Wednesday Hodgepodge

Greetings everyone!  I'm on a roll with keeping up with these Wednesday Hodgepodge questions brought to us by Joyce.  Here's another round of wintry questions for mid January.  Can you believe we are almost through January already?  The month is speeding by quickly and I'm okay with that.  Okay, here we go.  Thankfully she adds these questions in the beginning of the week so I have some time to think.  

SKIING INTO THE HODGEPODGE - mid January edition

 1. Ice skating, skiing, sledding, snowshoeing, playing in the snow, or a snowy walk...which winter activity do you choose? Have you done any of these activities so far this winter? 

I've tried ice skating a few times and was on my butt more than my feet.  I don't know why I just couldn't get the hang of it.  I used to enjoy sledding as a kid but haven't done so in many years.  Playing in the snow most certainly is a favorite past time, as a child myself and also when my kids were little.  So far this year I've done nothing aside from a little driveway shoveling and scraping ice off of the car whenever we have snow.  I'm sure my kids would enjoy doing something but I am just not a be outside in the winter type of person.  Snuggling up on the couch under a blanket reading a book while the fireplace is on is my type of winter activity.  

2. Everyone is posting pictures from ten years ago on their social media sites so let's jump on the bandwagon too. Share one photo and one thought to go with said photo from the year 2016. And maybe everyone isn't doing this, but many are and we're going to be part of the fun. 

Summertime 2016 when we visited a zoo in Maryland.  This bird looks just like a parakeet we used to have named Sprite. 

3. What's a trend you hope disappears in this new year? 

The current way of life where people will hear something said on mainstream media or read something on social media and take it as facts instead of doing their own research and thinking, which ends up causing a lot of unnecessary chaos in the country right now.  

4. 'They' say there's a day for everything and January 21st proves it. National Granola Bar Day. Do you like granola bars? How about just regular granola? Do you like bars of other kinds? 

I do like granola bars.  Peanut butter or chocolate chip are my top two choices.  I've never made homemade granola bars but it's on my list of things to try.   I've also enjoyed putting granola in yogurt or granola cereal.  

5.  A frozen lake, a trickling stream, a raging river, or a deep well...which one describes something about your life right now? Elaborate as much or as little as you like. 

This is a great question.  To say it literally, life right now feels like a frozen lake because of how cold it's been and there's a blizzard in the forecast for my area this weekend.  Although, if we're speaking hypothetically I'd say my life can sometimes feel like a raging river but I try very hard to focus on the trickling stream.  For example, there's so much going on around me that has me instantly feeling the need to be angry but then I take a deep breath, pray to the Lord for guidance and then become someone who can slowly control the flow of my emotions.  I'm trying, at least.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Here in south-central Pennsylvania and other parts of the country are forecasted to recieve a large amount of snowfall this weekend.  I'm getting a mix of information in regarding how much.  I've heard anywhere from a few inches to 2-feet.  Time will tell.  Tomorrow is pay day for both my husband and I so a trip to the grocery store is needed.  No, I'm not one of those that has to rush to buy bread, milk and eggs whenever a snow storm is upon us, but we are really in desperate need of food no matter the weather.  I'm going to keep a positive attitude through the storm but will certainly be dreaming about the warmer seasons to come.  

A Few Random Things

 Here we are, more than halfway through January and winter reminds us she's still very much here.  

On Saturday we woke up to a few inches of snow.  Fearful of the unpredictability of the day, my sister cancelled her plans to visit from Long Island.  They were going to stay at a hotel and we were all going to meet up at my parents.  So, instead, I spent Saturday at home doing a mix of cleaning and resting.  

There is no greater joy in wintertime than being able to snuggle up with a good book.  

And my girl, as you can see, has her hand in a brace.  On Thursday at midnight she woke me up to say she was getting out of bed to use the bathroom and fell, landing on her hand, which resulted in a sprained wrist.  She was off of school on Friday so we went in for an x-ray to check for a possible fracture but she's all good there.  

It was a weekend of snuggles.  

Today there is no school all thanks to the wonderful Martin Luther King, jr.  I still woke up early since Bri had to go to swim practice.  My son drove to the coffee shop to sit and study the book of Job and I worked on my book while getting some laundry done.  You know, for a family of four we sure accumulate a lot of dirty laundry way too quickly.  My husband is at work and sadly caught a cold, which started yesterday.  He's feeling miserable.  I made homemade chicken noodle soup last night but still deciding on what to make tonight.  I really, really need to get my act together and come up with a weekly meal plan.  It's so difficult to decide each and every night what to cook, especially with picky children and a husband that can't eat certain things.  I suppose I'll figure it out.  

Have a great week ahead, friends.  Stay cozy and warm!  

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Okay, here I go with my second Wednesday Hodgepodge.  This one is about winter and I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on a season I have always found most dreadful.  

1. What kind of winter person are you-snow lover, fireplace snuggler, winter adventurer, or indoor hibernator? Elaborate. 

INDOOR HIBERNATOR!  Absolutely.  Of course, since I work part-time and have two very active children who have schedules filled with sports, band and theater I am not at home all the time but there are hours in the day and evening when I am home and I love every single moment of it, especially when it's cold outside.  I don't like the snow but when we do get it I enjoy the fact that I'm stuck inside.  

2. The Pantone color of the year is cloud dancer, described as a gentle, billowy off white shade. The color symbolizes 'peace, clarity, quiet reflection, renewal, and a soft reset'. Of the terms just listed which do you need most in your life this winter? 

I'm always searching for peace but that seems impossible so I will say I enjoy those moments when I can sit in quiet reflection.  Praying, planning, thinking.  I believe we are given the season of winter as a time to rest and reflect.  

4. Coconut, cauliflower, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, onions, ranch dressing...of the white foods listed, which would be the hardest for you to give up? Do you like all or any of the foods on the list? 

Well, I'm not so much a fan of coconut and I certainly don't like cottage cheese but the rest on the list I'm good with.  When my husband was diagnosed with IBS he was given a list of foods to stop eating and onions was one of them.  He and I both love onions so having to omit onions in recipes has been challenging and sad.  I can still eat them but I don't bother since he can't.  

5. Thomas Wentworth Higginson is credited with this quote-

"How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year." 

Agree or disagree? Tell us why. 

I can agree; in believing that winter is a time where everything in nature dies away we too have an opportunity to give ourselves rest, and all the bare ugliness of winter can help us to appreciate the beauty in the seasons that are to come.  We'll get there eventually.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Winter has always been my least favorite season.  The cold weather makes it hard to enjoy being outside.  The lack of sunshine is depressing.  My seasonal depression sets in each and every year.  This year; however, I am focused on seeing the good in this season.  Using this time to be intentional on the things that need done inside.  Cozying up and resting more.  Diving deep into Bible reading and learning how to be a better Christian.  Making use of my treadmill and weights.  With my new outlook on winter I may end up liking the season, afterall.  We'll just see.  

Tuesday Thoughts

 Hello, friends!

The outside air is cool but the sun is shining and I'll take every ounce of vitamin D I can get.  I've been out all morning driving the school van and then going to the grocery store for some needed items.  Now I'm inside, doing some cleaning and taking a break from the outside world until it's time to leave again.  I'll be heading out at 1pm for the afternoon shift and then off to the high school to watch my daughter's swim meet.  All I can think about is being back home to shower and slip into pajamas and relax with a book before bed.  

It sounds like I'm lazy and I often feel that way but I can't help but enjoy being at home and I love relaxing after a day of chores.  Mentally, I feel drained this time of year and it can be exhausting just dealing with that.  I've been enjoying spending late evenings plopped on the couch switching between my diamond art and reading the current book.  I set a goal on the Goodreads app to finish 50 books by the end of the year.  That's doable, I believe.  

Also, who wants to be out in the world in this day and age?  It's impossible to turn on the news or scroll through social media without seeing videos and pictures of the streets filled with hate, anger and crime.  There are protests being held just miles from my house.  I'm confused by it all.  We are living in a time when good is considered evil and evil is considered good, just as the Bible warned us would happen in the end times.  I believe we are getting closer and I choose to be ready for it.  There might not be much I can do to help what's going on in the world but I wonder if there is something, just something, I can do.  I wonder if it could be justified to say for me it's better to just be at home and not interfere.  Is it selfish or is it just the fact that I'm not called to do anything major.  Edmund Burke once said, "All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."  My husband saw the flaws that were happening within our school district and so he became a director on the school board.  I realize maybe I'm not called to do anything as big but just driving teenagers to school could be meaningful enough.  Conversing with them and trying to help them move towards the right path in life.  I pray that if there's more for me it will be revealed to me.  Until then, I will be at home cleaning, cooking, raising my kids and loving my husband.  

And enjoying the simple moments like this.