It's time for the Hodgepodge. Click here to join in.
1. It's often said we should be grateful for small blessings. What is one small blessing you are feeling especially grateful for today?
I'm grateful for a programmable thermostat. It's really chilly outside and when I come home, it's warm and toasty and so welcoming in the house.
2. How do you feel about leftovers, not just on Thanksgiving but after any meal? Favorite thing to make/eat using your Thanksgiving leftovers?
We eat leftovers all the time! Some of our friends won't touch them, can you imagine? When things are normal (ie. we have a kitchen and Vic and I are both under the same roof), leftovers usually make lunch for the next day. Since I've been on my own, it's often leftovers for several days if I've cooked a big pot of something. My favorite thing to make with Thanksgiving leftovers is a turkey, cranberry, and stuffing panini. It's delicious!
3. Sherwin Williams unveiled it's 2022 Color of the Year-Evergreen Fog. Are you a fan? Would I find this mid-tone gray green shade anywhere in your house? Does your house need painting? Inside or out? What one space is most in need of a paint job? Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you hire a professional?
Evergreen Fog is a pleasant color but a touch too dark for my taste. It's more grey than green but I think I would prefer it a few shades lighter. Yes, our house needs painting inside. We have the worst orange peel texture on the walls, how I wish we had had time to remove it all before we moved in but we didn't so we're attacking one room at a time. Morning room is done, kitchen/dining room will be next, then the guest bath, and on to the bedrooms. Living room will be last since it's the biggest job. Vic considers himself a do-it-yourselfer but I would prefer to hire a professional. One and done, as they say.
4. What is one aspect of the way you were parented that you are grateful for today?
My parents loved unconditionally and they stood by my sister and I through thick and thin. We made our share of teenage and young adult stupid decisions but they were always there when we found our way back to reality.
5. Write an acrostic for the word-thankful
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't remember
How much my parents loved me.
Always encouraging, always caring,
Never judgmental, never a harsh word.
Knowing that they were always there
For a quick chat or a long conversation.
Unconditional love, their example
Led me to the same relationship with my daughter.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
My co-workers are decorating their office for Christmas! It is killing me not to be decorating but if you've been following my story, you know my kitchen/dining room is an empty space and everything that was in there is now in the living room. Have you ever had a Christmas without decorations because of a move or a life change or some other reason? I just keep telling myself that this too shall pass and next year will be bigger and better than ever and in the meantime, I'm living vicariously through all of the decorated homes in the Hallmark movies that are my seasonal addiction.
Sunday saw the annual National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in London. The Duchesses of Cornwall and Cambridge and the Countess of Wessex are shown here on the balcony of the Foreign Office.
This has my name written all over it - Chuck's Luxury Advent Calendar from Williams Sonoma - it's a good thing my kitchen is non-existent at the moment or I'd be snapping one up to take advantage of all the gourmet treats. It even has a tiny chicken jug ornament!
My heroes.
My Dad, Herb, Norway, 1963
How I wish I had asked him more about his time in the military. I have some of his memories typed up that I need to retrieve from a floppy disk. I remember one vividly - I know he was in the Philippines in the late 1940s and he told me that he and a group of other soldiers were waiting in San Francisco for the ship that would take them there. They were sitting around in the barracks, endlessly waiting day after day, when there came a call for volunteers for a special assignment. They were to don their dress uniforms and assemble outside a large warehouse-type building. When the doors were opened, they couldn't believe the site, row upon row of flag-draped caskets. These were the remains of service members killed at the end of World War II and they were to give them a military escort to the train station from where the caskets would be loaded on to a train and forwarded to their hometowns for burial. I don't suppose that in those days, families would have the means to travel to claim their loved one, they would have to wait at a train station for their casket to arrive.
My husband, Vic, MSC, USN
If they made a movie about our life together, Vic would have said, "Marry me, and I'll show you more adventures than you can imagine." As my friend Lee-Ann would say "Word!"
It's time for the Hodgepodge. Click here to join in.
1. How did you name your blog and do you now wish you had thought about it maybe another five minutes before hitting publish? Would you change your blog title if it were not a huge pain in the derriere?
The Lady of the House Speaking is the way one of my favorite actresses, Patricia Routledge, answers the telephone in her role as Hyacinth Bucket (that's Bouquet!) in the British comedy Keeping Up Appearances. Watch the short video below or just fast forward to 0:25. She's my alter ego so no, I wouldn't change the name.
2. What bill do you least like to pay?
I guess car insurance. Cars should come with it!
3. What is your favorite word? Okay okay, calm down. How about one of your favorite words?
Lashings as in lashings of ginger beer (from a favorite childhood story), lashings of whipped cream, and at this time of the year, lashings of good cheer.
4. Is the glass half full or half empty? Elaborate.
Half full. Who wants to walk around moaning "Woe is me" and being a downer. Make the best of your situation. We've moved many times, away from family and friends, to unfamiliar locations, making a new start after just settling in to the last place. I could look at it negatively but I choose to use each move to explore a new area, meet new people, have new adventures. It's given me a lot of great memories.
5. Were you here for that very first Hodgepodge post? If so, were your answers then similar to what they are today? Tell us what was happening in your life in November of 2010?
No, my first Hodgepodge was #217 on 15 April 2015. In November of 2010, we were living in Rhode Island where Vic was an instructor at the Surface Warfare Officers School in Newport, Sophia was a sophomore in high school, and I was the household diva and chauffeur to her many extra-curricular activities - 4-H, horse riding lessons, high school equestrian team, choir, youth group, and drama team. We were seriously thinking about living happily ever after in our home there.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
November was always a month for a thankful and grateful challenge on my blog. I've done many over the years but didn't even think about one this year. I guess it's because I'm in a thankful and grateful scrapbook group this year. As an Army brat and now a Navy wife, I'm particularly thankful for our military, for the sacrifices our active duty service members and their families make in service to our country. I'll leave you with this:
"Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an 's' at the end of 'veterans' because it is not a day that belongs to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans." - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Nothing says Christmas is coming like last week's Hallmark Countdown to Christmas round-up of holiday premieres and yesterday's release of Starbucks' Holiday Drinks.
Caramel Brulee Latte, Toasted White Chocolate Mocha, and Chestnut Praline Latte plus this year's new addition, Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte. Do you have a favorite?
It's time for the Hodgepodge. Click here to join in.
1. Three things you're grateful for this first week of November?
My family, that we're all healthy, that we're gainfully employed and have a little extra to save and give.
4. It's National Sandwich Day...will you celebrate? How often do you eat a sandwich? What's your favorite?
I didn't know it was National Sandwich Day so I just may swing through Starbucks and pick up one of their turkey and pesto paninis, they are really tasty. I love sandwiches, everything from tiny afternoon tea delicacies to a foot-long sub. Some of my favorites are ham and piccalilli (a spicy mustard pickle spread), tuna salad with lots of chopped celery, onions, and cornichons, and the olive nut spread that I make to be served with crackers that turned out to be a great sandwich spread. Do you like afternoon tea? Do you prefer fingers or quarters?
5. Have you started your Christmas shopping? If so when did you start? If not when will you start? Do you give more or fewer gifts than you did five years ago?
We're not giving big or many gifts this year - Sophia wants money for her horse business and Vic and I have decided to put our Christmas money into the kitchen fund. I have a few things that I picked up during the year - planners for Sophia and me from Erin Condren's launch (I think it was sometime in the summer), some items (that I can't list here in case Sophia's reading my blog!) to put into a gift basket, and the inevitable Christmas pajamas. We'll have our annual Target and Barnes and Noble shopping trips where we pick up stocking stuffers for each other and something to read on Christmas Day but that's about it. I did buy two fun games for us to play. I probably give less each year although the total spent stays about the same - the gifts get more expensive, more cash is given - so it seems like less in quantity. The nephews get cash - we're so far away from them, I wouldn't have a clue what they would like. I buy some sweet treats for my co-workers and this year, they are all getting joke books as telling jokes has become the opener for our weekly division managers meeting.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
Trying to decide what to do for Christmas cards this year. I've trimmed the list down to close friends who send cards every year and family but the list of cards we receive gets smaller and smaller. I fear it's going the way of cursive writing, thank you notes, and RSVPs. It seems social media has taken over and that's such a shame. Do you send cards?
