Wednesday, December 12, 2012

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?  

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11 comments:

  1. I'm tired of hearing about this Fiscal Cliff as well!

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  2. I guess I can be happy I haven't heard anything about fiscal cliff. I don't have any idea what it even is. I'm too young for party lines, but I do remember the rotary phone! I can also remember how exciting it was to get a cordless at our house. That was a big deal! :)

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  3. I remember a telephone party line - at my grandmother's house. And, of course I remember a phone just like the one in your picture. We had one and I stretched that cord as far as I could to try and get into a nearby closet for privacy!

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  4. My granny had a party line. Whenever all of the cousins would get together at her house, we'd pick up her phone and listen in on other people's conversations...and giggle all the while!

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  5. Glitter Perfume....now that's new to me. Of course I don't go into Victoria's Secret. LOLOLOL

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  6. I agree with the "Fiscal Cliff" comment. I wish they'd just stop talking about it.

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  7. I don't personally recall party line but I remember rotary phones. Grandmama always had one even with the changes in phones. One Christmas I recall a relative got her an amazingly long cord for the receiver. If you couldn't find Grandmama you just had to follow the curly cord all over the house.

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  8. I absolutely remember party lines. As a matter of fact they still exist. I worked for the telephone co,pany for 23 years and I had my challenges with people who had party lines as well especially when they wanted to use their own phones which is a NO! NO!

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  9. We never had a party line but even those rotary phones are totally foreign to my girls generation. My youngest has had a part time job in retail this semester to help with grad school bills. She is subbing full time now in the school system so happily let the retail job go. She worked every weekend and was in school during the week. She is so looking forward to having some days off!

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  10. I am in my late 20's and don't know what a party line is.. Now you explained it i sort of know:) I do remember those rotary phones, we had one when i was little.

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  11. I even remember when our road got the first phones installed. And when our road was paved by the county. We had that person who left the phone off the hook as well. Thanks for the memories!

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