Winter Wonderland Wednesday Hodgepodge

 

Joyce asks the questions, and we provide the answers. See how others answered at From This Side of the Pond.

1.  It's been said January is 'the month of opportunity, inspiration, and change." Which of the three do you need most right now? Elaborate. 

Definitely inspiration. I need to be inspired to keep the house clean, to cook so I'll eat like I should instead of just snacks, and to continue with my routine. 

2. Do you consider opportunity as something that comes to you or something you create for yourself? 

Merriam-Webster defines opportunity as a "favorable juncture of circumstances". Since circumstances are out of your control, I'd say it comes to you. But, what you do with it is your choice.

3. The British Museum opened on this date (January 15th) back in 1759. Do you like visiting museums? Do you have a favorite? 

It depends on what kind of museum. When CH & I visited London, we went to several. My least favorite were the military museums but I trudged on because that was his interest. 

My favorite museum so far is the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. It was just fascinating, and the story behind it is as well. This was the site of the world's single largest art heist; the thieves were in the museum for 84 minutes! The art has not been recovered (the heist happened in 1990) and the men who are believed to have stolen the 13 pieces are now deceased. I could have stayed in the building all day long; there's so much to see. I'm amazed that 1 person could accumulate so much artwork. She even outbid The Louvre for one piece. 

4. It's National Oatmeal Month (yes, apparently it gets a whole month as opposed to a single day). Do you like oatmeal? How often do you eat a bowl of oatmeal? How do you like yours? What about an oatmeal cookie? Is that a sweet treat you enjoy? 

 I like a good bowl of oatmeal, mostly in the winter. My favorite oatmeal is Irish oatmeal...in Ireland. (I know...broken record!) The best bowl I ever had was in Ballygally, Northern Ireland.

I had no idea this was a thing! I'm tucking that away for the next trip!

I do like a good oatmeal cookie, but prefer chocolate chips in them to raisins.

5. What's something useful you learned in high school? 

I'm not sure but I can definitely tell you it wasn't Algebra! I learned a lot about myself, especially my last year. I'm just going to leave it at that.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Last Friday, we had quite a bit of snow. At 6:00 pm, there was around 3 inches but then it snowed again that night, so my guess is 5. I didn't measure it, but judging by the rate of the snow, that's my guess. As I write this on Tuesday, there's still snow on the ground, so according to the old wives' tale, we should get hit with more snow soon. As long as I can stay warm, I'm good with snow. I live on a main road and the Small Town does an excellent job of keeping the roads clear. As long as I can get out of my driveway, I'm good.

My sad little Christmas Tree came down on Sunday, the Feast of Jesus' Baptism

MS & company did an excellent job with this snowman

Night scene

Joy in the Hodgepodge

 

Joyce asks the questions; we provide the answers. Check out what others said at From This Side of the Pond.

1. It's National Popcorn Day-my favorite! Are you a fan? Sweet or salty? A good or great movie you've seen recently (at home or in a theater, either one)? 

I'm definitely a salty popcorn person. I don't watch very many movies; I'm more of a series kind of girl. The last movie we watched was "Don't Look Up". A little weird, a little funny. Definitely not my favorite.

2. What's something you didn't realize was going to take so much of your time as an adult? 

Working. Although CH would say I don't have to do much of it since I work for a school system. The actual working isn't what takes up the time, it's the prepping for work that takes time.

3. Your favorite yellow something? 

Joy.

4. Why do you write? 

Writing is therapeutic for me. It helps me get things off my chest. Whether or not anyone cares is another thing!

5. Share a favorite memory associated with snow.

I grew up across the street from the park where I walk every day. There's a hill directly across the street, and when it snowed we were allowed to go there (unsupervised) to sled. I don't know if this happened every time it snowed, but Mama would have hot chocolate (the real kind...heating milk on the stove) ready for us when we came in. We'd kick our snow boots off in the basement hallway & come up for a mug of hot chocolate.

I found a few pictures of this snow and some of my siblings sledding. I'm between both of these brothers in age, but I couldn't find a picture of me sledding so I wonder where I was. I did find these other 2 adorable pictures:

These are my 2 younger brothers.

This is my sister who is 18 months older than me. I wonder where I was! 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Since I live in the Tennessee Valley, we didn't get as much snow as some other places in the area did. It was still pretty. This is the 2nd snow we've had this year when the snow has stayed on the trees. Here are some pictures from my walk:

Magnolias in the snow. {sigh} Does it get more southern than that?

My breakfast view the day after the snow. It's rare when snow sticks around for more than 1 day. 

Shadowy Hodgepodge

 

1. Feb 2nd is Groundhog Day in the US of A. Tell us about one day you wouldn't mind living over again, and why you chose that day. 

May 18, 1984. The day I married CH!

 2. Something you know beyond a 'shadow of a doubt'? 

God is in control and He has a plan for every one of us.

3. Give us an example of history repeating itself in some way, in your own life or the lives of your children.

Who would have thought this would have been such a hard question? 

4. Snowed under, snow job, not a snowball's chance, snowbird, on thin ice, snug as a bug in a rug, tip of the iceberg, snowball effect, run hot and cold....choose a wintry idiom and tell us how it best applies to your life right now. 

Snowball effect. I'm just going to leave it at that.

5. Your favorite sign of spring? 

Jonquils. Hands down. I love seeing those yellow flowers busting out of the ground.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

We didn't get a lot of snow Sunday night into Monday, but I did have a snow day and then a 2-hour delay on Tuesday.  It snowed most of the day but didn't get any traction on the ground. Some of my students said they played in the snow, so I guess some areas in the county actually had some. We have another chance in a few days. Fingers crossed!

A Perfect Way to End the Year

 

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

This Christmas was the least stressful holiday I've had while being a mom. With 3 grown boys, 1 with a household not far from here, 1 living out of state, and 1 living at home for a while, I knew things were going to be quiet. Especially with "the virus" (as my school kids call it) putting a damper on things, I was expecting a peaceful, quiet holiday. School was scheduled to end on the 18th, but we received a little gift from the school board: an extra day off. Numbers were spiking here, so we were in school 2 days, virtual 2 days, and off on Friday. I actually had everything done before I usually do, so I was able to work on something for my online teacher (SLP) store. I wanted to get some of it done so I could completely take the last week of the year off while we were on vacation.

The weather forecast for Christmas Eve into Christmas Day hinted at a white Christmas. Yeah, right. I only remember maybe 2 white Christmases in my life. When you live in the Tennessee Valley, you learn to take the forecast with a grain of salt and not believe it until you see it. WELL...when I left for the 5:00 Christmas Eve Mass, it was snowing and had just begun to stick. It snowed all during Mass and when I walked out the door, it was still snowing and everything was covered. The 6:00 bells were ringing, most of the people were already gone so it was quiet and most everything was still. It was absolutely gorgeous!

YS moved back into the house a few months ago, and (just in case you don't know) he's an excellent cook. I had everything ready to pop into the oven before I left, but he had everything heated up and cooked when I got home. He also did this:

It just filled my heart with the joy of the season to see that! This isn't something we see very often:

I wish I had asked YS or CH to turn off the lights in the dining room and living room...it would have made for a better picture of our tree. Before I went home I drove by the tree in the park, which is right next to where I live.

Our backyard looked just as enchanted; like something out of Narnia:

Around 8:30 pm, I happened to notice a vehicle pull into our driveway. I went to the side window, looked out, and saw MS getting out of a taxi! He flew in to surprise us for Christmas! (But can you believe I didn't take any pictures of the boys that weekend???) That was the icing on the Christmas Cake!

I take Gurl Dogg (remember her?) on a daily walk in the park. There was still plenty of snow to be found.

See what I mean? A beautiful Southern Christmas Snow...MAGICAL! By the time I walked GD, the kids had already sledded. The next day there were still signs of the laughter:

With all of the craziness of 2020 and the unsurety of 2021, it made me smile to think of the joy that the little ones were able to experience on Christmas Day!

When There's a Four Letter Word in the Forecast

It's a funny thing to consider how people all of the United States react when there's a four letter word that begins with "S" in the forecast. When you consider it, some of the actions will have you scratching your head or laughing out loud.

I live in the South. There's not much snow here, but since I work in the schools, we live for the hope of snow in the winter. It doesn't matter how much, and it doesn't matter where it is as long as it's in the county where I work. A lot of us keep an eye on the forecast and tend to get our hopes up when we see that sweet little symbol on our phones.❆ We also feel a lot of disappointment when we wake up and nothing looks different outside. We grumble that we stayed up too late the night before because the meteorologist said it was a sure thing. Sometimes it is a sure thing, but just north of us.
I've never bought into the whole "let's run to the store and make sure we have plenty of bread and milk", but the times I have had to run and get some milk because we're out have been frustrating. I mean, it's not like we're going to be stuck inside for days. It's very rare when the snow hasn't all melted by mid-afternoon.

I have a friend who lives in New Hampshire. When it snows they go about their everyday life. Sure, they have snow days and ice days, but those crazy Northerners choose to stand outside in the snow and watch cross country ski races! My friend has a generator so they still have some semblance of modern life when the power goes out. They're the ones who need to stock up on their food, not southerners who think an inch of snow is Armageddon.

Let me just say: snow on the weekends is a waste. Sure I still get a little excited to see the white stuff floating down, but unless it happens on a Sunday when there's not a holiday on Monday, it's a waste. That is unless there's enough of it that the melting remnants stay on the roads enough to ice over.  Then, we'll take a delayed start, which is almost as good as a day off. On those days the Kindergarten classes have breakfast and lunch within the span of an hour. Crazy, huh?

There's so much excitement when I see ❆ on the forecast map. It's easy to get my hopes up. CH doesn't understand the excitement, but that four letter word in the forecast is like a Christmas present, especially in the South.

Thankful Thursday

Once again, I'm linking up with Knit by God's Hand to look over the past week and be thankful for the little things.

This week, I’m thankful for…

...surprise snowstorms after we get to school.

…teachers who take their students out to play in the snow before settling down to work.

… Stations of the Cross. It’s a beautiful thing. If you don’t know what it is, this link should help you out.

…spending the day baking cookies.

…yucky days off from school (too bad it was already a holiday1)

…British series that keep you busy during yucky days off from school. If you haven’t heard of “Broadchurch”, check it out on Netflix.

 

…2 days of 2 hour delays for school. It gave me the chance to go to daily mass both days.

…quick activities to keep my students busy that also double as homework.

…coming home after Saturday evening mass to a cooked dinner. YS had a chicken breast over spaghetti squash & marinara sauce waiting for me. I had been wanting to try spaghetti squash instead of pasta; I was very much surprised at how good it was!

What are you thankful for?

Long Weekend Wrap-up

Thank goodness for long weekends! Friday was a weird day. I got to school before 7:00 because I had a meeting at 7:15. It was snowing when I left the house, but the roads were just wet. The buses were already on their way, so they had to continue on to school. We weren't supposed to get anything, so we were a bit surprised.

The view from my window.

Once school was let out, the roads were all clear, so there wasn't any reason for early dismissal. Some of the classes had their Valentine's Day parties early, which meant they were all hyped up on sugar all day, so it was pretty much a bust of a day for them.

Friday night was the first Stations of the Cross for Lent. There were only about 50 people there, if that many. My parish switches between Spanish & English for every other Station. It is a bit difficult to concentrate during the Spanish ones.

I had to run some bread over to church Saturday morning for a funeral, so I popped into the Adoration Chapel for a while. The light coming in and reflecting the stained glass onto the tabernacle was just beautiful.

The rest of Saturday was laundry. And then some friends on Facebook started talking about Broadchurch, which is a British tv show. I don't know why the British shows are so much better than ours, but they are. This one is excellent. I started off the show bawling my eyes out (it has to do with the murder of a 12 year old boy), and ended the first season the same way. 

Sunday, CH & I had a couple of movie passes from last year that we hadn't used, so we saw Zoolander 2. Call us weird, but we think movies like that are hilarious. I was glad we didn't pay to see it, but CH said he would have paid to have seen it. 

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day, so I fixed supper at home and we just laid low. I just don't see the need in buying stuff and fighting the crowds in a restaurant.

Yesterday we woke up to the roads being a bit of a mess. Thankfully, it was a holiday and we didn't have to get out.

We have a 2-hour delay this morning (unless they end up calling the rest of the day off). It's better than nothing, I guess!

Thankful Thursday

Rebecca is a gracious hostess every Thursday to remind us to stop and remember the little things we have to be thankful for. 

This week, I’m thankful for…

... my job. Or rather, that I love my job. Kids are absolutely fascinating...little human beings who are developing senses of humor as well as opinions. They make me smile...most of the time!

...snow days! The snow was beautiful today. CH worked from home & YS didn't have class or work today.

...heat. It was cold, y'all! I can't imagine not having a warm house to live in.

... coffee. It's been the perfect thing for these cold mornings. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Thankful Thursday

Rebecca Jo at Knit by God's Hand started this link-up. Thursdays are a good time to stop and remember to be thankful for the little things.

 This week, I’m thankful for…

...a 2 hour delay on Monday so I could go to Daily Mass with my Daddy.

...being able to to stay at home and enjoy the view.

View from my living room:

From my kitchen window:

..for a puppy dog (>65 lbs.) who thinks she's as little as Pepper (< 20 lbs).

...for walks in the snow covered park with said puppy dog.

...for coffee.

...for college students who just want to have fun.

WBIR posted this picture of UT students involved in a snowball fight on their football field for the 2nd year in a row. The police didn't think it was so great...they cited a few students for trespassing and a couple for underage drinking. My 2 cents: they should open the gates for 30 minutes and just make sure that no damage is done. It would keep the students from climbing over the fence!

What are you thankful for? Visit Knit by God's Hand and join in the thankfulness.