Wednesday Hodgepodge

I decided to participate in the Wednesday Hodgepodge once again. So without further ado, here we go.

 1. Besides the predictable name-rank-serial number, what's something you know by heart?

Account numbers for various monthly bills, passwords, several phone numbers, a handful of addresses, a pile of songs, the cute little German prayer my Mom taught me as a wee child, the order of the colors in a rainbow, assorted passages of scripture, the times tables, the alphabet, a few favorite recipes, and more I'm sure if I took the time to think.

2. Something recently that had you tickled pink?

Getting to spend time with our grandson.

3. How do you define the word romantic, and are you one? 

To me being romantic is simply keeping the one you love in your thoughts so much that you're continually looking for ways to serve, care for, and do things they like. A gift or two here and there for an extra touch doesn't hurt. 

4. Finish this verse with your own original thought....'Roses are red, violets are blue...

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm feeling blessed
I hope you are too

5. Five little things you are loving right now? 

1. My reading glasses - oops I just admitted to needing them, but they sure make things easier for me.
2. My favorite cozy blanket.
3. My favorite teapot.
4. Celery - random I know, but it's my favorite snack.
5. Flourishing houseplants.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Steven and I tried to build a snowman. We gave it our best effort, but the snow was not the right consistency so we ended up simply making a giant pile of snow instead.

I think he enjoyed it as much as he would have had we been able to build the snowman. It's the time we got to spend together that counts.

Cooking as a Newlywed

     The day after our wedding as LV and I were packing up our wedding gifts to move into our home we came across a pretty glass casserole dish with a divider down the center.
    LV picked it up and said, "Oh! I'm already looking forward to eating the casseroles you'll make in this dish."
    I tucked that bit of information away as we finished packing everything up.
    Fresh meats and vegetables weren't an option for us the majority of the time back then. We grew all our own food, but it was canned. Recipe books were used for desserts not main course.
    Several evenings after setting up our house I was trying to come up with a plan for supper. I decided to make that casserole LV had been looking forward to.
    I filled the one half with mashed potatoes. I drained a can of green beans and dumped them in the other half, poured a beef gravy over both, and popped it in the oven.
    I served it with a smile, and he ate it without a single word of complaint.
    I still laugh when I think of it.

Winter Days

     There's something about winter days when it's cold and snowy outside, but cozy and fun inside that gives me all the nostalgic feels.
    Our winter this year has been a little colder than they had been the for the past few years, but we've been keeping the furnace humming, and pulling out various fun projects to fill our days. Games are also getting a lot more use during this season.
    We didn't have board games in my early childhood, but we still played games. A favorite was called, "Ding-dong Dingly".
    One person was blindfolded and would say a little rhyme in German, each of the other players would take turns responding, at which point the blindfolded person would give them a number telling them how many steps they were allowed to take. And then the game began.
    At five and six years old it was exhilarating trying to save some of your allotted steps in order to evade the blindfolded person who was trying to find you. 
    One evening it was Mom's turn to be blind folded and she found my brothers and me without a problem, but had a harder time finding Dad, who had chosen to take his allotted steps up the wall at the end of the hallway and was propped up as high as he could while Mom searched.
    We children were having such a hard time containing our giggles. When she finally gave up, removed her blindfold, and saw where he was the entire house rang with laughter.
    That was the end of that game that evening, and it was time for bedtime stories and being tucked in.
    Given the option of weeding the garden after supper during summer months, or playing games and having bedtime stories during the winter, it really is no surprise that winter was my favorite season as long as I can remember.

    

Enough Blue

 "Genug fa en Deitcha mann sei hussa flicka."

(Enough to mend an Amish man's pants.)

I think of that quote, and hear my Mom saying it every time I see a small patch of blue in an overcast sky.

The last time I remember hearing her say it was back when I was a teen. We were building a house for my grandparents and were planning to have a frolic. The sky was quite overcast and my Uncle John Henry expressed his concern that it might rain.

Mom pointed out a tiny patch of blue peeking through the clouds and said, "Genug fa en Deitcha mann sei hussa flicka."

I was embarrassed ... silly me. But now I quote it too, much to the chagrin of our children.

Currently

 Reading ... it shouldn't be much of a surprise that I'm once again reading the Psalms. It seems I come back to them between other books of the Bible. I find them to be a balm to my soul, a place of rest, comfort, and praise.

In fiction I started Pat of Silver Bush by L.M. Montgomery. I'm liking it, but it seems I always approach her books with the subconscious idea that they have to be as good as the Anne of Green Gables series. That's not really fair, so this time I'm trying to make more of an effort to simply read this book without those expectations attached.

The best book I've read in a long time is The Remember Balloons. It's a children's book and takes less than five minutes to read, but it's so, so good! It's a beautifully written and illustrated story of a young boy and his grandfather. They each have balloons that hold memories, and gradually Grandpa begins losing his balloons. The grandson is dismayed by this, and begins sharing his own balloons with Grandpa.

It's achingly beautiful, and I admit to getting misty eyed. It's short, and sweet, and I'm so glad I read it. I'd recommend it to everyone. Request it from your library, buy it from Amazon, or listen to it being read on Youtube ... here. I prefer to have the sound off and just read it, but that's only me.

Writing ... Sharon convinced me to join her in doing NaNoWriMo again this year. I have been making progress on a book that I've been thinking about writing for years already. It's fun seeing it come to life, and I look forward to getting to read it once it's done. I have no idea if it will ever be published, but I was wanting to read this story, so I'm writing it. :)

In the meantime, Sharon has been writing circles around me and passed the goal of 50,000 words in November by week two. 

Watching ... the girls and I watched The Most Wonderful Time of the Year recently. It's our favorite Hallmark movie and we watch it every year. So far we have not started getting tired of it.

Listening ... to the ticking of the clock, the sound of laughter and conversation drifting down the stairs from Sharon and one of her friends, the furnace humming away in the basement, and a neighbor's dog barking loudly at a mooing cow.

Baking ... this afternoon I want to try making some lemon blueberry cookies using the same recipe that I use for our favorite holiday cookies (Cranberry Orange) and substitute dried blueberries for the cranberries and lemon for the orange. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out. In my head it seems they should be delicious.

Cooking ... tonight I'll be making a soup with leftovers from the fridge. It will include rice, hamburger, and poblano peppers. I'll also be making some fresh herbed dinner rolls to go with it.

Feeling ... shooketh. (Let's go ahead and pretend that's an actual word.) After one of the girls had the misfortune of having to deal with a stalker we invested in self defense - we didn't want to be paranoid, but prepared. My own preparedness was a joke earlier this week when I had a run in with a creepy dude at our local commuter parking where I was waiting to pick up LV. Everything I thought I knew and was prepared for flew out of my mind and I froze. Thankfully I'm fine, but the whole experience has left me shaken. So disturbing!

Disliking ... the ruts that are being created in our yard by someone driving through it to feed their cows. I'm trying to remain sweet about it, but inside I'm feeling less than sweet. I'm thinking it's time to pray extra blessing on them every time they drive through the yard. The ruts will still be ugly, but hopefully they will no longer annoy me as much.

Loving ... the lights we wrapped around the bannisters. They create such a happy twinkly glow.

Playing ... a variety of games, but Skipbo seems to be our current go to. Sleeping Queens, Chess, Battleship, Trouble, and a few others have all made an appearance this past week as well.

Cleaning ... I'm wrapping up the fall housecleaning. I still want to do the four lazy susans in the kitchen before I officially call it done. I did them in the beginning of fall cleaning, but they're lazy susans and need constant attention in our house it seems.