Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce, who blogs at From This Side of The Pond.  Each week she'll pose some questions for us to answer. What a great way to journal life.

1. What's something bizarre you've seen or heard recently? Oh, boy...probably lots of things. But I feel like I just as easily forget what they were. I don't really watch the news much anymore. I know I never thought I'd hear the words cocaine and white house in the same sentence. Perhaps the news about a non-biological woman winning Miss Netherlands....I don't think I'd call it bizarre, as it seems to be how things have been going, but it did surprise me. I'm still processing a lot in this regard...because I'll be honest...I watched a Ted Talk one time and the woman was great. I loved it. I later found out she was transgender. I would've never known. At that time, had I known, perhaps I might not have listened, might not have learned what I did because of my bias. I just think that we are getting so far away from honoring the beauty of our origin and who we were at birth. Uggh, okay, I'll stop...Not bizarre, but I did read about a llama who was blocking the road for a delivery driver so they had to call for assistance from the local sheriff. The article was cute. I also read an article about a robber who attempted to rob a nail salon but was pretty much ignored by everyone.

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? I didn't know that. Do you like sour candies or other foods with 'sour' flavors? Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit...of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? I like sour things in small amounts. I do like Dill pickles, sauerkraut, rhubarb. I like sour skittles or other sour candy that still has a touch of sweet to it. 

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. Both my parents family's are from northern Ohio. No one in my dads family was close so we didn't spend a lot of time with his side. My moms side was very close, but we moved to Washington in the 4th grade. I did have an aunt and uncle here and we often did things with them. It was my moms brother...but even after they divorced we remained close with my aunt and still are. My moms sisters are the best. Even though we didn't see them as often as we'd like, they managed to stay involved in our lives. After I got married and our girls were a little older, we made a point to go visit two of my aunts and grandma in Florida every few years. Those times were always fun, just visiting, playing in the pool, going to Disney, just being together. Especially because by this time my mom had passed away and I needed that connection. Her other sister, who is only 7 years older than I am, lives in Ohio so I didn't see her as often, but stayed connected and since my mom passed we've gotten closer. They have a vineyard and wine tasting room in Ohio and I love visiting and just spending time with her and her husband. I don't think I have one favorite memory, but the thing I love the most is that they truly love family, no matter what! 

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? I am not easily stressed, and I think I can manage it very well. The times I notice it's harder for me to handle is when I'm feeling attacked by someone else or like something is directly my fault. For me, I usually handle it by taking a walk, reading, taking a bath. Sometimes, negatively, I will "stuff" my feelings for the sake of other or not to cause an issue. 

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? I feel like my mind wanders a lot...to things I'd like to do, what's going on around me, etc. sometimes if I'm not careful, it will wander to the woulda, shoulda, couldas and not the positive of those..especially when it comes to strained family relationships and the past. I try not to stay there. Sometimes I daydream of what it would be like to move to another place (though I do love where live), I daydream about retiring, of how fun it would be to write a book (no clue what it would be), it could be fun to do a podcast (again, not sure what it would be)..haha! 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  I'm watching the kids here at our house today. While it is warm outside, and some blue skies, the air quality isn't the greatest due to a large commercial fire about 20 minutes north of us (which happens to be about 15 minutes from our daughters house) , so we probably won't go outside much. Pepper and I made hummus this morning. She wanted to put some blackberries in it so we experimented with a small amount of it. It was pretty good. I think it needs a bit more flavor but I'm not sure what. 

This weekend we will have Pepper overnight on Friday while her mom, dad and big brother go to the Washougal Motocross races. 

Not much else exciting this week. Last weekend my oldest had her coffee cart at a launch for a bouncy house company. I took the kids to see...it was fun and cute. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin