It's a Snowy January Hodgepodge

Thank you to all of you who posted such kind comments on my last post. We are hanging in there. I promise to come and visit all of your blogs soon and leave happy comments!! My husband and his siblings have hired some sitter help for their brother and our sister-in-law. It helps that we had such wonderful sitters for their mother. We've kept in touch with the sitters for the last six months since she died so the family was able to get one of our beloved sitters. It helps when the sitter is not only trusted, but loved by the family. The rest of us continue to drop off food and check on them.

We had a snow day on Friday. Snow in Alabama is infrequent. According to Good Morning America, we had the most snow we've had in 11 years. Our local forecasters are hinting that we might have snow again next week.

our courtyard

the street and park in front of our house

my tiny snowman with rosemary arms

our house in the snow - photo credit to our neighbor

On to the hodgepodge - thank you Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for writing the questions for all of us every week!!

1.  It's been said January is 'the month of opportunity, inspiration, and change." Which of the three do you need most right now? Elaborate. I guess I need inspiration and change. I've gained a few pounds. I'm a stress eater. I need to get those pounds off. The inspiration would be the two family weddings we have this year. The change would be sticking to my WW (Weight Watchers) plan. We went to our first wedding of the year this past Saturday (close friend's daughter) and I do NOT like the way I look in the photos. Maybe that will be inspiration enough.

Our friend, Peggy, on the left and Laura, the mother of the bride
in the middle, and me on the right
Lots of co-workers behind us

2. Do you consider opportunity as something that comes to you or something you create for yourself? I think opportunity can be either! Right now, I've been given the opportunity to add to my job description at work and I'll learn some new things. I can also create my own opportunities by suggesting the addition of something new to my life or a new social event. 

3. The British Museum opened on this date (January 15th) back in 1759. Do you like visiting museums? Do you have a favorite? I do like visiting museums but don't get to visit them often enough. Sometimes we get to visit museums on our international travels. My sister-in-law (mother of the groom for the May wedding) said there are some cool museums around the area where we will be staying in Pennsylvania. Maybe I can visit one then. The Birmingham Museum of Art is actually a nice museum. They bring in great exhibits at various times. I wrote about going to the exhibit of Heroes and Villians costumes last year. I thought I had written about the visit to the museum to see the costumes . . .but I can't locate the post.

4. It's National Oatmeal Month (yes, apparently it gets a whole month as opposed to a single day). Do you like oatmeal? How often do you eat a bowl of oatmeal? How do you like yours? What about an oatmeal cookie? Is that a sweet treat you enjoy? I do enjoy oatmeal but I usually eat mine cold, not hot. I love the 100 calorie packets of oatmeal without added sugar. I don't eat it as often as I would like, because it works on my body in a good way . . .and I prefer to be home when I eat it. No more talk about that! My husband loves oatmeal - cold, hot, with raisins and honey. He has also been making homemade granola for himself. He also loves oatmeal raisin cookies.

5.What's something useful you learned in high school? I'm sure I learned a lot of things in highschool. I learned how to do some things I'm not proud of and I don't think I'll list those. I learned some good things, too. I learned that when your mom dies, the world continues to turn and you learn to cook supper. I learned that back in the 70's, a daddy who had never talked about periods with his youngest daughter (me) had to learn what it meant when I was doubled over with cramps. I learned that he would do his best and he would offer me a shot of whiskey to ease the pain. I'm still laughing about that one. I don't think I accepted it. I learned that there are good people in this world who will support you. I learned that there were moms who loved me, stepping in the gap for my mom, who would throw a surprise 16th birthday party for me or who would take me on all of their family vacations and pay for everything. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. My Speech 106 (communications) class has begun. It is pretty interesting so far. I have to record several speeches since it is an online class. I have applied to graduate in May and I need to start filling out my application and writing my essays for the four year school(s).