I'll cry if I want to Hodgepodge, for 10/15/14....

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 194

Here are Joyce's questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Be sure to hop back over THERE (From This Side of the Pond) tomorrow so we can share answers! Thank you, Joyce!!

1. What's your favorite time of day? Why?  Right now, at this time of my life, 5:00 p.m., Monday-Friday, because I can leave work and go home. I used to be more of a morning person, but now I fight getting up at 5:00 a.m. each day.  I'm ready to retire, but can't for three more years (unless we win the lottery!).  Sigh.  I love my job - I just wish the hours were more part time now (with a full time salary!).

2. Waffle iron, toaster, coffee maker, mixer, blender...which small appliance would you say most needs replacing in your house?  Our toaster is on its last legs. Joe uses it everyday. I use is just on the weekends, but it is old and doesn't pop up anymore. I need to go shopping soon.

 

3. It's National Grouch Day (October 15)...what's something that makes you feel grouchy?  Getting up at 5:00 a.m.  Not enough sleep. Although I really am not too grouchy at any time - maybe behind the wheel when I am stuck behind someone driving too slow....

4. Ever been to Canada? Is that a country you'd like to visit? According to Trip Advisor, the top ten best destinations in Canada are-Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Victoria, Calgary, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls, Whistler, and Halifax. Which city would you most like to see?  My family, when I was growing up, vacationed in Ontario, Canada, at Nina's Camp, on Rice Lake, every summer. My dad loved to fish and we loved to eat those yummy fresh-water catches. We brought pounds and pounds of fish home from vacation and enjoyed them all winter. So, yes, I believe we did that for five years in a row, for two weeks each time, and we always stopped at Niagara Falls on the way there. I have also toured the Thousand Islands, on the St. Lawrence, and we did travel to Quebec one year, and I saw the changing of the guard there. Canada is beautiful! I have often thought it would be fun to take a train ride across Canada and through the mountains.  Have any of you done that?

5. What was your favorite food (or one of your favorites) when you were a child? Is that still a favorite?  I can't think of a food that wasn't a favorite! Ha! We were good eaters (and still are)! My brother and sisters and I would fight over the last helping of cauliflower, if there was cheese sauce on it. My mom was such a good cook. Her homemade chicken and noodles were to die for, as was her vegetable soup. She made the BEST green tomato relish, that went so well with roast beef. Then there was her red velvet cake, made from scratch with buttermilk....long before most people had even heard of red velvet cake, I should add.

6. Do you cry easily?  Yes, at the movies, at funerals, at weddings, and if I see someone else crying, I usually join in. I'm a real blubber-head.  I frequently laugh until I cry, too, which feels great!  I don't cry for myself so much....if I hurt myself, I'm more likely to cuss than cry.  It's true. Please don't think less of me.

7. Have you started your (gasp!) Christmas shopping? If so when, and how much? If not, when will you even begin thinking about it?  Our Christmas cards arrived last week and I did start updating my labels, though I haven't printed them out yet.  We don't do much shopping anymore. The 'kids' don't come. We go to Naples the weekend before. Our tree is usually pretty bare - not piled high with presents like it used to be. We buy a little something to go with giftcards for the grandkids, the nieces & nephews get checks. I get my grandma some little thing, but she is 95 and needs nothing. Joe and I already got a new TV (last week, actually - 55 inches) we are calling it our Christmas gift, though I'm sure there will be a few packages under the tree. I've been watching the catalogs and thinking about a few things, but won't really start until next month.  Maybe a toaster....

 8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I've been thinking about our 30th wedding anniversary, which is coming up in May 2015. I can hardly believe we have been married 30 years. The time has just flown by. In some ways, it seems like we have been together 'forever' and in other ways, I can't fathom that it's been 30 years...seems like 10.  We are planning a little get-away, and I think perhaps we will be going to New Orleans. We have had so much fun there, on two previous trips. The food, the history, the music, the art..... it's a great city.  Why not go somewhere we've not been?  Because we know we like New Orleans, and we know it will be a good time. We've seen some of the touristy things, but there are still things we haven't done. I'm thinking this is what we will be choosing, instead of a cruise or a beach trip somewhere.  Have you been to New Orleans?  If so, what was your favorite restaurant and favorite site?

Thanks for stopping by my Hodgepodge!! So much fun!  Peace & blessings!