Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What have you 'fallen for' recently?
Running.  When I sprained my ribs last week, I couldn't do it, and I didn't realize how much I needed it until then.

2. What's something you're 'squirreling away' for later?
I bought a dollhouse for my daughter earlier today.  I got it from a neighbor, and now I have to hide it until Sunshine's birthday.  Which is in two weeks.

3. How do you like your apples? Sweet? Tart? Crisp? Cooked? Apples are one of the superfoods for fall...how often do you eat an apple either plain or as part of a favorite recipe? What's your favorite variety?
In general, I like my apples crisp and tart.  I've discovered that equal parts peanut butter and caramel sauce warmed up in a microwave makes a lovely addition to apples.  If I eat it as part of a recipe, it's almost some variation on baked apples.  My favorite variety depends on what I'm doing with it...I like a good Granny Smith for just munching, but Galas seem to be nice for baking.  I can't remember what we picked last year for applesauce, but that turned out pretty good.

4. According to Fodor's the ten best fall foliage trips in the US of A are-Aspen Colorado, The Catskills New York, The Berkshires Massachusetts, Columbia River Gorge Oregon, Green Mountain Byway Vermont, Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway New Mexico, Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Upper Peninsula Michigan, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, and Glacier National Park Montana. Which would you most like to visit this fall and why?
I've seen a lot of these!  I've seen Aspen, the Berkshires, the Upper Peninsula, and the Lake of the Ozarks.  If I could, I'd go to Glacier National Park Montana.  Something new for my husband and me, and probably a ranch for riding horses for the kids.

5. The topic of legalizing marijuana was raised in the most recent televised political debate so let's wade in too. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Four states have legalize marijuana for recreational use. Your thoughts?
It's complicated...in general, I think it's sad that marijuana has been so stigmatized, even for medicinal uses.  If it helps someone, and it can be pharmacy-controlled, I don't see it any different from a prescription pain medication.  As to recreational use...that's where I'm torn.  I've never used it so I have no *actual* first-hand information for an opinion, but the people I've talked to say it isn't much different from alcohol.

As a controlled substance, I think things would be easier--and prisons would be less crowded--than as a forbidden substance.  Would I use it?  Not unless it was prescribed.  But in general, I think imprisoning someone who ultimately needs help is a sad position.

6. Are you okay to watch a movie already in progress or do you need to always see it from the beginning? How about jumping into a TV series somewhere in the middle? Is that okay? 
NO, I need to know what's been going on!  The ONLY time I made an exception was about twenty years ago, when my sister and I were in high school, and they were hyping this story line in Days of our Lives where someone got buried alive.  She wanted to see it, I wanted to see it, so we agreed to get into it.  It would NOT have been worth wading through thirty years' worth of history to get to that.  And now that those characters are gone, it isn't worth getting into it again.

7. Thursday (September 24) is National Punctuation Day. What rule of punctuation trips you up most often? What rule of punctuation, when broken by someone else, bugs you the most?
Mostly, when it doesn't get used.  If I'm reading a thread of debates online about something, anyone who ignores basic rules of punctuation just sounds incoherent.  I cannot cope with those people.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Monday night was "open house" at Scout's school.  I decided to take the opportunity to talk to his math teacher from last year--I don't know what she did, but she definitely made something click--and thank her for her dedication.  She's a gem.