Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 403

Check out this week's Hodgepodge here and join us! 

1. When were you last a guest at an event or in someone's home? Tell us about it. Do you enjoy having guests in your own home? 

This is unbelievable - I had to go back to December of 2017 to find the last time we were guests in someone's home (it was an event as well).  We certainly didn't go anywhere in 2019 and 2018 was a combination of Vic being in one place and me in another so zero outings there.  We would have gone to a Christmas gathering at a friend's in December 2019 but it was scheduled for the day Vic was coming in at the airport so we didn't make it.

So, the last time was a Holiday Open House, a grand affair put on by one of the major commands in Virginia.  It was held at one of the historic homes on the base, beautifully decorated for the holidays with the service members in their dress uniforms and spouses all glittery or in suits for an glam evening out.  The food was magnificent, wine and champagne flowed, and it was a lovely evening of meeting friends old and new.  The culmination of the evening was caroling along with the command's band who had been playing softly all evening from the grand staircase.  A fabulous memory.

This decor is amazing - that's fishing wire (that invisible wire that is so handy for all sorts of decorating) strung from one side of the rotunda to the other with the ornaments suspended from it.  I was an event that included the international community so this tree is decorated with the flags of the various nations.

I love to have guests in our home - for Christmas 2019, I held an afternoon tea and ornament exchange for friends which was so much fun and we're looking forward to revving up our holiday open house once things are safe again.

2. What has you 'tied up in knots' currently or recently? Are you any good at tying actual knots? 

"Tied up in knots" would have been any discussion about Vic coming home last Christmas - we all know how that turned out.  It's now moved on to his return home - when?  when?  when?  The definition of tied up in knots is to be confused, anxious, worried, and/or upset about something - yep, that's me on all four counts!  I do my best to leave it alone but it's so hard when things are completely beyond my control (I don't do well with that at.all).  I can tie a square knot, it's a holdover from my Girl Scout days.

3. What's something you've been wanting to do and have decided 2021 will be the year you 'take the plunge'? 

Find a healthy eating program that I can make a permanent lifestyle change.  I'm working through a Whole 30 right now to detox from sugar and gluten and then I need to find a way to ease a little bit of both back into my life.  I'll most likely start Weight Watchers again later this year.

4. Something in your home that's old? Something new? Something borrowed? Something blue? 

Old - Mum's Bible that she carried on her wedding day in 1956 is probably the oldest thing we have.

New - Anything I got for Christmas so we'll go with the milk frother.

Borrowed - Library books!

Blue - Just about everything in Vic's wardrobe - he certainly picked the right branch of service to join.  Go Navy!

5. Share a favorite quote, a verse of scripture, and/or a bit of wisdom for couples getting married in this challenging and seemingly unpredictable season we're currently/still experiencing.

Be kind to each other.  Don't go to bed angry.  Agree to disagree.  Hold hands always.

My parents at my sister's wedding - they always held hands - even when they sat in their armchairs at home watching a movie, they were holding hands

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Did anyone watch All Creatures Great and Small on PBS on Sunday?  I caught it on Monday through our PBS Passport and thought it was delightful.  I loved the original series with Robert Hardy and Christopher Timothy and was so afraid this new one wouldn't be as good but I really enjoyed it.  The casting of Siegfried and James is excellent, and I'm sure Tristan is going to be spot on as well.  I did find Mrs. Hall a bit young, but she's kind of an old young, if that makes any sense, so she'll do.  And, of course, the Yorkshire scenery is glorious.