Thankful For The Hodgepodge…

As I mentioned, yesterday, I’m thankful for this blog, and for all of the wonderful people I’ve met through it.  One of the ‘blogging things’ I’m most thankful for is “The Wednesday Hodgepodge”.   I still remember emailing Joyce and asking her to consider hosting, when another meme, we’d been participating in, retired.  Thank goodness, Joyce said yes!

Here are this week’s questions:

1. Are you settling for something?

I suppose there are those who might take a look at my life and think that “I settled for something” because  I married the love of my life right out of high school, and have spent the majority of my life being a wife, home-maker, and mother.  No college degree or illustrious career for this girl.  I haven’t traveled much, nor have I experienced many exciting adventures.  I live on the family farm, in a  simple house that Ed and I built together using our own hands.  To some, my life might seem plain and unexciting, but, to me, it’s just about perfect!  So in answer to your question, “No.”

2. It wasn’t that long ago almost every store in the US locked doors and turned out lights on Thanksgiving Day. This year many will be open all day Thursday, giving shoppers a jump-start on ‘Black Friday’. In your opinion is this a good thing or a not so good thing? Will you be shopping on Thanksgiving Day?

I don’t think “getting a jump-start on Black Friday’ is necessarily a good thing because it prevents so many families from being together for Thanksgiving.  I think retailers need to keep their doors locked on Thanksgiving, at least until midnight.  Let’s get back to what’s really important–Faith, Family, and Friends.  There’s not enough tea in China to make me go shopping on Thanksgiving–or ‘Black Friday’!

3. Speaking of shopping… I saw a recent article on the twelve best shopping cities in the world. In order they are-

New York, Tokyo, London, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Hong Kong, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Dubai, Madrid, Milan, and Seoul.

Ever shopped in any of the cities listed? In which city would you most like to pull out the plastic or cold hard cash?

Ha! Ha! (see #1)   No, I haven’t shopped in any of the cities listed, nor do I want to.  If I have to choose a city, I’ll say New York, because it’s the closest to where I live!  I’m not much of a traveler.

4. When did you last dine by candlelight?

It’s been quite a while since Ed and I dined by candlelight!  In fact,  the last time we dined by candlelight was when our power went out at suppertime 🙂

5. What do you have too much of?

‘Stuff’!  In years past, I’ve enjoyed  buying and collecting all kinds of ‘stuff’–clothes, dolls, teddy bears, ceramic frogs, Coca Cola decor, Christmas decor, dishes, seasonal ‘what-nots’, books, and even toys!  After forty years, I definitely have too much ‘stuff’.  I’ve stopped collecting.  A few years back, Diamond Rio made a song called  “Stuff”.  For most of my life, this could have been my theme song.  These days?  Not so much.

6. The Hunger Games…are you a fan? Did you read the book(s)? Will you/have you seen the movie? Will you/have you seen Catching Fire? No spoilers please!

I haven’t read the book(s), but I did finally watch the movie, “The Hunger Games”.  It was not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  However, I found the whole concept of  a game of ‘survival of the fittest [children]’ , with people watching, a little disturbing.  I seriously doubt I’ll be watching “Catching Fire”.

7. Share your plans for Thanksgiving Day. The who, the where, the what…especially the what! As in what’s for dinner? If you’re one of my International visitors, whose homeland doesn’t celebrate American Thanksgiving (the whole world doesn’t ya know!), then still tell us your plans for Thursday.

Our plans for Thanksgiving are going to be about the same as usual.  For Thanksgiving lunch, Ed and I will be blessed to have everyone under our roof, once more.  This year, we’ve lost one family member (Ed’s mom), but we’ve gained another (baby Evan).  I’ll cook the turkey and dressing, and the girls will contribute some sides and desserts.  Later in the day, most everyone will go to eat supper with the other sides of their families.

Random:

Don’t ya’ just love Thanksgiving?!  Our little grandson, Caden, experienced his first Thanksgiving Feast, preschool style, last week.  I just had to share a few pictures from his mom’s FB page.

I especially got a kick out of Caden’s placemat!  Did you notice that he is thankful for “Trouble”, the cat, (and the stranger cat)?!  I thought that was so sweet 🙂

I’ll be taking a bit of a blogging break, after today.  There’s much to be done in preparation for Christmas!  I’ll see y’all next week.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.