Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Hurry Up into the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 52

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...feel free to join the party. Answer the questions on your own blog or fb page and add your link at the bottom of my post. Here are my answers to this week's questions-
1. Of all the tools and gadgets you own, which do you most enjoy using?
I do love my label maker. There is something very satisfying about typing in letters and seeing words magically spit out the side. As far as the kitchen goes, my Kitchen Aid mixer is by far my favorite appliance but I will also give a shout out to my trusty mezzaluna -superb for chopping herbs and not fingers.
2. When (if ever) is impatience a virtue?
At first glance I'd say never but when I think about it as it applies to our life I might change my mind. Hubs could be described as somewhat impatient. ahem. He is a person of action and waiting around for life to happen is not his forte. Me on the other hand? Well, I might wait forever for something to happen that just won't happen unless someone demonstrates a little impatience. Enter the hubs. That old adage, 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease' is kinda true. That being said I sometimes get impatient with people who are always impatient.
3. What temperature do you keep the thermostat set to in winter? Do you have another way to heat your house besides a furnace of some sort?
68 degrees. I hate to be hot when I sleep but I hate to be cold when I get up. This is a nice happy middle.
4. Do/did you have a close relationship with any of your grandparents?
I started to answer this question and realized I have quite a lot of memories associated with my grandparents that I'd like to record. I think I might put those in a separate post so I have them written down somewhere.
For most of my life I lived a fair distance from my grandparents but I was always close to my maternal grandma. We lived with her for one year when I was about a year old and she helped care for me. My dad was overseas and my mom was distracted by my baby sister who was a wee bit difficult. My grandma also came to stay with my mom for months at a time in her later years so I really got to know and love her in my adult years too.
5. When did you last have a family portrait taken?
2005. We had a family portrait taken by a wonderful British photographer at the start of Daughter1's senior year of high school. The setting was the Windsor Great Park and the castle sits in the background. Can't really ask for a more perfect setting, can you?


The photographer had once even photographed the Queen (yes, the Queen of England) but I'm pretty sure we were way more fun. I imagine the next family portraits we have taken will revolve around a wedding someday. So glad we seized the moment back in 2005.
6. What does the word patriotism mean to you?
Loving your country is at the heart of patriotism but I think it goes deeper than that. Living in a foreign country made me realize that patriotism also means you personally identity with your home country. You worry, defend, promote, and act as cheerleader. You want to see her demonstrate all that is good and right in the world. Sometimes she lets you down but you love her anyway.
7. Do you like to play cards and if so, what's your favorite card game?
I think it has been established here that I like to play games and I guess my favorite card game would be Hearts. Now if only I could convince my family to play.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Today is my big brother's birthday. Actually he's my only brother but he's also older and since its his birthday that needs to be noted, right? Anyway, he is a good guy. A very good guy. I don't know anyone who doesn't like my brother.
I was looking thru my pics for one to post here today and I came across one that was taken on a trip he and my sister in law made to see us in the UK. We spent a day hiking out near Oxford and were cornered by some cows on our way to Blenheim Palace.
Such is life in the English countryside. It was such a fun, happy day. Hope your birthday is the same big brother!

35 comments:

  1. Joyce, the picture of your family is beautiful! The backdrop...oh my!! Loved your definition of patriotism. You always put things so eloquently!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. such a perfect family photo! absolutely beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joyce, once again I believe our husbands were separated at birth. Indiana never waits around for things to happen; he makes them happen. I, on the other hand, have to be pushed and prodded to do something more than "wait". I don't like to be pushed, but most of the time I do like the end results. Although I never admit to him that those results might not have happened without his pushing. Don't really want to encourage him, after all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your post conjured some favorite memories of my 14 day visit to England in 1998 ... my absolute FAVORITE place was Blenheim ... not only are we big Winston fans - but the entire Spencer family is fascinating!!!!
    And Windsor Castle - LOVED IT too!!! :) Great pic - and great privilege to be photographed by a person who has photographed THE Queen!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Label makers are simply awesome! Can't wait to get one of my own someday! :) Love your answers to these! ...and love how profound your response to the impatience was :)

    Happy Hodgepodge Day!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joyce,
    I want to respond to almost all your answers this week but I will not make a blog out of my comment.LOL!
    I will just say I love your answer for the impatience question because it made me think and I also love your patriotism answer. Your family portrait is great, at least you could find yours. LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love, love, LOVE the family portrait!!! And, before I forget...happy birthday to your brother. Oh...hearts. I too love playing hearts. But never win...the others always cheat. LOL [kidding]

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a unique family portrait! Gotta' love that!

    I loved my maternal grandmother dearly, too. At one point, she took care of me while my parents were going through one of their many "rough patches" in life. Don't know where I'd be without her.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love my kitchen aid mixer I use it several times a week and have had it for probably over 20 years! Worth every penny! I so agree with your patriotism answer. Love your family portrait such an amazing memory....but it's time for a new one your girls have grown so much!
    Oh I forgot about hearts love that game too! Happy Birthday to your brother I hope he has a wonderful day!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Joyce, you are good! I wore my boots with "hot pants", too. LOL That was a "scooter skirt" that I was wearing in the photo :) Those were the days...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous family pic! You're a nice looking bunch. :O)

    My daughter adores her Kitchen Aid mixer and uses it all the time. Plus, it looks cool on the counter!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your defination of patriotism was great! I wish I had thought of this. The family portrait is fabulous, too! Really it's awesome. We must get a nice one made soon. It just dawned on me, our last one was taken in 2008 at my youngest daughter's high school graduation. *slap forehead* Why couldn't I remember that? Tell big brother, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! That's marvelous you gave him recognition on his special day. Thanks for hosting! Have a lovely day...

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a lovely backdrop for your family portrait! Gorgeous! Funny ... 68 is a happy medium for you while it's almost arctic-like for me! ha! I love my Kitchenaid, too! Thanks for hosting this fun meme!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I agree on the kitchen aid mixer but have to admit you've peaked my curiosity with your mezzaluna thingy. I'm thinking it could be handy as I many times take a chunk out of my fingers especially when I get in a hurry doing alot of chopping. What do you use it for mostly?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great picture of the family! So much better than in a studio.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That's a gorgeous family photo.

    And I'd love a label maker!

    ReplyDelete
  17. It is always fun to see your answers since your wrote the questions. If this is #52 we have done this for a year now, OMG! Love the story behind the photo and the picture is really beautiful. Happy Birthday to your brother.

    ReplyDelete
  18. We seem to have the same problems getting our families to play games....I wish that my husband and I could have regular game night but he doesn't like to play with me. Whenever I visit my son and his family or they come here, we always play scrabble...and Jim and I have played with others when we had people over...
    Thanks for hosting,
    Mama Bear

    ReplyDelete
  19. Happy Birthday to your big brother! Love your family portrait in front of the castle. Beautiful. Never thought of a labelmaker. I don't have one at home, but there's one at work I use.

    Once again, great questions (and answers) Joyce. Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  20. great questions this week.. Had to think about some of them.. Happy Birthday day to your Brother..

    ReplyDelete
  21. Happy Birthday to your brother. He´s good looking. :)
    I love the family portrait. We have many family pics, but have never had a portrait made. :(
    A mezzaluna sounds like something I would need...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Your family photo is beautiful, and yes, I'm sure you all were much more fun than the queen! Thanks for hosting, and have a great day.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Ours is at 68 too to compromise between Rich wanting it at 66 and me at 70. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. I love your picture! Is that park part of "The Long Walk" by the Castle? We went there a few months ago and it was gorgeous and I wished we were close enough to go often.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I LOVE my label maker AND my Kitchen Aid mixer!

    Thanks for your well wishes. The wedding went splendidly well.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh, I love the family portrait! Jack read about his knee surgery this morning when he read Dackel and he laughed. He said he'd never seen me nearly pull apart a hospital single handed!

    ReplyDelete
  27. How nice that you lived in England! Was it for fun or did someone have a job over there? A former neighbor of mine had a job there so they all moved there for three years or so. My maternal grandparents, uncle & my mom were all born & raised in England, its a gorgeous place! Then they migrated to Pasadena around 1963 and still have that house to this day, though now its being rented out but its still ours. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love my kitchenaid, too. :) Still praying for your niece!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Happy birthday to your brother. He looks as though he could be quite a character given a chance. LOL

    I'm the impatient one here. Hubs will sit and wait for YEARS. Drives me NUTS.

    I really liked your patriotism response! I like it to be cool when I sleep to but, during the day I freeze. Thus, the infrared heater because I hate giving money to the electric company worse than being cold. LOL

    ReplyDelete
  30. Ooh, I just bought a label maker and I agree, it is quite handy! Thanks as always for providing this little break in the middle of the week for us all to gather here, ponder the week's new Hodgepodge questions, and connect with this little community that has formed! have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I love my label maker too. Such a lovely picture of you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Love my Kitchen Aid, as well! Beautiful family portrait- what a treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I love rockin' the mezzaluna. I like to say it, too. Mezzaluna. And oh, boy, it makes the herbs come alive in a dish. I was thinking more about impatience and I think the term our hubbies associate it with is "drive" or "initiative" or "competing" which makes them successful on the upside. On the downsides, well, we who are aren't quite as "driven" are familiar with the downsides. I'm just glad I don't have to prod my man to get stuff done very often. He runs circles around me. I actually wrote a second post today that's a Hodgepodge as if Hubby were Here. I have attempted to answer as if he would. That was fun, and didn't take much time at all.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Joyce
    love the post today :) your family is awesome!! love the background of your family pic
    Blessings
    Rainbow
    happy birthday to your brother!

    ReplyDelete