It is Time for a Hodgepodge!!

Thanks to Joyce for the questions every week! 

1. At the end of every year (or at least since the mid-1970's) Lake Superior State University posts a list of words they think should be banished from the Queen's English for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's list includes-

cringe, game changer, era, dropped, IFKYK (If you know you know), 

sorry not sorry, skibidi, 100%, utilize, and period. 

Which of these words/phrases do you use regularly or even just every now and then? How many did you have to look up? Which of these words would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word/phrase not on the list you'd like to add? If so do share, then tell us why. 

I only had to look up one - skibidi! I use period sometimes in conversation. I think I would definitely ban #iykyk - simply because I get tired of seeing it. At this moment, I can't think of anything else I want to ban BUT I'm sure there are some words I dislike.

2. Your favorite soup? Do you make this one yourself or is it from a can? I keep Campbell's Vegetable Beef and Homestyle Chicken Noodle on the shelf for those days I need soup and don't have time to make some. When I was a kid, Campbell's made a Chili Beef soup that I loved. I was sad when they quit making it. I love any kind of homemade chili and lots of soups. I make taco soup often and the young adults love when I amke Crack Chicken Chili. Mark loves for me to make the bean soup mix from Honeybaked Ham with leftover ham.

3. How do you feel about winter? What's one winter activity you look forward to? To be honest, winter is not my favorite. I don't like winter clothes - many people find winter clothes cozy and comfortable but I find them constricting and restraining. I do love being all cozy in front of our fireplace in the winter. 

4. The Pantone color of the year for 2025 is mocha mousse (sample pictured here). What say you? The website describes it as 'a warming, brown hue imbued with richness. It nourishes us with its suggestion of the delectable qualities of chocolate and coffee, answering our desire for comfort'. Is this a color I might find in your home or wardrobe? Is it one you might add in some big or small way in the year ahead? Wow! Mocha Mousse is a dark color. It would be lovely in a cozy home office. We have some browns in our home but they are leather and/or wood. I don't have a lot of browns in my selection of clothing. I did buy one dress from Tuckernuck aat Thanksgiving that has brown in it.

In a similar, but not really vein...if I were to offer you a choice right now of either a cup of mocha or a cup of mousse which would you say yes to?  I'm not a mocha drinker and I don't eat sweets . . .but it is cold in Alabama this week, so I'm choosing a cup of mocha.

5. Which of the following winter related idioms can best be applied to your life in some way right now? Choose one, then tell us why you chose it.  

snowed under, on thin ice, tip of the iceberg, chill out, break the ice, snowball effect, not a snowball's chance in hell, get cold feet, the cold shoulder 

Snowed under -- after taking a few days off during the holidays, I am swimming upstream all week! One of our pastors has been "loaned" to another congregation until July. Several of us have taken on parts of her job and the Discipleship piece falls under me for a time. This involves Wednesday night adult programming - studies, etc. Tonight is the first night of the new semester and I'm trying to chill out, too. Do I get bonus points for picking two?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have several random thoughts. First of all, I'm so sorry if you've commented and I haven't responded and I'm sorry I haven't visited your blogs and commented as often. The last few weeks have been a tad crazy. I so appreciate your prayers for Bill and Rebecca. We are in the waiting stage at this point.

Second random thought -- I signed up to graduate (and walk) in May with my associate degree in general studies. My last class began yesterday and is Speech 106, which seems to be more of a communications class. I have talked with Samford University about continuing with them for my bachelor degree. I really wanted a degree from Auburn because Mark and our kids, and several other family members, graduated from Auburn. Auburn doesn't have an online program in anything I need or want at this time. Samford is located here in town and they have an agreement for online students. They will take all of my credits and apply them toward my final goal of a bachelor. They also have a program called liberal studies which is similar to my general studies. It is a broad overview - I will know a little about a lot of things. The "senior citizen" discount that applies to community colleges in Alabama doesn't apply to four year universities. I wish it did. 

First Hodgepodge of 2025

I am joining up with Joyce and friends for the Hodgepodge! I almost missed it this week because I'm on vacation and I literally can't remember which day it is!!

1. Oxford's Word of the year for 2024 is 'brain rot'. Are you familiar with this term? Do you suffer from the condition? Ha! This is a term used to 'capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low-quality online content, especially on social media'. If you were choosing a word to capture 2024 (for the nation/world, not your own life personally) what word would you choose? I am familiar with brain rot haha! We watch a small amount of TV every night after dinner. We should probably be doing something else. I love to pass the time by scrolling through Facebook and Instagram – also should be doing something else. We actually live busy lives and accomplish a lot on most days and I often need that little bit of down time each night. I’m not sure what word would capture 2024. I imagine it would be like our own life – a mix of several words. For the nation, I hate to say it but I think “too much hatred” would be one phrase. Another phrase would be “times of insanity.”

2. It's National Polar Bear Plunge Day (January 1)...will you be participating in one of these events (or even your own)? How will you spend the first day of this brand new year? Do you have a traditional New Year's Day menu? I will not be doing a Polar Bear Plunge. I guess I could walk two blocks to the neighborhood pool and plunge in . . . but I’m not going to do that! I’m spending part of today typing these answers 😊. Mark is spending part of the day helping his brother move home. He is moving home on hospice. The combo of Parkinson’s and Lymphoma is a b*tch. (forgive me . . .but until you’ve seen the suffering, don’t judge my language.) Bill’s wife has been diagnosed with cancer, too, and it is a very nasty and aggressive kind. We can only guess at what is coming for both of them.

It seems weird to jump from such a serious sentence to my choice of menus for today, but here goes: I have a small ham I will cook. The sides will be black eye peas and greens. We always try to have a pork product, greens, and black eye peas. Last night, I said that it is not superstition, but tradition. Another thing I’ll be doing today is taking a load of “give-aways” to the Salvation Army and I’ll continue to work on cleaning our attic.

3. What's something that brings you joy and how will you do more of it in this new year? We had two friends who are our chosen family and two family members over last night for appetizers and beverages. Being with our friends and family brings us joy. I actually said these words last night: “I think we should be looking for joy and partaking in it when at all possible.” I guess that means we need to be spending more time with our people!

4. Do you struggle with the January blues? What's one thing you can/will do to keep them at bay? I do struggle with “winter blues.” Mark’s momma used to say that in January you’ve spent all of your money on Christmas; you’ve eaten too much fattening food so you need to diet; the days are short and cold . . .I don’t know about you, but those things will bring on the winter blues. I have found that doing for others and staying busy helps me combat the blues.

5. Will you choose your own personal word of the year for 2025? What about a goal, resolution, or maybe even a bucket list? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. Every year I think I will come up with a word and I never do because I can never narrow it down!!! Mark doesn’t usually make resolutions but he told me this morning that his goal for the new year is to not eat anything after dinner each night. I agreed with that goal, so I guess we will stop eating after dinner. We also want to travel some more!!

6. Insert your own random thought here. I tried a new charcuterie board/display last night. I think it turned out really well!!

I bought brown butcher paper and covered both sides of the island. I labeled where everything would go. Phella brought something and so did Susie so I left a spot for their items. When Mark saw how I had labeled everything on the island, he did a quick inventory of our beverages and asked me to make a drink "menu."  I tried out a new recipe for a pinwheel ham and cheese sandwich and the recipe is a keeper. Of course, I made changes to the original recipe.

 

Finally - Christmas with our kids and grands!!

Our daughter, son-in-law and two youngest grands arrived on December 26 in time for a Chicky (Chick-fil-A) lunch. I had PT that morning and stopped and picked it up on the way home and they were there when I arrived.

Before they arrived, I had wrapped the two cute gifts below. My sister sent me some money to buy gift for our three granddaughters. I put a little money with her money and bought some extras -- like the bags. Oldest granddaughter loves pink. Middle granddaughter's favorite color is purple sparkly. I ordered purple and it was delayed so I bought a cheaper version at a local store and wrapped it. Luckily, the purple bag arrived while we were having Christmas!!

Look at this little cutie. She is 9 months old and she is so tall already. Her mommy is 5' 11" (ish) so she may end up being tall like her mommy.

She can roll over but hasn't quite figured out how to crawl but can maneuver herself across the rug in some form or fashion. She was born prematurely back in March so we aren't worried, nor is her pediatrician, about these milestones.

Laura had asked us to order the Pottery Barn chairs for her two girls.

She was excited!

We bought a sewing machine for our oldest granddaughter. There is a store in town that I frequented all of the time when our kids were babies and I was smocking and sewing. The name of the shop is The Smocking Bird and they sell Janome machines. I bought her the basic model. I didn't want to waste the money on a kid's sewing machine. 

Our son had to try out the chair . . .

I also gave the two oldest girls a Snoopy mug. Our daughter was sad because I didn't have one for her. Isn't this the cutest picture - her ruffle bottom jeans, sitting in her purple chair, pretending to drink from her Snoopy mug.

She had to try out her chair, too!!

Our daughter and her family are living temporarily with her in-laws so the chairs ended up staying at our house until they move into their own house.

I bought some cute clay kits from a girl at church and granddaughter #2s imagination was at work. Success!

Couch/blanket forts were made. Barbies were played. Crafts were made.

Sitting up was practiced and new toys were examined.

Floor sitting and floor laying was common.

High chair sitting and eating happened.

There was even some TV watching -- not much, but a little.

After the kids opened their presents and we ate dinner (roast beef, baked potatoes, copper pennies, and baby limas, and rolls), our son and daughter-in-law and "adopted son" went home but they left our oldest graneddaughter with us. We had all three granddaughters in our house for 24 hours. It was chaotic and lovely. I actually started coming down with a cold during the night and I fell asleep in my recliner at some point. I'm glad there were other adults around!! Our daughter and I were able to run to TJ Maxx and Homegoods just to see what was in the store! I bought some Turkish figs for Mark!

After they left, we immediately started taking down Christmas decorations. I have weeded out and made a give-away box and wiped down the outside of the tubs and I have labeled all of them. I actually had not packed away my Thanksgiving decorations so I did that, too.

Here we are on the cusp of a New Year - 2025. Wow. 2024 was a crazy year.

 

More December Shenanigans

On Sunday, the 22nds, we had our Contact Christmas. Contact is our more contemporary service. The Contact band plays and sings and some of our pastors tell a story in between. David, in the red vest below, is our executive pastor BUT he actually majored in art in college. One of his talents is to paint upside down and then flip it.

He painted Mary and baby Jesus. After the service, they auctioned off the two paintings (from two services) and the money went toward our manger offering (goes to outside ministries).

It was a great service and Glenn and his family, including granddaughter #1's other grandmothers, came to worship with us.

Mark and I attended Christmas Eve Eve service which is the same as Christmas Eve. We have so many people who want to attend that we have multiple services with the same music, etc. I worked on Christmas Eve so Mark came in time for worship and brought out neighbors, Lu and Dave with him.

Lu is a teacher and she teaches at a school where Matthew and Emma attended when they were babies/preschool age.

Mark and I are crazy about Matthew and Emma  and they are in our Tuesday night group! Lu wanted a quick snapshot with them.

Below is Brian, our senior pastor and my boss, as he talks/preaches at one of the bajillion services.

This is a shot from someone in the choir loft looking out at the congregation. We had a lot of folks over the course of 6:00 p.m. on the 23rd (the one Mark and I attended) plus 11:00 am on Christmas Eve morning - family service where kids can dress up as Mary and Joseph, etc.; plus 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve PLUS 11:00 pm on Christmas Eve. Lots of services and lots of people.

On Christmas morning, it was just the two of us. We opened the few presents we bought for each other.

Look at the bow Mark made with pipe cleaners :-).

We then headed over to our friend's house. They, too, were alone so the four of us had breakfast together at 8:30.

After a couple of hours at their house, we headed to Mark's twin brother's house to be with some of our family.

We left there and headed to the Lakeshore Rehab hospital bearing plates of food for Bill and Rebecca. I did not take any photos at that stop.

After that, we were wiped out so we took a nap and then got ready to go again. This was the year we needed to stay busy.

We headed to our son's home. He lives about 40 minutes away. As we started up the street to his house, we could see emergency lights flashing. A child was driving a golf cart and flipped it RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR SON'S HOUSE. A 3 year old child ended up UNDER the golf cart. Our son's next door neighbors ran out and pulled the golf cart off the child and carried her inside The lady who lives next door is a Nurse Anesthetist so she worked on stabilizing the child. A bone was sticking out of the child's leg -- but it could have been so much worse. Oh my goodness - I hugged our granddaughter so tightly.

Our sweet daughter-in-law made a gorgeous charcuterie board for us to graze on and our granddaughter showed us all of the things she received for Christmas.

They have chickens and all of the chickens want to huddle up on this one tiny section. They have to literally carry the chickens to their coop.

We left their home and drove back toward town and headed to Nathan's family Christmas party. This Christmas Day Night family party has been going on for a LONG time. Mark has 11 first cousins and they are all invited plus their families. Nathan has moved into a new home so we were able to check it out and it is lovely!

Nathan had the whole house decorated beautifully!

The oldest cousin will be celebrating her 50th wedding anniversary at the end of the month, so her daughter brought an anniversary cake. See cake below!!

More to come . . .

Staff Christmas Day

You might remember that I work on a church staff . . .and have worked there for 20 years. For the last 8 or 9 years, we've made a staff Christmas video. It is always released at our Contact Christmas service and the whole point of us making fools of ourselves is to encourage people to give to the manger offering of which every dollar is given away outside the doors of our church to our mission partners and to The Hub, our own outreach mission hub. This offering is above and beyond what people normally give/tithe to the church. We usually collect over $100,000. I haven't heard the total yet but going into our Christmas Eve services, we already had over $80,000.

Our staff Christmas lunch/video day involves costumes and craziness. The guy in the crazy red and green suit below is our senior pastor, Brian, who is also my boss and he is the mastermind behind the video content.

We filmed the "rock concert" portion of the video in our student (6-12th grade) ministry space - hence, the fog and moody lighting!!

The photo below is our three retired pastors who work part-time and visit those in the hospital, etc. Two of these guys are 75 years old and the star is 85 years old. They are such good sports every single year. Their wigs were hysterical.

At noon, we stopped recording long enough to play reindeer games and eat lunch. The games were cute!!

Here is pastor Bobby -- all 85 years of him. He was the star. I actually had the two photos below printed and put them in frames and wrapped them and gave them to his wife for Christmas. She loved them. Her name is Twink and that is not a nickname and the name fits her so well. She is adorable. Bobby and Twink had one son, Robert, and he had spina bifida. Bobby has shared some of their journey with us during his preaching moments in our staff chapel. We were never blessed to meet Robert, but it sounds like he was a wonderful person and it sounds like Twink took wonderful care of him.

I hope you will take a moment to watch the video and see us make fools of ourselves. Here is the finished product - check it out here.