Wednesday Hodgepodge

 1. When is the last time you experienced nostalgia? 

It seems I've been experiencing it a lot lately. Most recently was last evening as Sharon and I were preparing supper and she started singing Blessed Assurance. We sang the entire song together as waves of nostalgia/memories swept over me. It used to be Mahlon's favorite song when he was a little boy and he'd sing it all the time while playing. I can still see him sitting cross-legged on the floor with kittens in his lap petting them and singing them to sleep with this song.

 2. September 29th is National Coffee Day. Do we need this? Ha! So are you a coffee drinker? If so how many cups per day, and tell us how you like it. Is there a recipe you enjoy that calls for coffee as one of the ingredients? 

I wouldn't call myself a coffee drinker, but in the past year I have learned to enjoy iced coffee from Sheetz a few times a month. Their dark chocolate, blackberry flavored one is my favorite. Aside from that, I don't drink any coffee.

I can't think of a recipe I have that uses coffee other than a chocolate cake, but I don't really care for it that much.

 3. Do you find praise or criticism to be more motivating? Explain. 

 Constructive criticism can be helpful, but at the same time praise from someone whose opinion I value is also very motivating.

 4.  What's a television series you keep coming back to and re-watching? 

I'll watch Andy Griffith occasionally. It's been a long time, but we used to enjoy reruns of I Love Lucy and the Dick Van Dyke shows.

 5. As the month of September draws to a close give us three words to describe your mood. 

Happy or maybe I should say joy ... it feels a little deeper than surface happiness.
Fall-sy ... fall always evokes feelings of wanderlust, coziness, anticipation of doing fun crafts, projects, baking, and a happiness that I can't really describe in a single word other than fall-sy.
Content ... can't explain this either, but there's a feeling of deep contentment these past few days.

 6. Insert your own random thought here.

Earlier this month there had been underlying feelings of unease and being unsettled. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on. I took a step back from my online presence and spent more time outdoors. I did a lot of sewing, reading, and baking. Steven and I played a ridiculous amount of games, and I focused on all the little things I enjoy so much.

It finally clicked for me ... it's September. It's two years since my brother passed away. Once I identified the source of those underlying uneasy feelings I was able to deal with it and move on to the three feelings I mentioned above.