Zee End Of The A-Z Challenge

We've come to the end of the alphabet and as per my usual way of completing these sorts of challenges I go out with more of a whimper than a bang.

Today's word comes from my nephew (yes, another one), a high school student currently finishing up the school year you know where. While I'm sure the academic side of life is happening, what's missing are all those little extras that make the high school years so memorable.

Memorable in a good way, not memorable in a global pandemic sort of way.

Day 26-Z is for Zest

Is it wrong that when I first saw the word I immediately thought food? Lemon zest. Lime zest. Which leads me to thinking of lemon curd, and key lime pie, and maybe I've been spending too much time in the kitchen? Hey, in the age of Corona you take your zest where you can get it, right?  Life lately has been less salsa, more clear chicken broth and we're ready for a bit more spice.

I read a quote attributed I think to Bertrand Russell that said, 'Hunger is to food as zest is to life.'

Hunger sends you in search of food. Zest sends you in search of life.

As we move into month number three of social distancing confusion abounds. Should we stay in or should we get out and mix it up a little, see what happens? Numbers are up or numbers are down or nobody has a firm grasp on what the real numbers might be? On a scale of 1-10, what is the current crisis level? Expert A says we're a 2 and Expert B says we're at least an 11 so who do we believe?

We're home too much and concerned about the long term effects the precautions we're taking will have on children, the elderly, and the anxious. We miss our people, our paychecks, our classrooms, and our plans.

What is zest for life anyway and how do we find it in this very strange season?

For me having a zest for life means approaching life with enthusiasm. A sense of excitement for what's ahead, but also satisfaction in the here and now. Easy peasy, right? Ha! Sometimes it actually is a pretty simple thing, but lately I think we're all finding it more of a challenge. How do we retain our zest for life when one day looks a whole lot like the next and everything seems to end in a question mark?

Here's my personal strategy for times when zest is waning-fake it til you make it. 

I'm a big believer in the idea that if I tell myself what I want to feel, then act as if I already feel it, eventually there comes a day when I discover I really do. It's not foolproof, but more often than not it works.

Thanks for reading along in the A-Z Challenge this month. And thank you especially to friends and family who've supplied the words. You add zest to my blog and to my life.

Young At Heart In the Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge and Day 25 (whoop whoop!) in the April A-Z Blog Challenge. You'll find my thoughts on Letter Y at the end of this post.

If you've answered this week's HP questions add your link to the list, then hop over to read what your neighbor had to say. Here we go-

1. Expect the unexpected on From This Side of the Pond. Here's my x-ray question...when was the last time you felt like Superman? What's your superpower? Explain.

Completing this A-Z challenge. It was a lot of words, even for me. 

What's my superpower? Lately it feels like cooking. 44 days in a row yowza! 

2. Are you a fan of the 'superhero' type movies? If so what's your favorite?

Not especially. I haven't seen any of the Captain America Marvel blahblahblah. Just not my thing. If I had to choose a favorite 'superhero' movie I'd say I liked some of the Batman series of movies. 

3. Have you postponed or cancelled a trip to the dentist in recent weeks, and if so when do you think you'll feel comfortable going back? How about other routine medical procedures?

I'm supposed to go to the dentist next month but I don't even know if they're seeing patients for routine cleanings at this point. I go three times a year, so can easily postpone this one until things settle down a bit and I likely will. 

I do have two other routine medical checkups coming due that I would rather not postpone. I guess I'll have to see if having them done in May is even an option. They're not urgent, but definitely need to happen to keep something that truly would be urgent from occurring. 

I do wonder how many more serious illnesses will be diagnosed in the general population as a result of everyone postponing their little preventative tests and procedures that spot trouble early on?

4. What's something that makes you feel youthful? Something that makes you feel 'not so youthful'? Tell us why.

I'm going to expand on this one in my random thought today (see #6) because my A-Z word of the day is-youthful. 

Something that makes me feel youthful? Keeping up with technology as much as I can, doing a plank or a push up, a great haircut, hearing see ya next year from the doctor, traveling somewhere I've never been before, and using my brain.

Not so youthful? Trying to keep up with technology, exercising beside a 20-something, roots that need to be dealt with, being introduced to someone and promptly forgetting their name, my eyesight, and in general all the body maintenance that needs to happen on a regular basis. 

5. I feel compelled to include some sort of corona related question in the HP these days. What's the strangest thing you've seen in relation to the virus? Something that really struck you as odd, made you stop and think, 'Dorothy we're not in Kansas anymore?'

Lots of things...people being arrested for kayaking alone in the middle of the ocean, city governments dumping sand in a skate park to keep people away, playgrounds roped off, swings tied up, basketball nets cut down...the list goes on. 

But I'm going to say walking into the supermarket wearing a mask is near the top of my own personal list. It feels weird and it is weird but I suppose before too long we won't think twice about donning a mask, and this will be our new way of life. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I've been participating in the April A-Z Blog Challenge all month long, and have really enjoyed it this year. Today's word comes from a friend I met while living in England (she's American) and we moved back to the states about the same time. We both loved to hike the English countryside, and she reads my blog and leaves me lots of kind comments, so thanks M for the word of the day-

Day 25-Y is for Youthful 

I have a pretty big birthday coming up a little later in the year and at this point I have no idea how I will be marking the occasion. Once upon a pre-Corona time I thought hubs and I could hop the pond and celebrate with tea and scones in the land of tea and scones, but given all the current crazy I don't see that happening. Plan B it is. 

As soon as I figure out a Plan B then Plan B it is. 

Let's talk about this word. Youthful. I feel like my kids would say if you use the word youthful then you're not. Ha! There are several definitions, most relating to your actual age, but one says something along the lines of having the vitality or freshness of youth so that's the one I'm going with. 

My girls are what I would describe as fresh faced. The glowing skin, the silky hair that looks adorable no matter if its perfectly styled or stuffed into a messy bun, no angle they need to avoid while being photographed, and most especially that unidentifiable quality towards living that I'm going to call exuberance. 

Me on the other hand, well my hair needs a professional and my skin care routine is probably too little too late, and a messy bun on me just looks plain messy. Also nobody better snap a photo without a little warning if they know what's good for them. 

In other words, I'm not fresh faced. 

Except in my head I kind of am. I'm often taken aback by the image I see in the mirror because that's not me, is it? It is me, but it's not the me I am on the inside. 

On the inside I am still exuberant. Maybe not every single day, but mostly I still feel like there is so much to look forward to and there are so many beautiful places to see and interesting people to meet and experiences to be enjoyed and that makes me feel youthful. 

Is youthful a fact of the calendar or a state of mind?  

Asking for a friend. 

Questions For A Most eXcellent Hodgepodge

It's Tuesday which means it's time to come up with the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Before I do that though, I have to figure out how to write a whole entire post on the word of the day. The April A-Z Blog Challenge is winding down, and I definitely don't want to drop the ball at this late date.

Today's word comes from another lake friend and it's a toughie. Did she choose this word because her hubs is a doc or because when it comes to letter X it's either x-ray, xerox, or xylophone?

Day 24-X is for X-Ray 

Yeah. I got nothin'. How about we include the word somewhere in this week's Hodgepodge questions? Works for me and you'll need to make it work for you too.  Here we go-

1. Expect the unexpected on From This Side of the Pond. Here's my x-ray question...when was the last time you felt like Superman? What's your superpower? Explain.  

2. Are you a fan of the 'superhero' type movies? If so what's your favorite? 

3. Have you postponed or cancelled a trip to the dentist in recent weeks, and if so when do you think you'll feel comfortable going back? How about other routine medical procedures? 

4. What's something that makes you feel youthful? Something that makes you feel 'not so youthful'? Tell us why. 

5. I feel compelled to include some sort of corona related question in the HP these days. What's the strangest thing you've seen in relation to the virus? Something that really struck you as odd, made you stop and think, 'Dorothy we're not in Kansas anymore?'

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Winning!

So here we are, another Monday that feels a lot like every other day of the week, but we are all going to carry on and pretend it's new and different. Technically it is new and different, it's just a bit hard to tell from the vantage point of social distancing. 

And I am still making my way through the alphabet challenge, because it's still April in case you also needed reminding about that. Here we go-                           

                                                          Day 23-W is for Winning 

Today's word comes from one of my summer camp friends. I don't know if everyone is in touch with friends they made as a summer camp counselor when they were twenty years old, but I am and it's truly a very special thing.

Camp is good for kids in so many ways-physically, mentally, and spiritually, and it's good for the people who work there in all those same ways too. I'm feeling sad that children who were looking forward to going to camp this summer are likely not going, and I'm feeling sad for the staff who were making plans to work at camps all across America.

There is a long list of disappointments every which way you turn, and this is just one more. We have to intentionally look away from the list of heartaches we're each holding, and instead work at focusing our eyes and our minds and our hearts on things we can control. I know there is a lot of good and kind and beauty out there still and I want to see that.

Now about today's word. I can keep this short and sweet.

Winning.

I like it. Ha! My family can testify to the truth of this statement. I am not a naturally athletic person, but I am a naturally competitive person about a lot of things. 

Sometimes this is not an attractive quality.

In my defense I am not competitive in the way women can be competitive with one another. I don't really understand that, but if you throw a board game in front of me LOOK OUT!

Because I like to win.

I am all about solidarity when it comes to women doing the best they can with what they have, encouraging one another, lifting each other up, and in general not being mean girls no matter their age. Just don't challenge me to a game of cards.

Or dominos-cornhole-scrabble or anything else that might be dubbed 'game'.

Hey, have you noticed how I'm rolling through this A-Z thing like a boss?
Winning! 

Man Versus Nature

Today's word was sent to me by my nephew, a college student currently finishing up the school year at home with his folks, the way all college students are finishing up this school year. High five (virtual of course) to all the college kids out there learning course content and more life lessons than they anticipated when they headed to campus last fall.

Thank you J for the word of the day!

Day 22-V is for Victory

Sharing a glimpse into lake life and two small victories we've experienced in the last week or so. You might even learn something here today, maybe more than you wanted to know, but let's carry on anyway. 

A little over a week ago hubs noticed some sticks and pine straw in the water under the boat lift. The lake we live on is crystal clear so he knew something was up. Upon further investigation he discovered a varmint had been terrorizing the landscaping on our hillside and was also feasting on some of the tree trunks along our waterline.

Bother.  

Major bother. 

Bucky had worked his way all the way up our hillside, gnawing as he went, ripping the low growing juniper out by the roots, shredding it's bark to use as construction material for his new home, which he thought was going to be under our dock. Nope. Not happening. The local HOA, aka me and the hubs, put the kibosh on that quicker than you can say Bob's your uncle. 

When we lived in NJ we used to walk in a nearby wildlife preserve and we'd see quite a few beaver lodges there. We never saw an actual beaver and I used to think that would be kind of cool, but trust me, it's not cool. Now that I've seen one a little too up close and personal I can tell you they look a lot like an overgrown rodent. Are they rodents? I had to look that up but yes, they are semi-aquatic rodents.  

Anyway, on the lake these creatures have found an alternative to the more commonly recognized lodge set up, and instead  burrow into the shoreline and/or set up camp beneath your dock where they proceed to wreak havoc. 

When we installed our dock we added something to the wiring that the dock guy called beaver guard. Who even knew such a thing existed??? I surely didn't, but I'm glad he mentioned it because turns out we needed it. The guard is a kevlar- like sleeve that fits over your dock hoses and it's pretty much indestructible. It prevents beavers from chewing through the air hose which would then cause your lift to drop and your boat to float away.  

That doesn't happen often because most people tie their boats to their docks even when they're on the lift, but occasionally one floats out there.  At the time we thought this was perhaps an unnecessary expense, but turns out dock guy was 100% right and we're so grateful now we added that when the dock was installed. 

We're animal lovers here, but y'all we needed to get a handle on this before he moved his family in, so we ended up calling in the professionals. An animal control specialist came out and said we could snare him or trap him and either way he'd be a goner, which I know is so sad, but also very necessary. We opted for the snare which felt like the safer route given the fact we have an overly curious little brown dog living here. Everything was back as it should be (no beaver living under my dock) within a couple of days. 

Hey, it was me or Bucky so capturing that 40+ lb beaver felt like a small victory. I know!! He was huge!! The animal control guy said he'd seen one close to 60 pounds, but ours was definitely on the ginormous side. 

He did not use the word ginormous but I know he meant it. 

Okay, how 'bout one more small victory since that's the word of the day? Last night hubs (he's always on top of things around here) spied a log floating along the shoreline.  As I mentioned earlier our lake is one of the cleanest clearest lakes in the country and it's extremely rare to see debris of any sort floating.

So he hurried on down to the water and thought he'd just pull the log in, but turns out it was an entire tree trunk likely deposited somewhere on the water during last week's tornado. 

Life has not been dull here. 

A friend who had boated over to the neighbor's dock saw hubs trying to haul in the tree and came over with a pole to lend a hand. We have rip rap all along the shoreline so it's not the easiest thing to maneuver around especially when you're in flip flops, but together they managed to pull it in.

And his wife snapped photos and texted me with the caption V is for Victory which made me laugh, since I knew that was already the word of the day.

Little brown dog helped too.

He wanted to anyway.

This would not be a good thing to run into with your boat, so it's a good thing they managed to get it onshore. Hubs jokes he might carve this into a totem pole. 

Hey he's got the time now, right? 

For Certain

Happy Friday everyone! I know it feels like forever and a day I've been at this A-Z Blog challenge, but we're nearing the conclusion so hang in there. Talking to myself now because wow the alphabet has felt especially long this year. 

Today's word comes from one of my lake friends and no we're not related-ha! We do however have many things in common including both of us once upon a time working as speech-language pathologists. We're also members of the same church, have two grandsons very close in age, love to read and talk and play cards and go out for brunch and the list goes on. She reads my blog and encourages me to keep writing, so thank you C for your friendship and the word of the day. 

Day 21-U is for Uncertain

It's a beautiful day here today and I want to think happy thoughts, so I'm going to turn this word on it's head. I can do that ya know.

The word uncertain makes me feel that other 'u' word-uneasy. There are things in our everyday lives that we count on, regardless of whether or not we should, and when the world tilts we aren't quite sure what to do about it. So we freeze.

We wait. We pray. We hope. 

There's a debate in certain communities as to whether or not we can truly know anything for certain, and some will want to argue the point, but I'm a dreamer not a scientist and I say yes. 

Here are a few things I know for certain. Things of which I am absolutely and completely positive. Beyond a shadow of a doubt. No ifs ands or buts. Come hell or high water or quarantine. 

1. My grand babies are sunshine and pure sweetness. 

Please don't even try to dispute it. 

2. I'm going to look older than I feel if the salons don't reopen in the next few weeks. Hopefully I won't have to prove it.

3. We cannot control the actions of others. Only our response to them. 

4. Life can be pared down very quickly to what's most important. 

5. Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible tells me so.

Happy weekend everyone!

Queen For A Day

Today's word comes from my brother-in-law, and he is something of a joker so I knew to expect the unexpected. When he sent the word he said it was the first thing that came to mind.

Day 20-T is for Tiara

Hmmm...so is he saying when he thinks of me he thinks princess?
Or that I'm a royal pain?

I'm sure it's the first one-ha!

This word will be fun and and since it's Thursday I'm going with the ever popular Thursday Thirteen. Can I come up with a list of thirteen thoughts related in some way to the word tiara but also to me? We're about to find out-

1. We'll start here. This little sign sits on my bathroom vanity and was a Mother's Day gift one year from daughter2. The sentiment is sweet and also true teehee.

2. Next up is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the word. My summer camp friends are nodding, thinking 'no problem' because back when I was young and spent summers as a camp counselor they lovingly (I think?) referred to me as Princess J. Here's the short version of how that came about-

3. Picture summer camp. An idyllic setting nestled into a bluff beside the Chesapeake Bay. Tall trees. An open air chapel in the woods. Dirt. Gravel. Latrines. Troughs to brush your teeth in. You get the idea.

Camp meant shorts and t-shirts and no makeup and your hair pulled back into a pony tail or tucked under a baseball cap, and it definitely meant hiking boots or sturdy tennis shoes on your feet so 'root man' wouldn't get you. I was fine with all of that. I love the outdoors and I love camping and I love spending time in the woods.

The staff were all college students and were given one day off per week, 24 hours to rest and recharge and maybe pop home to see the folks, and on my one day off per week I liked to put on real clothes.

As opposed to camp clothes.

A cute dress. Roll my hair. A little makeup. And my most favorite thing-shoes with heels. I have always loved shoes with heels.

So there I would be, one day a week, in the middle of the woods, wearing a summery dress and heels, walking across the dirt and gravel road to get to my car so I could enjoy my day off. Voila! a nickname was born.

4. The short version was actually not that short so it earned more than a couple of spots on the list.

5.  Moving on...when I mentioned the word of the day to my daughter and asked what in the world I could say about it she said, 'Well you know mom, whenever we play Yahtzee you always write your name as Princess J on the score sheet.' Guilty.

6. If hubs and I ever renew our wedding vows I will be wearing a tiara when I say mine.

7.  I love the cake named in honor of Queen Victoria aka the Victoria Sponge. Strawberry or raspberry jam and cream between two layers of fluffy vanilla sponge dusted with sugar or topped with more whipped cream. What's not to love?

8. I like the music of Queen.

9. I might be slightly obsessed with Princess Kate.

10. When my girls were growing up the favorite board game in our house was Pretty Pretty Princess. They loved it best when Daddy played.

11. The house we rented while living in England was so cozy and was on one of the first housing estates of it's kind outside of London. The house was built in the 1920's and when construction was completed the Queen Mum visited there. Sadly no royals came to stay while we were in residence.

12. I am not a drama queen.

13. Once upon a time I married my Prince Charming.
   
And we lived happily ever after.
The end.