Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Time magazine has selected The Ebola Fighters as their person of the year for 2014. Do you agree, and if so who would you say is a close second? If you disagree with their choice, who do you think should have been chosen?
I prefer when Time chooses someone who’s affected the news in a positive way, and I’d have to say that the Ebola Fighters have done just that.
 
2. This question comes to you courtesy of Susan who blogs over at Stew Mama Says. She knows we have a wedding happening any minute now, and she asks, 'What's your favorite-something old? something new? something borrowed? something blue? in your home?  Be sure you hop over and say hi to Susan today! 
My favorite something old is this Christmas ornament from my childhood.
 
My favorite something new would be these brand new ornaments made by my grands.
 
And as far as something borrowed in my home … a library book is the only thing I can think of.
 
And my favorite something blue would be my blue and white log cabin quilt.
 
3. Fudge-yay or nay? Your favorite flavor? Do you make it yourself? With nuts or without?
Nay.  I find fudge just too, too sweet.  If I were going to make or eat some, it would be with nuts (and lots of them) … there are certain things that MUST have nuts IMHO, and fudge would be one of them. 
 
4. December 17th is Wright Brothers Day, commemorating the first successful flights made by Orville and Wilbur Wright in 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  How old were you when you made your first flight? Do you like to fly? Have you ever been to Kitty Hawk, or other parts of the North Carolina Outer Banks? 
I would have been 18 when I took my first flight … my family flew to Corpus Christi and drove down to North Padre Island.  My youngest sister would have been 10, and her response to our pointing out the terns will live forever in our family:  “Those aren’t birds … those are sticks with rags on them.”
 
Neither DH nor I like to fly - AT ALL.   Our travel plans are always contingent upon whether we can drive to our destination.  Thankfully our favorite destination is within driving distance … it takes us a day and a half now, but that’s ok … we’re retired so we have the time.  We’re planning an Alaskan cruise for our 30th anniversary, and we may have to bite the bullet and fly to Seattle.  DH has already said that if the decision were his, he’d drive it (what can I say ... he likes to drive).  But IMHO, 34+ hours (one way) in the car would be a bit much, and of course there’s that pesky problem of the cost to drive to/from Seattle – based on the current average operating cost per mile of 61 cents, it would cost us almost $2,700 to drive to Seattle and back.  While our actual operating cost might be lower (our car gets 46-48 mpg on the highway), our cost of driving would still be significantly higher than the cost of flying.    
 
We visited Kitty Hawk and the rest of the Outer Banks in 2012.   Something from our trip that has always stuck with me is learning that the first flights actually took place in Kill Devil Hills, not Kitty Hawk like I learned in school.  At the time, Kitty Hawk was the nearest Post Office, so reports of the flights originated from the Kitty Hawk Post Office, and many mistakenly credited Kitty Hawk as the site of the flights.

 
5. Do the people in your family tend to follow a particular career path, and if so what's the path?
No, we’ve all chosen different career paths, although my youngest sister and I both majored in accounting … I chose to be an accountant while she chose to be an accounting professor.   And I’ve always reminded her that “Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.”   

6. What is one thing you absolutely, positively must accomplish today?
Thankfully nothing.   

7. This Christmas I hope___________________________________.
we get a white Christmas.   

8. Insert your own random thought here.
As of last night, I had quilted 12 of the 63 blocks in DH’s log cabin quilt (yay! the colors photographed more accurately than the last time I shared a picture). It’s slow going … but it’s been just so crazy busy lately that I’m glad to have gotten this much done. 

I also finished up our Christmas cards Monday evening … and got them to the Post Office yesterday morning.  Every year I say that I’m just going to stop sending Christmas cards … and every year I buy another box or two.  But I think that this really may be our last year.  Between the cost of the cards and postage (of course, the cards I like are always the ones that require additional postage!), I think it’s time to be done with sending Christmas cards. 

And I wrapped all our gifts yesterday … well, all but one.  I have one gift to wrap yet … DD included a gift to be from my dad in an order she placed so that gift is at her house.  I’ll be watching the Ts this morning while DD has an annual eye exam, so I’ll pick up the gift and get it wrapped this evening.  I’m going to try to tuck the stocking stuffers in the Ts’ stockings this morning while I’m there.

We have snow in the forecast for this weekend, starting tomorrow.  Thursday is our anniversary, and we plan to go over to Historic St. Charles.  We were there a few years back when it snowed … it looked like we were in the middle of a Currier and Ives scene.  I’m hoping for a repeat this year! 

I hope that whatever you have planned for today includes a little something that brings you joy! Have a great day!
Kathy