Wednesday's Hodgepodge!

Good morning, and thank you, Joyce, for another interesting group of questions for our Hodgepodge Wednesday!!  If you would like to join in the fun, visit Joyce's page at:  http://www.fromthissideofthepond.com/

1. Joyce's sister is celebrating a birthday today. Happy Birthday to her little sis! What's one way you're like your siblings?  If you don't have siblings how are you like your lifelong best friend or cousin?  I have three siblings and the only way we are alike is that we were born of the same parents, three years apart, oh, and we all graduated from college.  We have lived apart from each other for so long, and all have different careers. I can’t even say we are all tall, because my youngest sister isn’t!!  I have blonde hair, Patti has red hair, and Tammy has brown hair. My brother (who died 10 years ago) had strawberry blonde hair.  Patti and I both played trumpet in the band, so there IS that!  She is more musical than me; Tammy is more creative than me; Randy was smarter than me....

2.  What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of yourself at age eighteen?  Ignorant of life - naive.

3. Sculptor-actor-painter-dancer...if you could excel in one of these arts, which would you choose and why?  IF I could excel in one of those, it would be dancer. I love to dance, but am terrible at it, and now my knees won’t even let me be terrible at it.

4. What's a scent that takes you back in time, and where does it take you?  Ah….chlorine.  The public pool in summer, as a pre-teen wishing I was more grown up – listening to Rickie Nelson, on the juke box, sing Travelin’ Man (over and over and over) and eating frozen Milky Way candy bars on a stick from the refreshment stand.  That song takes me back to the chlorine smell, too…both triggers!  I was allowed to go to the pool by myself at age 9 (rode my bike there) and felt very independent, and was very interested in the teenage girls laughing and talking around the juke box, and continuing to play Rickie Nelson, (over and over and over).  Chlorine.

5. November is for Peanut Butter Lovers (National Peanut Butter Lovers Month).  Are you a lover or a hater?  What's your favorite dish/recipe that calls for peanut butter?   I’m really neither. I will eat peanut butter occasionally, so don’t hate it, but I also don’t crave it.  I like to make Buckeyes at Christmas time, but I do them in a pan, and cut them into squares, rather than roll them into balls. I will also just use peanut butter as a dip for apple slices now and then.

6. What do people thank you personally for most often?  I don’t know how personal it is, but when I shop at Publix, they always thank me! I hear it there, more often than anywhere else. At work, I get a thank you when I help someone with a problem, but am fortunate that there aren’t too many employee problems to deal with.  Even less often, but we do hear a thank you for birthday and Christmas gifts, holding a door open for someone...little things, I guess.

7. What event this year are you most thankful for?  Oh gosh, I guess if we are talking “event” it would have to be our nephew’s wedding, in August, and the wonderful family reunion we had while there.    

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I wish I could push a button and lose weight without all the work and discipline it really will take. Sigh.

And, speaking of losing weight, I heard back from the clinic that does the mini gastric by-pass.  The total cost is (a mere) $17,000.  Of course, that means I can't afford it and doubt that many middle class folks can. My health insurance is changing from Blue Cross to Humana, effective December 1.  The lady told me that Humana just paid for someone they did last week, and for me to give her my information when I get my new card, and she will run it through for me, to see if they will cover it. I doubt it, but worth a try, I guess.  Elective surgeries are rarely covered by main-stream insurance companies. In the mean time...low carbs.

Thanks for stopping by on hump day!  Peace, love & hugs!!