Wednesday Hodgepodge- 100 weeks old today.

Happy Birthday to the Wednesday Hodgepodge. It's 100 weeks old today.  After a weekend of Sandy, it's nice to have something "Normal".

1. What creeps you out?

Spiders! Any size, any length of legs, any color. Really don't like them at all. I know God made them and they serve a purpose but really don't want to know.

2. What's your least favorite candy?

Black licorice!  Red is wonderful but black is not my favorite at all.

3. Are you a fan of scary movies?  What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?

No - I don't like to be scared so on Halloween I like movies like Casper the friendly Ghost
The scariest movie that I've ever seen is " The Shaggy Dog" The original one. I had a ring just like the one in the movie that I got in a box of Cracker Jacks and was sure I was going to turn into that dog.  I know, don't judge me but I will not watch the movie even now when it plays on cable.  

4. What part of life confuses you the most?
I am confused by "cruelty". I don't understand how we as people can be so mean to other people. I'm not talking about getting mad and saying something hurtful or even hitting when someone gets mad. The type I don't get is how can someone kidnap anyone and torture them to death, or rape someone, or beat them to death. I used to watch some of the cop shows when the evil character would do something so terrible and then I would hear the story was based on real facts, I shake my head and can't wrap my head around that type of behavior. I understand that evil lives in this world and yet, it still confuses me. It hurts me. It hurts my heart.

5. Pumpkin, sunflower, sesame, poppy...what's your favorite seed?

Poppy seeds are my favorite as in lemon poppy seed muffins/bread. YUM

6. Imagine your life ten years from today...what's changed?
Wow, this was one of those exercises I had in school and always had a hard time with looking into the future.  I mean, only God knows my future and no matter what I want, He knows the plans He has for me and I need to be open for His plan.
 Here is what I hope to see: 
In 10 years our oldest grandson will be 18 and graduating from high school. I want to watch that one and all of our grandchildren graduate from high school andcollege. I want be at the weddings of all of them, but the question was about 10 years.  
I hope that Gerry and I are still together and I am finally retired and living the life that Hubby has now. 
I hope that we still live in the Northeast near our grandgirls and our friends and church family.

7.  What do you a) love the most and b) like the least about the Hodgepodge? 
Love that one day a week, I have questions all ready for me to answer and can then go around and see who else thinks like me. That is so cool to see that others have had my experiences or feel the same way as me. That makes me "normal" and I proudly tell Hubby that I am "Normal". 
Least like:  That at least one question is so thought provoking that I put more thought into that one question than I do for some of my entire blog post.  Some days thinking is just too hard!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I know that others are still out of power either because of rain or snow. I've seen the photos on the news, I've read the stories on FB. I can only imagine your suffering and pain as some have lost loved ones because of this storm. Still, I know that God is good and has not forgotten anyone.  My prayers are with you. 

WE HAVE POWER!!!

Well the truth is we never lost it, but it wasn't for Sandy's lack of trying. Our lights flickered and the TV went off and on again but in the long run, we kept our power.

We had started the pellet stove to bring the house temperature up in the house because if the power does go off, it takes a few minutes to get the generator going and everything plugged in so we wanted the house a bit warmer which August loved and Becke tolerated.

Gerry got the generator ready to start because the last thing he wanted to do was to start putting it together in hurricane wind and rain. This way all he had to do was go out there, pull the start cord and plug in everything we need to "rough it" in the country. 

Did you know that you can't get a generator wet!!!  When do you need the generator to work, well when it's raining, when it's snowing and other times when most likely the generator will get wet!  So Gerry created this tent cover for it and it worked really well until the winds hit close to hurricane strength and then one of the legs on the bottom broke so he was out at 9pm working on it.  

Today, if the stores are open, he will go get new parts and fix it.  Then, hopefully we will be ready this winter and loose power then.

The winds were pretty bad here and we took August out on a leash to "go" because I was pretty sure he would become a balloon and be lifted away.  He didn't want to go out but since I do not have an indoor tree for him, he had no choice. Becke went out, did whatever and came in as fast as she could. she is no fool!! They both gave up drinking because what goes in must come out and they didn't want to go out!!  Smart dogs.  This morning, they emptied the water dish so I feel pretty safe in saying it's over for us here.

Thank goodness for Face book because that is how we kept in touch with so many to make sure they were safe and to pray for many who were stuck at work and others trying to drive home in such a mess.  Love technology! 

There are still a lot of people out of power, and for many the roads to work are blocked and they can't get to work if work is even open! Our road seems to be open because I see a car here and there going down it. At least I hope it's open and those cars are not just neighbors turning around and going home!   It's a mess up here but compared to NY, NJ and MA we are golden.  

When the sun comes up and we can get out, we will take local photos and post them but we are fine.

My prayers are will all of those who are not fine, or even OK.  God be with you all.

Red Sky in Morning....

This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning. I guess if the old saying is true, then we better take warning.  The news reports tell us that Hurricane Sandy will be of some trouble to us by Monday afternoon.  For many south of us, they are getting the full brunt of the Hurracane but up here in NH we are going to get the wind and rain. Power outages are expected and schools were being called off Sunday night.
So for those in the direct path, my prayers are with you and may you all be safe.  I will be looking at your blogs to see if you still have power and if you are all safe.  I suspect that most of the blogs that I read will be about the storm and what it did and didn't do to their lives, their homes and their families.

We spent most of the time this past weekend getting ready. I don't know what "getting ready" for a storm means to you but for us is meant putting away anything outside that can become airborn. Taking photos of the house and yard, in case we need them for insureance claims later. Getting the generator ready, batterities, extra water, extra food, making sure the oil was ready for the lamps, got caught up on laundry, cleaned the house, took the flags down from outside and filled up the car with gas and got some cash out of the bank.

I also made sure that the dogs had all their food ready as well. Since I cook for them, their meals are in the freezer and we have some good quality kibble as well for them. Their evacuation kits are ready to leave if we have to.

I pray that Monday morning finds you all safe. I know that I will be watching tv a lot to see how Sandy is moving and where she makes landfall.  Be safe all and I will be looking forward to seeing my prayers answered and that you are all safe.

Getting Ready for Fall/Winter

Our stove was really cooking a few weeks ago.

How do you get ready for the fall and winter weather? If you live in the south, you may not do much at all. Our Daughter-In-Law lives in San Diego and she gets ready for the Fall/Winter season by putting out the different season placemats, moves the long sleve tee shirts from the back of the closet to the front and digs out the socks!  That is pretty much it!  How about you?

It was cleaned on Thursday and given a light coat of paint. Doesn't it look great!

Up here, it's a bit more involved and takes several weeks to finally really be ready and of course there is a checklist that is used.  

Do you have a checklist? How are you doing on it? Do tell? Some how,  I think our daughter-in-law's way sounds easier.

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Last of the Double Digets

This is the last week of a Hodgepodge in the double digits, next week we will be in the Triple Digits!  Oh my.  So let's get this going. Click on the button to join the fun over at Joyce's blog or answer them here.

1. So, do you like beer?
No. I don't drink at all. My dad was an alcoholic and I saw first hand what an alcoholic can do to a family. I made a very conscious desision to not have it in my family.

2. What's your least favorite repetitive task?

photo from Google

Picking up after the dogs. It's just Yucky especially in the winter when it's frozen to the snow. However, it must be done-often. If only I could teach them this!!!

3. When was the last time you rode a bus? Where was it headed?

This was in San Diego, CA, when our youngest grandson was born. We went on this tram/bus thing all over the park. It was great fun sight seeing on this when we weren't hugging our grand sons of course. This grandson will be 5 years old this November.  Where does the time go???

4. What song from your childhood or from your own children's childhood could make a parent's nerves stand on end?

photo from Google

The Wheels On the Bus!  Really, it would drive me nuts to sing this with the kids.

5. The US Presidential election cycle is drawing to a close (can I get an AMEN??), and the third and final debate was held last night...what was the last thing you 'debated about'?
My last debate was with my husband and the fact that he has not had a hearing test EVER! And I think he needs one because I think he is hard of hearing and since he didn't hear the debate, he lost right?

6. Can a person make too much money? How much is too much?
A person can make anything they want as long as someone is willing to pay that price. This is a free country. I may not agree that baseball players are worthy of such large sums of money, but if the team is willing to pay it then I say "Go for it". I can live on a lot less so I don't know how much is too much after all we see people all the time spending money on what to me seems really stupid things. Does anyone else remember the toast with an image of Jesus in it and it sold for how much??? But again, as long as someone is willing to spend that amount, then go for it.  I may not agree, but I will never stop you from earning or spending your money.

7. Pop-soda-coke-something else...what's it called where you live?
Tonic and also soda. Both names up here mean the same thing.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am SOOO enjoying the fall colors here during the day and the smell of a fire at night. I love curling up in a warm bed and drifting off to dream land. Life is good people-Life is good!

Now it's your turn. Answer the questions and let's learn about each other.