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.  How would you define 'the good life'? A good life is one with friends and family in it, a roof over my head, food on the table. It's experiencing the freedoms that we have. It's taking a walk, enjoying the sunshine and flowers. It's reading a book. It's a life filled with faith, joy, hope. 

2.  What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)? I use quite a few apps on my phone. I'm sure the social media ones are used the most, but so is Duolingo, the Libby app, Amazon, and several of the game apps I have. I don't know if I'd say I'm proud or not proud...they are tools at my fingertips. 

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain. I'm going with stop and smell the roses. I really want to work on taking time to notice the little things around me. The beauty that I might otherwise miss. If I take my camera out to take photos I want to slow down and not be in a hurry. I want to slow down and take time to just sit and read, or bake, or literally stop and smell the flowers. 

An interesting fact about that phrase. It evolved from a piece of advice given by Walter Hagen, in his 1956 autobiography. He originally wrote "You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell teh flowers along the way".  

Very well said sir!!

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)? It really depends. I do love honey lavender lattes or white mochas. So good. I have made a lavender shortbread that was really good. I can't say I've had other floral flavorings. 

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else? Haha...maybe why I can't remember what I've spent time pondering the most? Honestly though, I am always pondering why it is that I don't have a great memory when it comes to a lot of things...I just can't seem to retain things that have happened over the years, especially specific things. It's annoying. I wish I was a journaler, because I would've written everything down. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. I was gone last week visiting family in Ohio. It was a really nice visit, and while I didn't get to stay any nights on the island (Kelley's Island) which is one of my favorite things to do, I did have a really nice time with my family. However, I do not think I will EVER fly American airlines again. I flew Southwest there with no issues, but chose to do American back because I was able to get a good time leaving and arriving home. The airport in Cleveland is an hour from my aunts and I didn't want them to have to take me there too early. I also didn't want to arrive home super late because I wanted to get things done before I worked the next day. Well, you guys, that backfired. When I arrived at the Cleveland Airport, the flight was delayed about 30 minutes. When I checked my app to see how long I had between flights in Chicago, it said that flight was delayed because of a maintenance issue. At first I thought, "okay, good. That gives me more time". When we get to Chicago, the flight was delayed again, along with a gate change. I was messaging my family and decided to check with the assistance desk to see what the chances were that it would be canceled. While in line I chatted with a nice gal and after we were both helped, had meal vouchers we decided to eat lunch together. While we ate, we met another family traveling to Portland, and another gentleman who was from the area. We all chatted, with us sharing how much they would enjoy the places they were going (once they got to go). The short of it is that after 7 different delay times, and at least 4 or 5 gate changes, I arrived home, 8 hours and 42 minutes later than I was supposed to! Fell asleep about one in the morning and had to be at work at 10:00a.m. Ugghh. That was not fun. I doubt I'll fly American again and will avoid Chicago like the plague! Oh, and my seat on the flight home must have been slightly broken...it seemed like it reclined a little (when it was upright) with no support, and it was squeaky when I moved. Not what you want to hear on a plane when you're already tired and annoyed. The entire time these delays were happening, the other passengers were great. We all seemed to work together, checking apps, moving from one gate to another. It was so ridiculous it was almost comical. The icing on the cake was when we got on our plane finally, they informed us there was no wifi. 

I was never so glad to see the Portland airport and get home. My goal in getting home early on Sunday was to have some down time before going back to work. My new rule is going to be to come home two days before I have to go back to work. 

I didn't take as many photos as I normally do, but I'll share this one of the Marblehead Lighthouse. 

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin