trouble with that whole patience thing.

4. What's a springtime flower you associate with your childhood?
My black thumb is inherited, as no one in my family was ever any good at gardening. In spite of that, we had a lilac bush that bloomed every year. That's how I knew it was spring.

5. Ever sung karaoke? If so, what's your go-to song? If not and you're given the opportunity, would you?
I can't imagine doing that without plenty of alcohol first, and since I don't drink, I don't think it's happening.

6. What is something you keep in a basket?
A tisket and a tasket. You know, from "a tisket, a tasket, a green and yellow basket ..."? Okay, that's dumb, but at least I never picked up pawpaws and put them in my pocket.

7. When was the last time you felt foolish?
Probably when I wrote the answer to that last question.

8. Insert your own random thought here.
I love this Easter bonnet!

 

Well there's really nothing more than needs to be said after that, is there?

 

 



 

The Not-Ready-For-Primetime Hodgepodge

After a quick glance today, I really wish I would have taken time to look at the questions yesterday! I'm turning green from anxiety, but I'm betting this post turns out all right and will probably also contain every color of the rainbow. (Does this count as answers for 1, 2 and 6?)

At any rate, buckle up 'cause this ride might cause you to toss your corned beef and cabbage! Don't forget to go to Joyce's when you're done, so you can see link up and see what everyone else wrote.

1. Do you play games of luck/chance for money? Have you ever played bingo for money? Visited a casino? Placed a bet on a horse? Bought a lottery ticket?
I'm betting I'd be poorer than I already am if I ever started wagering money on anything!

2. Will you be preparing and/or dining on the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal this St. Patrick's Day? Mashed-baked-hash browned-french fried...your favorite way to have potatoes?
We'll be having a fellowship at church that night, and I'm making mexican dip and beef muchomo (a Ugandan dish). We're having an international theme.

By the way, the dip and the muchomo aren't going together. I'm making items in two different categories. Look at me and my bad self, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh! (Name that movie.)

3. What's the last thing you felt 'green with envy' over?
I feel green every time I let my son drive. Or when Indiana tries to talk on the phone while driving.

I guess to really be fair, I should admit that my driving occasionally makes myself green too.

4. What's at the end of your rainbow?
Well if it's a pot of gold, I'm betting that I wouldn't use it for question #1!

I5. March 12th marks the anniversary of the death of Anne Frank (June 12, 1929-March, 1945). Anne's diary detailing her time spent hiding from the Nazi's during the war ranks as one of the best selling books of all time. Besides your blog, do you keep any sort of diary or journal? Was this a habit you developed as a child or is journaling something new for you?
I don't journal; I mark time with my children. Most stories begin with, "I was pregnant with ...". It just so happens that I marked March 12th with the birth of my oldest child. Happy birthday, Matt!

6. What's an item in your home or closet that contains every color of the rainbow?
My home and closet do contain every color in the rainbow.

7. Write alimerick with you as the subject. You can do it!! Just remember this is a family friendly blog...don't make me get out my wooden spoon.
Now I really wish I'd read these yesterday! Okay, here goes:

There once was a girl who said "drat!"
'Cause the Hodgepodge Queen was a rat.
She made us do rhymes
When we hadn't the time
And there's no way to quickly do that!

8. Insert your own random thought here.
My nineteen year old son has appointed himself my personal trainer. He's got me exercising and recording everything that I eat and reporting it all to him. I'm going to be beautiful and slim ... and one of us is going to be dead.

Deep Gut-Wrenching Contemplations

I know I've not been around lately. Lately is a relative term. I think in this case it means I haven't blogged in about a month. And I know this has been a huge source of disappointment to the many two of you who read this blog.

My bad.

I started out this year with a determination to blog more regularly. Clearly that resolution bit the dust before the end of January.  And then every time I thought of something to blog, I remembered that I hadn't changed my background or my header picture. I still had hollyberries and loads of snow. Not at all acceptable when I'm sitting here in 80 degree weather.

But I didn't know what to do with the background. Did I want to go back to what I had last year? Find something new? Go back to the basic blogger template? I couldn't decide. And I couldn't blog when I still looked so much like winter. I realize that it still is winter in many parts of the country and a lot both of you are digging out from snow, but still.

All this thinking about the look of my blog led me to thinking about other aspects. And I found myself with a bucketload of soul searching questions:  Is blogging right for me? Should I do something different to gain more followers? (I'm sure more commenting on other people's blogs would help.) Should I stop trying to be funny and start being more profound and thought-provoking? Should I even have a blog at all? Maybe I should quit.

After almost two months of introspection, broken occasionally by a foray into the weekly Hodgepodge, I've come to some rather drastic conclusions.

I need new mascara.

I know. Totally random. Turns out I'm not really profound even in my deep thinking. But one night while I was mulling over these thoughts, I looked in the mirror and realized I had dark circles under my eyes. Turns out my mascara tends to smear by the end of the day.

Other deep thoughts have involved Stephanie's upcoming wedding, and as I stood there at the mirror, these two thoughts collided:  I can't have smeary mascara at her wedding. I might cry. I probably will cry at her wedding. And then I could very well end up doing a good raccoon imitation in the pictures--without the scavenging through garbage, I hope.

So I need some new mascara. Any suggestions? I used to wear Mary Kay's. She was generous like that. And then I got some Ulta mascara for free. I like it, but I get this smear thing going on. I don't want to have to try dozens to find what I want. I just want something that will make my lashes look incredibly awesome without making my face look incredibly stupid. Why doesn't someone use that as their tagline for advertising?

I also need new lipstick, but I think I know what I need here thanks to Fringegirl's blog. She participates in a What I Wear meme every week, and she looks really good. But what I noticed even more than her clothes, was her lipstick. So I asked her what she wore. I guess I'm not the only one that liked it because Fringegirl did a vlog on lipstick not too long ago.

So, I have no deep and profound thoughts and decisions for my blog future, but I'm starting to get a handle on the makeup I need to wear to my daughter's wedding. Now if ya'll can just help me out with some mascara tips, I'll be all set. Except for the fact that I don't have a dress for the wedding yet.

Baby steps, I guess.

And by the way, in case you care (and even if you don't), this is the background I used last year. Turns out that most of the wonderful free backgrounds out there are either too pastel or cutesy for me.

Shocker.