Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Stuck In The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the first Hodgepodge in a brand new year! So glad you've played along today! Once you've answered the questions on your own blog, add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to pop over and leave a comment for the blogger linking before you because we're all about keeping it friendly here.  Now off we go-

From this Side of the Pond  

1. It's that time of year again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, or genera uselessness) in 2018. You can read more about the decision making process and word meaning here, but this year's top vote getters are-

unpack, dish (as in dish out the latest rumor), pre-owned, onboarding/offboarding, nothingburger, let that sink in, let me ask you this, impactful, Cofefe, drill down, fake news, hot water heater (hot water doesn't need to be heated), and gig economy

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

There's not as many words on this year's list that get under my skin as in years past, but I'm not a big fan of the term 'unpack', and agree it's overused. Unless of course we're talking about the actual unpacking of a suitcase and then I'm okay with it. 

I'm a little tired of the word 'lit' and am surprised that one didn't make the list. 

2. What's something you need to get rid of in the new year?

For starters-the office files need purging, coats in the hall closet neither of us wear anymore need donating, and a few miscellaneous boxes in the storage room need to be sorted, emptied, and either moved to plastic bins or the rubbish.

3. Where do you feel stuck?

It's hard to explain, but in a nutshell I feel stuck in figuring out how to meet some of the personal goals I've set for myself. How to manage and order my daily routine as opposed to it managing me. I feel a lot of frustration in this particular area of my life because in my head I know what I want to happen, but then so often life seems to just roll out all over the place. 

I'm someone who works best with a bit of structure to my weekly activities and that's been missing round here in recent months. It seems like I'm always saying, 'starting tomorrow...' but for real...starting tomorrow I'm going to at least come up with a plan to have a better grip on my time in this new year. 

Also fresh starts are my favorite and I'm so grateful for more chances, brand new days, and the turn of a calendar page. 

4. January is National Soup Month. When did you last have a bowl of soup? Was it made from scratch or from a can? Your favorite canned soup? Your favorite soup to make from scratch on a cold winter's day?

I had a bowl of soup about a week ago, tomato from a can which is one of the few canned soups I enjoy. I do make a lot of soup from scratch, especially this time of year and in fact am making tortilla soup for our dinner tonight. My favorite made from scratch is vegetable beef prepared with short ribs, but I also love lentil soup and chicken with rice. We have those pretty often in the winter months or whenever anybody seems to be coming down with something. Chicken soup really is good for what ails you. 

5. Tell us one thing you're looking forward to in 2018.

I could dig deep for something original, but let's go with the obvious-spending time with my daughters and grandson. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Are your Christmas decorations up or down? Mine are coming down today, or at least that's the plan. We had company for the New Year's weekend and my Daughter2 stayed until Tuesday afternoon so I wasn't in a hurry to get things put away. Course I'd like to be Samantha Stephens right about now, and 100 bonus points to anyone who knows what that means! Happy New Year Hodgepodgers! And anyone else who landed or lurked here today!




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23 comments:

  1. Wish you a happy new year ! I only "work" if there is some pressure behind me, otherwise I always think I can do it tomorrow ! First thing in the New Year I attacked was the Christmas decoration ! Now it's done and I can hopefully go back to normal !!

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  2. I posted an answer but got an error code. If there ends up being two, please delete one. Our tree is down but the boxes are still in the house. Also our other decorations inside are all gathered in one place but haven’t been boxed up yet. It’s a work in progress.

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  3. Jo,

    I know what you mean about being stuck in what you do day-to-day. I feel that way all too often but I find if I make a short list of things I want to get done each that helps to keep me on track. I forgot I made sausage and lentil soup back in the fall which I hope to repeat sometime soon but first I want to make a large pot of beef stew with cornbread. Yum! Canned tomato soup is my favorite, too. It's really good with a peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwich, too. My Christmas decorations are still up. I may take the tree down next week. It's just too cold to do anything. However, I plan to leave my village up a bit longer. Have a good week and thanks for hosting the mid-week fun!

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  4. The three kinds of soup you mention sound good. I've got a chicken and wild rice soup recipe I need to make again. And it's interesting what effect a new calendar has on some of us. Fresh starts. It's wonderful and full of hope.

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  5. I assume you mean you wish you could wiggle your nose and POOF! it's done? :) My ornaments are off the tree but I'm waiting for someone to take the tree down and get the ornament boxes from the attic for me which means the tree is still standing and the ornaments are covering the table and might be there until well, Christmas. Anyway... I'm in the beginnings of hearing 'lit' which to me was always an abbreviation for literature but whatever. LOL Sometimes, it takes months for these new uses to take hold in my mind.

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  6. Happy New Year, Joyce! I took my decorations down which is the worst job in the world. Enjoy your week.

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  7. Thanks for hosting this fun post again this year! Decorations are still up, I have one more event at the house this weekend and want the gals to see my decor. Once they are gone I'll just twitch my nose a couple times and all will be packed away. Happy New Year!

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  8. I've been buying some organic tomato soup that has been really good. I never take my decorations down until after the New Year. I started gathering things to the dining room table yesterday. Today I have to be out of the house so tomorrow I will start packing the bins!

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  9. Oh my, if only we could channel Samantha Stephens!! LOL I'm putting things away today too. Joe's client cancelled our visit today since the weather is so bad, bless their hearts! We will probably go tomorrow, so today the rest of Christmas comes down! Good luck with yours, wiggling my nose as I type this!

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  10. I totally get the Samantha Stevens reference and I agree!! I wish for that skill in MANY areas of life! I did get the stuff down on New Years Day and was very happy to have the job done.
    Also weary of "unpack". It sounds like I am about to be unloaded on.
    Happy New Year to you and Hubs!

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  11. As soon as you said Samantha Stephens, I heard that little nose-wiggling chime in my head. Wouldn't that be great? Happy New Year to you!

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  12. Is she the one who wiggles her nose to get things done like magic? I've got to go add something to my Hodgepodge now that you've reminded me. I decided to take Christmas down before our daughter hosted her Birthday dinner with friends here on the 30th (her birthday is the 27th) It's hard having a December birthday and I wanted it to be about her birthday and not Christmas overload. I understand your thoughts on the need for structure. I'm not finding good structure since Dear is not gone each day to work for several hours. Trying to find my "working around him" structure". Thanks for asking the questions. This gives me blog structure for at least one day a week. :) Happy 2018!

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  13. Happy New Year Joyce,
    I hear you about about # 3. The entire month of December I felt like that.
    I would enjoy if you would share your steps towards this goal.

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  14. Ah .. you wish to twitch your nose and the Christmas decor will be magically put away and order restored. I don't know if I ever paid attention to what Samantha's last name was on "Bewitched".

    My Christmas decor is still up and will be for awhile ... at least until mid-January. I didn't get the house decorated until Dec.18 or so, and I want to enjoy it awhile longer.

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  15. Except for the wreath on our front door, all Christmas decorations are down and packed away. Well, there is the snowman collection, but they don't come out until January and stay till about Valentine's Day.

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  16. Happy New Year Joyce. My decorations are still up. They'll be down by the 6th. I totally get your answer to #3. We had a fantastic trip to Australia but then we got back with less than 2 weeks to Christmas and I don't feel as though I've been in a routine for months. I'm glad to have the New Year to make a fresh start too.

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  17. Ohh, good to know we both have the same coat closet problem. I wish I'm Samatha Stephens every time I get on a plane! My Christmas is all taken down and put away. We had nothing on the agenda for Monday and I suggested to the Hubby that we take down the tree which he initially poo pooed because Fr. Bob said Christmas is 12 days long and the decorations should stay up until the Ephiphany which is how I grew up but... So I said I'd just take down the garland from the stairs and by the time I'd finished that, dear Hubby was all in and so the tree came down too. Viola! It feels good. Looks Bare, but feels good. Fresh and all, ya know?

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  18. My holiday decorations are still up, mostly because I collect snowmen and that's mostly what I have up. I keep thinking I should take them down because I'm tired of staring at them.

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  19. Well, Joyce, you must be a pretty good manager of your time as you dooooo so much and get so much done. Well, at least it seems to me you do. It was good to be back with the HP today. Blessings abundant!

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  20. Hah. Samantha Stephens is an even better idea than what I had been wishing for - a house with a large closet where I could just wheel the decorated seven foot tree in and out. And a large dumbwaiter to place everything in and send to the basement in one trip.

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  21. Years ago, when I celebrated Christmas, I ALWAYS used the January 1st holiday to take down the decorations. And I was itching to put them away, despite the fact that I loved putting them up in the first place.

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  22. And, yes, I remember Samantha Stevens. Oh, if only! ;-)

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  23. Thank you for another fine Hodgepodge of questions. I wish you all the best of God's blessings and the good things that life has to offer. Thank you for your visit and comment on my blog page.

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