Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-
1. Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate.
I tend to set smaller, more manageable goals these days, so I wouldn't say they exhaust me. In this season I want to live with intention and focus my energies on what's going to matter for eternity. I would say I do feel a greater sense of urgency about some things because time is a tickin'. For all of us actually, but once you hit a certain age you're more aware of it.
2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor? What's a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons?
I love lemon flavored anything. One of my favorites. I make a lemon pasta with shrimp, a lemon garlic shrimp, sweet iced tea with lots of lemon (gotta have the lemon here!!), lemon crepes, chicken piccata, lemon bars, and good old fashioned lemonade.
Oh and let's not forget icy cold limoncello made with lemons from our lemon tree-
3. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"...is this something you're pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it.
I think I'm pretty good at this. I mean we don't usually have a choice, right? I'm normally that person looking for the bright side in every instance, which I think fits here.
Now. I did have a situation not too many years ago, where I wish I'd been a bit better at making lemonade right off the bat, but will confess it took me a while to get there. Let's just say it was a learning experience and leave it at that.
4. Something you love that is lemon yellow in color?
The sun. Italian pottery. A bowl of lemons sitting on the kitchen counter. Daffodils. A NYC taxi.
5. How would you describe your attention to detail?
Excellent if we're talking the written word. Something less than that if we're talking house cleaning. Hubs is a 10 in this department so I don't have to be.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Who's watched I Will Find You on Netflix? We're more than halfway through and it's good. I love Harlan Coben's books and the television adaptation of this one is well done.
Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (July 21st) to add your link to the party. See you there!
1. Do your goals and dreams energize or exhaust you? Elaborate.
2. July 23rd is national lemon day. Are you a fan of this flavor? What's a favorite dish or beverage you enjoy that calls for lemons?
3. "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade"...is this something you're pretty good at managing? Have you had to do this recently? If so tell us about it.
4. Something you love that is lemon yellow in color?
5. How would you describe your attention to detail?
You may be glad to know I do have a plan for some of the letters coming up in the A-Z Blog Challenge, which doesn't help with today but!... Daughter2 to the rescue.I threw out the letter and she volleyed back with hopes and dreams so that's where we're headed today. What do I hope for my grandsons?
H is for Hopes and Dreams
I hope they know Jesus. I don't mean acknowledge His existence but really know Him.
I hope they talk to Him regularly and daily seek His will.
I hope they choose wives one day who do the same.
I hope they stay close and connected at heart, even if geography lands them miles apart.
I hope they are slow to anger and quick to forgive.
I hope they honor their parents all the days of their lives.
I hope they're grateful.
I hope they do the right thing when no one is looking.
I hope they are ever curious.
I hope they see the world.
I hope they are daring, not reckless.
I hope they find beauty in small things.
I hope they laugh a lot.
I hope they live their lives seeing the glass half full.
photo credit : Sincerely-Shannon
And I hope they're still best friends when they are old and gray.
Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and say hi to your neighbor on the list. Here we go-
1. Did you watch the solar eclipse? Your thoughts? Sun Chips, Moon Pies, Starburst candies, a Blue Moon beer, a Sunkist orange, or a Milky Way candy bar...what's your favorite eclipse related snack on this list?
First things first-the snack list Ha! Pass the Milky Way please. Absolutely we watched the eclipse. We live in the path of totality and skies here were clear. I thought it was completely amazing. Hubs and I went to a viewing party in a neighbor's backyard where we all wore our special glasses and collectively oohed and aahed as the moon showed off. A stunning display of God's handiwork.
2. What are you 'over the moon' about these days? What's something you enjoy doing every 'once in a blue moon'?
Well the answer to that first one is easy-
photo courtesy of my daughter's mother in law
As far as something I enjoy doing every 'once in a blue moon' hmmm....how about drink a diet coke? Every once in a while I get a craving for a bubbly Diet Coke with lots of ice. Definitely not something I drink on a regular basis so I think the phrase fits.
3. Tell us about something in the realm of science that interests you. How do you feed that interest?
Birds, specifically hummingbirds, bluebirds, and hawks. We put up a bluebird house and mom and dad moved in the very next day. Babies were born and have grown and now the whole family flits around the birdhouse when they hear my hubs whistle. They know he's bringing the chow. It's really fun to watch. We also have a couple of hummingbird feeders, one in my kitchen window so I can see them up close while I'm at my sink. They're just amazing little creatures. We have two regular bird feeders too, and a couple of bird books, and the bird man at our nearby shop has been really helpful in educating us, particularly about how to attract the bluebirds.
4. What are a few things you remember about going back to school as a child?
I remember new clothes for the first day, and always getting new shoes too. I remember in elementary school we used to have to bring in a cigar box for our pencils, etc. Cannot imagine asking parents in 2017 to send in a cigar box, but back in the 1960's everybody seemed to come up with one. I don't even know where we got ours but we always had one for that first day of school. I remember the night before jitters and the anxiety on that first day waiting with my friends to hear my name called and know who my teacher would be. I remember the feeling of a fresh start. I have always liked fresh starts.
5. I've seen several versions of this around the net so let's make one of our own...share with us five words that touch your soul and briefly tell us why.
mother-everything about this word says comfort to me. It soothes my soul. dream-I've always had a big imagination, and I'm still a dreamer at heart. Dreams awaken my soul. water-being on, near, or in front of the sea (ocean, lake, a good spring rain) helps me refocus when life feels tilted sideways. Water refreshes my soul. rest-because life is quite often too full. Hitting the pause button helps me remember I'm more than my literal and figurative to-do list. Rest energizes my soul. hope -because I still like fresh starts. Hope restores my soul.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Hubs and I met Daughter2 for dinner last night. She's been back at work for a while now, but Tuesday was the official first day for students. This is her fifth year teaching, her second in kindergarten, and she still gets excited for that 'first day of school'.
My daughter told us a neighbor couple brought over a quiche for her and her roommate in case they were 'too tired to cook this first week'. What a wonderful gesture that meant so much. This couple has grown children, which made it all the more special. May we all look for ways to bless the teachers who cross our paths this next school year.
Way back when...July 31, 2012 to be exact...I posted a list. It was something I'd seen on my Daughter1's blog, but it was also making it's way round the Internet. I thought it looked like fun so I hopped aboard the copycat train and joined the party.
The challenge was called 101 in 1001 and the idea was to create a list of 101 to-do's, and then tick them off in 1001 days. 1001 days is just under three years, which sounded like a long time, but here it is April 2015 and time's up. I thought today I'd revisit my list and share some thoughts I have about the project. You'll find my list here.
Q is for Quite a List
Do you set personal goals for yourself? I mean actual write them down and have a plan to meet them kind of goals? How about a bucket list? Things you want to do in your lifetime? A wish list? Things you'd do if time and money and circumstances allowed?
I think my 101 is a combination of all three.
I've always been a list maker. A dreamer and a list maker. When there are things you want in life, be they noble pursuits such as to develop healthier habits, or just enjoyable things you hope to experience, like one day speak French in France, you're going to need more than a dream and a list. You need to articulate what it is you want, but then you need a plan to make it happen.
Otherwise all you've got is a list.
As the saying goes, 'If you want something different, do something different.'
You know that other saying, 'Her eyes were bigger than her stomach'? Yeah, well I guess you could say her dreams were bigger than her reach. Or maybe her pocketbook-ha! A little of both probably because wow, my list was ambitious in some areas, particularly travel. Not sure how I thought I was going to manage all that, but it sure was fun thinking about it.
So where exactly do I stand on Day 993?
I've completed roughly 30 items, so 30% of my list. That might not sound like a lot, but I actually feel pretty good about the number. As I've periodically revisited my list I've realized there are some things that no longer need doing, and a few things I no longer have any real desire to do.
Also, there were several items on the list whose success rate I found hard to quantify. For instance anything involving a change in habit like #93-Exercise at least 4x week'. There are many, many weeks where that happens and some weeks where I get close but don't quite hit the number 4. The important thing to note is that exercise has become a regular part of my weekly routine and that's a huge gain from where I was in 2012. Winning!
#1 on the list is staring me down (transfer our videos to DVD). That's been on my to-do list far longer than 1001 days, and probably the one thing I feel most guilty about not completing.
Yes lists and guilt occasionally go hand in hand.
Some things on my list were heavy, some frivolous.
I think a balanced life requires a little of both.
There are several items on the list I've made a dent in, but where I fell short of my actual target. #97- Write our sponsored children once a month lands under this headingas does #83-try one new recipe a month. We sponsor three children, and while I haven't written each one monthly I have written each one several times a year. I've also tried loads of new recipes, but not necessarily one each month.
I think I'm okay with falling a bit short in those areas where I overoverreached a little in scope. I did make a good effort to do better than I've ever done before, and that feels like an accomplishment.
Still working on #52-make a playlist of my 100 favorite songs.
You can't rush greatness.
I dropped Daughter2 at the airport today. Okay, I didn't drop her, but rather I escorted her to the check in counter where we discovered they'd changed the terminal for her flight. I then insisted on accompanying her on the tram all the way around the airport to the correct terminal where I stood and watched and waved and smiled as she inched her way thru security all the way up until she was out of sight. Oh I am too much for my girls sometimes.
Sometimes I'm even too much for me.
My kids grew up navigating airports without a parent in sight in countries where they didn't speak a word of the language. Obviously my 21 year old is quite capable of handling all this on her own and even though she would prefer it wouldn't mind if I dropped her off at the curb she humors me and allows me to walk her as far as the law allows to security.
Tonite my two children are in their own apartments in two different states, my husband's in a country halfway around the world (all the way? around the world) and I'm here at home. Welcome to mid-life. I don't know what I imagined life would be like when I got to be the age that I am, but I do know this isn't it. I guess I never thought much past 30 but here I am, way past 30 and still with a lot of stuff to figure out.
My husband says I think too much. He's partly right but some of who I am has been there since birth and isn't going to change now. I'm a thinker and I always have been. Hubs can set a goal, figure out steps 1-10 needed to reach that goal and BAM, done. I quite often can't get past setting the goal. I want that end product but something gets lost in the all important middle. I start thinking and then I think some more and then I set ridiculous parameters and say things to myself like -after x is over I'll do y... tomorrow...next week...this summer...soon. Before I know it its 2012 and what in the world did I actually do in the past year towards making my heart's desires a reality?
Am I lazy? A procrastinator? Afraid? Incapable? Not sure what the right answer is but I do know I want to follow the advice I give my own children and not let life sail by without having some say so in how the boat is sailed.
Last year was hard. It was too busy and we were on the go non-stop, and of course we were all dealing with my niece's very serious health crisis, but even on top of all that it was hard. For the first time in my life I felt unproductive. There's no doubt that plenty happened around here in 2011, but I couldn't shake the feeling I was swimming beside the boat just trying to get a hand on the stern so I could climb aboard. In 2011 life pushed me along in a very swift current as opposed to me setting the pace.
Maybe we don't get to choose the pace.
And maybe there are too many metaphors in this post but I think you know what I mean. At least some of you do. Some of you reading here are at a stage in life where your days are ordered by the needs and demands of the under ten set and your only option is full steam ahead. But some of you are like me, in the middle of your life but not sure what to do now that you're here.
I'm going to write more.
Maybe not more on my blog but definitely more the old fashioned way.
On paper.
With a pen.
The way I used to write.
Back when the words spilled out of me and I couldn't catch them fast enough.
I'm still going to blog because I love it but I'd like to try my hand at other kinds of writing too. I told my husband I'd like to try writing 1000 words a day and he said get busy. See what I mean? He hears a goal and he's already on step one. His first thought is DO. I'm still thinking about it. He also said if I'd started writing 1000 words a day back when I first said I wanted to write more I'd have ten books written by now. That is a sad but possibly true statement.
I've never had an anthem before but I'm embracing this one in 2012-
How about you? Are your arms wide open this new year?
