In the Middle of Another Hodgepodge…

Boy, does it ever feel like the middle of summer here in our neck of the woods!  It’s in the 90’s, too hot to do much, so I’m cooling off with another Hodgepodge.  Thanks for the welcomed distraction, Joyce. 

Let me begin by making an update to last week’s post: Our area schools were supposed to open this week, but our officials got “cold feet” and decided to postpone opening until September 8.  That was probably a wise decision.

1. August 12th is National Middle Child Day…are you a middle child? If not, where in your family do you fall in terms of birth order? Do you hold true to the typical characteristics of oldest-middle-youngest-only child? (a quick list can be found here) Elaborate.

I’m the youngest of two, born almost nine years apart.  I don’t think I really hold true to the typical characteristics of the youngest child, with the exception of being a little self-centered.  Perhaps it’s because my brother and I only lived in the house together for a little over eight years, I don’t know.

2. Tell us about a time you felt like (or you actually were) in the middle of nowhere.

It was probably the last time my husband, Ed, tried to take a “short cut”.  He’s famous for taking unknown roads in an effort to find a shorter route.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out, and we have to turn around and back track.

3. What’s something you’re smack in the middle of currently?

I’m smack in the middle of reading the book, Splintered, which was written by a former co-worker of mine, who recently died from covid 19. (see random)

4. What’s a food you love to eat that has something delicious in the middle?

I love to eat “tarts”.  Apple or pear are my favorites, and I like eating them while they’re hot.  Just thinking about them is making me hungry!  I need to make some–or maybe not!

5. Share a memory from your middle school days, or junior high if that’s what your school dubbed kids somewhere between grades 6-8.

Back in my day, we graduated from elementary school after completing sixth grade, which meant we attended the high school in the seventh grade.   I don’t remember it being called “junior high”.  I do remember how different and overwhelming it felt, however.  I definitely felt like a small fish in a very big pond!  It wasn’t long before I began to discover [and admire] the older boys on campus–including the one who would later end up being my future husband!  That’s right, I had a seventh grade crush on Ed while he was a senior in high school!

Random:

Covid 19 has really been making the rounds in our little rural area, as well as all of the counties surrounding us.  Every week, new names are being added to our prayer list, and the numbers of cases continue to rise.  Most suffer through the illness at home, but some need to go to the hospital.

Small, rural hospitals have become over-whelmed, struggling to find bigger hospitals to take their sickest covid patients.  Recently, our local hospital called thirty-three different hospitals before finding one willing and able to take a very sick covid patient!  I know of at least one patient that had to wait too long.

The reality of this pandemic [and all of its problems] really hit close to home, last Tuesday, when a former co-worker succumbed to covid 19, while in the process of being transferred.  David, a retired school teacher was just sixty-two years old. He leaves behind a loving wife (who contracted the virus, as well), two grown children and their spouses (one of which also contracted the virus), and three precious grandchildren.  His daughter and her family are members of our church.  David was a very active member of another area church. Our community is sure going to miss him!

 

A “Hello August” Hodgepodge…

 

Finally, I was able to get my act together and participate in today’s Hodgepodge!  Thank you, Joyce, for this brief distraction from all of the craziness that’s going on in our country, today!

1. What’s happening where you live in terms of schools opening? How do you feel about it?

Our teachers have already gone back to work.  Our schools will officially open on Monday, August 10.  There is a choice of attending “in person” or  attending “virtually”.

I feel apprehensive for both teachers and students. Covid 19 is still spreading all over Georgia.  I’m thankful I no longer work in education and I’m thankful all four of our grandchildren are home-schooled.  If I had a school aged child, I don’t think I would send them back to school “in person” at this particular time.

2. What’s something you still do ‘old school’?

Math.  I prefer to use pencil and paper, instead of using a calculator. I also like to figure sale prices in my head.

3. August 4th is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. Will you/did you celebrate by baking a batch? Eating a batch? Nuts or no nuts? Homemade or store bought? Soft and chewy or do you prefer your cookie to snap when you bite into it?

No, I didn’t celebrate National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day at all.  However, I do enjoy baking and eating cookies whenever possible!  I don’t usually put nuts in my chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t mind if somebody else does!  Of course, I prefer for my chocolate chip cookies to be homemade, soft and chewy.  However, since there are just two of us, I’ll often buy the “break and bake” kind of cookies instead of baking a huge batch of homemade ones.

4. What are you starved for?

I was starved for my daughter’s homemade spaghetti and her Coca Cola cake, but she cooked both on Monday night and invited us over for supper.  Both were delicious, and I went home stuffed!  (Thanks, Brandy!)

5. Anything new and interesting on your August calendar? What is one thing you’re looking forward to this month?

New and interesting:  For the first time in two months, Ed and I were able to “physically” attend church last Sunday.  Our church has been having services since the end of May, but they choose not to wear masks or practice much social distancing (which we don’t understand).  As a result, Ed and I chose not to attend the services (along with a few others).  We’ve been watching services via Facebook for a total of five months.  Finally, the church decided to add an extra [early] service, on Sunday morning, where masks are required and social distancing is enforced.

Looking forward to:  Our oldest son, Brett’s, ordination service on August 7th. Brett’s been serving a very small church for the past seven months, and on this Friday, he is officially being ordained.  It’s been a long time coming… (see below)

Random: 

When our oldest son, Brett, was about two and a half years old, he used to sit in the shopping cart and sing “Amazing Grace” while I did my shopping!  As you might imagine, he garnered a lot of attention.  Brett loved wearing his little suit and tie to church on Sundays, and used to tell me, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a preacher!”  I filed away his words in the back of my mind, and surely didn’t think much about them when we were living through Brett’s very rebellious teenage years!

In looking back over our son’s life, now, I can easily see God’s protection and gentle guidance, through those turbulent teen years and beyond, but it was difficult to see back then!  Brett used to be very a self-centered young man, hell bent on doing whatever made him happy, no matter what the cost to himself or others. He’ll tell you that himself, today.

However, God had another plan for our son, and He made things happen.  Of course, we couldn’t see it at the time, but in hindsight, we can easily see God’s hand on Brett’s life.  Slowly maturing him…protecting him from harm…sending the right people into his life, at the right times…changing his heart and his mind…and eventually, molding him into the man God always intended him to be–a preacher.    Amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Sweet Kind of Hodgepodge…

 

Y’all, it feels like 110 degrees, outside, ( it’s actually only 96) so I’m relaxing with the Wednesday Hodgepodge, inside, with the air conditioning on the low 70’s!  As they sometimes say here in the south, “My mama didn’t raise a fool!”

With all that being said, in the absence of a pool, I’m going to dive right into today’s Hodgepodge!  Today’s meme is based on the theme of “sweet”.

If you’d like to join in the fun, simply click Joyce’s button at the top of this post!

1. The sweetness of summer…where have you found it recently? If you’re in the Southern hemisphere, feel free to tell us about the sweetness you’re finding in winter.

For the past two Saturdays I’ve found sweetness in spending time with the entire family and getting to see some place different!  Both weekends, our son, Brad, and his wife, Jennifer, graciously offered to host everyone at their home in the country. (It was the first time any of us had been there since they moved in.) 

The first weekend we celebrated the Fourth of July, and the second weekend we celebrated Brad’s thirty-fifth birthday.  Of course, in these days of covid 19, we celebrated outside, socially distanced, with many fans blowing on us, but it was very sweet, none-the-less.  The grand kids all had a great idea, and celebrated with a water sprinkler underneath Evan’s trampoline!  I can’t believe how big they’ve all gotten!

2. Take your sweet time, sweet tooth, home sweet home, short but sweet, the sweet smell of success, sweet talk…choose a sweet idiom and tell us how it fits your life currently?

I’ll have to say “home sweet home” since that’s where we’ve been for the majority of the past four and one-half months!  I can count, on one hand, the number of “outings” we’ve had!

3. Sweet as honey, sweet as sugar, or sweet as pie, which phrase do you use when a sweet phrase is called for? What’s the last sweet treat you indulged in?

I don’t think I really use any of these phrases, but I’ll choose “sweet as sugar”.

The last sweet treat I indulged in [yesterday] was strawberry shortcake.  I made one, and it was delicious!

4. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word fidget?

I think of those silly little “fidget spinners” that were all the rage a few years back.  I have a red one that lights up, somewhere…

None of my children were fidgety, but Brad was what I always called “a diddler”.  He was always touching things.  Now Brad has a little “diddler” of his own, now.  Isn’t Evan cute with his two front teeth missing?

(photo borrowed from Jennifer’s FB page)

5. Share with us one of your favorite childhood travel memories.

Sometimes, during the summer, my parents would let me go to Jacksonville, Florida to spend a week with my brother and his wife, who were nine years older than me.  I think I may have been about ten or eleven when this summer tradition began.  I loved the feeling of “independence” and always enjoyed the activities that my sister-in-law planned for me. (It might have been a trip to the beach, shopping, or something as simple as playing a board game.)  I haven’t thought about those trips in a long time, but I have fond memories of those days!

Random:

As of this week, our vegetable canning season has ended. I can’t tell you how happy I am about that!  I also can’t tell you how horrified we were when one of our freezers broke in the middle of canning season!  Do you realize there are NO new freezers to buy, at this time?  (There are no swimming pools either, but I don’t want one of those anyway.)

Fortunately, we’d kept a very old freezer that had belonged to Ed’s parents.  We plugged it up and it still worked.  A major crisis was averted, at least for now.

In the meantime, we called a repairman to see if our 46 year-old, broken freezer could be repaired since there are no new freezers to buy, at this time.  It turned out to be a simple fix, but not really a cheap one. ($147)  So far, so good, the freezer’s doing its job. Would you believe we’ve been through FOUR new freezers during the life cycle of this little 46 year-old freezer.  Crazy, is it not?  They don’t make stuff like they used to!

 

 

Another Wednesday Hodgepodge…

It’s Wednesday, and, for now, that means joining Joyce for another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge.  If you’d like to join, too, simply click on Joyce’s button at the top of this post, copy, paste, answer the questions, and link up!

1. What’s something you resolved to do this year? Have you done it?

2019 was a horrible year for me.  I was plagued by various health issues the entire year.  Dental woes (including two surgical extractions and dry socket, twice),  a thyroid imbalance issue, TMJ (caused by those dental procedures) another nasal skin cancer & plastic surgery, and more neck/ back issues occurred consecutively, and sometimes simultaneously!  I literally spent the majority of the year sprawled out in a zero gravity chair in the middle of our living room floor!  I often felt as if life was passing me by, and it was.  Finally, toward the end of 2019, my health began to slowly improve.

I was resolved to have a better year in 2020, and so far, I have been able to do that, praise the Lord!  My back still causes pain, at times, but nothing I can’t handle, so far.  There’s another back surgery looming somewhere in my future, but other than that, the other health issues have been resolved.

2. Where do you go to find quietude?

The best place for me to find “quietude” is in the bathroom, soaking in a bathtub full of hot water.  It’s my favorite time of the day.

3. A friend asked this question on her Facebook page and said I could borrow it for the Hodgepodge…you’re only allowed to buy 5 things at the grocery store, and all must start with the first letter of your first name. Whatcha’ buying?

Since my first name begins with a “K”, I wouldn’t be buying much!  Perhaps I could buy some “ketchup”, or some “Kellogg’s” cereal.  Oh, and maybe some kettle corn!

4. The television show Survivor, the Gloria Gaynor song ‘I Will Survive’, survival mode, survival of the fittest…pick one and discuss.

Ed and I have been fans of the show “Survivor” since its beginning.  We don’t enjoy the show as much as we used to, but still feel compelled to watch.  The earlier shows were much more interesting, and so were the competitors.  I guess we’re not alone in this opinion, since this season’s show has brought back some of the best competitors, from past seasons, to compete against each other.

5. Share a favorite quote or saying about strength.

Here’s one of my favorites:  “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”  Phillipians 4:13 KJV     I’ve relied heavily on this bible verse to help me when I was forced to do things out of my comfort zone.

6. Random:

Our governor has decided to allow our salons, nail parlors, tattoo parlors, gyms, and bowling alleys to reopen this Friday, followed by movies, restaurants, churches, etc., on Monday.  Really?  Our cases of covid 19 are still on the rise, so it will be interesting to see how this decision works out.  As of last night, Georgia has 20,166 cases, with 818 deaths–and rising.

Sheltering In Place With A Hodgepodge…

 

After well over a month of hearing about covid-19 on the news, and three weeks of sheltering in place, I’m ready for a little distraction known as “The Wednesday Hodgepodge”.  If you’d like to join in the fun,  just click the button at the top of this post, which will take you to our hostess, Joyce’s blog!

1. Has spring sprung in your part of the world?   

Yes, spring has definitely sprung here in Georgia!  How can you tell?  Our temperatures have been in the high 80’s for a while. (However, we’re experiencing a brief cold snap, today, with a low of 49 this morning)  For the first time I can remember, our azaleas actually bloomed in January!  Our winter was unusually mild.  Did March come in like a lion where you live?  Yes, it did!  At times, the wind has been almost unbearable for the entire month. Going out like a lamb or something more ferocious?  Not much relief in sight, yet.  The wind blew fiercely during the night, and we were under a tornado watch yesterday .

2. The last thing that caused you to spring to your feet?

The last significant thing that made me spring to my feet was our daughter running over to our house yelling “Call 911, your shed’s on fire!” It was lunchtime and Ed and I were sitting at our kitchen table, about to have lunch.  I’ll never forget that day!

3. Do you have a spring clean to-do list?  Yes, well sort of.  Actually, my list is a “to do” for Ed, who usually washes or paints our porches, cleans the outdoor fountains, weeds the flowerbeds, and takes the plants out of the greenhouse.  I usually supervise because my back won’t allow me to do much else. (Yes, I’m having back issues again.) What’s one chore on the list you’ve already managed to accomplish?  Ed’s finished everything on his list except cleaning the porches.  We don’t call him “Fast Eddie” for nothing. What spring clean chore do you most dread? Painting.  Ed feels the same way.

4. Tell us something you’ve learned about yourself or the wider world as a result of social distancing/the virus crisis.  I’ve learned that I am a rule follower, but, apparently many people are not!  I am appalled by the amount of people who are stubbornly refusing to stay home or social distance!  I’ve never seen such blatant disregard for authority or for other people’s health as I have during this virus crisis!  Stay at home people!

5. Something you love that’s the color pink?  I love the pink azaleas growing in front of our house. Sadly, they’ve already shed their blooms for this year.

6. Random:  Ed and I are adjusting to our “new normal” since this virus crisis began. Our days haven’t really changed all that much since we’re both retired.  However, we’ve recently learned how to use Walmart’s grocery pickup service instead of doing our own shopping.  We’re now enjoying weekly church services via Facebook instead of in person, too.  All four of our grandchildren are home-schooled, so closing the schools hasn’t affected them, which makes us happy.  The weather here has been wonderful, so, lately, we’ve been spending lots of time outside visiting with family, a few at a time.  Social distancing, while sitting outside in lawn chairs, isn’t so bad!

However, on the flip side, I’m shocked as I watch the numbers of sick and dead continuing to skyrocket, daily!  I tear up as I listen to the pleas of overwhelmed healthcare workers.  I’m horrified when I see people lying on hospital floors and bodies being loaded into eighteen wheelers parked behind hospitals!  It’s all surreal to me.

My prayers are for the sick, the families of the sick, and those who have lost or will lose loved ones.  My prayers are for all healthcare workers, working on the front lines, battling this contagious virus that we know so little about!  My prayers are for those who are suddenly out of work, as well as those who continue to work, but have to put themselves in harms way to do so.  My prayers are for the elderly who are “sitting ducks” of this virus, but can’t physically visit with their family anymore…and for those who have to die alone.  And last, but certainly not least, my prayers are for our men of God, who spend their days comforting and shepherding their flocks during these perilous times. May God be with them as they continue to preach the Word through any means they can, and comfort us, guide us, and remind us Who is in control when the world seems to be falling apart all around us.  Amen!