Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 490

Hi again. Long time no Hodgepodge. We're back now though, with a brand new month and a brand new set of questions. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to share the love. See you there!

1. Tell us anything you want about your January. 

2. Lake Superior State University posts a list each year of words they think should be banished from the Queen's English for misuse, overuse, and/or general uselessness. The 2023 list includes GOAT, inflection point, quiet quitting, gaslighting, moving forward, amazing, Does that make sense?, irregardless, absolutely, and it is what it is.

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

3. February 2nd is Groundhog Day. What's something that feels repeated in your life right now? 

4. What's a food you love that's named after a place?

5. What's the best season of the year to visit your city or your part of the country? Tell us why. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Picking Up Where We Left Off

Sort of. 

When last we spoke on the blog it was the second day of a brand new year, and now here we are rolling in to February. I might need to jump in somewhere in the middle.  

I know many people dislike January, and there are all sorts of memes about how January is 85 days long, but around here we need a January. We need time to catch our breath, rest, walk, think, figure out our calendars, and come up with a plan to organize this new year. 

We have mostly succeeded. 

I mean we definitely rocked the resting part and honestly that was the main thing. 
We were tired. 

"Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home."-Edith Sitwell

January here means reading books and watching HGTV curled up under a blanket. It's calling a friend I hadn't spoken to in a long while and taking care of a significant car repair. It's scheduling a couple of (hopefully) minor home repairs that need doing and it's dealing with the small mountain of paperwork that accumulated while we were holiday-ing and not January-ing.

It's spending a low key weekend out of town, saying cheers to a new year with old friends, and then everyone taking a mid-day siesta because they can. 

It's a walk in the woods on a crisp blue sky day and a swim in the lake right after...

That last bit is maybe not for everyone but some of us live for a swim in the lake. 

Mostly January says it's okay to be a little bit lazy after months of non-stop doing and I'm here to tell you it felt good. Better than good actually because we are not meant to go and do without adding a little slow and easy into the mix too. 

Last week hubs went with some buds on their annual duck hunt so daughter2 and her little guy drove over to spend the week with Nana. Her hubs was traveling for work so the timing was perfect and I absolutely loved having my girl in the house. We might have gone to bed at a ridiculously early hour every single night, but we still enjoyed chatting about all manner of things throughout the day, sipping tea by the fire, and playing cards. 

Speaking of perfect...

Be still my heart. 

This little man is just so precious. He literally lights up a room, a day, your whole entire life, with his bright blue eyes and his gentle disposition. Wednesday we drove over to my sister and brother-in-law's house because my sister is also over the moon for this little cutie and needed to see him. 

Who can blame her? 

I was reminded this week how long the days can feel when you are momma to tiny humans. Life revolves around their waking and sleeping and you learn to let go of your own agenda and needs in order to first meet theirs. 

What a special joy it is to watch my grown up girls be mommas to their littles. To realize we're not just mother and daughter any more...

...we're mother and mother too. 

Hoping your January brought peace and rest, order and energy, stillness and warmth, to the beginning of this brand new year. 

So What's New?

Besides the year I mean? Are you like me where it takes you about ten days in to find your rhythm post-holidays? I made peace with that years ago and honestly don't feel any pressure to have a long list of resolutions ready to go on Day 1. Nor do I feel any urgency to jump back into all the things or even to put up/clean up Christmas. 

Although as it happens, today I did do a bit of de-Christmasing. My plan was just to get all the ornaments off the inside tree, but one thing led to another and both trees are now un-decorated, the main tree is out of the house, Christmas dishes have been swapped out for the everyday ordinary (mostly...there's always a stray or two that hang out in the dishwasher), many many many towels have been washed, dried, and folded, and the furniture we rearranged to make room for our big Christmas crew is back where it resides the other eleven months of the year. 

Hubs and I had a mostly quiet New Year's Eve. We spent a couple of hours catching up with our neighbors, watched a lot of exciting college football, took some walks and some naps and did the tag-team thing we've almost perfected after nearly 40 years of marriage where he vacuums and I strip the beds and then I make him a BLT and he makes me popcorn and we talk about how cute our grandchildren are and how busy and how much we love having everyone here and how we also love just us. 

Yesterday I cleaned out my pantry which had gone totally rogue over the holidays and it makes me so happy to open the doors and see it all nicely organized. I was going to clean out my frig today, but I didn't have the energy for a full 'take it all apart' kind of clean. I settled for emptying all the bits of left overs and running the dishwasher. 

Tomorrow is another day filled with new mercies and enough grace to carry us through. 

I know some people like to charge into a new year as if it's something to be conquered, but I prefer a gentler approach. No big leaps, just do the next thing that needs doing while I contemplate what exactly I want this year to be and how I want to fill my days. 

I need to take some deep breaths at the start of a new year. Carve out time to pray and regroup here at home. I'll likely make a few plans and then remind myself not to hold them too tightly, and I'll let a few or maybe a hundred ideas bounce around my brain to see what sticks. 

Some people declare the first month of the year no-wine January. I'm declaring it no Hodgepodge January. I need some space right now to do all of the above so I'm taking a mini-break from the regularly scheduled random to make room for other kinds of random. The Hodgepodge will be back February 1st, which conveniently lands on a Wednesday. 

Wishing you a new year filled with lots of peace and joy...

 With pinky pink sunrise skies reminding us He's got the whole world in His hands. 

Cheers To The Hodgepodge

Here we are with a new year on the horizon and one more Hodgepodge to close out the year that was. 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. Did you set any goals for the new year this time last year? Did you meet them or miss the mark? Tell us more if you're comfortable sharing. 

I didn't have a long list of things to accomplish/change/improve in 2022, other than write more. Honestly life came at us full throttle this year and I spent a lot more time living it than writing about it. That's okay too. 

Maybe 2023 will be my year. 

2. What are three words that might describe the kind of person you were this past year or describe in some way how your life looked? 

Nana~road tripper~shotgun rider

3. What's something new you ate, saw, heard, or experienced in 2022? What did you think? 

A granddaughter joined our family in 2022-

What did I think? I thought she was perfectly precious.

She still is! 

In a different vein, hubs and I traveled up the coast of California in late September, driving from San Diego to Half Moon Bay just outside of San Francisco. 

Lots of new-to-me sights were seen there, which I wrote about it in excessive great detail beginning with this post-The Golden State. 

4.  Oxford Dictionary has announced it's word of the year for 2022, and it's this-goblin mode. Huh? Have you ever heard this phrase? Used this phrase? 

I hadn't heard the phrase until I read about the choice online and can't imagine I'll ever use it. Still kind of scratching my head, but I'm not trendy in so many ways and I guess this is one I've missed. Most people I asked hadn't heard of it either so I have to wonder how it can possibly be the word of the year? 

It's defined as "a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations." 

This year they allowed the public to choose amongst three finalists. You can read more about that here. 

Who is the public I wonder?

If you were in charge, what word would you declare word of the year for 2022? 

Wordle. Thanks hubs! I surveyed my family because I've had a houseful and still have a houseful and my brain is currently a bit mush. The Wordle trend is definitely more me than goblin mode. 

5. Any special plans for an end of year celebration in your house or town? The travel channel says the world's best New Year's Eve celebrations will happen in Copacabana Beach-Rio de Janerio, the Orlando theme parks in Florida,  London, Sydney, New York's Time Square, Edinburgh Scotland, and Paris. If you could attend any one of these which would you choose? Tell us why? 

No special plans this year, but if I could transport myself to one of the cities listed it would most definitely be London. 

Here's me with my girls in a London black cab, New Years Eve 2008. We were on our way to dinner and then to meet up with friends after. 

Auld lang syne man. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Sometimes I post things here around the holidays so I can look back the next year and recreate a decoration, recipe, craft or in this case...charcuterie tray. 

I made this for a neighborhood get together earlier this month and loved the way it turned out. I got the idea from one of my favorite Insta accounts, Ain't Too Proud To Meg. She does all sorts of beautiful and creative boards.  

Happy new year everyone! Cheers to more kindness, more grace, and more Hodgepodging in 2023!

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 489

Welcome to the final Hodgepodge in 2022. Let's wrap up the year with a bit of random. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. Did you set any goals for the new year this time last year? Did you meet them or miss the mark? Tell us more if you're comfortable sharing. 

2. What are three words that might describe the kind of person you were this past year or describe in some way how your life looked? 

3. What's something new you ate, saw, heard, or experienced in 2022? What did you think? 

4.  Oxford Dictionary has announced it's word of the year for 2022, and it's this-goblin mode. Huh? Have you ever heard this phrase? Used this phrase? It's defined as "a type of behavior which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations." 

This year they allowed the public to choose amongst three finalists. You can read more about that here. 

If you were in charge, what word would you declare word of the year for 2022? 

5. Any special plans for an end of year celebration in your house or town? The travel channel says the world's best New Year's Eve celebrations will happen in Copacabana Beach-Rio de Janerio, the Orlando theme parks in Florida,  London, Sydney, New York's Time Square, Edinburgh Scotland, and Paris. If you could attend any one of these which would you choose? Tell us why? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Christmas 2022

Time to try to capture in words some of the sweet small moments that made for a magical Christmas. If I were to keep it simple it would be this-

Also, if you read here you know I'm not real good at keeping it simple. 

The fun started last Wednesday when Daughter2 and her hubs and the cutest baby boy in the world made a pit stop at our house to leave a car, enroute to the in-laws. My son-in-law has to head back to work Tuesday, but daughter2 and the little guy will stay a few more days. 

They headed over to the in-laws a couple of hours away for an early Christmas with that side of their family before returning here Christmas Eve morning. 

In the meantime, daughter1 and her family arrived Thursday night. They had planned to stop and spend the night with hubs brother and sister-in-law, and introduce baby girl to her great grandma, but the forecast made everyone rethink that idea. They managed a quick hello with hubs mom, then got back in the car to make it here before the icy weather arrived. 

The excitement was palpable and its just the best thing in the world to be a part of. The boys wanted to see all of our ornaments, find their name on a stocking, handle every wrapped gift, eat all the Christmas cookies, and tell us everything about everything. My heart can hardly take it. 

It was positively frigid so we all stayed indoors other than their quick trip over to the other grandparents to say hello and merry Christmas. They live super close which is a blessing. We played, worked a puzzle, built things, watched A Charlie Brown Christmas (their first viewing), and talked about everything under the sun including, but not limited to, their Christmas wishes (a pedal bike for the mancub and a firetruck for Max), how a mongoose has immunity to cobra venom, how beautiful their baby sister is, how it's too cold to swim in the lake, how Santa is coming and so is Auntie M, and much much more. 

My absolute favorite thing about the holiday this year was having both girls, both sons-in-law, and all four of my grands in the same house at the same time, a literal first. 

Did we take a whole group shot? Of course not. I see people sharing their whole family pics on social media, and I wonder how they manage it? It feels like an impossible task here with busy boys and tiny babies and 'ain't nobody got time to sit still and pose' for a picture. 

Candids also say it happened. 

Little man is a fan of his big boy cousins. 

He thinks baby girl is pretty special too. 

She is so content while the chaos swirls around her. 

Life with brothers lol. She is so much like her momma was when she was a baby... easy, gentle, darling. 

Hubs grilled steaks on Christmas Eve with a side of lobster skewers, and my son-in-law read 'Twas The Night Before Christmas before the littles were tucked in tight. That has always been our tradition and it's fun to see it carry on. 

Santa came-

There was indeed a pedal bike and a firetruck and some happy little people. 

There were sisters in matching pjs-

Conversations beside the fire holding one another's babies-

There was a Benton's holiday ham on the Big Green Egg for Christmas dinner, which we all declared a hit. So good! 

There was much laughing and pogo -sticking and diaper changing and lego building and just a little bit of sleeping which nobody minded because it's Christmas and family's in the house. 

And underneath it all, holding everything together, is the miracle of a tiny babe lying in a manger, who brought hope to the world. Who brings hope still. 

Ho-Ho-Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's holiday edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. As a reminder there will not be a Hodgepodge next week (Dec 21). We'll be back to wrap up the year the following week, December 28th. 

If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post then leave some comment cheer for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. What does Christmas mean to you? 

'tis the birthday of a king...'

That lyric popped into my head the minute I wrote this question. Christmas for me is a celebration of the baby born this day, God's only Son given to the world because of God's indescribable love for each one of us. Christmas is a time to share that love in whatever way I can. 

2. What's your favorite cozy holiday activity? 

Sipping my early morning coffee beside the light of the Christmas tree. 

3. Is all your shopping-wrapping-baking done? Tell us about your holiday plans. 

no-no-and no, but I'm getting there. I have a few more things to purchase, but what I have purchased is wrapped. I made cookie dough today to bake tomorrow and that will be the first of the baking. We're having a few friends here on Monday so I'll get serious about baking this weekend. 

All my kids and grands will be here for Christmas and my plans are to be very present in the many sweet moments coming our way. Daughter1 and her family will be here for a full week, but will bebop back and forth to her in-laws some. Daughter2 and her family will be here for the Christmas weekend as her hubs has to be back at work on the Tuesday after. 

This is the first Christmas in seven years where I'll have both of my girls in the same house at the same time and I just want to slow down the clock and savor all the goodness. 

4. If you were Santa what treat would you like to have left for you (it doesn't have to be milk and cookies!) What sweet or savory treat do you most look forward to indulging in around the holidays? 

You can leave Mrs. Claus a glass of champagne and a nice cheese plate, please and thank you. What's my most looked forward to treat? Well I do love a good home baked Christmas cookie and that's definitely my favorite indulgence this time of year. 

5. Next Wednesday is the first official day of winter (in the northern hemisphere). How does that make you feel? Tell us what you love most about winter? 

I enjoy the change in seasons so not complaining. Winters are mostly pretty mild here and if we do get snow it doesn't hang around long. I like sitting beside the fireplace on a winter morning, I like wearing jeans, sweaters, and boots, I love homemade soups and stews that are on the menu this time of year, and I love that very first snowfall and the hush that falls with it. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Merry Christmas Hodgepodgers...may your holidays be joyful, peaceful, and hopeful. 

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39 

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