Welcome to Tuesday 4 kept up in memory of our friend Toni Taddeo who began it several years ago.  She would be so pleased to see people keeping up with it!

Let's talk about moving today.

1. How far away are you from where you grew up? I live about 20 miles from my hometown. My kids 1-15 miles away.

2. Families sometimes move all over the country. Do you feel that a family should try to stay close together? I think it depends on the family and how close they are. My family is within an hours drive. We are a close family. Covid has kept us from visiting the way we are use to. Facebook helps.

3. How many times have you moved in your life and would you like to share when and where you moved? When I lived at home, my parents moved 4 times. My husband and I married in 1974 and we have moved 5 times. I think we are through moving.

4. What brought you to where you are living now and are you happy there? When we retired, we no longer needed to be close to the freeway to  drive 60 miles round trip to work. We also wanted a one story home  and lower taxes which we found in an older home close to our favorite market and 5 minutes from our doctors. We are content. We have 4 bedrooms and nice size yard which is nice. I do miss my last home that had a nice view and a soaking tub. I miss the separate dinning room and the formal living room that was well lit. But we are comfortable here and easy access to the places we like to go to. I am about 40 minutes from the beach, an hour from the desert, 2 hours to the mountains, one and a half hours to San Diego and 30 minutes to Disneyland!

The weather has been so nice here. It was in the 70's last week and 80 for Monday and Tuesday. I like to read my Bible outside. I am also working on my Lent study. I am spending less time on Social media and less time on the television. 

Here are a couple of pages I have done in my compact Bible and I am using the New King James version. Items are attached to the side of the Bible so that the text can be read. I am using two of my study bibles and the Dr. Tony Evans Commentary to get a bigger understanding the text. I do this after I read the verse and the chapter before. I am also doing my Bible through the year reading that I started last February. I just started reading Luke. When I finish this Bible, I will have read the whole Bible through for the 5th time.

1. This week's Hodgepodge lands on Ash Wednesday which signals the beginning of Lent. Do you mark this season in some way? If so tell us more. Did you grow up 'celebrating' Lent? Is attending church part of your weekly routine? Are churches open for in-person worship where you live?  I grew up in the Methodist church and we did not practice lent that I can remember. My grandmother was Catholic and I remember her talking about it. Our church does not do anything. I am in a Facebook group of women and we will be doing a Lent study based on repentance.  I have done lent studies the past couple of years through Illustrated Faith. My husband and I have been watching services online. Our church is open with the state guidelines of wearing mask and staying 6 feet apart. We are also at 25% capacity. I plan to go back to church next week. During the summer out church met outside and that was nice.

2. When is the last time you sat beside a 'real' fire? Do you have a fireplace in your home? Wood or gas logs? Favorite thing cooked over a fire? We have a gas fireplace that we used it this past Sunday. I can't be around wood smoke because it bothers my allergies.

3. Something that's currently got you fired up? Nothing at the moment.

4. February also happens to be National Cabbage Day. Who knew? Do you like cabbage? Is cabbage on your menu Wednesday? Of the following cabbage dishes which is your favorite-coleslaw (mayo or vinegar?), sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, cabbage soup, kielbasa and cabbage, grilled cabbage, bubble and squeak, kimchi, or haluski?  Yes I like cabbage. I like it in soup and in coleslaw and in a stir fry.

5. Do you hang on to pennies? What do you do with them? Last thing you purchased for $1.00? Last thing you purchased for $5.00? Yes I do keep a jar of pennies. When the jar is filled. I have around $16.00. I save change for the grands. We put coins in the Easter eggs for the grands. I bought some buttons for $1.00 I spent $5.00 on material for craft material.

6. Insert your own random thought here. During Lent I a suppose to give up something. I plan to cut out junk food and spend less time on social media.  Our Lent group will have daily reading and we will also be Bible journaling. I like to listen to praise music when I do the crafting part of the study. I got a compact Bible and made a cover for it. I watched a YouTube video to learn how to do it. I was off by a half inch and the cover barely fit, but it works.  Here are the cutouts, I will be using to do my journaling. I plan to make a decorative card for each day. It will have a pray for just my thoughts for the verse. I will use the Washi tape to adhere it to the inside of the page. I will share a few cards here.