Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 582

Hello Hodgepdogers! I hope you're enjoying this most wonderful time of the year. 

Please note: There will not be a Hodgepodge next week (December 25th) since Christmas lands on a Wednesday this year. 

There will be a Hodgepodge link up on January 1st BUT!! I'll post the questions on Sunday (December 29th) to give everyone a couple of extra days to get their answers written.  

December 25-NO Hodgepodge

December 29-questions posted for the first HP of the new year (Volume 583)

January 1-the link goes live

Now back to today and this week's questions. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with all of Santa's elves. See you there! 

1. What's one thing you want to get done before the calendar flips to a new year?

2. What's something that brought a smile to your face this year?

3. What do you like on a cracker? Do you have a favorite cracker variety? 

4. Do you have plans for ringing in the new year in a fun or special way? Are you typically awake at midnight on the last day of the year? 

5. What are three words that describe your 2024? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The Friday Five

I'm not sure The Friday Five is officially a thing, but I'm declaring it officially a thing on my blog today. I'm so out of sync with my blog and know I need to dive back in and write more often because that makes my writing better. Today you'll have to settle for this-

The Friday Five

I hope I've got Five. It might be The Friday Four. Or The Friday Fourteen.
You never know what you're going to get on This Side Of The Pond.

1. When I flip the page to May at a glance in my calendar I feel a little dizzy. There is so much happening here next month beginning with a hair appointment (that's half a day for me), the dentist, the eye doctor, a wine dinner event, cards and gifts to send for nephew and niece birthdays and a nephew's graduation, Mother's Day, lots and lots of company including college sorority sisters, a high school/camp friend, my mom, my mother-in-law, my daughters, son-in-law, and the cutest baby boy in the world.

photo credit: Sincerely Shannon

Seriously he's the cutest.

2. In preparation for his visit I've purchased a few small toys and a highchair. I've borrowed a pack and play from a friend, but bought a mattress to add to it so he'll be more comfortable. They have a full day of flying plus a couple hour car ride from the airport, plus a three hour time change so we want to do everything we can to help him sleep sweetly once he's here.

Also, it's fun to walk through my kitchen and see a highchair. This one is a Graco and was a literal snap to put together. As in you snap the parts in place. It also converts to a booster seat which is a nice feature and one we'll need down the road.

3. Do you jot notes in the Notes feature of your phone as a reminder of things you want to mention on your blog? I do that sometimes and one thing I'd written there was Big Little Lies. Did anyone watch it? What did you think? We don't get HBO here, but Daughter1 has it so we watched Season One when I was out west a couple of weeks ago.

I really enjoyed the way the show was produced and thought the acting was great, but here's my rant. I don't know why they had to use the F word as much as they did. I have a lot of women friends and nobody I know regularly drops that word a whole bunch into everyday casual conversation. It seemed unnatural and distracting.

4. Turning to the world of fashion...I don't get these tops with the super long wide bell sleeves that come down over your hands. I think some of them are so cute, but then when I imagine trying to do anything at all while wearing one the style seems completely crazy.

5. You know what they say...April showers bring May flowers.  Here's hoping! We've had so much rain this spring, three days this week it's just poured and it rained again last night. On the bright side the weekend weather and next week too all look lovely. We have a fun weekend planned with friends we haven't seen in a while and I'm excited for sunshine and warmer weather.

We did manage a boat ride on Wednesday afternoon while hubs mom was in town with some friends. Hubs was not happy about it at all. Ha!

photo credit: Sincerely Shannon

Enjoy your weekend everyone! 

Write it down

I ordered a new date book recently and it arrived in the post yesterday. And I might still be living in the 1980's in some areas of my life because seriously, when was the last time you heard someone use the words 'date book'? I have tried to embrace technology in all its many forms but I have not let go of my week at a glance calendar obsession. My hubs tried to convert me to one of his old palm pilots years ago but it didn't take. I'm not even sure an IPhone would win me over...I still like a great pen and clean paper. And yes it is July and you may be thinking it's a strange time of year to be starting a new calendar but, I personally think calendars should begin in August like the school year.

I love a new calendar. No crossed out appointments that had to be re-scheduled. No new addresses written on top of old addresses. No notes scrawled on pages where they don't belong just because the calendar happened to be sitting beside the phone when I needed something to write on. No pen tests...you know where you grab all the pens in a drawer and scribble to find one that writes. That's not just me is it? Instead you have fresh clean unmarked paper in a super cute cover.

It's important my calendar fits certain criteria-

• It must be spiral bound.
• It must be in the week at a glance format.
• It must have a few address pages tucked in there somewhere.
• The cover must be super cute.

Success!

This one also has a few pockets and some lined pages for notes which earns it bonus points.

I love the way a new calendar makes me feel like I'm getting a fresh start. In reality we're given a fresh start every day but the blank pages yet to be filled remind me that a lot happens in a year. Sometimes its hard to part with the old book. I go thru it to copy addresses and any important dates and phone numbers I may have written there and as I do I feel grateful for my everyday life. For people and places and moments.

And I'm pretty sure syncing an electronic device via another electronic device does not have the same effect. Just sayin'