Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. What is the dumbest rule you've ever had to follow?  I can't think of anything at the moment.

2. What is the weirdest or funniest thing a guest ever did/said in your home? My cousin spent the night, and she was taking a shower, and it started to back up. I can't go into any more details, but we still laugh about it.

3. If you had a warning label, what would it say? Can talk your ears off! (This is only with people I am really comfortable with.)

4. What is the first thing you must do in case of a Snoopy/Charlie Brown Apocalypse?  Who is the first person you call for advice when that happens? (Imagine that The characters of Charlie Brown series take over the world! What do you do as your first move? Who would you call for advice on how to live in that world?) I would like to talk to Peppermint Patty. She remind me of one of my friends. I would like to have a front row seat to the Christmas Pageant. 

1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it) I would say an 8. I love the holidays. The only downfall is health issues. I always seem to get hurt while in the garage where I have my decorations. It's my own fault because I don't ask for help when I should. Other than that, I love to decorate the whole house. I was happy my church is participating in Advent this year.

2. What's your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why. Every Thanksgiving after dinner, we watch the National Lampoon Christmas. I really look forward to seeing White Christmas and A Christmas Carol. My family got me to see the movie Elf and I really like the innocence of Buddy the elf.

3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? My whole kitchen is decorated with gingerbread. I have been doing this for years and this year it is really popular. my grandkids help me with the gingerbread tree and they will be here on Thursday. I also bake cookies with my grands and gingerbread are always included. We usually go look at Christmas lights after and then come back for Mexican hot chocolate and cookies. I use gingerbread decor for Christmas breakfast and then more formal setting for dinner. The green tablecloths were my moms.

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?

5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. I have a lot of favorites. I would say my last Christmas at home before I got married. My parents gave us a box of ornaments that we still use to this day. That was 52 years ago. The picture below was taken when I was 2.

 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.  Christmas is a fun family time of the year. We also know it is a special time and we remember the birth of Jesus, the reason for the season!

Thanks to Annie and Joyce for the memes. Links are on the left.

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do you celebrate with family, friends or by yourself? I celebrate with my family. Sometimes we go to my son and daughter in laws and have a combined gathering with her parents and siblings and our family. This year I am hosting my family here in my home. My daughter in law will have her family over on Friday.

2.  Do you watch the Thanksgiving Day parade from Macy's in New York City?  The appearance of Santa at the end signals the start of the Christmas season.  What does the day hold for you? We usually watch the parade in the morning. I make my sweet potatoes the day before. I cut up the veggies for my stuffing the day before also but I out it together on Thanksgiving morning, so it just has to be baked. Everyone comes around 3. My son makes the mash potatoes and my daughter in law is bringing a dessert. My daughter is bringing macaroni and cheese and a rice Krispies treat. My other son has to work half day and then he and his wife are going with her parents. Once everyone is there, we take pictures with the grands for our Christmas card, I pass out a new ornament to each grandchild. We have an early dinner and then we watch Christmas movies and have dessert.

3. What foods are the hit of Thanksgiving Day for you? My husband is cooking the turkey and ham. I am making the my mom's recipe for stuffing, and sweet potatoes and a salad. My husband also makes the gravy, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. I am so thankful he cooks. I clean the house, set the table with candles and I use fall chargers with paper plates. I would rather use real China, but my husband doesn't want me to be in the kitchen to long after we eat because we want to get to the movies and do some online shopping. 

4.  We say grace before and after meals. Is grace a part of your Thanksgiving meal? Yes, always pray before we ear. We also go around the table and say what we are thankful for while we are eating.

Whatever your Thanksgiving traditions, I pray that the day is meaningful and filled with love for you whether with family, friends or alone. May God shine his blessing love down on you and yours and make us all truly thankful this year.

1. Do you feel like you have a 'full plate' at the moment? In what way? We have all that we need. A home, food to eat, and we are all healthy and doing well. I have a busy holiday schedule planned.

2. How did you learn to cook? If you have children, did you teach or encourage them to cook? Yes, we taught all our kids to cook. I had the boys in the kitchen with me when they were young. My husband came from a family where the dad cooked his specialties. My daughter did not like learning, but she did and is a pretty good cook. My older son makes most of the dinners and his wife cleans up. My younger son cooks too, but can't as often with his schedule so his wife does most of the cooking. The grandsons are cooking too now. Do you like to follow a recipe or is your cooking style more 'let's wing it'.  I am a wing it person for most things.

3. Last time you bit off more than you could chew? Elaborate. Doing too many crafts at once this past month.

4. When did you last say 'the more the merrier' and mean it? I have not said that in awhile. 

5. Write an acrostic using the word T-H-A-N-K-S. 

T-Thanksgiving

H-Heartfelt

A-Affirmation

N-Nurturing

K-Kindness 

S-Selflessness

6. Insert your own random thought here. Our older two grandkid's high school football team won the playoffs. They will be in the final CIF championship game on Friday, after Thanksgiving. My granddaughter in a song leader and they and the football team will take buses to the Rose Bowl for the game. My daughter and I along with her son and his girlfriend will be driving up. It is about 47 miles away. We plan to leave early to find good parking. I just ordered 2 stadium clear bags to take my seat cushion, a light blanket and water. The other bag is for my daughter. We also have a clear backpack that my grandson will use.

Previous Entry has our Disneyland day.

Thanks to Annie and Joyce for the memes.

Link are on the left.

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

Happy Birthday to my grandson Eddie!!(Nov.10)

The time has flown. This is the guy that made me Mema and also gave this name.

1. What kind of weather and temperatures make you feel most comfortable, most healthy? Fall and spring weather, low 70's to low 80's. 

2.  Do you like the colors associated with Autumn. Clothing wise do they look good on you? I love the colors of fall. I can wear fall colors, but don't have many. I love decorating my home with those colors since we don't see a lot of it outside where I live.

3. Would you rather:… 

… get lost in a corn maze or go on a hayride? Hayride

… visit an apple orchard or a pumpkin patch? Apple orchard

… eat a caramel apple or a candy apple?  I love them both!

… have some cinnamon buns or Pumpkin muffins? Pumpkin muffins

4. There are 7,500 varieties of apple.  What is your favorite, and do you regularly eat apples?   What fruits do you keep on hand? I love Envy apples. I eat an apple almost everyday with peanut butter.

1. What does patriotism mean to you? It means living in the land of free. and loving your country. I remember learning about the constitution in school and learning the preamble. I take pride knowing  that my grandparents became citizens and gave their kids and grandkids a better life in a better place. It is appreciating all that we have blessed with. I am thankful for the relatives that served their country including my dad and aunt. 

2. September-October-November...your favorite fall month? Tell us why. If you live in the southern hemisphere use these months but sub spring for the word fall. It is mid-November, and fall is finally here!

3. A song you love with the word thanks (or some form of that word) in the title or lyrics? Thanks for the Memory.

4. November is National Peanut Butter Month. Are you a fan? What's the last peanut butter bite you had? Fill in the blank: peanut butter and apples that I have a snack almost every night. 

Oh, and you can't say jelly. 

5. This week's gratitude question-What event from this past year are you most grateful for? I would say our Mexican Riviera cruise in January to celebrate 50 years of marriage. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I am thankful for how close my family is. 

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Do you play a musical instrument? I can play the piano. 

2. Have you taken music lessons? What kind. If not, is there one you might enjoy learning. It is never too late to start.  You might be surprised at how accomplished it will make you feel. I took lessons for years. I played a lot of classical music. I had performance anxiety and I could only play at home. When my kids were little, I let them play the piano. My son took lessons for a year, but gave it up for sports. I babysat his daughter and she would sit on my lap and "play" All my grands did, but she was the most musically inclined. She took lessons and plays the keyboard at church and sings. She and my older grandson and younger grandson all play a bit too.

3. Is there music in your home as background to your day's activities or do you have music playing in your car, etc.? If so, what kind of music do you enjoy hearing? If I am not watching tv, I have music on. I mostly listen to Christian music. I do have a few stations I listen to on Pandora. There is a Franki Valli station, a Chicago Station, Amy Grant Station and Oldies. I have a Broadway station. On occasion I listen to classical and last but not least, hymns.

What kind of music do you NOT like? Most Country, Hard rock/heavy metal I really don't care too much for rap, but I do love the music from Hamilton.

4.  Do you have a favorite composer or genre of music that you like most? Maybe you like several. Please share with us your thoughts? I love musicals so I would say Rogers and  Hammerstein, John Williams who composes music for a lot of great movies like Star Wars. 

1. Besides Thanksgiving, something on your November calendar you're looking forward to? 

My grandson is turning 18 on the 10th. I was there to see him being born and he made me a "mema" He is having 12 of his friends over to our house for dinner at our house after playing volleyball at the park.

He suggested we have extra towels on hand for quick showers. He also requested Mexican food.  He had been helping me with a few heavy chores before he leaves Wednesday-(5th) on a 3-day trip with his school to visit colleges in CA We are having a family party the next day (11th) and his tradition is to go shopping at Downtown Disney and no cake, because he wants beignets. It will be all decorated for Christmas. I am going to a baby shower on the 16th for my niece who is adopting a baby boy. My last Bible journaling class for the year meets on the 18th. I have planned a Christmas craft project for the girls. We go to Disneyland on the 21 and then Thanksgiving. We will start Christmas decorating after the birthday party dinner.

2. Dictionary.com's word of the year is '6-7'. Huh? Is it even a word??? I had to consult the internet to find out it's meaning because apparently I'm old and this particular slang is not part of my vocabulary. Is it part of yours? According to the article I read, it's a viral term, more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning driven by social media. What do you think? 

I have heard of it because I have grands. I have seen them say it. I just laugh because every generation has a word or phrase. I was not allowed to say bad words when I was growing up. I couldn't even say stupid. But the "in" word when I was in Jr high was bitchen, and it meant cool. Words change. When I was a kid, gay meant happy.

Dictionary. com says it's selection each year is a 'linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events, but they also admitted to being confused by '6-7'. Some say it means so-so and is sometimes accompanied by the up and down hand motion we associate with the phrase so-so. What word do you think would have made a better choice? I have no idea.

3. What's a food, trend, activity, or thing people love but you think is just so-so? Sushi. I like some, but not really into raw food.

4. Are you a tea drinker? Hot or cold? How do you like yours and at what time of day? Do you like flavored teas or teas billed as calming, energizing, healing, etc? I like the dragon fruit iced tea at Chilis. I drink more tea in the winter. Usually a fall spice tea or something with cinnamon.

5. The November Hodgepodge has always included a weekly gratitude question. Here's the question for today-what are three things that make your heart sing? Music, Musicals and my family when we are all laughing.

6. Insert your own random thought here. My incision is healing nicely, and I am wearing scar tape now. It will be several months before it lightens up. I have a few other issues I am dealing with and see my doctor on the 10th. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my Bible journaling crafting and my 30 day gratitude journal.

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

Saturday, we participated in our church's Pumpkin festival. We have been doing this since the 90's.

Our grandson helped us pass out Candy.

 Eddie, almost 18

 Eddie, 2009, almost 2.

1. Do storms frighten you or make you cautious? We don't get many storms here in So CA. I don't like when lightning strikes to close to my home.

2. What is the worst weather you can remember? 

Seems like I just answered this not too long ago. We were on vacation in Arizona and heading to Utah. We got hit with a big storm. Lightening broke in front of our car. It had been raining so hard, we had to stop driving. Then we had to move back in to the lane because of the water. We got to our campground and our camp spot near the river was flooded. We got a nice cabin, but that was scary!

3.Are you in a personal storm right now and do you need our prayers to help you through it? I think many bloggers are prayer warriors indeed. I am doing okay, just waiting for the last stitch to fall off the top of my incision. Our nation is in a storm, and it saddens me.

4.  What is the best advice you can give to others about weathering storms of any kind. Trust in God and pray! Share with others so they can pray too.

Previous post has Homecoming pictures.

1. Are you a risk taker? I used to be, but not anymore. To what degree? 

2. What's your favorite candy? Would you say you have a sweet tooth? I like dark chocolate with almonds. I can't eat candy very much because I have to watch my sugars. I am pre-diabetic.

3. Somewhere you've been recently that had you feeling 'like a kid in a candy store'? 

I am going to Disneyland on Thursday and I know I will feel like a kid then. I got a few gifts cards I will be using to shop there. I will probably feel my age the day after!

4. What do you think is the most effective way to make a positive change in the world? 

Be kind to others.

5. Do you like surprises? Depends on the situation.

6. Insert your own random thought here. In spite of what is going on in our nation, my family and are doing okay. Our church passes food out once a month and we help pack the bags. I am sure more churches will be busy when food assistance ends. 

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

How do you relax in the evening after dinner? Hubby and I usually watch something on tv.

I usually craft while we watch. We like to see Dances with the Stars and Survivor. We also like to see FBI and NCIS. Sometimes I go to room and Bible journal and listen to music when he wants to see one of his programs.

Do you read in bed? What kind of books do you read? I do my studies during the day at a desk. I read a book at night in bed. It helps me to relax. I like historical Chrisitan fiction.

Do you have a list of books you look forward to reading? I don't have a set list. I am reading a book called Angelwalk. I might reread the Left Behind series again.

What is the best book you've ever read and why? The Bible will always be my #1 Book.

I read Gone with the Wind 7 times. I have read the Left Behind Series twice.

I have read the 12 books of AD Chronicles and I may read it again. I like historical Chrisitan fiction.

Or.. how about the worst book you feel you wasted time reading? Textbooks from college were the worse until I got to my senior year. I enjoyed my art history class.

1. 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' How does this saying ring true in your own family, either the one you grew up in or the one you made? When I was going up, I just wanted to be "me" As I got older I realized that I have traits from both my parents. I really saw this when I had kids. I had both physical and personality wise. I see the same thing with my kids. Some things run in the family because of biology and some from environment. But we have the final say on the personality thing. I focus on the good and let go the rest. 

2. Something you're nuts about these days? How about something that's driving you nuts? 

I am nuts about fall decor and pumpkin spice coffee creamer. I also love to have apples and peanut butter for my evening snack. The news drives me nuts and I try to limit what I hear and see.

3. What does abundance mean to you? Having what I need is important. Abundance is the icing on the cake. My kids are all healthy and doing well. Abundant blessings are when they all get along with each other and include us in their life.

4. Caramel apple-caramel cake-caramel corn-caramel sundae-caramel macchiato...what's your caramel treat of choice? I have been craving a caramel apple.

5. What's a childhood memory that always comes to mind as the leaves start to fall? My dad raking up leaves and me playing in them.

6. Insert. your own random thought here. My face incision is looking better. I need to send the doctor some recent pictures. I hope to start using the scar tape after Friday. I wish I need to find some flesh-colored tape. I might have to check out Amazon. I already ordered something from them this morning.

Thanks to Annie and Joyce for the meme questions. Links are on the right.

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

Monday,  September 22 is the Autumnal Equinox, the first day of the Autumn season.  Autumn is the name of the season and fall is the term for the time of Autumn when leaves begin to fall from the trees.   Let's discuss it.....

September 22 was my dad's birthday. He passed in 2013. I really miss him!

I remember him raking leaves and me playing in the pile.

1. Are there pumpkins or chrysanthemums on your porch or are you planning on putting some out?  There are fake sunflowers, girl and boy metal scarecrows, metal sunflower and garden flags. I decorated on Saturday. I am working on my sunflower wreath.

2. Are stores around you showing Autumn clothing and decor now?  Here in New Jersey, leaves on some trees are changing slowly and temperatures are way down . What is it like in your neck of the woods? I live in the city. There aren't very many fall covered trees and things won't change until the end of  October. Our weather will be in the 80's and 90's through then.

3. Do you have plans for Thanksgiving yet? It will be at our house this year. The kitchen will stay fall until then. Christmas will go up two weeks before Thanksgiving.        

4 . If we can arrange an autumn trip or get away for you, where will you choose to go and why I would like to visit some of the cities in Northern NY, and head to Niagra Falls. I would like to see Maine too. I had a taste of Maine in Fall of 2008 when I went on a New England cruise with my parents.

Sept. 22, 2008

1. Fall officially rolls into the Northern Hemisphere on Monday (9/22)...what's your favorite thing about fall? Bringing fall into my home. We live a city in So CA and we don't get much all here. 

2. What's one thing on your real or proverbial autumn bucket list? I would like to take a drive to Oak Glen to see fall trees and feel crisp air. It takes an hour to get there. The mountains would be better, but it takes two hours.

3. Apples, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, butternut squash and cranberries are some of the top fall foods. Which one is your favorite and how do you like it prepared? Sweet potatoes. I like to bake it and then add some butter, and cinnamon. I make candied sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving. Any on the list you don't eat? Which one have you had most recently? I like sweet potatoes more in the fall. I eat apples everyday. I only eat cranberries at Thanksgiving. I want to try the butternut squash.

4. 'Fall is proof that change is beautiful' is a popular sentiment. Would you agree or no? Elaborate. I agree. I wrote a page called the Season of my Life.

5. Is there a spot near you where people go to see the leaves change color? Will you try to leaf peep somewhere this fall? Lonely Planet lists the following ten places as the best for leaf peeping...of those listed which would you most like to visit? Stowe, Vermont~Shenandoah National Park, Virginia~Columbia River Gorge, Oregon~Zion National Park, Utah~Tennessee/North Carolina border~West Virgina~Northwestern Wyoming~Wisconsin Northwoods~Northern Nevada~Ozark Highlands Scenic Byway, Arkansas

I have been to Zion in Utah. So anywhere with a lot of trees with fall colors would be nice. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. My  MOHS skin surgery on my face in on Friday. I am going to try to get my Friday Faves Five/ Saturday 9 done by Thursday night. I will have to rest over the weekend and may not be on the computer for a few days. Prayers are appreciated. Thank you!

Tuesday 4 & Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Why did you begin blogging?  I was looking for graphics and found "country graphics" That led to a whole community of people that were making webpages with a country flair. Most of the women had their sites through Yahoo-Geocities. We were assigned names and numbers. Geocities has easy page setups with a single page and graphics that are similar to a plain Blogger page. Then things upgraded to more complicated set ups and we were getting Websites. I think my first Geocities site was from 1998.

I had new site by 2000 and actually added 2 other sites. So now we had "Webhomes." We got our own domain names and I got garden4mylord.com and called it Susan's Garden of Friendship. We all had a guestbook set up were we visited each other and we could even leave gifts. We exchanged banners , signatures-siggies and cards. We shared our new pages and we made many pages. I still have my website. That were written with html-computer language and I learned from others. Some pages have 3-4 backgrounds We could really be creative with your pages by adding music and animation. I started blogging in 2002 and I have all my pages at my webhome. Then something changed. Facebook came on the scene and lots of people that made pages now could make farms from Farmtown and Farmville. Then more people moved to the free Blogger pages. I visited people on Blogger, but they did not understand inline frames. This is when you click on a link from th column and the page opens in the middle. I got a Blogger page in 2007 but didn't use it much. Then I officially moved my blog over here in 2021. 

2. What benefits does blogging offer you? It has allowed me to make new friends.  It lets me use my graphics and stories from my webhome. I met women from all over the World through his country webhomes and many great artist were born. I still can be creative. 

3. Have you made friends from blogging? Yes, I have made many friends and have met a few.

4. Where do you get ideas for things you blog about? Do other bloggers influence you? Blogs were about your life. When 911 happened, the graphic artist made graphic to share on your blog to show our compassion for what happened. Some of these artist were from other countries showing they cared.

One of my favorite things from my old Susan's GOF was the Homework page. One of my friends was a teacher. Each month she gave an assignment. We would all do our assignment on a creative page and then we would turn in our assignment. Then we would all visit each other's pages. This was 2003-2006

Now we use memes that work in a similar way. But back then, everyone visited everyone's pages. I don't see that as often in some of the memes now.

1.  Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? Middle, I love to be around people, but I do need my down time.

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what's your favorite kind of party? I would say birthday party first and Christmas second. Birthday to celebrate one's life that is a gift from God. Two, a time for family and friends to come together and celebrate our Lord's birth.

2. Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list?

 The appreciation of life and specifically with my relationship with Jesus.

3. How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don't you? I appreciate each year I get. My family gave me a 70th birthday and it was fun to be with my family. This is me at 2 and My tablecloth says Happy Birthday from Disneyland.

4. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birthday and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month. My granddaughter was born on my birthday. The Singer sewing machine was patented-1851, Josephy Lister used antiseptic-1861, Thomas Edison records himself on the early phonograph-1877. First model-T tested by Henry Ford in 1808, Clarence Birdseye gets a patent for quick freezing food-1930. Minimum wage is raised by President Eisenhower from.75 to $1.00-1955 Found here.

5. Share two good things about your life right now. I am caught up with my reading through the Bible, Day 260 with the Bible Recap Girl. Our new air conditioning is working great!

6. Insert your own random thought here. Looking forward to celebrating September birthdays with my family this Sunday. I am a little concerned about my upcoming surgery next Friday. I would appreciate your prayers!