Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

What do you know … it’s Wednesday again.  And that means that it’s time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge.  What a pleasant and interesting break in the middle of the week … I look forward to it.  If you do, too, you can click on the button above to see what everyone else had to say.

 

1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-  amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, trickeration, ginormous, and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Go here to read more about how the words are chosen.

I guess I’d choose “trickeration”. Mostly because it’s a made-up word, and using made-up words is a pet peeve of mine.   

 

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

Yes, I’m pretty easily embarrassed.

 

3. What is your go-to snack?

My current go-to snack is Cuties.  Only 25 calories, easy to peel, seedless, juicy and sweet … what’s not to love. 

 

4. Have you ever been to Washington D.C.? If not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most want to see in that city? If you have been, what's your favorite site/attraction?

No, I’ve never been to Washington.  I’d like to go … and what I’d like to see most is the Smithsonian.

 

5. sit ups-planks-lunges-squats...which do you hate the least?

This would assume that I’ve done all these so we can compare and determine which is my least favorite.  Walking and biking are pretty much the extent of my exercising … and while I am getting back into an exercise program, it does not include any of those exercises.  The only one I’ve done tried is the sit up … and that was years ago.  And I won’t be attempting it any time in the foreseeable future.

 

6. What's a small act of kindness you were shown that you've never forgotten?

A few years back when I was moved into a new job, and I was feeling pretty insecure … a new job and new co-workers, it was all pretty overwhelming at the time.  One afternoon I was working on a project with a looming deadline … I was having a difficult time getting the numbers to balance on a part of the project.  To say that my stress level was getting high would be an understatement.  I could definitely use a Diet Coke … I was thirsty, and who knows, maybe a bit of caffeine would give me enough of a boost to complete the worksheet.  But unfortunately, the soda machine down the hall sold only Pepsi products … and I would rather do without than drink Pepsi.  Coke products were sold in the University Center building next door, but I didn’t have time to go get one.  Two of my new co-workers went next door and got me a can of Diet Coke.  It seems like such a small, insignificant gesture … but at the time, it was just what I needed … physically and even more important emotionally.  After that, I felt like I was accepted as part of the team and developed close friendships with my co-workers, which continue to this day.

 

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

No.  I would love to … but it’s a torturous ordeal just to give enough blood for routine bloodwork.  I have tiny, mobile veins, so the least painful results are achieved with a pediatric needle.  If they could guarantee that they could get the vein the first time, with no exploration, I would consider giving blood.  But since the needle used is significantly large than the standard blood draw needle, I can’t imagine that will happen.

 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Snow!  There’s snow in the forecast!  Starting tonight and continuing through tomorrow, we’ve got snow in the forecast … we may get up to a couple of inches of snow!  I can’t wait! 

ABC’s of me

I’ve seen several bloggers post this over the last few months, and I’ve always thought it would make an interesting post some day when the blog fodder well runs dry.  Which it did today.  So here we go!

A. Age: 60 (but not for much longer)

B. Bed size: queen

C. Chore that you hate: cleaning the bathroom

D. Dogs: Abby (black lab)

E. Essential start to your day: Diet Coke

F. Favorite color: blue

G. Gold or Silver: gold

H. Height: 5’ 1 ½”

I. Instruments you play: none :-(

J. Job title: Nana

K. Kids: 1 daughter

L. Location: southwestern Illinois

M. Make of car: Dodge minivan and VW Jetta Wagon

N. Nicknames: I don’t know that I’ve had any

O. Overnight hospital stays: tonsillectomy, 2 c-sections, c-section complications, gall bladder removal

P. Pet peeves: too many to list (although gum smacking is right up there)

Q. Quote from a movie: “I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.” from Casablanca

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: 2 younger sisters

T. TV Shows: I don’t really watch much TV … Cardinals or Blues games mostly, the news once in a while, and a few shows on HGTV

U. Underwear: yes (seriously?)

V. Vegetable you hate: beets

W. What makes you run late: losing track of time

X. X-Rays you’ve had: lungs, teeth, abdomen, back, shoulder

Y. Yummy food that you make: DH loves my chicken picatta (which is really Ina Garten’s chicken picatta)

Z. Zoo animal: penguins

Thankful Thursday

Time for some intentional thankfulness here at Chez Nana.  I have a list a mile long or more of all that I am thankful for, but today I’m going to focus on these:

• The blessing to be an active part of the lives of my grands.  It is an tremendous responsibility to be entrusted to their care, one that I don’t take lightly.  But with that responsibility comes an awesome blessing, one that I wouldn’t give up for anything.  DH and I dreamed for years and years of retiring to the beach, but when retirement time came, I just couldn’t stand the thought of being so far away from those precious little ones.

• The blessing of retirement.  I talked yesterday with my cousin who is ready to be done working full time but not ready to be retired … she can’t imagine what she would do if she weren’t working.  That kind of thinking is just so foreign to me … I couldn’t wait to retire and even retired, I don’t have enough hours in the day.    I’m thankful for the pleasure found in all the things that fill up my day.

• The blessing of good neighbors.  One of the reasons we were ready to move 3 years ago was the troublesome neighbors we had on either side of us … and God has certainly blessed us with wonderful neighbors here … some of whom have become friends. 

• Our public library.  I love to read, but I cannot afford to buy all the books I’d like to read.  But I *can* check books out at the library.  And I’m blessed by being able to request books online. 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

It’s another Wednesday …but not just any Wednesday … it’s the first Wednesday of 2012, so this is the first Hodgepodge of 2012!  And Joyce has come up with another set of interesting questions.  If you want to see what everyone else has to say, just click on the button above.

 

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

Working, virus, travel.  Only ONE of those words is “allowed” to be a word to describe 2012!  Betcha can’t guess which one.  ha!

 

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

Do I like shrimp?  You’d better believe it!  In fact, having fresh seafood is another reason I love the beach … when DH and I travel to the beach, breakfast is the only meal in which we don’t have seafood.  And I cannot think of a way I do like why to have shrimp prepared … although on our last trip to Hilton Head, we discovered the. best. shrimp and grits EVER.

 

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

No, not completely.  Because we have a real tree, it came down the day after Christmas.  I usually take down all the decorations when I take down the tree, but the weeks leading up to Christmas had been particularly busy ones, so I just took down the tree.  I certainly intended to get everything else down by New Years Day … but they’re still up.  Maybe today.

 

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

No, absolutely not.  I love a good suspense/mystery, but nothing that falls into the horror story category.

 

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

My favorite wintertime activity is sitting in my recliner, quilting, watching it snow outside, with a fire in the fireplace.  I tried ice skating once … my ankles were too weak to allow me to do anything but shuffle along the outside of the rink, holding on to the boards for dear life.  I tried skiing once, too, but that was about as ill-fated as the ice skating. 

 

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

Not really. 

 

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

I’m drawing a blank on this one.

 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I get some T time today! 

3 Days In

 

It’s now 3 days into the New Year.  It’s been a quiet couple of days so far, and it looks like today will be another quiet day here at Chez Nana. 

 

I’ve set some goals for this new year … so far, so good but there’s always room for improvement.  I’ve debated whether or not to publish my goals, and I’ve decided that I will.  After all, there’s a certain amount of responsibility (and even some accountability) that comes with making them public … and I know that I need all the motivation I need to stick to these (as some of them are previous years’ goals that I didn’t accomplish).

1.  Get healthier spiritually

a.  Read through the Bible in one year

b.  Read more faith-growing books

c.  Spend more time with God

2.  Get healthier physically

a.  Exercise more regularly

b.  Eat better

c.  Cut back on caffeine

3.  Get healthier emotionally

a.  Watch less TV

b.  Spend less time on the computer

c.  Live with an attitude of gratitude

3.  Make more quilts

(Gotta have a “fun” goal, too, right?)

 

What are *your* goals for 2012?

2011–Year in Review

 

Wow, it seems like it was just a month or two ago that I posted a 2010 – Year in Review.  And now it’s time to look back and reflect on 2011. 

 

In January, I returned to work on a part-time basis … it was only supposed to have been from the end of May to the end of August, but as soon as I agreed to come back, a former co-worker gave her notice, so I was asked to start immediately.  Instead of 3 months, I thought it would be an 8-month gig.  Turns out it was an 11-month stint, as a former co-worker was diagnosed with cancer.  It was nice to be able to supplement our retirement income and I enjoyed the work … but I’m so glad to be retired full-time again!

 

I also visited my dad who spent January and February along the Alabama Gulf Coast (this is the view from the condo he rented). 

 

In February, we celebrated a couple of birthdays, including a milestone for me … I turned 60.  T#1 turned 9 (I think his turning 9 made me feel older than my turning 60!).

 

In March, we took another trip to Spring Training.  We’ve done this every spring since we retired … and I don’t see an end in sight any time soon (we’re already starting some preliminary planning for our 2012 trip).  We spent a little longer in southern Florida this year, and we visited some parts of Florida that we’d never been to before, including Key West.

 

In May, we celebrated T#2’s 7th birthday.  May also included a trip to the Pacific Northwest with my extended family (both sisters, one sister’s S.O., my dad, and DH & I), taking in the Oregon coast and Portland.

 

In July, my sister, her S.O. and her grandson came down for a weekend.  We went to the zoo and took in a Cardinals’ game … where kids were allowed to run the bases after the game. 

 

In August, we celebrated T#3’s 4th birthday.  We also spent a weekend in St. Louis with my extended family, taking in a Cardinals’ game and visiting the Missouri Botanical Garden.

 

In September, we were forced to cancel our trip to the Outer Banks, thanks to Hurricane Irene.  It didn’t take much arm twisting to choose to go to Hilton Head instead (our favorite vacation destination). 

 

In October, we celebrated T#4’s 2nd birthday.  We also were able to enjoy the Cardinals’ improbable playoff run that culminated in a World Series Championship. 

 

In November, we celebrated DH’s birthday and had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with DD and her family. 

 

In December, I finally finished T#4’s “big girl quilt”.  I also finished the top for another quilt … one that we’ll keep.

 

We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary, and we had a wonderful Christmas with DD and her family.  December was a very busy month, helping DD recover from surgery and the never-ending virus(es) that the Ts kept passing around.  We wrapped up December by driving my dad to within a couple of hours of the Alabama Gulf Coast where he’ll spend the next couple of months.

 

I pray that you all have a

Thankful Thursday

I always set aside Thursday as a day where I slow down and take the time to be intentionally thankful.  It could be so easy to get start focusing on what we want or where we want to be … I find that setting aside Thursday as a day to be intentionally thankful helps keep me focused on being thankful for what I have and where I am ... on living with an attitude of gratitude.  So each week on Thursday, I pick a few of the many things I am thankful for.

Today I’m especially thankful for:

• The opportunity to help my dad be able to spend a couple of winter months on the Gulf Coast … it’s something he (and my mom when she was still here) did every winter for the last 20+ years.  It’s one of the things that allows my dad to maintain his independence … and I know that he enjoys seeing all the friends he’s made over the years.

• Good health … yes, I have my share of age-related “issues”, but nothing that interferes with my ability to do what I enjoy. 

• My home … I confess that I’m a homebody.  Give me a good book or a sewing project and I stay here in my nest for a good long while. 

• God’s love … He loved us enough to send His Son to die so that we could live.