Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Way back when (the Hodgepodge bicentennial to be precise) several of you submitted questions as part of a giveaway I was hosting. I went back to that list for inspiration today and found a question  submitted by Marla, who blogs over atMarla's Musings. Thanks Marla! 

She asks-At what age did you feel like a 'grown-up'? What keeps you young now?   

Hm.  I have no idea.  I guess when I graduated from college? Feeling like a grown-up happens by degrees, and a lot of them happen in a huge hurry between 17 and 23.

What keeps me young these days...not worrying about it.  I turn 35 on Saturday, so I've had a few of these thoughts lately, but in the end, I've earned every ache, every wrinkle, every gray hair I have.

2. When did you last buy a vehicle? Was this by design or because you had no other option? Was the car/truck purchased for your own personal use or was it bought for someone else to drive? On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being delightful and 1 being 'pass the Excedrin') how would you rate the experience?

The last time I was there for it was in 2008, and mostly out of necessity.  I was driving a smallish vehicle that wasn't terribly family friendly, and we'd just found out I was expecting.  It was welcome news, after having lost our previous child when I was 36 weeks pregnant, but it meant we would need a bigger vehicle, so we bought a van.

Two weeks later, we lost that baby too.  It would be another year and a half before we had a second child in the back seat.

On a scale of one to ten, I rate the experience a -72.  I hate buying vehicles.

3. Corn bread, corn chips, corn pudding, corn on the cob, cornflakes, corn chowder-your favorite of the corn-y foods listed? What needs to be served alongside your selection?

Corn bread!  With a nice bowl of soup or chili, please.

4. What's something in your life that regularly requires you to 'put your thinking cap on'?

Well, it isn't an issue these days, because school doesn't start till next week, but homework.  Maybe helping my kids with their homework is what keeps me young...

5. Share a favorite movie set in a school or classroom, or whose theme relates to school days in some way.

October Sky.  While it doesn't all take place in a classroom, it's heavily related and the main characters learn a lot of things on their own, which almost makes it more inspiring.

6. Reading, writing, and 'rithmatic' are commonly referred to as the three R's. What are the three R's in your life right now?

Running (having to be in a million places at once is exhausting!)

Religion (I love God, He's good to us)

Reading (reading three books at a time gets confusing)
7. What's something you've learned or tried recently you can say was as 'easy as ABC'?

Cooking new things is fun.  I got my pressure cooker out after a long hiatus last week and made chicken with it.  It turned out good, so I got out my pressure cooker cookbook and found a recipe for a bolognese sauce that I'm making this week.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Backyard kitty hasn't been around lately.  I hope like anything he found his way home.