Reader Hodgepodge

Thanks again to everyone who provided questions for me to answer, so we can do our own little hodgepodge of sorts while the regular Wednesday Hodgepodge creator is on summer break.

What family traditions do you have?

We have a number of different family traditions. For Christmas we have a huge breakfast and then don't cook the rest of the day. Instead we enjoy the left overs from breakfast and the snacks we prepared in the days leading up to Christmas.

For birthdays, the birthday child gets the day off of doing any chores or anything he or she doesn't want to do. He/she gets to have their favorite food, and gets to choose any activities for the day. Games, hiking, etc. and the rest of the family obliges them. There's usually an elaborate treasure hunt created for them to find their gift.

For a celebration once end of the school year evaluations are done we will stop at a store on the way home from the evaluations to get ice cream sandwiches.


Where’s the best / worst place you’ve lived?

This is actually a hard question. There were things I've loved about every place we have lived. The house I loved the most was in Missouri. I loved basically everything about it, and the fact it came with twenty acres of land and plenty of woods for Kenneth to play in made it even better. I loved the church / community of believers and friends we had there. I was a weepy mess the day we packed up to move here, even though I knew I would love it here as well.

The worst place I lived was also in Missouri, less than ten miles from the house I loved the most. The difference was worlds apart. The house was unique and nice, but life was miserable enough that the house didn't make up for it. We were part of an Amish community, and to this day those two years living there are a dark blob in my register of memories.

Do you usually listen to music, talk radio, podcasts, or silence while driving?

I like listening to Air1 while driving, but I also drive in silence a lot of the time. I've found conversations while driving can be some of the best, so it's never really stark silence.

What was your most epic cooking failure?

I've had my share of epic cooking failures. One of them was the time I made a Thanksgiving meal for LV before we were married. It involved flying drumsticks, lumpy burned mashed potatoes, and more. I'll have to do an entire blog post on that experience before long.

Where do you usually shop for clothes / shoes / groceries? Do you prefer shopping online or in person?

I like shopping for clothes and shoes at Gabes. Actually I don't like shopping for either, but I'm glad we have a Gabes store when the need to shop arises. Groceries I purchase mostly at Aldi and Walmart.

I enjoy online shopping. It certainly makes mail time more interesting. The only drawback is ... I can't touch and see the products before buying.

Random bit.

The big maple tree in front of the house has been dropping a few leaves. To a girl who likes to have everything in order, it means raking the yard ... already. If it were up to me, the yard wouldn't look nearly as neat.