Wednesday Hodgepodge

Well, there's been a longer-than-intended hiatus here...after my grandmother's passing at the beginning of the month, we lost my father-in-law about a week and a half ago in a terrible car wreck.  Between the two, we celebrated my son's birthday (he's TEN, y'all!) and the had his Blue and Gold Banquet, cookie booth sales for Girl Scouts, went full-tilt into a landscaping project, and I think occasionally there was time for a nap, but I'm not sure.

But around here, the goal is to find the silver linings, and while I'm not necessarily doing it out loud, I am definitely counting my blessings this week.

To the Hodgepodge!

1. What are two or three expectations you have of yourself?
My expectations of myself are pretty low...I expect myself to get my chores done, does that count for anything?  My goal for tomorrow is to vacuum out the sofa...

2. In what way does your outdoor space need sprucing up this spring?
Oh, goodness.  Remember the re-landscaping project I mentioned?  It's actually nearly done.  We had this huge old rock garden with some weird...birdbath or fountain or whatever in the middle of it.  It's gone now, replaced with rhododendrons and some things I can't identify, but they're pretty.  And the ornamental grass in the backyard with the fluffy stalks of doom that set off my allergies are either gone or getting ready to be gone.

3. According to this site (Roadtrippers), six of North America's most wondrous waterfalls are-Webster's Falls in Ontario, Upper Whitewater Falls in North Carolina,Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon, Multnomah Falls in Oregon, The Lower Yellowstone Falls, and Niagara. Have you seen any on the list? Which one on the list would you most like to visit? Prettiest waterfall not on the list that you've seen in person?
The only one I've seen is Niagara.  Tahquamenon Falls is very nice, though, and I recommend that one.  Of the ones on the list, though, I guess I'd like to see the Lower Yellowstone Falls.  I just don't want to drive that far.

4. Looking back, what's something you wish you'd done as a teenager?
hm.  There's an answer to this question, but it's backed by a long, ugly story.  Suffice it to say, I would have ended up spending more time with my besties.

5. Ham...yes please or no thank you? If you said yes please which of the following do you like best-baked ham with all the trimmings, a ham and cheese sandwich, prosciutto with melon, a ham biscuit, a bowl of split pea and ham soup, or a slice of pizza topped with ham and pineapple?
Love ham.  Had it for dinner tonight, even.  Of the ones listed, I guess I'd say a ham biscuit.

6. Are you typical of your generation? How so?
I have NO idea.  I doubt it. 

7. April rolls in at the end of the week, and in keeping with that theme...'act the fool', 'nobody's fool', 'a fool's errand', 'could have fooled me'...which foolish idiom most recently applies to you? Explain.
Nobody's fool.  I don't trust easily, and treat most things I'm told with an unhealthy amount of cynicism.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
The past month has been a hard one for my family.  If it's okay with everyone else, I'd like the next middle-of-the-night phone call I get to be about a baby being born, okay?

Wednesday Hodgepodge (Saturday Edition!)

Sorry it's late, guys...I can explain, honest!

1. February ended with an extra 24 hours in 2016. What did you do with your bonus day?

I went to the doctor.  Also, I found out my beloved grandmother had passed away.  It was not much of a "bonus" anything.

2. What's something in your life that's grown by leaps and bounds in recent days, weeks, months, or years? I'm giving you lots of room to come up with an answer here, so no fair passing on this one.

It sounds like a dismissive answer, but my children.  We were talking the other day about how little and sweet they were when they were born, and fast forward to now, when my son no longer needs a booster seat and is just a shade shorter than I am, and my daughter no longer needs us to read game instructions to her.  It's a bittersweet feeling.

3. Do you read reviews about a film before deciding if you'll see it? Did you watch The Oscars this year, and if so your thoughts on the program? How many of the Best Picture nominees had you seen prior to the broadcast? (Spotlight, The Martian, The Big Short, The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, Room, and Brooklyn) If you watched The Oscars who gets your award for 'best dressed'?

Sort of.  My husband and I occasionally joke that if the critics hated it, we'd probably love it.  I didn't watch the Oscars, and hadn't seen any of the Best Picture nominees.  The last movie I saw in theaters was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but before that was so long ago I don't even remember what it was.

4. When did you last have overnight houseguests? Give us your top three tips on being a good houseguest.

October, during my daughter's birthday.  I can't claim I have tips on being a good houseguest.

5. March 2nd is Peanut Butter Lover's Day. Will you be celebrating? If so, would you prefer a home made peanut butter cookie, a Reese's peanut butter cup, an old fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or shall I just hand you a jar and a tablespoon?

I did not, but I would have happily celebrated with a jar and a spoon.  I love peanut butter.  I love peanut butter by itself, or covered in chocolate, or with apples, or with carrots, or in baked almost anything...

My daughter once caught me dipping a spoonful of peanut butter into a bag of M&Ms.  Without a word, she got her own spoon and the jar of peanut butter and handed them to me so she could have one too.  So that's kind of our thing now, at least on occasion.
6. Why is failure important? Or isn't it?

Of course it is.  I went to an engineering college where we're taught failure as experimentation, so to speak.  I'm not sure if most engineering colleges are that way, but they should be.

7. Share with us one fun thing on your March calendar.

March 13 is a day full of all the things for us.  Scout's birthday is that day, and so is his party, and so is Scout Sunday at our church, and so is the Blue and Gold Banquet (which, for those of you who aren't familiar with the Cub Scout year, is the end of season celebration for Cub Scouts).  I'm looking forward to it all.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

After finding out about my grandmother's passing, I made a hurried trip home for her funeral.  I'm glad I was able to make it.  It was a beautiful service and it was, in spite of the heartbreaking circumstances, a joy to see my cousins and uncles again.