Hump Day Hodgepodge!

Thank you, Joyce, for another great Hodgepodge! 

If you want to play along, visit http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/

1. What was your biggest worry five years ago?  Is it still a worry?   First of all, I’m not sure what was going on in my life five years ago - same old, same old! (LOL)  Second, I need to say that I try very hard not to worry about things. Seriously.  Joe has taught me that worrying is usually pretty silly and a waste of emotion and effort. His favorite quote is “Worry is interest paid in advance for trouble that rarely comes.”  And if trouble does come, worrying about didn’t keep it from happening or help you to deal with it later. When I have concerns, I try to remember “You are my Shepherd, I shall not want” and I let Him take care of it for me. I say that with sincerity. I really don’t worry anymore. Thank you Joe, and thank you Jesus!

2. Yesterday (October 15th) was National Grouch Day...what makes you grouchy? What cheers you up when you're feeling grouchy?  Not enough sleep can make me grouchy, so getting enough sleep would cheer me up tremendously.  Stupidity (mine included!) can sometimes make me grouchy, and walking away shaking my head cheers me up. Cold calls on the phone from people who don’t listen when you say NO can make me very grouchy, and quietly hanging up on them while they are still talking cheers me up!  I am, most times, pretty even tempered and try to understand my feelings first before being grouchy. It’s MY problem and I shouldn’t make it someone else’s problem. Not always easy to do, though!

3.  In one word, how does it feel to be photographed?  Horrid!

I hate having my picture taken. I am the most un-photogenic person on earth. I am overweight and have frizzy hair. Please let me take the photos!

4. Besides your parents, who would you say had the greatest influence on you in choosing your life path?  Explain.  My parents gave me lots of ‘rope’ to try new things and didn’t brow-beat me to stick with any one thing, bless them!  I can’t name another person who really influenced me (though I had some amazing teachers in art and music), but have followed the path that gets put in front of me, always. I kind of ‘go with the flow’ and trust that God is leading.  So far, so good!

5. The crisp days of autumn are here ...what's something you like to eat, but only if it's crisp? The standard ‘fall’ answer would have to be a nice crisp, tart apple, right from the tree. I will spit out a pithy, mushy apple and throw it away. Has to make a good noise when I bite into it, and splattering juice on my face with that first bite is good, too!!

6. What's the most useless object you own? Probably the TVs in the house. They suck our time away and provide nothing of value, other than useless, mindless entertainment.  I could also mention the hedge trimmers, which hang in the garage, or Joe’s table saw that never gets used anymore……

7.  Share a favorite fall memory. I’ve mentioned it before….going to the apple orchard in October.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I attended a volunteer orientation last night, for Lakeland’s first Honor Flight. It will leave Lakeland Linder Airport on November 12^th, carrying 80 WWII veterans and their guardians (each has a mentor/guardian assigned to them). What a wonderful project this is, to make sure our WWII veterans get the chance to visit the WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.  I only hope this stupid shut-down is over by then, so there won’t be a problem with them being honored as they should be.

 Open-air memorials should not have been barricaded anyway. How ignorant…something that costs us $0 to have open, all of a sudden costs us the expense of guards, barricades and signage to keep people from just walking by. Ignorant power-mongering. (That 'stupid' thing that makes me grouchy!)  Washington needs to be cleaned out and we need to start over in 2014 and 2016.  New everyone. Not such a random thought, after all.