Hodgepodge Wednesday

 Like most Wednesdays, I'm joining up with Joyce and the gang to answer her questions!

1. Are you too hard on yourself or not hard enough? Elaborate. Do you know about the Enneagram? I am a number one on the Enneagram. We number ones have a voice inside our head criticizing us all of the time. For most things, I'm too hard on myself.

2. What's the role of gratitude in your life? Gratitude is so important! I am truly grateful for so many things.

3. Where do you get your news these days? How much attention are you giving it currently? I read my news online - New York Times; Wall Street Journal; the local TV stations that have online presence. I actually like the BBC, too. I think the BBC usually tells the truth with very little slant right or left. I don't watch the news anymore than I have to do so. Mark and I have been following the news about Israel/Palestine because we know folks in both places.

4. Do you like potatoes? Last time you prepared potatoes in some way? Which of the following is your favorite...baked potato, mashed potato, french fried potato, sweet potato, hash brown potatoes, roasted potatoes, or potato salad? We went out to dinner on Monday night and I ordered a "baker" with chicken. I wish I had taken a picture but it was nighttime and we were eating outside. It was THE BIGGEST potato I have ever seen. I ate until I was full last night. I took the leftovers to work today and ate HALF of the leftovers and will have the other half for lunch tomorrow. I love all of the potatoes mentioned and I try not to eat them that often. I've mentioned on here before that I LOVE french fries. Yum! Yum! I'm answering these out of order . . .I plan to make a sweet potato casserole this weekend. My sister-in-law shared her recipe with me because it is sooo good.

5. Are you a veteran? Are there any veterans in your family? Will you do anything special to honor them on Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day this year? I am not a veteran. Mark is not a veteran. Both of our daddies fought in World War II but both have been dead for many years. I will think about our dads on Veteran's Day and I am forever grateful for those who have fought for our freedoms.

6. Insert your own random thought here. I can't believe that it is November and we are rapidly approaching Thanksgiving and Christmas. How??

The ABC's of Sunday Stealing

I'm joining up with the Sunday Stealing Gang. Bev can't remember where she stole these prompts.

A - Ambition: To graduate from college no matter my age

 

B - Birthday: June

 

C - Computer: For personal use, I have an HP. I use a Dell for work – both are laptops. I love apple products but have always worked using other computers.

 

D - Dream: As I grow older, to remain healthy and active and to love much and laugh lots.

 

E - Exercise: I ride my trusty stationary recumbent bike almost every day.

 

F - Favorite Food: We eat a very healthy diet 99% of the time and to be honest, I’m not sure any of those healthy things are truly my favorite food. I do love a really good burger and fries – I eat the healthier version but I love the non-healthy version.

 

G - Garden: I don’t. My daddy and grandpa always had a wonderful garden with all sorts of fresh veggies. Mark does our “gardening” (yard work).

 

H - Hobby: Lately, I haven’t had time for hobbies but I love to do anything crafty. I love to write. I love to hang out with friends.

 

I - Idol: I don’t have an idol . . . though I think sometimes I worship money and image. I’m working on it.

 

J - Job: I’m the Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor of a large United Methodist Church in Homewood, AL.

 

K - Kids: We have twins who will be 37 this month – boy/girl. She is the oldest by one minute.

 

L - Location: We live in the deep south.

 

M - Military: nope, but I am thankful for those who have served.

N - Name or Nickname: Lisa – the only nickname I’ve ever had was “hoss” – my daddy called me that when I was a kid.

 

O - Optimist or Pessimist: Optimist – annoyingly so.

 

P - Pets: Harvey, a giant cat

 

Q - Quote: I have several. I'll have to come back and share this later.

 

R - Reads: I love a good mystery or a good thriller.

 

S - School: Yes, I’m in college at the ripe old age of 65.

 

T - Travel: I love it! I wish we could travel even more. We have a trip planned for 2024.

 

U - Unfulfilled ambition: I’m not sure . . .

 

V - Vacation spot: Our “close to home” vacation spot is Orange Beach, AL which is about 4 ½ hours from our house on the gorgeous gulf of Mexico. We have fine white sand beaches. It is lovely.

 

W - Wardrobe: I would be happiest in shorts and t-shirts and Birkenstocks. Of course, I have to wear other clothes to work.

 

X - X-tra facts about me: I was living with twin roommates when I met Mark, who is an identical twin. That means there were two sets of identical twins in our wedding. We now have fraternal twins.

 

Y - Years online: I have no idea but I clearly remember a friend (at the time) telling me that EVERYONE had an email address and I needed to get one immediately! That was a long time ago.

 

Z - Zodiac sign: Gemini

Hodgepodge

I'm joining up with Joyce and friends over at From This Side of the Pond for Hodgepodge!

1. Besides Thanksgiving (in the USA) what's one thing you're looking forward to in November? I know you said besides Thanksgiving, but I just want to acknowledge that I LOVE Thanksgiving! 

Also, our kids and our daughter-in-law all have November birthdays and we are going to celebrate those together in a couple of weeks. I’ve hired our friend, who is a photographer on the side, to come and take our family photo that afternoon.

2. Do you like candles? Your favorite scent? How often do you burn a candle in your home? I don’t do well with scents of any kind due to allergies so I do not burn candles very often. I love candles on a dining room table and most tapers aren’t scented.

3. What gadgets did you use today? I used two different laptops, my phone, my kindle, and several kitchen gadgets.

4. This question is a repeat from one asked in November of 2014, but I liked it so it's coming round again. Many of you weren't here in 2014. Okay, you can have fifty pounds of something (anything but money)...what will you choose? I’ll be silly – how about 50 pounds of French fries? Also, since I mentioned it...what were you up to in November of 2014? You can read about November 2014 here and here (a hodgepodge!). 

5. 'Tis the season...what's something you're feeling especially grateful for today? I’m grateful that our daughter is expecting another little girl in April! I’m grateful for my family and friends. I’m grateful for my job and for our home.

6. Insert your own random thought here. About a year ago, our boss gave several of us a book to read. It has been propping my computer up on my desk for months. I downloaded the book to Audible and am listening in the car. Actually, I first downloaded the wrong book/right author and listened to it first. Now I’m listening to the correct one. Have any of you read “Emotionally Healthy Discipleship – Moving from Shallow Christianity to Deep Transformation”? How about “Emotionally Healthy Relationships”?

Young Professionals

We have been having great attendance on Tuesday nights.

This last week, we ate dinner together and then the young

adults assembled Halloween bags for the

kids of our ESOL students (one

of our ministries at church).

They also made enough bags

to hand out to our Food Share clients.

After dinner, we walked up the hill to the

"cardiologist's house." He hires someone to

decorate his yard for Halloween and it is unbelievable.

I didn't take pictures because I hate

clowns and he has scary clowns.

We walked back down toward our house

and they decided to walk a couple

of blocks more to see the Barbie House

(see earlier post).

Aren't the bags cute? I got almost everything

from Amazon - coloring books,

small packs of Crayola crayons, a slap

bracelet, a glow in the dark bracelet,

a pencil or two, spider

rings, and candy.

We love this group of folks!

 

Gran and Pops

Mark and I had a full weekend of being Gran and Pops to two of the cutest little girls you ever did see!

Granddaughter #2 and her mommy drove up and spent Saturday and Sunday with us so lots of playing went on. Pops is THE best Barbie player ever.

We live on a park (basically our front yard is the park) and there were multiple trips to the park!

She was thrilled with the leaves on the ground!

Simple pleasures!!

She had a pizza picnic for dinner.

Yes, those are Halloween plates.

Once it was dark, we rode around to see all of the neighborhood Halloween

decorations and I was driving so I didn't take any photos.

On Sunday, we all had lunch together at Mark's mom's house and I love watching the two cousins

together!

After lunch, granddaughter #2 and her mommy headed home and

granddaughter #1 came home

with us. Once again, there was

much playing of Barbies.

Right after we moved back into our house,

these two made a whole town,

including a Dollar General, on this thick

floor covering paper. Mark rolled it up

and they got it out again yesterday.

Before dark, they headed over the her favorite 

park in our neighborhood. They have

redesigned it. I think Mark took

some photos but I haven't seen

them.

I had saved pizza from the night before

so she had a quick supper

of cheese pizza (said with an

accent like Peppa Pig).

We were waiting on it to get dark

so that all of the lights in the

neighborhood would be

on.

 

We rode around the neighborhood in the golf cart to look at all of the decorations. She actually had to work up her courage to touch the giant skeleton.

This was her favorite, of course. Barbie and Ken 

were in a Barbie box.

They even had Barbie and Ken on the upper floors and

the lights on their house were pink rather than orange.

I think this one might have been Midge??

Our best news of all is that in April, we will be Gran and Pops to another

little girl. Let me just say that this coming baby is a miracle and

a wonderful surprise! Here granddaughter #2 is holding

the pink balloons and the ultrasound of her baby

sister.

Sunday Stealing

I'm joining up with the Sunday Stealing crowd:

1, Do you decorate for Autumn? Yes, I love fall decorations – from Halloween to Thanksgiving. I don’t decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving because I love fall decorations so much!

2. How often do you clean out your closets? I’m sure I don’t do it often enough. I did get rid of a lot of stuff after the fire. I had a closet full of things at a friend’s house and I didn’t wear them for a whole year so I weeded out most of those and gave them to one of my mother-in-law’s caregivers.

3. When is the last time you planned a surprise for someone? When we went to Israel earlier in the year, my boss (senior pastor) had a birthday. I got in touch with everyone going on the trip and asked them to bring a card and a small “thought” gift and we surprised him at lunch that day.

4. Are there foods you really don’t like? Beets. I don’t like beets.

5. What is something you recently learned? I learned something new about an app I use – I can hold my finger on the app and it opens a few choices on the home screen. Very handy. I’m also learning all sorts of things in BIO 102.

6. Items you’re most likely to buy at a convenience store: Diet pepsi, bottles of water, cheese its.

7. Do you believe in the paranormal? I’m not sure.

8. How would you describe your spirituality? I am a Christian. I work in a church. I facilitate two different studies every week. My goal is to Love God and Love people – all people.

9. Do you make plans far in advance: I do like to plan things in advance.

10. Do you like being scared for fun? I used to! We went to a play and they fired a gun . . . which they warned us about at the beginning before the play started. I still jumped about a foot in the air! I used to like to go to Haunted Houses but I don’t know that I would enjoy them anymore.

11. What has been difficult for you lately? I need a few more hours in every day. I try to cram too many things into too short of a time.

12. Have you ever written or read fanfiction? No

13. What type of wall art do you have in your home? We just bought some new canvases that are so pretty (see below). I also have art from family members (see here) and art from travels.

14. Are you more likely to be private or overshare? I’m pretty sure I overshare always.

15. What have you recently learned to live without? We learned to live without our house and without our things for a whole year and ten days.

Who is My Favorite Artist Hodgepodge?

I am joining up with Joyce and the other Hodgepodgers today for a few questions!

1. October 25th is International Artists Day...do you have a favorite artist? If so tell us who and why. Well . . .my granddaughters are my very favorite artists! Our daughter is quite talented, also. My niece, who painted the canvas in our kitchen, is an engineer by degree but is very talented as are both of my sister-in-laws! I have art from all of them in our home. The other kind of artists . . .I love Starry Night by Van Gogh. Supposedly I’m named after the Mona Lisa (who I was the voice of during our women’s retreat) so I must say Leonardo Da Vinci, too.

The lemons hanging in our kitchen were
painted by our niece

Mark’s sister painted the fish PLUS she

made the fancy mats!

This is art by the two granddaughters 
and they are hanging on the wall
in my upstairs office.

Our graphic designer at work drew this as
our logo for the Women’s retreat. The theme 
was Portraits. One of the break out sessions was
to paint her. I didn't have enough time to finish painter her.
I’ve got to tone down her skin and
finish her. I’m not even good at painting something 
someone else drew.

My other sis-in-law painted this
years ago. It hangs in one of
the guest bathrooms upstairs.
I carried Rubrum Lilies in
our wedding.

2. Would you describe yourself as artistic? Elaborate.  I am not artistic at all. I am creative in some ways. I can copy projects and I’ve come up with a few of my own over the years but I am NOT artistic. (See above)

3. What's a skill, task, hobby, or job you've done so often you now have it 'down to a fine art'? I can out-type just about anyone!

4. How often do you dine out? Fast food, fine dining, or somewhere in between? Tell us about a less than stellar restaurant experience you've had recently (or not so recently if that's easier).  We dine out a couple of times a month at a nicer restaurant. We ate out with friends a couple of weekend ago at Bistro V. I had a wonderful salad with grilled shrimp. A less than stellar restaurant experience . . .I am sure we’ve had them and I can almost hear the discussion about the experience in my head. Sometimes Mark orders the wrong thing in a restaurant. I know – the kids and grandkids and Mark and I all went to Bricktops for Mark’s birthday dinner. The steaks were all cooked incorrectly – some were overdone; some were underdone but those who ordered steak didn’t complain because we had such a sweet server.

We had a table full at Bricktops

We were at Casual Pint (pub style food)
With our good friends/neighbors…
Being silly

5. Do you celebrate Halloween? To what extent? Are there trick or treaters where you live? Yes – see previous posts! We have tons (1200) of trick or treaters and our neighborhood decorates like it is our career!

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I just ordered two rugs from Boutique Rugs.com because I read about that website on a blog. I’ll let y’all know if they work. We actually need one more but I couldn’t make a decision. I actually thought about ordering the same exact rug for the dining room and living room. Have any of you used the same rug in two rooms?

These are the two I ordered. The red one is for the loft upstairs and the neutral is either dining or living/family room. I ordered large ones.