No Foolin’ It’s The Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Wow!  I don’t think the weeks passed this quickly when I worked for a living! It’s already Wednesday, again, and surely everyone knows what that means. It’s Hodgepodge time!  Thanks to our hostess, Joyce, for another great set of questions, this week.  I really love the first one, ’cause it’s all about retirement!

1. What does retirement mean to you? Are you planning for it, not thinking about it, looking forward to it, or dreading it?Retirement means not having to set an alarm clock!  It means not dreading Mondays or looking forward to Fridays because every day is like a Saturday.  Retirement means not having to take orders from an employer, and it means your time is now your own.  Retirement means you have to learn how to share your space with your spouse 24/7, instead of just a few hours a day.  It also means you have to budget your money a lot more carefully!  Last of all, retirement generally means you’re living your final phase of life, so you’d better make each day count, and enjoy life to the fullest, while you still can!

I’ve been out of the work force for eleven years, and my husband, Ed, has been retired for just over a year.  I began drawing a very small retirement check (from my last job), in 2014, at age sixty.  I hope to add my social security benefits to our budget, in the fall of this year, when I turn sixty-two.  While retirement was a bit of an adjustment, at first, Ed and I both enjoy and love retirement, and would hate to know we had to join the workforce again.  The hardest part is having to budget our money more carefully, but we’re doing okay, so far.

2. It’s International Guitar Month…do you play? Does anyone in your family play? What’s a song you especially like to hear played on the guitar or a favorite song featuring the guitar?

No, I don’t know how to play the guitar (or anything else, for that matter), but it’s my favorite musical instrument.  Our youngest son can play.  He took a few lessons, then, eventually, taught himself how to play.  I love any song that’s played on an acoustic guitar, but I like other kinds of guitars, as well.

Lately, I’ve been collecting music by Joey + Rory, and I just love the guitar accompaniment on Joey’s song, That’s Important To Me.  In fact, I love everything about this song, including the story of how it came to be written, and the music video Joey and Rory made for this song!

3. What’s your comfort food?

I don’t really have a particular comfort food, so I’m going to say a banana split.  I don’t eat them very often, but, whenever I do, it sure makes me happy!

4. What’s one activity or area of your life where you absolutely never procrastinate?

I make regular visits to my primary care physician, every six months, without exception. I have several chronic health issues, so it’s necessary to make regular visits to keep those checked, and to get new refills for the medications I require.

5. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Does your local store bag the groceries for you or is it a do-it-yourself kind of place? Do you like someone packing your groceries?

I do the grocery shopping, and our local store bags my groceries.  Most of the time I like for someone else to bag my groceries, until I get stuck with a person who turns my cake upside down, or smashes my loaf of bread!  Then I wish I could bag them myself.

one ruined cake, thanks to careless bagging

6. What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen in nature?

I don’t know if this counts, but watching eggs hatch is really cool. You can hear the chicks chirping while they’re still inside the eggs.  Slowly, they begin to peck their way out of the shell, until they eventually break free of it.

7. Share a favorite quote about home.

We have a sign hanging over our television that says, “Home is where the heart is.”  That’s my favorite quote, and exactly how I feel about our home.

Random:

Yesterday, I shared a post about our oldest son’s journey.  Today, I’d like to share another man’s journey.  This man’s name is Dennis, and he lives in our tiny little town.

For the past eight years, Dennis has been on a journey of his own.  Each year, during the week of Easter, Dennis takes a week of his vacation, and walks all over Georgia, dressed like Jesus, while carrying a huge cross on his shoulder.

Dennis spends the entire week, on the road, sharing the gospel with those he encounters.  Dennis reminds everyone about the true meaning of Easter.   Dennis has walked hundreds of miles during his journey, many of them alone.  There are times when others feel compelled to join Dennis, to simply keep him company or help with shouldering the burden of the cross for a while.  Someone took this picture of Dennis, on this year’s journey.  Even after eight years, this sight still gives me chills.