IT'S TOO COLD TOO SOON HODGEPODGE!

It's still Wednesday so it's still Hodgepodge Time.  I want to wish Joyce a Very Happy Birthday! She comes up with the questions every week.  I hope your Birthday is as special as you are Joyce.

1. I'm celebrating a birthday this week so a question relating to aging feels appropriate. Douglas MacArthur is quoted as saying, 'You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Would you agree? If not why not?
WHY!! Nothing like starting off the Hodgepodge with a hard question Joyce!!  I think we are as old as we feel on any given day.  It changes from day to day.  Some days I feel really old when my body creaks and cracks while on other days I feel very young and even taller.  I don't know if fear or despair have anything to do with it. I think it's all a state of mind.

2. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily in your birthyear, just the same date/same month.
~Tupac Shakur's Me Against the World makes him the first rap artist to debut at No. 1 on the US charts while in jail on charges
~A massive earthquake Named the 'Good Friday Earthquake,' that measures 8.6 on the Richter scale struck Alaska , flattens buildings and triggers a massive tidal wave in Alaska
~The U.S. Congress and President Washington authorize the creation of the U.S. Navy

3. Describe a time or circumstance where you wanted to 'have your cake and eat it too.'
I honestly can't think of anything.  Sorry.

4. What's something you do that makes you feel young? Something that makes you feel old?
~I feel young when I play with our grand girls.  Playing dolls or running around the yard with them makes me feel young.
~I feel old when so many others seem to understand modern technology and I'm a bit lost. When I ask the computer IT guy a question I sometimes have to ask him to explain the answer.

5. When did you last do something that was 'a piece of cake'?
I designed and sewed a bag for August's stroller that would hold lots of stuff so I don't have to carry a lot stuff.

6.  Beef, wine, and cheese all improve with age. What's something else you'd add to that list? (not necessarily food or beverage)
Growing old with the man I love.  He gets better with age!  As Robert Browning said “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be"

7. If I were to have a giveaway when we hit Volume 200, what should I give away? By my calculations we'll hit Volume 200 on November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving, which means whoever wins would have whatever it is in time for Christmas.
What ever it is you give would be something from your heart and that would make any giveaway a great giveaway.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
This weekend Hubby is off for a "Men's Retreat". It's a great time for Christian men to get together, worship God and develop great friendships.  I like it when he gets to take off and be with other Christian men and develop those friendships.  I also like that I can have fish while he's gone - Hubby is allergic to fish.  I can also have breakfast for dinner and eat at whatever time I want to.   So it's a win-win for both of us.  He always comes home happy, tired, and full of God's love.

So these are my answers, what would be yours?

BACK TO SCHOOL HODGEPODGE!

Thank you Joyce for these questions.  I have my answers, do you have yours?

1. On Thursday we pause to remember a dark day in history-9/11. Will you mark it in some special way?

I will say a prayer for those who were left behind to live forward without the love of their family member.  I know for many, this is hard.

2. Do you ever/still...listen to an actual radio? Watch a videotape (VCR)? Look up a number in a phonebook? Refer to a paper map while traveling? Set an alarm on an alarm clock as opposed to your phone?

No, everything I do, I do on my phone.  How strange this new life style has become.

3.  Is it ever a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don't know?

Not for me.

4. What's a dish you haven't eaten all summer, but come September find yourself craving? Have you made it yet this month?

Lazy Man's Lobster and no, I've not made it yet this month but the month is still young.

5. What's something you know nothing about?

WOW there are lots of things I know nothing about.  Like how people in Africa live, Why did we have 3 super moons this year, how to cook a snake, what does the sound of a skunk sound like, and how long does it take to walk to Boston. There are lots to still learn about this world I live in.

6. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like classical music? If so, what's your favorite piece?

I do like to listen to the Children's Classical Hour on the radio (on my phone of course) where they explain why the songs were written and how the instruments mirror the sound of water, wind, and horses walking on the cobblestone.  I don't have a favorite, I like the learning about it.

7. What's the oldest thing you own?

I have a side board that belonged to my grandmother. She got it second hand so it's something like 100+ years old by now.  I really love it and it goes with our dinning room set perfectly.  At the moment, it's in the kitchen holding dishes and lots of things.  There is a story in there someplace.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

NH had a primary election today.  The turn out was light this morning but the total counts are not in yet.  Here in NH at our polling place we have to show a photo ID to vote.  I'm proud to do so!  I think showing my ID is a privilege that so few in other country's have the right to do. So what is the big brouhaha about everyone having to show an ID?  I show it to get money from my bank, to fill out a car loan application, to vote, and to pick up some medications. If we are here legally then we should be proud to show off our ID; if we are not here legally, then go home and stop using up our resources and get in line to come here legally.  That's my soap box moment.  

HAPPY GRANNY HODGEPODGE!

The first Hodgepodge of September.  WOW the Christmas stuff is coming out, the days are being counted down and the 31 parties are in full swing with - " Hey, get your Christmas shopping started now". Let's slow down and talk about what is happening now.  Today is Hodgepodge day.

1.  What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to actually doing?

Going to the Beach and walking around and getting Fried Dough there.  But in October we are taking a real vacation (Lord Willing) and we will get to it.

2. Share a favorite memory of your own back -to-school days as a child.

We didn't have school buses and we either walked or rode our bikes to school.  My favorite memory was to get to school and see who got a new bike for school because they grew so much over the summer or their old bike "Just wore out".  Do bikes wear out anymore or are our kids driven everywhere?

3.  What's one chore or daily task you prefer doing 'old-school' ?

Laundry. I still put Vinegar in the spot marked Fabric Softener, and still use simple laundry detergent.  I don't use nor need those pods and whatnot's to get clean clothes.

4.  Share something you've learned in life through the 'school of hard knocks'.

Spending money is easy, saving is hard and sometimes a lot harder, but when you get to pay cash for something you've wanted for a long time - that feeling - right there - is priceless.

5.  As a child, did you mostly bring or buy your lunch for school? What was your favorite thing to find in your lunchbox?

I brought my lunch to school, we didn't have a cafeteria so either the students brought lunch or went home.  I liked finding a whoopie pie (also known as a "moon pie") in my lunch.

6. Football season is upon us which has me wondering... how big of a sports fan are you (not just football) ? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being 'I scream at the players through my television screen' and 1 being 'is knitting a sport?' where do you fall in fandom? 

Napping is a sport as well, right?

7. Share a favorite quote you think might inspire students of all ages at the start of a new school year. 

“We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face…we must do that which we think we cannot.”  Eleanor Roosevelt

8. Share a Random Thought!

We (Hubby and I) are still getting to watch the grand girls which helps out our Daughter and Son-in-law for a few hours.  We are still super tired after they leave. But talking to them, watching them care for each other and for the "babies" we play with is such a joy. Poor Pepere has no idea how to play with dollies.  He just watches us and shakes his head.  Yes, we talk a lot with out Dollies.

And every sentence starts with "Grannie, guess what?" They are so much fun!