Fishing for Spring: A Hodgepodge

Did someone mess with the calendar?

Did the month of February get lost or stuck between the other pages or something?

These are the questions I've been asking myself here lately.

I don't mean to rub it in...I know that many of you are still up to your eyeballs in snow...

...and I realize this is not the norm, even for us.

And just as these words are being typed, I know it could all change overnight.

So just in case Old Man Winter decides to return, and I'm pretty sure he will,

here are a few more glimpses of our early spring from the past few days.

These daffodils grow smack-dab in the middle of the woods next to my house.

I have no idea how they got there but they come up every year...

...such a beautiful contrast compared to the stark, colorless, naked trees.

~

So...now on to the Hodgepodge part of this post...

...where Joyce asks the questions and we answer them on our blogs.

Here we go!

1. Have you ever been fishing? Did you catch a fish? If so did you keep it or throw it back? If you haven't been fishing is that something you'd like to try? Fish out of water, big fish in a small pond, living in a fishbowl, packed in like sardines, this is a fine kettle of fish, plenty of fish in the sea, or cut bait...which fishy phrase most recently applies to some area of your life?

Yes, I have done a little bit of fishing, mostly when I was much younger...both on land and on sea. I think the deep sea fishing experiences have been more exciting and fruitful as well. Mostly, when I have done any fishing at a pond or whatever, the fish get thrown back but we kept what we caught out on the sea. I'm kinda finicky when it comes to my fish...not so crazy about the kind that live in fresh water. Sometimes I feel as though I'm a fish out of water. I mostly present myself to be confident and secure in who I am and what I'm doing, I would be lying if I said I always feel that way.

2. What's something you're always fishing for in your purse, wallet, desk, or kitchen junk drawer?

Batteries in the kitchen junk drawer.

3. Your favorite fish tale or movie?

A Perfect Storm

4. Are you sunrise, daylight, twilight or night? Explain why you chose your answer.

All the above. I am up before sunrise every morning without fail...no matter what day of the week it is, at noon I have already been up for 7 hours, by twilight I sometimes have gotten my second wind (sometimes not) and I rarely (if ever) go to bed before 11 pm. If I try to go to bed any earlier, I will wake up at 2 am thinking it's time to get up! I have functioned this way for most of my adult life, getting by on 5-6 hours of sleep. Try as I might, I cannot sleep in past 5:30 or 6:00...and that is pushing the limits. Lord, help me.

5. What's the oldest piece of clothing you own and still wear?

Oh my word...Joyce, have you been looking through my windows?? Yes, although I hope and pray I am never caught dead in it, there is this one thing. It is a threadbare house dress that is held together with safety pins, there are holes under both arms (great air conditioning in those warmer months) and it is the most comfortable thing to wear when I just need to "be free". Oh my...I better stop now before I embarrass myself more than I already have.

6. We've got one more month of (officially) winter here in the Northern hemisphere. Are you feeling the need for a getaway? What's been the best and worst part of your winter so far?

Not really feeling much need to get away since spring has already sprung here, as temporary as it may be. The best part of the winter so far has been the one pretty snow that we had in January. The worst part of the winter so far was that we only had that one pretty snow back in January. I would have liked more but now these springtime temps have spoiled us rotten, I'm done with winter...I hope :)

7.  The Wednesday Hodgepodge lands on National Margarita Day...will you be celebrating? Frozen or on the rocks? Are you a Jimmy Buffet fan? If so, what's your favorite JB tune?

No. Neither...unless it is iced tea, then on the rocks. Not really (nothing against you, Jimmy). I spent a year or two in my younger life "wasted away". 'Nuf said :)

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

True confession time...I have already had my A/C on a couple of times.

~

Have a great week! 

New "Under-standing" and Happy Valentine's Day

Many times at the beginning of a new year,

we find ourselves saying this..."out with the old and in with the new".

Our home was built in 1985 and the original carpet was still underfoot...
...if you do the math, that's 32 years, y'all!

It has certainly served it's purpose and then some but it was time to say buh-bye...

...W-A-Y past time!

~
It is a little surreal when I look around but I am thrilled with them...what a difference!
And somehow, it has increased the square footage...it looks so much bigger inside.
My fur babies were totally disoriented at first but they seem to be getting used to the change.
As I write this, Jim has yet to see the new flooring since this was his weekend to work...
...yes, I planned it that way.
It's always best to remove as many humans (and dogs) as possible at times such as this.
This is where Oscar and Tasha spent the better part of Friday.

Friday it barely made it out of the 40's but by sharing each other's body heat,

they seemed to stay toasty on the front porch in their crate covered in a thick quilt.
So I took today off to finish getting the place back together and still have much to do.
Here's a peek of what's been happening in my world.





Amidst all of the chaos, there was actually a moment when I felt kind of homeless.
I was stuck in a corner with no real place to go except outside but it was so windy and cold.
I tried to imagine what really being homeless might be like.
Of course I knew that this upheaval was only a temporary situation but still, it made me think.
Maybe it was just a fluke when I made my way to the kitchen sink for some water...



...and saw this beautiful dove perched atop the feeder.
Peace, be still...
Fluke? I choose to think not :)

Oscar, checking things out.

So...that was my weekend!
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day already...can you believe it?
And as I was going through closets preparing for the new floors,
I came across this at a most appropriate time...

...my Adam made this for me in ceramics class many years ago.

It used to play "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" but the electronic music box doesn't work anymore.
That's alright, it's still adorable, don't you think?

And one last thing...

Someone posted this on my Facebook page which I thought was so cute.

Of course it would have better if the wiener had been a brown one :)

♥Happy Valentine's Day!♥

Sharing at...

Mosaic Monday

This Hodgpodge Will Floor You

Hey everyone...

It's HUMP DAY and time for HODGEPODGE...

...where Joyce asks the questions and we answer them on our blogs.

It's been a busy couple of weeks and in the words of my dearly departed mother,
my house "looks like it's been hit by a cyclone".
Does anyone use that term anymore?
Oh well, more about that later...here are this week's questions.

~*~*~*~*~*~

1. What's the last thing you did that someone else thought was super? 

Maybe it was the chicken noodle soup that I made over the weekend. Do you think the words "really good" might translate into super...or soup-er??

 2. The last thing you ate that tasted superb? 

Even though the soup was pretty darn good, I wouldn't describe it as superb...but the meal that we ate after church this past Sunday was. We went to the Longhorn Steakhouse and I ordered the Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Maple Roasted Spaghetti Squash.... Oh. My. Goodness.  Jim had a steak and said it was one of the best he's ever had. It had been years and years since we'd eaten there but we had a gift card ...so glad we did! They give you a whole split breast and I ate the other half for my dinner on Monday with broccoli :) Do you have Longhorn Steakhouses in your area?

3. Supersensitive, superstitious, superwoman, superambitious, supercilious, supervisor, superficial...pick a super word from the list and tell us how it relates to your life in some way recently or currently. 

I will say superambitious AND superwoman...and this is why my house looks like a cyclone hit it...I have been getting the house ready for new flooring...throughout. This means that EVERY closet has been purged and emptied of it's contents, EVERYTHING has been removed from the hutch and corner cabinet and among other things, EVERY nook and cranny has been dusted so the installers don't see all of my dirt! It will be bad enough when they start pulling up that 30+ year old carpet...I can only imagine what they might find. There is still much to do...all electronics, including TVs and/or anything else that is breakable must be moved off the furniture, etc., etc. They will be here Friday morning but we do have to live here until then. So for the past two weekends, Superwoman has showed up to do her thing...and she was only ambitious because she had to be! Here's just a hint of what she's been up to...

...and she'll be returning this weekend as she goes behind them, getting everything back in place. She's already exhausted just thinking about...BUT...it will be way more fun! Another post for another day.

 4. Do you love easily? If you're comfortable doing so, explain why you think that is. 

Wow...this isn't easy to admit...but not always. Not like I should. Not like I want to. Not like I need to. I'm so glad God is not finished with me yet.

5. Valentine's Day lands on a Tuesday this year. Will you mark the day in some way? If you're celebrating with a dinner out somewhere will it be on Tuesday or will you celebrate over the weekend? 

By the time Valentine's Day gets here, I will probably feel like I got run over by a Mac truck. Jim is never off on Tuesdays (he stays at the group home when he's working) so no chance of going out or doing anything special. The flowers he got me last weekend are still looking quite beautiful. 

I am taking Monday off to get the house back in order but will be back to work on Tuesday. When I get home, I just may eat my dinner off of my shiny new floors. Needless to say, they will never be clean enough to eat off of again...never. I might even share a bite or two with Oscar and Tasha :)

6. What's something you are loving right now? 

The thought of having new floors :)

 

 7.  Write a three word (or less) phrase you'd like to see on a Valentine candy heart.

God loves YOU!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm between overwhelmed and excited right now...but it's gonna be SO worth it! And you just don't know how glad I will be to get rid of this ugly green kitchen floor.

If I don't get back to Blogland before next Tuesday,

I want to wish everyone 

Happy Valentine's Day!

♥♥♥