Christmas Hodgepodge

Here are this week's Hodgepodge questions and my answers.

Hop over to Wednesday Hodgepodge 

to see others answers and to play along!!!

1. How will you spend 'the night before Christmas'? 

Packing and getting things together to go to Florida!! My stepson has a soccer tournament there. My husband doesn't get to see him play much at all anymore, so this is a good opportunity for him to see his son play AND get a much needed vacation. I have never been to Florida in the winter, so i am really looking forward to it.  

2. What is one thing you are not?

Selfish! I always put others needs and wants before my own.

3. Fudge-are you a fan? Your favorite flavor?

While I am more of a salty snack person,I do enjoy a soft creamy piece of peanut butter fudge during the holidays. 

4. Did you attend any craft/vendor fairs in the month of December? Do you prefer homemade goodies or the more professional stalls? Are you giving any homemade gifts this year? 

I have indeed attended a craft/vendor fair in December. The first day of December was our "Light Up Downtown" event with vendors of all kinds set up around the square. Many of the vendors set up at our Second Saturday events during the summer. There were lots of Christmas themed items. I do love handmade or homemade items.

I have given handmade items in years past, but sadly am not giving any this year. 

(The aprons pictured were made by me and given to my sister and sister-in-laws)

I did receive two of the cutest handmade ornaments from a friend yesterday.

Aren't they cute!!

5. What's your favorite type of holiday gathering? 

A simple gathering of Family and Friends sharing food and fun. It was a tradition in my family growing up to play a board game while all the family was together. I have done this with my kids also. Sometimes we play a game someone received as a gift. Apples to Apples, What's Yours Like, and Pictionary are a few of our favorites. 

6. We're approaching a new year...what's going to be different in 2013? 

My hope is that is will be a far less violent one. 

7. Share a favorite scripture, quote, saying, or song lyric relating to peace.

This song, performed by Vince Gill 

and his daughter Jenny,

is one of my favorite songs

relating to peace.

I think it is a very beautiful song.

  

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I was sitting in the drive thru of the drug store the other day when I looked to my left and saw this little bird sitting on the window sill. My car was very close yet the bird didn't fly off. As I sat there waiting for the lady to bring my medications to the window the little bird sat there looking at me. Finally, when the lady opened the window the bird flew away. This little bird must have known I am a bird lover.

Christmas is almost here. The presents are wrapped and under the tree. Soon all the kids will be here and we will celebrate another Christmas together.

Our hearts will be saddened for those that will not have that chance this Christmas and we will say a prayer for them, that they will find God's peace and comfort on this day and the days ahead. 

May each and every one of you reading this blog have a very Blessed and

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Also linked with:
Christmas Tree Photo Link Party 

A Marshmallow Kind of Hodgepodge

Here we are ready for another round of Hodgepodge. With working and shopping and making plans for the holidays time sure seems to be moving along quickly. I look forward to Tuesday evenings, time to relax escape into the world of Blogging - Hodgepodge Style. Below are this weeks questions and my answers to them. Hope you enjoy reading my responses as much as I enjoyed answering them.

1.     So, when did you last take a walk in the woods? A stroll along the beach? A drive going nowhere in particular in the car? 

My last walk in the woods was a few days before Halloween. The trees were at their peak of color. I enjoy walking in the woods looking for birds and enjoying the beautiful scenery. 

I do hope to be walking along a beach in a few weeks. My hubby and I are hoping to take a short trip after Christmas. Keeping my fingers crossed that things fall into place and we are able to go. I have never been to the beach in the winter. 

I don't really drive with no particular destination in mind much. But, I do remember as a child when my Grandfather would take my brothers and I for a drive. We usually ended up getting ice cream at some point of the drive.  
2.     Are you sending Christmas cards this year? About how many do you send? Photo card or something more traditional? How do you display the cards you receive?

I do send Christmas cards, usually around 60 or so total. I do them in two rounds. Round one cards are sent to family and friends and round two cards are sent to clients. I have sent photo cards in the past, but usually send traditional ones. 

The cards we receive are displayed around the door ways in our living room/kitchen and the living room/entry way.

3.     What's a word you've heard too much of in the past week?

Fiscal-Cliff. 

More of a phrase than one word, but still tired of hearing about it!

4.     December 13th is National Cocoa Day-are you a fan? Plain or flavored? Marshmallows or no marshmallows?

I do love a good cup of cocoa. No flavors for me, just hot cocoa and a few mini marshmallows.

5.     What is something you do to help alleviate the hectic pace of the Christmas season?

I struggle with this one. Working retail changed the pace of Christmas for me and then I became a divorcee, which made it even more hectic. Now, I no longer work retail, but am re-married, have a blended family and the chore of dealing with exes. 
I try to de-stress by listening to Christmas music or shopping early in the day before the stores get too crazy. 

6.     Besides jewelry, what's a favorite sparkly-glittery item in your home or closet?

I am not a very sparkly-glittery gal. I do wear a glitter perfume. It is Victoria's Secret - Dream Angel Heavenly Shimmer Mist. It has a soft non-overpowering fragrance and a slight glitter. 

7.     Share a favorite line or two from any Christmas carol.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.

Only a hippopotamus will do.

No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses.

I only like hippopotmuses.

I heard this song on my way home this evening and it is stuck in my head now!

8.     Insert your own random thought here.

A few days ago I had one of those "like if you remember this" pictures on my Face Book wall. The item was a rotary dial phone. I of course, "liked" the photo and commented that I even remembered Party Lines. Several of my friends liked and commented on the photo also. My daughter asked what a party line was. So I explained to her that there were several families that shared a phone line as if they were in the same house. Our line consisted of seven families and that if you wanted to call some one on the party line that you dialed them in a different way and felt the rings through the vibration of the phone instead of hearing the rings. I went on to tell her how you didn't just pick up the phone and dial. You first had to make sure that no one was using the line. If you heard a dial tone then you could make your call, but if you heard people talking you had to wait until they were finished to place your call or ask to use the line. If you heard no dial tone or no one talking then you knew someone had left a phone off the hook. (On our line we knew exactly who did this. Miss Delma constantly answered the phone in one room and then went to another room to finish her conversation, but never remembered to hang up the first phone once she was finished). I have walked to the end of the road many times to tell her that she had the line tied up again. Phones have definitely come a long way since then. Do you remember party lines?  

Linked With:

Wednesday Hodgepodge

Aviation Heritage Park

Back in September I visited one of our local parks. I have meant to post the pictures before now, but just haven't. Since I haven't been out with the camera lately to capture any shadows or birds, I thought I would share this wonderful park with you.

Aviation Heritage Park honors South Central Kentucky area pilots by finding and restoring aircraft that tell their stories.

The first plane to be displayed at the park was a U.S. Air Force F4D Phantom II in honor of Brigadier General Dan Cherry of Bowling Green. 

The second plane was an F9F-5 Panther in honor of Lt. Commander John J. Magda Jr., a Western Kentucky University graduate from Oldham County.

The T-33 is in honor of Glasgow native and Western Kentucky University graduate, General Russell Dougherty, who flew a T-33 plane from Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb., to Washington, D.C., while he served as commander of the Strategic Air Command. Dougherty served 35 years in the military and retired a four-star General.

A month or so ago there was an event at the Park and the planes were opened. You could actually climb inside the cockpit of the planes and have your photo taken. I wish I could have gotten out there for that event!

The park is still growing, with plans to not only add more planes but to also have an indoor facility.  

A General Dynamics F-111, the “Aardvark”, has been rescued from storage in the Arizona desert, and following restoration, will take its place in the Park. In October the plane was disassembled, loaded on flatbed trailers and shipped from Tuscan to Bowling Green.

“This is the largest aircraft we've ever restored,” said Aviation Heritage Park President Arnie Franklin. “It’s over 73 feet long, with a wingspan of 32 feet when the wings are fully swept". 

(Aardvark photo courtesy of AHP website)

In 1986 Park President Franklin, then Lt. Colonel Franklin, piloted the lead plane in Operation Eldorado Canyon, in Libya. The actual aircraft that Franklin was flying that day is on display at the National Museum of the Air Force in Dayton Ohio. The aircraft that is being brought to Aviation Heritage Park was flying on his wing. 

Linked With:

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Your Sunday Best
Straight-Out-Of-The-Camera Sunday

Ho Ho Hodgepodge

I must say this meme is definitely an escape not only from every day stresses, but the hustle and bustle of the season. I am enjoying remembering past Christmases in answering the questions and reading about others memories as well.  So let's get to it!
Below are Joyce's questions and my responses to them. 

1. Share your traditions surrounding the Christmas stocking.

Our stockings are hung on the snack bar that divides the kitchen and living room. When my kids were little Santa would use his magic key to unlock the door and leave a small surprise, (some sort of candy, a hot wheel car, lottery scratch off ticket or some other type of small item) in their stockings each day the whole month of December. The closer it got to Christmas the bigger the surprise. On Christmas morning they would awake to find their stockings filled with candy, socks, lottery scratch offs, small toys and gift cards.

Now that the kids are grown, Santa fills the stockings on Christmas Eve only. Usually with socks, candy, razors, chap stick, gift cards and lottery scratch offs. 

2. How many hours of sleep do you average at night? Is it enough?

I do not sleep much and rarely have uninterrupted sleep. While I may be in bed for 6 to 8 hours, I am not sleeping all of that time. Some nights I awake every two to three hours and usually have problems getting back to sleep. Is it enough....NO! 

3. If you had to give up one thing for the remainder of this year what would it be?

Well if I had to give up something for health reasons I suppose I could, especially since it is only a few weeks. If I had to choose what to give up, I think I would choose something like eating out. 

4. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (or Wills and Kate as I like to call them) have announced they're expecting a baby. Do you follow news of the Royals?

If I see or hear their names in the news I will read or listen to the story. I do not seek out information on them.

5. For me, the sound of childhood is__________________.

Laughter. From those uncontrollable baby laughs, the sounds of a game of tag, the giggling of girls or the horse play of boys. There is nothing like the sounds of happy children. 

6. Fruit cake-yay or boo? What's your favorite dessert made with fruit?

Fruitcake....Boo!! Never had one that I liked. As for fruity desserts, Apple Pie or Strawberry Cobbler would be my favorites.

7. What is one thing you want to accomplish before 2012 comes to an end?

No real goal for the remaining portion of the year. Just want to get through the holiday season. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Last week we spent most of our time at the office working on an Estate.  The deadline for filing a tax return for the estate was Friday. (Was sure glad to get that thing completed). It is a substantial estate and has been very complicated.  The wife choose to deny the will, the other heirs are scattered about with some even in another country, stock accounts, real estate, personal items, each heir receiving different percentages. Other than the wife, none of the heirs have seen or spoken to the decedent in several years. 

But, today we finally were able to locate and speak to one of the heirs and inform her that she will be inheriting several thousand dollars. She was able to give us contact information for the other heirs. A short time after speaking to her I received an email telling me how this is going to change her life. It it sad from where it comes, but it makes me happy to be a part of fulfilling our client's wishes and making life a little better for his heirs.

Linked With:

Wednesday Hodgepodge