What do you mean? Hodgepodge for Sunday Stealing?

 I've been participating in a blog link up for quite a few years -- every Wednesday (yes, I know today is Sunday), Joyce writes the questions and we link up.

On Saturday night, I always copy and paste the questions from Sunday Stealing . . .and I was so surprised that this week's questions were written by Joyce!

So Sunday Stealing this week is from Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you want to link up, copy and paste the questions into your own blog and link up here. If you don't want to do that, please answer a few questions in the comment section!

Stolen from From This Side of the Pond

 1. Where do you get your news these days? I don’t watch the news. I read a couple of NPR articles and a New York Times article most every day.

2. Do you like crab meat? What makes you crabby? I’m not particularly fond of crab meat. My best friend’s husband does make some wonderful crab cakes, though, and I will eat those.

Lack of sleep makes me crabby . . .and I don’t require that much!

3. Does freedom mean more choices? Have you ever felt there were too many choices? Elaborate. I remember answering this one from Joyce’s original post – The Cheesecake Factory has TOO many choices on their menu.

4. Barbara Millicent Roberts was introduced to the world on March 9, 1959...that's Barbie to most of us. Did you have Barbies as a kid, or did you let your own children play with Barbies? What well known Barbara (living or not) would you most like to meet? We love Barbies at Gran and Pop’s house!

5. What are three things you value most in another person? I should go back and see if I’m still saying the same three things 😊 – The first two that come to mind are honesty and integrity. The third thing that comes to mind is a great sense of humor.

6. How would you define “old.”  At what age is a person old? I’m 63 and I USED to think that was old! My mother-in-law will be 97 in July and she is old.

7. A place you’ve been that’s “old.”  Tell us something about your visit there. In Israel, there are some caves that are reported to be the caves where King David hid. What is so amazing to me is that there has been life on our planet for far longer than David in the Old Testament!

8. Something you miss about the “good old days.”  When were they? I really need to go back and read my answers from before . . .I’m thinking that the “good old days” are right now. These are good days. I am thankful.

9. In what way are you a 'chip off the old block'? Or if you'd rather, in what way is your child a 'chip off the old block'? When I was a young adult, I looked so much like my mother so I guess I was a chip off the old block. Our kids are very much like us, too, so they are chips off the old block.

10. Old fashioned, Old Testament, old timer, same old same old, old glory, good old boy, old wives tale...choose an 'old' phrase that relates to something in your life or the wider world currently and explain. I guess I'll go with Old Timer -- I have a birthday coming up in June and I'll be 64. I don't feel like an Old Timer!!

11. July 5th is National Hawaii Day...have you ever been to Hawaii? Any desire to visit or make a return trip? Pineapple, mango, or guava...what's your pleasure? I have been to Hawaii many years ago and it was beautiful. I love pineapple but sometimes it makes the inside of my mouth hurt (if I eat too much). Does anyone else have that problem?

12. Last time you were 'thrown in at the deep end'? Explain. I signed up for Ancestry.com and it is a giant hole! I’m trying to limit my time but oh my goodness. It is fascinating. I think I’ve found my great great grandmother and she immigrated from Ireland. One of Mark’s relatives seems to be Choctaw!

13. Sun, sea, sand, salt...your favorite when it comes to summer? I love the sun (too much, actually) and I love the sea! I enjoy making sand castles but I hate how the sand gets all over everything. I love salt . . .especially on the rim of a margarita glass hahahaha!

14. Bury your head in the sand, the sands of time, draw a line in the sand, pound sand, shifting sands...pick one and tell us how the phrase currently relates to your life in some way. I guess it would be the sands of time. I drove to our daughter’s house today to keep our almost 3 year old granddaughter for a few hours. We saw them Easter weekend so not that long ago but in just a short time, she has stopped being a toddler and is now a little girl!!! The sands of time are moving along!

15. On a scale of 1-10 (1 = make your own rules and 10=like a warden), how strict were your parents? If you're a parent where on the scale do you land? I’m a rule follower (now). I wasn’t when I was younger. My parents were pretty strict, but I was the baby so by the time I came along . . .they were probably more relaxed. Mark and I were strict parents (I think) but we had two pretty amazing kids who have grown into wonderful adults. I’m not sure how much of that is because of our parenting, though!

Hodgepodging along!

 

Today is Wednesday so it must be time for a Hodgepodge! You can copy and paste the questions into your own blog, answer, and then join us with Joyce, who graciously provides the questions each week

- OR -

you can answer the questions in the comments below.

1. What do you never get tired of? baby giggles and children laughing . . .actually, I never get tired of laughing either!

2. My mother made the best homemade vegetable soup. Of course, I have a story! I was probably in junior high and I came home and my mom's pressure cooker had exploded WHILE she was making vegetable beef soup. Just let me say that there were bits and pieces of things ON THE CEILING! No major damage was done that I recall.

3. What machine or appliance in your home aggravates you the most? Why? I tend to be really tough on washing machines. Our washer makes a few odd noises! It is NOT old. I try not to overload it.

4. What are three things that brighten up your day when they happen? 1. Sunshine! 2. A sincere compliment from someone (this also embarrasses me) 3. The feeling that I've accomplished something

I know you just asked for 3 but also good times with family and friends have to be included!!

5. Thursday (May 12) is National Limerick Day...write a limerick about relating to spring weather, spring blooms, or a spring event (five lines, the first two lines rhyme with the fifth line, the third and fourth lines rhyme together)

I googled spring limericks – I just don’t have it in me! I’m giving credit where credit is due. It was written by Reason A. Poteet and the title is Spring Chicken. Our son has chickens and our daughter’s school has chickens so this made me think of them. (disclaimer regarding my google search – the limerick right below this one was a tad off color 😊)

Poem Details | by Reason A. Poteet |
Categories: humor, spring,

Spring Chicken

 limerick

There was a spring chicken named Brewster.

He was the school’s number one booster,

      but this spring he forward-sprang

      from the girls’ room overhang.

Now he’s called - the naughty old rooster.

6. Insert your own random thought here. For my Mother’s Day present to myself, I signed up for Ancestry.com. I followed several blogs during the April A to Z Blogging Challenge who wrote about their ancestry. I have my 23 and me results but wanted a little bit more! Let me just tell you that I could go down some deep rabbit holes. I am FASCINATED by what I am finding. My parents and grandparents have been dead so long and looking at the record of their marriage license and the census records makes them come alive again for just a few moments.

 

Sunday Stealing on the Day for Mother's!

 

First of all, happy Mother’s day to all those who have mothered anyone or any critter.

Thanks to Bev for the questions which are from Pinterest. You can copy and paste the questions and answer on your own blog and link up here. If you don’t want to do that, you can answer in the comments section or you can just comment 😊.

 

1. Do you like your handwriting? I do! As a matter of fact, if we need to hand address envelopes at work, I will often volunteer. I fill out the baptism certificates each week and try to make them look extra special, too.

2. Do you like roller coasters? Yes, I love roller coasters. I haven’t ridden one in several years but would hop on board right now.
3. Do you like scary movies? I love to READ thrillers and mysteries but I don’t really like to watch scary movies.
4. Do you like shopping? If online shopping counts, then yes. I don’t enjoy shopping in brick and mortar stores very much.
5. Do you like to talk on the phone? No, I don’t really enjoy talking on the phone. I do talk to both of my sisters and our kids and grandkids on the phone, or facetime, but I prefer a text or email with most folks.
6. Do you sleep with the lights on or off? I prefer for the lights to be off when I’m sleeping.
7. Do you use headphones or earphones? My boss gave me some airpods a few years ago and I love them.
8. Do you have tattoos?  Do you want any? I do not have any tattoos. The other day . . .I did think . . .if I got a tatoo, what would it be?
9. Do you wear glasses? I used to wear glasses all of the time. I had Lasik surgery when our kids were in middle school (20+ years ago). I now wear reading glasses and I always try to buy cute ones.
10. What is your strangest talent? I can’t think of anything!
11. Have you ever been in the hospital? I’ve been in the hospital 3 times. The first time was to have my wisdom teeth cut out! Can you believe they did it in the hospital – I actually think I stayed two nights! I had a C-section when our kids were born and we stayed a few nights. I had a hysterectomy and stayed a couple of nights.
12. What color mostly dominates your wardrobe? For years, you would find lots of black and red in my closet. Now, I have some bright blues, greens, and pinks.
13. What’s your most expensive piece of clothing? I don’t think I have any really expensive items. I have several dresses from Talbots. I know!! My mother of the bride dress for Laura’s wedding is probably my most expensive item.

14. Have you ever had braces? I have not but my husband had braces and both our kids had braces. Laura actually had braces twice PLUS they broke her jaw and reset it.
15. Have you ever been on TV? One time, many years ago, I was at the mall at Christmas time and a reporter stopped and asked me a question about the Angel Tree located in the mall. Another time, probably 40 years ago, I was in a local bar/disco and my picture was also on the news. I can’t remember why they were filming in that location.

May Day Hodgepodge

Today is Wednesday so it must be time for a hodgepodge! Thanks to Joyce for sending the questions every week. Feel free to copy and paste the questions into your blog and link up here or please feel free to answer in the comments.

1. May Day! May Day!...last time you shouted for help? Or maybe just asked? I hate asking for help. Really. I enjoy doing things for others but have such a hard time asking. I think it is fear of rejection. Our cleaning lady had major knee surgery about 6 weeks ago and I've had to depend on my hubby to clean our house (which is sort of asking for help). I'm still working full time plus I was taking a class this semester and I really needed his help. He has tried really hard!!

2. What's something you may do this month? We may invite friends over!

3.  'April showers bring May flowers'...is this true where you live? What's blooming? What's your favorite springtime blossom? We live in Alabama and EVERYTHING is so green! We do have some azaleas blooming in our courtyard. Our hibiscus plants have amazing blooms. I hope we will have hydrangea blooms soon!

Azaleas in the courtyard

Sunday afternoon porch sitting
with lots of flowers

hibiscus on the porch

hydrangea from last year

4. What's something you learned at your mother's knee? My mom died when I was 15 so I don't remember a lot of things. When I read the phrase "at your mother's knee" . . .I do remember on Saturday nights sitting between my mother's prickly legs while she rolled my hair on sponge rollers. While I was sitting there, she and my daddy were watching Lawrence Welk. Oh my goodness! I hadn't thought of that memory in a long time!

5. Share a thought about motherhood. Motherhood is one of the hardest things I've ever done. I have friends who seem to be natural born mothers and I always thought they were probably doing everything right and I was doing it wrong. I think my daughter is an incredible mother and I'm so proud of her. Our daughter-in-law is a good mom, too. I think they are both much better moms that I was.

6. Insert your own random thought here. This was in front of me on the way to work on Tuesday. First, he would rest his head there. Then he would turn around and his tail would hang over the edge. It was quite entertaining!

Reflections on April A to Z

 

I did it! I completed the A to Z Challenge EVEN when I realized I had somehow missed the master list sign up. I did the theme reveal and was maybe number 37 on the list and was so proud that I was so far up the list. Once the challenge started, I realized that I wasn't getting many visitors to my posts but didn't think that much about it. One day, I was visiting other blogs on the spreadsheet and realized that my name/blog was NOT on the list. I emailed the team and a couple of days later received an email telling me that I had failed to sign up on the final list. I'm going to be honest. At that point, I wanted to just stop. I almost cried (which seems silly), but I persevered. As I continued visiting other blogs, I began to leave my blog address in the comment section, along with my comment, which garnered a few visits. All of this to say, I'm making a note on my calendar for next year "BE SURE TO SIGN UP FOR THEME REVEAL AND FOR THE CHALLENGE - TWO SIGN UPS." 

On another note, when I was preparing to participate in the challenge, my theme seemed great and I even liked the way I titled it, "The A to Z's of Being 63." I liked the catchy rhyme! I mapped out a list of topics that would go along with each day. I did realize that many things I blogged about would be applicable for any age. 

I really enjoyed visiting some "new to me" blogs. I love that sense of connection with folks who don't live nearby. I learned about coffee. I learned about lots of interesting places from Pauleen plus I love the name of this blog - cassmobfamilyhistory! I enjoyed reading about the history of this family. I already followed Joyce but really enjoyed her A to Z series. I loved Janet's Smiles date suggestions and must admit I laughed out loud about Quickie! There are so many others that I enjoyed, too, plus some of my "regular" blog friends were faithful to come and visit and comment. One friend actually gave me the idea for my W post!

I also was taking an online class at a local community college so I did feel a tad stressed this month.

Regarding suggestions . . .I wish there was a search function for the spreadsheet. I did copy and paste into a clean spreadsheet so I could sort.

All in all, I feel like the month was a success!

The A to Z's of Being 63

 

Z is for Zoo! 

Yes, when you are 63, you can go to the zoo! During spring break, our son was lining up care for our granddaughter because they were only able to be off part of the week. Pops was assigned one day and he told me they planned to go to the zoo! The zoo just happens to be near my office so . . .most everyone was out that week (all the folks with school age kids). I told Mark to swing by the church and pick me up and they could drop me off afterwards. I ran away for a couple of hours and it was PERFECT.

We saw the flamingos -- our sweet girl called them "friendengos" rather than flamingos when she was little. I still love that!

The zoo has a great play area. I saw one mom with her book sitting there reading while her kids played. I thought that was a great idea! I'm sure they have season passes.

Our girl loved sliding on the slide and walking on the rope bridge.

I thought this was such a cool photo backdrop!

We saw elephants.

and lions

We rode the train!

We waited in line for the train (photos out of order)

We waited a little longer for the train . . .

I love the big cats! They fed this one while we were watching and they put his food on a floating thing so he had to wade into the water and "catch" it. I think he swallowed it whole.

They have one section on Alabama animals so we saw some turkeys!

And we went to the petting barn and saw some stinky sheep!

Yay! I completed the month of April A to Z blogging everyday except Sundays! I was able to work in a couple of Sunday Stealing posts and a couple of Wednesday Hodgepodge posts. 

The A to Z's of being 63 are pretty similar to the A to Z's of any age - we have a little more freedom, we have a little extra spending money, we have a little more time (technically). Being 63 is pretty good!

Y is for Yes

 

I'm almost to the finish line. I can see it! Today is Y!

Y is for Yes . . .or maybe it should be Y is for saying Yes more often!

Here is a big piece of advice from 63 year old me! Don't say no so often. Say Yes as often as possible.

Can we make a mess? Yes, if it is going to create memories. I said no far too often.

Can we go . . .wherever? Yes! Yes to Israel, Yes to Ireland, Yes to Italy and Germany, Yes to the park!

I need to take my own advice more often.

Will you stop and play with me? Yes. Another one where I need to take my own advice.

Can I help you cook? Why didn't I say yes?

Mark is now retired and he asks, "Can I help clean the house?" I've been bucking it for weeks and this week, I said yes and I'm trying hard not to criticize a single thing. He did scrub all of the toilets by hand!

One afternoon this week, my son called and said that he and our granddaughter were close by. Could they drop in? When they got here, they wanted to take the golf cart to one of our parks. I have a final this weekend and it would have been so easy to say "no" . . .but I said YES and here is proof! I still had time to study!

She has a crazy amount of upper
body strength. She is in
motion!

my son and my granddaughter
swinging HIGH with the
sunshine peeking through
the trees!

What are some questions that you answered with a no . . .that you wish you had answered with a yes?