Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 12 Beating the Winter Doldrums

Let's take a little survey in the comments today, shall we?

Yes, of course if you are reading you should comment.

You should always comment.

Here's the survey question-

Is it snowing where you live?

Come on now...

what would a day on my blog be like without a mention of the white stuff?

And fyi-that last question is not part of the survey.

It is strictly rhetorical.

Now on to the Hodgepodge-be sure to link your post at the bottom so friends can find you.

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did your duty or forged your own path?

I think the two are linked...forging my own path is doing my duty. I don't believe in shirking responsibility but I think each one of us is set upon our own path and are called to different things in life. Even in the role of mother, which is something many are called to, no two moms walk an identical path.

2. This week's Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog's Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why? If you haven't seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that's okay...you can answer anyway.

Thursday.

Why Thursday?

See question #7

3. Hot cocoa...yay or nay on the marshmallows?

Definitely yay...I like a little hot chocolate with my marshmallows.

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?

I don't wear a lot of makeup but I do wear it every day. Here's the thing...when you are over 40 you can no longer get away with 'popping out to the market/library/post office' without giving it a second thought.

Just the other day I was behind a 30ish something mom and her little girl in a queue at the post office. Mom wasn't wearing makeup, her jeans were sort of half in and half out of her boots and her hair was in a messy ponytail bun thingy. And she was completely adorable. Now, if I attempted the same thing 'completely adorable' is not likely the phrase you would use to describe my look.

Two must haves would be moisturizer and eyeliner. Oh wait, blush, lipgloss and mascara are also must haves. As is the cooling under eye serum. For the record-if you need something called under eye serum you fall into a category of people who cannot possibly only choose two 'must have' makeup products.

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?

Oh sigh...I have a lot going on in my head and feel hugely frustrated when I'm not understood. But men are from Mars and women are not so it's only logical that sometimes hubs will not get me. I guess the fact that he loves me in spite of not always understanding me is the most important thing. The reverse of that would be miserable...understood but unloved? No thanks.

6. Parsley, sage, rosemary, or thyme...your favorite?

I am not a big fan of sage but I love both rosemary and thyme. I am neutral on parsley but I do use a lot of it and think Italian food especially would not be the same without it.

I cannot say parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme without thinking of the hauntingly beautiful song 'Scarborough Fair' by Simon and Garfunkel. I feel it is my duty to educate the masses and I am quite certain some of you reading here have not a clue who they might be. You may know Paul Simon but before he was Paul Simon he was Simon of Simon and Garfunkel...an amazing songwriting team whose lyrics were like poetry and whose harmony was sheer perfection.

7. What do you do when you feel angry?

Hmmm...probably cry. I'm not really proud of that although I guess its no worse than any other anger behavior such as yelling, swearing, or throwing things. Actually, on the ladder of anger behaviors, crying is probably a rung or two higher than throwing things but still, crying followed by a sulk is not all that attractive. Did I mention I sometimes sulk? I am slow to anger and I think when I do get angry it is usually all tied up in having my feelings hurt, hence the sulking.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Why do the batteries on smoke detectors and CO2 detectors only die in the middle of the night? Why do these things never beep annoyingly every 60 seconds at 2 in the afternoon instead of 2 in the morning? We have seven smoke detectors and three CO2 detectors on the second floor alone. We have this number as required by law which I believe is based on the number of bedrooms but whatever, there are many.

This means we are forced to stand half asleep in the middle of the hall and attempt to guess which of these 10 devices might be emitting the sound and once we've narrowed down the room it takes another minute or five to figure out if its the smoke detector or the CO2 detector. Then it takes a good 10 minutes to establish that there are no spare 9v batteries in the house. Why are there never any 9v batteries in the house?

Lest any of you think us irresponsible, we do change the batteries every fall as is recommended by our fire department but evidently 9v battery life isn't what it used to be.

And I'd go stock up on 9volts if it would ever quit snowing.