Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Share a winter memory from your childhood.

I've probably shared this before, but it's a strong memory...

It was Christmas Eve, and it was a bitterly cold one.  I was four years old.  We were gathered around our new puppy when our older dog started going NUTS.  We went to the front window of the house, where he was, and saw the local firetrucks headed up the street across from our driveway.  There was a house up the way that was fully engulfed.  The hydrant was right in front of our house, and we watched as they hooked up the hoses and started to put out the fires--only to have the hoses shatter almost immediately due to the cold.

They couldn't do anything but watch that house burn down to the ground.

Some weeks later, I seem to remember the community coming together to help them rebuild, and my parents simply explaining that that's what neighbors are for.

2. What was on your blog this time last year? (Besides the Hodgepodge of course!) If you weren't blogging, what in the world were you doing with all that free time? 

Probably not much.  I don't think I was using this blog for much this time last year.

3. Ellen Goodman is quoted as saying, 'We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.' 

Do you see more flaws or more potential in your life at the start of a new year? Have you done anything specific this month to address either one? Does the new year truly begin for you on January 1, or is there some other month of the year that feels like a fresh start and new beginning?

I hope like anything I see more potential.  I plan on a lot of things this year, without all the "Well, here's what I need to fix this time..."

4. Who's an athlete you admire or respect and why?

Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs.  Diagnosed with cancer, what, a year ago?  Played through this season with the "yes I will" attitude that I can't help but respect.  He said once that football sore is way better than chemotherapy sore, and I definitely believe him.

5. Do you like cream in your coffee? Whipped cream on your pumpkin pie? Cream cheese on a bagel? Sour cream on a baked potato? Cream of wheat for breakfast? Have you ever had a scone with clotted cream? Of all the creamy foods mentioned, which one sounds most appealing to you right this very minute?

Sometimes I do take cream in my coffee, but not all that often.  If I'm lucky enough to get a pumpkin pie, yes, I take whipped cream on that.  I do love cream cheese on a bagel, but going gluten free has made that not a thing anymore. (have you ever tried a gluten free bagel? they're underwhelming.)  I've never had cream of wheat or clotted cream, but of the above, I would definitely take a cup of coffee with cream at the moment.

6. Where were you last kept waiting for 'hours on end'? Or for what felt like hours on end? How well did you cope?

Standing in line at the grocery store.  It was just ahead of the winter storm--usually I go on Saturday, but good sense made me go on Friday along with ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE IN PITTSBURGH so the lines were long.  But I understood, so I kept my mouth shut and read the covers of the magazines nearby (and nearly bought a few--for the recipes, of course).

7. Believe it or not, when next week's Hodgepodge rolls around it will be February.Huh?!? Bid adieu here to January in seven words or less.

Thanks for a good start to 2016.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Scout is doing a solo in the spring orchestra concert.  So, of course, his violin is in need of repair.  Thankfully, the shop I bought it in is one of those small businesses that I can trust.  Small, locally owned businesses are pretty much one of my favorite things.

WOOF, what a weekend.

Well THAT was quite a weekend...

Friday afternoon, we got hit with the threatened snowstorm (I think they named it Jonas?) and we wound up with about eight inches of snow by the time it was over.  Sunshine's dance class was cancelled.  Scout's baseball camp was, too.

So, feeling grateful that I did my weekly trip to the store ahead of the storm, what was I to do but make chicken cordon bleu soup and enjoy being inside on Saturday?  I'm not a fan of snow and I didn't want to be out in it.  Really the only person who did was Sunshine--she spent the majority of the time throwing around handfuls of snow and screaming, "LET IT GO" at the top of her lungs.  Then she'd come inside, curl up under a blanket, and whimper that she was cold.

Today, the roads were clear and our spirits were high, so we went to the mall after church.  After lunch, we split up: Scout and I headed to the cinema to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens and he LOVED it.  Asked a lot of questions (mostly along the lines of, "Is that guy gonna be okay?"), decided he wants to be BB-8 for Halloween, understood a lot more of the plot than I expected him to for someone who's watched half of A New Hope.

Sunshine and my husband hung around the mall for a while.  Then Sunshine decided, she wanted to get her ears pierced.

Husband says she did really well: didn't scream, cry, fight, etc, and that's all good stuff to hear.  The place she went caters to kids, and they loosened the earrings for me (which is good, because that's tough to do without pulling them out accidentally), she got a stuffed kitty and a lollipop, they took a picture, gave her a certificate, it looks great.  She even got her nails painted and got her hair cupcake scented.

If there's a Sweet and Sassy in your area, apparently it's awesome for little girls.  Maybe she'll want to do her next birthday party there.

So the next two months are devoted to helping her with her earrings.  That's fine; I've got two holes in each ear myself, so this won't be my first rodeo.

Making a spherical Halloween costume, on the other hand, may well be out of my range.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's good to be back, at least somewhat?  You know the days when everything is flowing and you feel like you have all of your ducks in a row?  January is usually about balancing that out for me.

1.  Speaking of skating...when did you last 'skate on thin ice', 'skate over the details', 'encounter a cheapskate', or just plain skate?
I feel a little like I'm skating over the details of a few things here, mostly because I have a cold and the medicine makes me feel groggy, but also because there's a LOT of details for a LOT of things going through my head.

2. What would you say is the biggest problem of people your age?

I've been seeing a lot of my friends talking about their student loans these days.  So maybe that.

3. What's your favorite accessory? Is it something you wear every day, often, or only on special occasions?

My husband gave me a mother's ring for Christmas.  It's beautiful.

4. January 20th is National Cheese Lover's Day. Are you a lover of cheese? What's your favorite dish made with cheese? Last thing you ate that contained some kind of cheese? 

I don't think I'm friends with anyone who DOESN'T love cheese!  My favorite dish that includes cheese is probably a baked macaroni and cheese.  Homemade, because that's the easiest way to sneak samples of the cheese while you're making the sauce.  We had Impossibly Easy Cheeseburger Pie last night for dinner.  Husband said it tasted good...I couldn't really taste anything because I was feeling so stuffy.

5. What's something guaranteed to make you roll your eyes? 

Hearing, "But MAMA..." when I say it's time to get up/time to go/time to do homework/time for bed.

6. Your favorite book series? 

I am a big Harry Potter fan.  I'm also a big Harry Dresden fan.

7. Why did you choose your profession? 

In my previous job?  I worked in IT.  I loved it because the problems were something different every day, and because people were genuinely grateful when I had a solution for them.  

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

The kids finally go back to school today after a four-day weekend.  I love them but I am SO glad they'll be with their friends.