Hodgepodge Time!

 

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.  In 1994, our kids were 8 years old! Wow! I was volunteering at the school a lot. I was involved in several things at church. I was busy being a wife and stay-at-home mom. In June of that year, we probably spent a week at the beach and we were probably going to the pool every day. 

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)? I love blueberries, strawberries, pears, apples, mandarin oranges in a green salad - usually just one at a time. I make Asian Slaw a lot - family favorite. It is a "salad." I mentioned Strawberry Pretzel Salad recently. It isn't really a salad, more like a dessert. It is really yummy. I have enjoyed watermelon and feta salad before.

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be? First, I think of chivalry as being courteous to others. Letting someone go ahead of you in line. Opening the door for someone. In the past, it was very gender specific. Women expected men to be chivalrous. In today's world, I think everyone should be more chivalrous. Mark and I have noticed that with the 20 somethings (that come to our house), chivalry is almost dead. We finally instituted a house rule -- women go first through the serving line. At one time, two of the guys in our group didn't understand that there were 14 people behind them who had to serve their plates, too. They would load up with no thought of others. Mark instituted the house rule - ladies first. I think they all think we are crazy . . .but our house :-). The only other "rule" we have is "do not eat chocolate on our sofa." So back to the question. I think chivalry is on its death march. Once again, I wish there were more chivalrous people - of all genders. Our world would be a better place. I am stepping down off my soapbox now.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska? Many years ago, Mark and I went to Hawaii on a great trip. We had so much fun. We were much younger! Mark has been to Alaska several times, but I have not. He has this unbelievable fishing trip planned with 8 or 10 friends and relatives next summer (in Alaska). I would like to go to Alaska at some point. Hawaiian pizza is ok. Odds are that I won't order it, but if it is the only choice, I would probably eat it! I have eaten Baked Alaska - once! When I was 20, I went on a Carribean cruise and they served Baked Alaska - with a lot of fanfare - one night. 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why. 

If I had free tickets, I would be headed to Seattle, or San Francisco, or Los Angeles, or New York. I've never been to any of those cities. Last week, there was a friendly match at Auburn University. We didn't go, but 88,000 of our "friends" went. Seriously, we did know a lot of people who drove to Auburn to attend the match. I think our southern hospitality was impressive to a lot of folks from other countries! Neither of our children played soccer, but our daughter-in-law played. Our son told us that some tickets for these matches are $7,000!

6. Insert your own random thought here. We are taking a few days away with our family and we've enjoyed being together. We have a tropical storm headed our way so I think our kids and grandkids will be heading home sometime today. We may stick it out another 24 hours - we will see! We have the condo rented until Saturday. 

 

Sunday Stealing (but not really stolen)

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week we aren't stealing, we're contributing! These are questions suggested by our "usual suspects." They were entertaining, which isn't a surprise because our participants are bright and fun. Thanks to everyone who took part.

DIY Meme

1. Would you rather have every traffic light turn green or always get the best parking spot? (Kwizgiver) Great question! I would rather have every traffic light turn green!

2. What's the most difficult thing you have ever done? (Gold in the Clouds) 

3. What information do you know that you are proud of/happy about, but others say, "Who cares?" (Roger) I have bored everyone around me for the last several years. Every time I learn something fascinating in one of my classes, I am so excited and want to share. Sometimes I can read their face and it is saying "Who cares?" Luckily, most of them love me and put up with it!

4. What mystery do you wish you knew the answer to? (Myra/Mevely) Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar? My kids used to sing that song. Actually, on a more serious note, in the communion liturgy we say "the mystery of faith" and there are quite a few mysteries I will ask God about someday.

5. What small, ordinary thing brings you disproportionate joy? (Country Dew) I love that first sip of cold Diet Pepsi every morning!

6. What time do you go to sleep/wake up?  (Annie) We go to bed around 10:00 - 10:15 and I get up at 5:00 a.m.

7. What is your favorite sleeping position? (Lisa) This is my question and the guy below is sleeping in my favorite position.

8. Describe your personal Utopia. (Pandora) My class this semester is family law and I've been neck deep reading about policies and learning about Temporary Aid and Wic and Snap. I think a personal Utopia would be where everyone has enough. Enough might be different for different people, but I would love a world where children weren't living in poverty. On a more fun note, this is also my personal Utopia - any beach:

toes in the sand

Orange Beach, AL

Sea of Galilee - Israel

The Dead Sea (really a landlocked salt lake)

Orange Beach, AL

9. Imagine that you have a machine that can create any new invention for you based on your description. What will you ask the machine to create, and why? (Plastic Mancunian) Wow! Y'all's questions are pretty amazing! I would like to have a machine that could transport me from Alabama to any other place in the world. Not an airplane. Instead of a 12 or 24 hour flight, I want to be there in a flash. I love to travel the world and those long flights are killer.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week. (p.s. today is my birthday!)

A Good Hodgepodge!

 

It is Wednesday so I'm joining up with Joyce and friends for Hodgpodge!

1.  How would you define 'the good life'? 

I feel like I am living the good life. Mark and I have wonderful friends. We have great siblings. We survived a fire and the rebuilding of our home. Our kids are productive citizens of this world and they live their lives in ways that honor Christ. Mark and I are a part of an amazing church. We have three beautiful granddaughters. We have enough - enough food, enough clothes, etc. We have clean drinking water and heat for cold days and air conditioning for hot days. We both have reliable vehicles.We have been on some incredible trips and have plans to go on more trips. I love my job and I am thrilled to be pursuing my college degree. I think that sounds like the good life!

2.  What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)? 

I use Waze regularly and I text quite a few people. I scroll instagram and facebook most evenings while we watch a show or two on TV. I also have my work email on my phone. I don't know which one I use the most, but I use all of those regularly!

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain. 

I think I want to look through rose-colored glasses. I want to see the best in people and the best in situations. Most of the time I am a very positive person, but I do try to balance that with some realism.

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)? 

I do like hibiscus mead. We have a friend who has made some and it is yummy! I am not big on floral flavorings or floral scents (perfumes. lotions, etc.)

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else? 

I have no idea . . . maybe the mysteries of life. I can't wait to read all of your answers because I seriously do not know.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Y'all were all so kind to check on me and my allergy attack. I am better. On Tuesday, I told some co-workers that I was a little better than I was on Monday and my boss said that was a "low bar." He was right. Saturday afternoon, Sunday, and most of Monday were tough days. I still don't know what set off the allergy attack.

Weekend (plus a little last week) in Review

Venture is our VBS for older kids (rising 3rd graders through rising 6th graders). We have so many kids who want to participate that we have to divide the ages. We do let some of the older elementary kids come and help during the younger VBS.

Anyway, the staff is always invited (encouraged) to sign up to help in some way or another. I was a group leader's assistant (the extra adult) one day last week. We had a sweet group of kids who will all be sixth graders in August. Since the kids are a little older, the schedule is different from regular VBS. They gathered in the gym at 9:00 a.m. They played a couple of big games and had a snack. Then the group was divided. We hired three school buses/drivers to provide transportation. The day that I worked, we boarded the bus and headed to the Hub. Y'all have heard about the Hub because that is where Mark volunteers two days a week.

Upon arrival, the kids listened to a short presentation about the various services offered and who (our neighbors!) participates. 

The kids then did a coloring project where they colored cards to be tucked inside some goody bags. After coloring, we made an assembly line where they placed a coloring book, crayons, bubbles, and other goodies inside a baggie to be given out to the kids who come with their parents to our ESOL classes.

We then had a tour of the facility. The hit of the tour was being able to go inside the giant deep freeze!

We came back to the church and ate our sack lunches (from home) and had small group time to discuss what we had learned. We then moved into a time of worship - all together - to close out the day!

I worked on Thursday and my boss had a big meeting so I set up snacks for that meeting, decorated a co-worker's cubicle for her birthday, notarized documents for a mission trip, and did my regular job!! I wrote a paper on Thursday after work and then Mark and I watched a couple of shows.

On Friday, Mark headed to the farm where he snapped these photos. He has refloored the house, painted everything and is in the process of redecorating.

I want him to float the sofa in front of the fireplace, but I don't know if that is going to happen haha!

While Mark was at the farm, I watched On the Basis of Sex, a movie about the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and then I wrote a paper on the movie (required). The movie was really good. I also interviewed Ricardo, and his dad, another Ricardo, about taking over the cleaning of my house. If they have a spot for me, I think I will hire them. I think I told you that our regular friend who cleans is out for an undetermined time due to her mother requiring 24/7 care. I cleaned house in between all of the other things. I would do an assignment and go dust. Do another assignment and go wipe down the shower, etc.

On Saturday, I went to WW (weight watchers), ordered groceries, stopped at another grocery store, and I did more homework. About 2:00 p.m. an allergy attack hit me like a ton of bricks! Oh my goodness. It is Monday and I have sent a Klara message (online service) to my ENT. This is a rough attack that is now on day 3. I guess it is from dusting and cleaning this weekend. Hence, the need for someone to clean our house.

On Sunday, I was a liturgist in our early worship service. It was a communion Sunday and I read/lead the prayer of confession and pardon and introduced the "pass the peace" section. Before I left for church, I prayed and asked God for one hour with no allergy symptoms and guess what? Not a single symptom between 8:30 and 9:30. By 9:45 . . .the allergies were back in full force.

I don't know if you can see the altar flowers in the photo below. We have a "flower committee" - all volunteers who are church members/regular attenders. They are so talented. We have "altar flower donors" every week who give money and we list it in the bulleting. The flowers are usually given in honor or in memory of someone. Each year, there is a couple who sponsors the flowers in memory of their son, whose birthday would be June 12. She always asks for sunflowers, if possible. I am not sure . . .but I think his death was tragic. They are a little older than me, so I'm guessing, at this time, their son would be around the age of our kids - almost 40.

I was also blessed to help serve communion. Just FYI - we are using hand sanitizer below!

You can see me (left behind the rail in the pink dress) serving someone.

On Sunday afternoon, we took a much needed nap. I did more homework and rode my stationary bike. Mark went for a walk. I made a simple chicken pot pie for dinner. We watched a little TV. Now it is Monday again!

What did you do this weekend?

Just FYI - class is intense! I'm going to try to keep up with blogging, but my commenting will fall behind. I'll catch up as soon as I can!

 

Sunday Stealing

 

I am joining up with the thieves from Sunday Stealing!

We stumbled upon a post on Blogography that promises to ask "questions you aren't used to." Well, after all the memes we've done, that's a tall order! Of the 65 questions asked, we've stolen 10 of the most unique.

10 Questions You Aren't Used To

1. What celebrity would you never want to meet? George Costanza (Jason Alexander).

2. What do you label yourself as? I'm a full-time college student at 67 years old. I'm a mom and a Gran and a wife and a full-time employee on a church staff. I am a Christian.

3. You can only have one sandwich for the rest of your life. You have every sandwich-making ingredient known to man at your disposal. What sandwich do you make? I think I would make a delicious cheeseburger. Does that count as a sandwich? I would add lettuce and tomato and pickles, along with mustard and ketchup. 

4. An angel provides you with a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. What's it gonna be? Hmmm . . .I love Grey Goose Vodka. I also love Wild Leap Strawberry Mango and I haven't been able to find it anywhere around us!!

5. Have you ever built a snowman? Yes. We don't get a lot of snow, but when we do . . .I love to make a snowman. My last snowman was tiny!

6. If you could ask your future self a question, what would it be? I am not sure that I want to know the future. I need to think about this question!

7. Have you ever baked your own birthday cake? I don't think I have!

8. Which are cooler: dinosaurs or dragons? Dinosaurs . . .I guess!

9. What do you like about babies? I love those first smiles and that first belly laugh!!

10. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. What's the first rule you put in place? How about "always be kind"? Or . . .maybe mind your own business hahaha!

INSTEAD OF STEALING, LET'S BUILD OUR OWN MEME. Think of a question you'd like to ask and insert it here. If we get at least four good ones, we'll do our own DIY meme in a week or two. How about "what is your favorite sleeping position"?

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

It's a Wednesday Hodgepodge Kind of Day!

 

1.What's something you find extremely difficult that most people would say is simple? 

I took the class/test to get my vessel license back when our kids were younger (we all three took the class/test.) I've driven a boat maybe once since then -- I realized that I don't have much sense of direction on the water! Maybe if I lived on the lake or drove a boat every weekend, it would become easier.

2.  "And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow fast in movies I  had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer." 

~F. Scott Fitzgerald

Does the season of summer make you feel this way? Elaborate. 

I love the longer days that begin with daylight peeking out around 5:00. If I step outside at 5:00 a.m., I can hear the birds singing their songs so beautifully. After work, the daylight hangs around until 8:00 p.m. These longer days are glorious. I feel like life is fresh and new (until the heat and humidity slap me in the face hahaha!). 

3. Pickles. Love 'em or no thank you? What's your favorite type of pickle? What's something you eat that definitely needs a pickle added?

I love pickles - thank you very much! I like dill pickles. I love a small dill pickle (the baby ones) with a turkey sandwich or with a scoop of chicken salad! My family LOVES spicy pickles - like Wickles. They all love pickled okra (I do not!). Our daughter loves Grillo's pickles and she uses the juice in her coleslaw!

4. Tis the season...do you know any June brides? Are there any weddings on your summer calendar? What's your favorite movie wedding? 

We do not have a summer wedding on our calendar. I can't believe it! I schedule the weddings for our church, and we do have one June bride, two July brides, and a couple of August brides. I thought we might get an invitation to one, but we haven't. We did get a save the date card for a December wedding! What is my favorite movie wedding? hmmm . . .I loved My Big Fat Greek Wedding! Our nephew got married last May (a year ago) in a Greek wedding and it was fun! I didn't see anyone whip out a bottle of windex, though (iykyk). I also loved Father of the Bride. I also liked Princess Bride!

5. June 1st is/was National Say Something Nice Day...say something nice here. 

All of you (other bloggers) are great! I love reading your posts and I always appreciate your comments.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I had a mini meltdown last night. Class officially started yesterday and I couldn't get my introduction video to download correctly. I finally was successful at 10:00 p.m. last night. As we crawled into bed, I told Mark that every semester I think to myself, "I can't do this." I know I can, but I have such a moment or two (or three) of panic right at the beginning. Over the course of the summer, we cram a 15 week course into 5 weeks and then take about four days off and cram another 15 week course into another 5 weeks. In a teary voice, I said to Mark, "What if I'm this close - close enough to see the finish line - and I can't do it?" He said just the right thing - "You've made all A's since you started back to college . . .all you have to make is C's to graduate." This made me laugh! I love the recognition of being on the Dean's List at 67 (will be 68 in a couple of weeks), but he is right. I can still succeed and graduate without making another A. Just FYI - I'm still going to try for the A's!

p.s. I will do my best to get around and at least comment "hey!" . . .but if I fall behind in commenting, please know I'll be back!

 

Life Lately - Basically . . .Weekend in Review

The painting below is 3 feet X 4 feet - It is propped in front of wallpaper - so disregard the border. This is the lake at the farm and Mark's sister, Susie, painted it for Mark to hang at the farm. Isn't it beautiful?

Right now, our church has the main campus plus one other campus. In August, we will be adding another campus. Jack will be the new campus pastor. The moving van arrived at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday and I stopped by with some goodies. Jack's sweet wife, Cheryl, took the photo. Jack served at Trinity back in 2016 when we opened our other campus. His children were tiny - 10 years ago! They are such amazing kids now!

Below is the basket I made (from our staff) - paper towels and toilet paper plus some gift cards and candy . . . a new set of dish towels, peanut butter crackers, etc.

After I dropped off the basket, I headed to our North Alabama Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. I attended two Learn and Lead sessions -- one on story telling . . .

and one on mental health in the church. Monica is in the photo below - she is a UMC pastor plus a counselor. She is the person I met with for the entire first year after our house burned. I love her. Y'all -- the suicide statistics are staggering. Our mental health in this country is not so great - anxiety is rampant. We talked about healthy boundaries plus how to help each other and the folks in our congregations.

There were multiple classes you could attend on the first day.

I scooted out of the last session (one for laity) and headed home because we had tickets to the Homewood Theater to see "Working - the Musical." It was an excellent performance.

The cast was top notch.

This guy below - was an amazing actor. In one scene, he was an old man . . .and he truly became an old man. The theater is a small black box theater so you can see their expressions really well. I didn't take these photos, but borrowed them from the theater's facebook page. 

The premise of the show was to tell about all of the behind the scenes jobs -- from the brick masons building buildings to long haul truck drivers to receptionists and everything in between. 

I just can't say enough -- excellent!!

Annual Conference continued on Friday and Saturday.

My co-worker and friend holds a position on the conference finance team and she did a great job presenting her information.

On Friday afternoon, Mark was at the farm. It was about six o'clock when I got home . . .and it was raining, but I had a date with our front porch! I washed down all of our outdoor porch furniture.

We have a teak table on one side and I scrubbed it and the chairs!

I scrubbed the cute little glider.

I hosed down the wicker chairs and the cushions. A neighbor's cat sleeps on my porch chairs and so I was trying to wash the cat fur off. Also, when I moved the cushions . . .a chipmunk or squirrel had hidden NUTS/acorns under the cushions!!

Mark has the green thumb in our house - our plants are lovely.

Just FYI - I didn't paint the inside of the pantry during my break from school, but I did clean and reorganize everything in it. I threw away all of the expired stuff.

It is looking pretty good!

We went to our long-time supper club on Saturday night. I was providing the appetizer so I made homemade pimento cheese - half Pepper Jack and half Extra Sharp Cheddar. I also served hummus, carrots, crackers, and pita chips.

On Sunday morning, I hosted Fifth Sunday Fellowship. I ordered 22 dozen doughnuts from Shipley's. We've been hosting these events for over a year now and this was the most successful one so far.

I worked until about 11:15 on Sunday (back and forth between the Welcome Desk and the Fellowship Hall) and then I hurried home. We ate food for sustenance, not enjoyment - that means I ate a turkey sandwich and Mark ate a pimento cheese sandwich! I took a 20 minute power nap and rode the stationary bike for a few minutes. I then put my dress back on and headed back to the church. Birmingham Southern College was the United Methodist college located nearby. They had to close in May of 2024 due to finances. The United States Coast Guard has recently purchased the campus to be used as a training center so our church hosted a worship service yesterday afternoon. The service included a Livery of Seisin - which is a literal transfer of dirt. I am copying and pasting this from the Cornell Law School website: "Livery of seisin is the symbolic transfer of property during an ancient ceremony developed by medieval England. Seisin was specific to real property at the time of its use. In a traditional livery of seisin, the grantor would hand the grantee an item like a twig or dirt from the land, which would symbolize the grantee taking possession of the land. This process is equivalent to transferring a property’s fee simple between old and new owners or signing over the deed to a piece of land." Is Livery of Seisin new to you or have you heard of it before?

I also learned about this giant "sceptor" which is really called a Mace. An academic mace is a heavily ornamented, ceremonial staff carried at the front of formal academic processions, such as graduations, convocations, and inaugurations. It is a traditional symbol of the university's governing authority, academic dignity, and institutional independence.

The tradition dates back to medieval Europe. Early maces were functional weapons used by knights and bodyguards to protect dignitaries during processions.

I'm sure a lot of colleges/universities have a mace - but it is new to me. I think it is interesting that the service included two traditions from medieval times.

The two Coast Guard officers (in blue suits) were included in the service. The bulletin shared that the female (on the left) was a chaplain and also an elder in the United Methodist Church.

In the photo above, the gentleman in the robe on the far right is our Bishop. 

I had gathered a great team of greeters for this event. Two of them were Birmingham Southern grads and so once the service started, they hung around in case anyone had any questions. I scooted out and headed home!

We crammed a lot into Thursday through Sunday. My Family Law class begins today so our social life may slow down considerably. Cramming a whole semester into 5 weeks equals a lot of work!

What did you do this weekend? Did you learn anything new in the last few days?