Wednesday Hodgepodge

It’s Wednesday again and time for the Hodgepodge!  If you want to join in or see how others answered these 8 questions, just click on the button above.

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?
As a rule, I don’t play games for money, but that doesn’t mean that I have never done so.  When DD was in her early twenties, she and some friends played Bingo … and one evening she invited me to join them.  I went, but the fun for me was spending time with her and her friends.  Ditto for a casino … I played the slots and quit when I’d spent my pre-determined (and small) amount … and was glad to leave (all that smoke just about did me in).  When I was younger, my parents took us girls to DuQuoin for the Illinois State Fair.  We always went to the Hambletonian… and our parents would place a small bet for us girls … on the horses of our choosing.  Of course, our selection criteria were their rider’s color or the name of the horse.  Needless to say, we never won anything, but we had a good time cheering on our horse.  And I’ve bought a lottery ticket … a couple of times when the jackpot is ridiculously large.       

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?
I will not be preparing a traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage meal this St. Patrick’s Day as we will be in DeKalb, watching T#1 compete in the State swim competition.  Since we will likely be grabbing lunch at the event and dinner on our way home, we probably won’t be dining on it either.

Not sure what is my favorite way to prepare potatoes … I like them all!  In fact, I haven’t met a potato dish yet that I didn’t like … and love them so much that they’re not served too often here at Chez Nana.

3. What's the last thing you felt 'green with envy' over?
Owning a house like this (not the house as much as the location – ON the beach ):
(Source:  Google search www.womansday.com)

4.  What's at the end of your rainbow?
 Heaven.

5. 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 keep a diary or journal.  My blog is the closest I have to a diary or journal. 

6. What's an item in your home or closet that contains every color of the rainbow?
I have red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple fabric in my sewing room.  Not in the shades you’d see in a rainbow, but I do have fabrics in those colors.  Thankfully I’m answering this today not a month ago, as I just recently bought my first orange quilting fabric for T#2’s quilt.

 

7.  Write a limerick 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.

There once was a Nana
Who always had bananas
On hand for her grands
To eat with their hands
None of whom was named Anna

 
I almost didn’t answer this one, and I’ll bet now that you’re wishing I had followed my instinct. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
It was sunny, although a bit windy, yesterday and I decided that I might as well get to the trimming of my rose bushes and butterfly bush.  I’m glad to say that it’s done … but so are some of my muscles.  I swore last year that I would have a pair of thorn-proof gloves before I worked again with my rose bushes, but alas I forgot as soon as I was done with the pruning.  This year I’m definitely going to order a pair!  Between my sore muscles and pricked hands, I’m a mess.  ha! 

The Weekend Wrap-up

 

 

Once again another weekend has come and gone.  How time flies when we’re having fun, right? 

 

Friday I spent a good chunk of my day at DD’s.  Mama took the 3 biggest Ts on a homeschooling field trip, where they checked out insects, including Lucy the Hissing Cockroach, who had to make her way through a maze made by the Ts.All I can say is I’m glad I was home with T#4.

 

Speaking of, we were playing with a toddler “computer” that “spoke”.  Some of the questions were “who do you like to play with” and “where do you like to go visit”.  My heart was full when I heard her respond with “Nana” and “to Nana’s house”.    

 

I also got my iPad all set up, with all my apps installed.  I wonder how long some of the app providers are going to take to tweak their apps to be iPad-friendly?    Yes, Words with Friends, I’m talking about you! 

 

Saturday was a quilting day.  I had planned to get out and trim back my rose bushes and my butterfly bush, but it rained all morning.  Of course, it did clear off by mid afternoon … I could have gone out and gotten a good bit of trimming done, but by then I was comfortably ensconced in my recliner, stitching on my quilt.  And of course, I couldn’t miss the 3:00 Blues game either. 

 

We set all our clocks ahead an hour and heard on the news all about all the downsides to changing our clocks.  I, for one, am glad to go on Daylight Savings Time.  Of course I know that we’re not saving any daylight … no one seriously thinks that’s the case, do they?  That’s definitely a misnomer … as there are only a given number of daylight hours in any day, regardless of whether they begin at 7:17 AM or 6:17 AM.  <sigh>  But I do enjoy having daylight an hour longer in the evening, especially when the weather gets warm enough to get outside and take advantage of those later sunsets.  You know, I’ll bet all those who insist that it takes them weeks to adjust to the time change would have no problems adjusting if they were on vacation and traveled to a time zone one hour ahead. 

 

Sunday was a busier day.  After church, we went to the Y … I hadn’t been since last Wednesday and was definitely overdue.  I took my iPad and read (using my Kindle app) while walking on the treadmill … that 50 minutes went by so quickly!  I’ll definitely be taking it with me from now on!  It was another rainy day, so I had a good excuse reason to spend the rest of the day indoors, quilting.    And of course, there was that hockey game at 7:00.

 

A Little of This, a Little of That

 

 

I spent Thursday morning at DD’s and got to play on her iPad.  I was “hooked” … so DH and I bought a couple.  Even though our everyday computers are laptops, they’re 17” laptops and are pretty big and pretty heavy … they’re a bit of a pain when traveling.  We’re thinking that iPads will be much more convenient when traveling.  DH is ready to scrap his laptop when it starts to die and just use his iPad.  I’m not quite ready to give up a laptop, since I use so many non-iPad programs (Quicken, Word and Excel) on a regular basis.  I’ve read blogs were posts were written and published on iPads, so I need to spend some time trying that out.  If anyone has any advice or tips, I’d appreciate it. 

 

Today’s forecast was originally for a dry day with temperatures in the lower 60’s … an ideal day to get out there and trim back my roses and my butterfly bush.  But I woke up this morning to rain.  I have to admit that I’m not too disappointed, as I would really rather spend the day quilting.  I didn’t get any quilting done over the last couple of days, and I miss my time with needle and thread.  I also have a few other indoor projects that I need to get to … finishing up laundry, cleaning out the junk drawer, doing something with my stack of magazines, etc.  Plus I haven’t been to the Y in a couple of days.

 

Speaking of quilting, I promised a picture of my progress so far on T#2’s quilt.

If you click on the picture, you can view it in more detail.  The colors, if you can imagine, are even a little more intense than they appear in the photo, especially the orange and yellow.  Those are certainly not fabrics that I would choose for myself, but I have to admit that I’m pleased with how it’s turning out. 

 

I mentioned that T#1 is going to State … March 16-17.  As I expected, DD asked me if I’d be available to watch the littles that weekend, but T#1 begged and pleaded for me to come watch him … how could I possibly say no?    (DSIL’s mom will watch the littles.)   I’m so excited to be able to watch him compete at this level. 

 

Don’t forget to set your clocks ahead tonight.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

 

I wasn’t sure I’d make the Hodgepodge today … I overslept (for good reason – I haven’t had a good, full night’s sleep in almost a week) and woke up sluggish, but it’s still Wednesday … so there’s still time for a Hodgepodge!

 

1. My real life friends came through with another question this week so thank you real life friends. When you've eaten in a restaurant do you complete their comment card? Do you take online surveys highlighted at the bottom of store receipts?

I’ve done both a couple of times, but as a rule, I don’t usually.  I’m more apt to if the service was way above and beyond the call of duty or if it was abysmal.

2. The (US) ban on women in combat was lifted at the end of January. It will probably be next year before specifics are worked out, but its been reported over 200,000 front line positions will eventually open up to women.  Your thoughts?

If women truly desire to serve on the front line and if they’re truly qualified (i.e., no watering down the physical requirements), then I think it’s ok. 

3.  In looking back at all the blog posts you've written, what's your favorite post title?

Gee, my post titles are all pretty lame. 

4. What's worse-overly permissive parents or overly protective parents?  Did your own parents lean more to the permissive or the protective category?  If you're a parent where do you fall?

I’m not sure which is worse.  I think extremes of any kind are dangerous.  My parents were very strict and didn’t tolerate much independent thinking.  It took me a long time to “recover”.  And I saw firsthand the heartache parents experienced when their teen-aged/young adult children rebelled against overly protective parenting.  I vowed that I would do my best to choose the middle ground and learn to loosen my grip as my daughter got closer to adulthood.  It’s not an easy thing to do. 

5.  Candlelight-moonlight-firelight-bright lights in the big city...which one's your favorite?

I love sitting in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace … I love the convenience of our gas fireplace, but it doesn’t come close to providing the warmth and ambiance of a “real” fire.

6. Dr. Seuss's birthday was celebrated on Saturday. What's a favorite book you remember (Seuss or otherwise) from your own childhood?  Did books play an important role in your growing up years? Explain.

Oh my goodness yes!  I grew up in a small town and some of my earliest memories are walking to the library on Saturday to check out books.  It wasn’t uncommon for me to try to check out more than I could possibly carry back home.  When most of the neighborhood kids were out playing, I preferred to be inside with a book.  I’d have to say that my favorite book from childhood is probably Little Women (do young girls even read that any more?).  

7.  To quote Dr. Seuss...

"From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere."  from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Share something funny you've recently read, seen or heard. 

My dad brought home from the Alabama Gulf Coast a small shoebox full of Mardi Gras beads (there were THREE Mardi Gras parades right past his condo building last month).  T#4 loved them … she put on a couple … next thing I knew she had them ALL on!  She told me that she loved her fancy necklaces and would wear them with her fancy dress.

 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

We got snow yesterday, but nothing compared to what the northern part of the state got (sure wish they could have shared).  Click on the photo if you want to see it really coming down. Because it had been in the lower 50’s on Monday, the snow didn’t stick to streets, sidewalks and driveways did stick to untreated surfaces, trees, fences, etc.  Unfortunately the snow isn’t going to last much longer because daytime temperatures are above freezing (not by a lot but enough that about half of the snow was melted by sunset yesterday).

Tuesday Trivia

 

I’m confused (ok, so maybe that’s nothing new – ha!).  And I’m blaming Blogger.  When I go to my Dashboard, I see that I’ve published 500 posts.

But when I go to my Post List, I see that I’ve published 503 posts.

And when I add up the number of posts in my Archive, it agrees with the number in the Post List.

 

Two out of the three sources say 503 (27 + 198 + 186 + 92 = 503), so I guess that makes it official … I’ve published 503 posts since September, 2010.  But I wonder what my Dashboard did with those 3 posts?

 

I wish I had checked this information last week … I’ve been hoping to do a giveaway for a milestone post … and 500 posts is a pretty decent milestone.  Of course, that would mean that I would have to have an idea in mind for the giveaway.  So maybe it’s just as well that I didn’t check last week.    Now I need to decide what future milestone I want to celebrate with a giveaway … and get to thinking about what I want to give away.  So stay tuned. 

 

 

There was the lightest of dusting of ice crystals/sleet balls when I got up Monday morning.  We’ve got snow in the forecast for today … possibly an inch or two.  I wouldn’t mind some more … maybe those in the northern part of the state could share with us here further south?  The bad news is that there’s a “wintry mix” ahead of the snow … the good news is that the temperature will stay above freezing until 10-11PM. 

 

 

It’s still way too quiet here at Chez Nana … I sure do miss those littles.

 

 

While checking out the weather this morning (I’ve told you that I’m a weather geek), I saw this article Which State is the Saddest.  I was surprised to see that Illinois is in the middle of the pack … where does your state fall?

 

 

I’m putting together a meal plan for the rest of the week.  Those who know me well will know that this is an amazing feat!  Normally I’m doing good to come up with something for dinner by lunchtime. 

 

 

My plan for a lazy day yesterday (to rest up from 3 days of the littles) didn’t quite pan out … I spent a good part of the day cleaning and tidying up (I normally clean up and put away as soon as the littles go back home, but by the time they got home Sunday night, it was so late that I collapsed into my chair until bedtime. That meant I had toys to put away, beds to strip, bedding to launder and put back on, bathroom to clean up, floors to vacuum … might as well go the “whole nine yards” and do a thorough housecleaning. The good news is that now that it’s done, I can quilt today guilt-free. I mean, it’s National Quilting Month … and I need to get to it, don’t you think?

 

The Weekend Wrap-up

It was “Weekend with the Littles” at Chez Nana … we had the 2 littlest of our grands over the weekend while Mama and Daddy took the 2 bigs to district swim competition in Columbia, MO.  I picked them up Friday morning, and they went back home Sunday evening.

Friday was play day … we played some Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii, played dress up with Mardi Gras beads, and played a hybrid game with Legos and Play Dough shape-makers – I love how they can spend hours being entertained by the simplest and most unrelated things.  I wasn’t able to spend the first day of National Quilt Month doing anything quilt-related, but you know, with the 2 littles over, I didn’t mind one single bit.        

Saturday morning we had a big breakfast … T#4 had “dippy eggs” and bacon while T#3 had oatmeal … funny how multiple dishes were forbidden when DD was at home, but with the grands, no problem!  We played some more until it was time to head to McDonald’s for some play time in their Play Place and lunch.  After nap time, we played a little more Mario Galaxy 2 … and after dinner we had movie night (Tom and Jerry cartoons).  We got in some Face Time with Mama and Daddy before bedtime … and got the good news that T#1 & #2 both were able to advance to Sunday’s competitions.. 

Sunday meant church followed by more play time … each day, they used the Legos and wooden blocks to create a completely different game.  What vivid imaginations they have!  I kept my iPhone handy, checking for updates regularly from the competition … and midafternoon we got the news that T#1 qualified for State with his butterfly!  I think that’s outstanding since this is his first year on the swim team … especially considering that he got a late start, too (they’ve got little ones as young as 5-6 on the swim team). After naptime we headed to DQ for dinner, where we got the phone call that the swimmers were back in town.  We stopped to pick up all their stuff and headed back to drop them off and to congratulate T#1. 

The weekend is over … and while I’m going to be glad to get back to my regular routine, I don’t like how quiet the house is now … I sure miss those littles.

Welcome to the Weekend

It’s Friday … and the weekend is here!

Look what greeted me this morning.   
Can you see the snow still falling (just click on the picture to open a larger image)?  I just LOVE how it’s sticking to the trees, light poles, fences, etc. – so Currier and Ives-ish, yet the treated surfaces like roads and parking lots are just wet.  A perfect kind of snowy day. 

And the weekend is going to get even better!!  We’ve got T#3 and T#4 coming over for the weekend.  DD and DSIL will be taking T#1 and T#2 to Columbia, MO for their district swim meet this weekend; if they do well at districts, they’ll advance to state competitions.  Go T#1 and T#2! 

This weekend heralds in March.  And while I do love snow, I really love warmer weather, spring flowers, and spending time outside, so I have to say that I’m glad that we are not that far from spring (although you surely wouldn’t know it looking outside today – March is certainly coming in like a lion here.  Ha!). 

I’m making progress on T#2's new quilt, but I’ve still got a good bit of quilting to do.  The next time I get ready to move the hoop, I need to remember to take a photo of the quilting I’ve done so far.

I tried a new chicken chili recipe yesterday (DH found it in the St. Louis paper); it was a dreary, cold day – a perfect day for chili or soup.  It was good, but I prefer the white chicken chili I normally make.  Today looks to be another good soup or chili day, so I’m glad that there are leftovers for lunch.

I’m excited that the weekend is here … what about you?