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.

I've missed a few weeks. We were gone one week on vacation and when we got back last Monday, I hit the ground running and didn't get to any posting. My computer was also on the fritz (more on that later). 

Our vacation took our entire family to Sunriver, Oregon which is located in Central Oregon and a place we love to visit and could see ourselves living. We did a little bit of everything. Bike riding, walking, playing at the park and pickle ball, went on some nice, easy hikes, and played some card and board games. We had ages from 5 up to 81. Four full days of being with family. 

1. What's one piece of advice would you give a recent or soon-to-be graduate? I think there are many things I'd share, but since we're saying they are either a soon to be or a recent graduate, I'd say don't be afraid to take risks, change your course, dream big. I know, that's 3 things. So many things we could say to them to encourage them on their journey.

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain. Well, I'm taking a trip back to Ohio to see my aunts in June, so that could be a "trip back home"...not in the physical sense, since that wouldn't be home, but home as in family, extended family, roots. I am going to say I'm in more need of courage. Courage to be more disciplined with changes I need to make physically to heal some things, courage even to step out of my comfort zone. 

As a side note, I listened to the book Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts, and it was really fascinating. It is in novel form from the perspective of Maud, Franks wife and how they found who would play Dorothy.

3.  "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement? I love traveling, but I always love coming home, to my own bed, my own kitchen, my own yard. I love it. Also, as much as I enjoy my job, boss and co-workers, I'm a homebody and after work, I just want to come home. I don't want to run errands, I want to go home, change into comfy clothes and not go anywhere else. 

4. May is National BBQ Month...do you own a grill? We don't own one anymore. We had a great one for years, but then they finally quit making replacement parts so we gave it away. We haven't replaced it. Who does the grilling at your house? I always have done the grilling, but I think if we were doing steaks, my hubby would grill them. What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? We mostly did chicken or burgers or hot dogs, though I have done veggies in a grill pan, and potatoes in foil which we all loved. I've also done pizza which was really good and quesadillas.  What's the last thing you grilled? When we were on vacation a few weeks ago we grilled steaks. 

Everyone seems to have Blackstone grills these days. We actually have an old camp stove in storage and my hubby was saying we should just pull that out and use it. Maybe we will. We'll see. 

5. What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy? Hmm..I'm not sure. For me, I think, when I need a little joy, I listen to music, or enjoy my flowers, browse a vintage shop, etc. Sometimes I might remember something funny my grandkids said or did.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. As I mentioned above, my computer went on the fritz. A few weeks ago, right before our vacation, the screen of my laptop developed fine lines through it and I couldn't see anything. If it was attached to an external monitor I could use it, but nothing removed them. It was time for a new one. We went and got one Sunday. Because it was on the blink I didn't really take time to open it on the external monitor and post plus I was trying to delete things, etc. back it up and all that jazz. 

Our weather here in Washington state is becoming more summer like. I have hanging baskets up, my side flower bed is looking nice, and I'm ready for spending more time outside (even though we don't have a grill). We have a nice patio area for hanging out and eating and visiting. 

I have an appointment with my Naturapath next month and we're doing bloodwork and cortisol test. Tuesday I decided I would do the saliva test...sheesh, there's a lot to that...you take it 4 times a day. Once upon waking, then before lunch, and dinner and then before bed. You can't eat or drink anything but water 2 hours before you collect each sample. I have alarms set so I don't forget any of these steps. Next Monday I'll go and do the bloodwork. Originally I set the appointment for 10:30 but she wants me to fast so I changed it to an earlier appointment. 

I'll leave that for my update this week. Hope you all have a great week. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin