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 a winter memory you treasure (can be from any winter in your lifetime)? I think it was the year that we moved up to our house. It was 2008. We had been living with an older lady for 2 1/2 years while we built. We had just moved in around Thanksgiving and we got hit with a heavy snow. We had 2 1/2 feet at our house (which is VERY rare). I was in heaven. I remember thinking "I'm so glad we are snowed in our own house". I unpacked, we played outside, we thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm sure there were other winter memories...I suppose any winter that we actually get snow is one I treasure. In 2010 we went to Central Oregon (Bend and Sunriver) in December and that was one of our favorite trips. There was 2' of snow when we arrived and it snowed the whole two weeks we were there. Friends came and met us at different points during that stay and we just had a blast. 

2. Tell us about the last time or a recent time you were caught up in red tape. I thankfully haven't gotten caught up in it too much, but I will say las year with the dental insurance. I had to have a root canal last June, then in August I had a crown...well, I paid my portion of the root canal, but then in October I got a bill from the endodontist for $650. Apparently the insurance kept wanting more info or something and by the time they were ready to pay, my crown had went through so I had used up my amount available. THAT was a pain. I don't know if that is really "red tape", but it was a pain. I would say at work I deal with it when we are shipping international packages with all the customs declarations, and the fact we can't ship alcohol..we deal with a lot of frustrated and annoyed customers. Oh, I did just think of something else that could be very frustrating. It has to do with us finishing our house and being during covid mostly there are some things we need to tie up and it could mean cutting through a lot of red tape...we definitely need some favor. Does it send your frustration level off the charts or is it something you've come to expect when dealing with any sort of bureaucracy? I wouldn't say off the charts, but it is very annoying. My husband is one who will question things when told "well, that's just the way it is", he'll ask "but why...give me a reason, and if it's just the way it is, why not push for something different". 

3. Do you eat/like fish? I love fish and seafood in general. I joke that if that's all that was left on the face of the earth, I'd be a happy camper. Do you cook fish at home? Yes I do. I did laugh when I saw the question because I rarely buy frozen fish sticks, but the other day I was craving them so I bought a bag of frozen beer battered fillets.  What's your favorite fish dish? I think ultimately I love really good breaded fish!  Ever been ice fishing? No and I don't think I want to..I'd be paranoid that I'd fall through the ice...haha! 

4. Did you watch any of the US President's Inauguration coverage on Monday, Jan 20? No I didn't. I was off, but was doing other things.  On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being not at all and 10 being very very) how interested are you in politics in general? I'd say 3, which really probably isn't very good. I probably should be more interested. Do you follow/keep up with/ get involved with local politics? I try to pay attention, but I don't get caught up in it. I actually started following a gal on IG..Sharonsaysso. She actually shares really good info and is pretty neutral, not favoring one side over the other, she said she chooses to not be affiliated with either party. It drives me nuts all the stuff that gets posted, and I feel like I just never know what to believe, and I think so many just want to drive fear. 

5. What's the coziest thing you own and what makes it so? Oh boy! If we're thinking cozy, as things we bundle in to stay warm, I guess I'll say my cardigan. Because I tend to ALWAYS be hot...then cold...then hot again, I literally live in tank tops and shorts inside the house, and then I have a cardigan to put on and take off a million times a day! I love a comfy sweatshirt. I will also say my gas fireplace. It looks VERY real, and it just is the perfect thing to make our space feel even more cozy. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I had three days off this week and that was kind of nice. We decided to close for MLK Jr. Day because our two main shipping carriers we work with were not running. I'm sure the gals were crazy busy yesterday. I had a hard time being motivated Monday to get some things done, but I pushed through (leaving at 7:45 to go grocery shop to get myself moving), and felt accomplished. 

This morning is Wednesday and I think I've decided to just lay low today. I need to finish a book for my pass along book club so I can mail it off to the next gal tomorrow. I also need to work on reading an ARC copy of a book, AND I need to catch up on some blog comments...sorry if I didn't get around to everyone last week. Uggh! It's a struggle. I also need to do some online work so I'll probably do that first. I did get posts up for my #WOYBS and Brookford Kitchen Diaries link parties. 

Have a great rest of the week. If any of you are in the south and experience the crazy weather, I'm so sorry...feel free to send it my way, I'd love some in the PNW where it really should be. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin