Sometime in the Morning: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

 

On July 29th 1957 The Tonite Show premiered with Jack Parr as it's host. This  marked the beginning of the modern day talk show. Do you watch any daytime or late night talk shows today? Do you have any thoughts on the hubbub surrounding the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, or are you more in the camp of 'who is Stephen Colbert? 

I don't know what the deal is with Colbert's show's cancellation.  I didn't watch the show, so I don't know enough about it.  I haven't watched any daytime or late night talk shows since Craig Ferguson (pictured above) left The Late Late Show (and yes, I'm still mad about it).   

What's the best part of your day? 

 

Mornings.  After I get ready and make my bed, I start the day with my quiet time (prayer and Bible reading) and journaling. I start work between 7:30 ad 8:00 a.m. and have coffee around 9:00 a.m.  If I don't have a meeting or phone calls, I can listen to music or a podcast as I work.  My weekend schedule is a little different, but I try to keep the morning routine the same. 

What's something your generation does that you actually dislike? 

For clarification, I am Generation X (Sorry, but some folks think everyone over 16 is a "Boomer").  With that being said, I don't want to do to my generation what they seem to do to other generations:  generalize behavior and assume that everyone the same age acts and reacts the same.  We don't.  Nobody does. 

When you cook do you clean as you go, or clean it all up once you're finished cooking? What's the last thing you cooked/baked in your own kitchen? 

OK Miss Joyce, this is a trick question.  😄  I know I should clean as I cook but most of the time I don't.  In all fairness, I have a "one butt" kitchen, so waiting to clean up is easier with limited space.  Otherwise, I might end up with dish soap where I don't want it.  The last simple thing I cooked in the kitchen was scrambled eggs yesterday.  The last "more complicated" thing I made was vegetable lasagna in the crock pot last week. 

Sum up your July in ten words or less. 
 

It went by so fast!

 

Insert your own random thought here. 

In case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Summer Breeze" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Reset the Play Clock" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #38:  The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)

Summer Breeze: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

When does time pass slowly for you? When does time past quickly for you? 

No matter what I'm doing, it seems that time passes much more slowly during the winter months and speeds by like Dale Jr. at Talladega the rest of the year.  I'm still coping with the fact that it's almost August already.  

Do you have a favorite beach? What's your favorite 'beach' activity? Tell us what we'd find in your beach bag.

I've only been to Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, Panama City Beach, Florida, and Laguna Beach, California.  All of these were work or service-oriented trips (band, ministry, conferences, etc.), so getting to lounge on the beach wasn't really on the agenda.  I think I would enjoy going back to the beach.  It would be so much fun to hang out with my friends or family at the beach, wade in the ocean (or gulf as the case is with Florida), build sand castles, eat ice cream, and soak up the sun and salty breezes while reading a favorite book (preferable something not too serious).  Maybe I can add a trip to Orange Beach, AL to my list of places I want to go if I ever get to visit home again.  Hey, from Jacksonville it's only a 6-7 hour drive straight down AL-21; so no interstates!

So, what would be in my beach bag?  First, I'd have to get or make a beach bag.  Then, I would add the necessities (sun protection in all forms, a water bottle, snacks, etc).  To that I'd add some fun things (books and/or magazines, a water gun, a Bluetooth speaker, an extra bag or two for shopping, a sketchbook and pencils). Wow, looking at this, if I ever get to go, I'll need TWO beach bags.  

Your favorite book or movie with a beach setting? 

My favorite book set on the beaches of Hawaii was Bamboo and Lace by Lori Wick.  I write here about why it isn't among my favorites anymore.  I don't really have a favorite beach-themed movie, so I'll mention my favorite TV show set at or near the beach:  The Monkees.  

What's a food you love, but find it's a pain to eat? Is it worth it? 

Mangoes.  In all fairness, it's not the eating of it that's a pain, it's cutting it.  Mango seeds are so big that it seems like a waste to get so little fruit to eat and toss such a big seed.  Maybe I'm doing it wrong??

Do you like roller coasters? What's the best (or worst) roller coaster you've been on? 

It's been so long since I've ridden a roller coaster that I'm not sure if I like them or not.  The worst roller coaster I've ever experienced was the old Z-Force ride at Six Flags over Georgia. I don't know what masochist created this piece of junk, but it was a nightmare.  It didn't have fun loops like the Mind Bender (now the Riddler Mindbender), or fun climbs and descents like the Great American Scream Machine.  This monstrosity combined hairpin turns with corkscrew turns, which banged my head back and forth against a sorry excuse for safety padding.  That ride gave me a headache (and possible concussion) that lasted the rest of the day.  After several moves and rebrands, someone wisely dismantled the coaster in the early 2000s.  Good riddance! 

Insert your own random thought here. 

 

I've been taking a short hiatus from arts and crafts.  Miss Joyce's questions put me in the mood to create some beach-themed art.  Let's see what I come up with. 

 

In case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Food and Whine" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Reset the Play Clock" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #38:  The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)

Reset the Play Clock: The Weekly Digest

 Looking out the window....

I caught this robin at Green Mountain Community Center just before he/she flew away.

Though echinacea does grow in Alabama, I've seen more of it in Colorado.
These were in pots for sale at the King Soopers.

 

I know that some people don't like them, but Ive been enjoying
the magpies around the apartment complex.

 
Saturday I visited with a friend from the quilt group and had the pleasure of enjoying all the gorgeousness in her front flower beds.

The bees are enjoying the Ice Plants

 

The caterpillar is having a happy chat with the Shasta Daisy.

I do believe that this Day Lily may be the subject of my next painting.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

While a head full of information divorced from a heart filled with passion is a great danger, the truth is, Jesus himself exalted the role of the intellect when he urged us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). -  Gary Thomas, Sacred Pathways, p. 208.

 

If we develop these habits [of virtue], we will have the interior spiritual and moral resources with which to respond righteously when we are faced with temptations of any and every sort, as Jesus was in the wilderness. - Richard J. Foster, Streams of Living Water, p. 8.

 

[Spiritual formation is defined as] the process that takes place in us, as he life of the Spirit of God transforms out life through deepening love and intimacy with Father Son, and Holy Spirit, remaking us in the likeness of Jesus Christ, in His love for the Father and the world. - R. Thomas Ashbrook, Mansions of the Heart, p. 32.

 

The sin God rebukes is not trying and failing, but failing to try. Trying, failing, and trying again is called learning. Failing to try will have no good result; evil will triumph. God expresses his opinion toward passivity in Hebrews 10:38–39: “‘But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.’ But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” - Cloud & Townsend, Boundaries, p. 102. 

 

If money is to enhance your happiness, it must be used to support aspects of life that themselves bring happiness to you. Money. It’s a good servant but a bad master. - Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project, p. 190.

 

I'm thinking about...

 

My crafting mojo: I know that I haven't posted on my craft blog for over a year.  However, I have been posting photos of my current projects on my Pinterest page, so I haven't been idle.  Keeping my hands busy has kept me sane and away from the kitchen (for the most part).  However, I'm a little burned out at the moment, especially on quilting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calm down.  Let me explain.  

 

Since I started with the Loving Stitches group more than two years ago, I've been creating with fabrics mostly within the same color families unless I buy something myself and go off the rails.  I kid you not, I've made at least four quilts and/or quilt tops containing the same fabrics.  Yes, I have a method for processing scraps that "gets all the goody" out of a piece of fabric, but I'm ready for something new.  I'm ready for some brighter, happier colors and I'm willing to go buy them myself.  

 

Throughout the next week, I'm giving myself a reset.  I'm going to put everything away, not craft for several days, then start again.  

 

I need it. 

.   

What I've read since the last digest...

• Sacred Pathways by Gary Thomas ✮✮✮✮ (Category - Glorious Reread)  
• The Dieter's Prayer Book by Heather Harpham Kopp ✮✮✮1/2 (Category - Glorious Reread):  Please see my review here. 

I'm currently reading...

• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon
  
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
• The New American Standard Bible
  

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Tis or Taint'" is here.
  
• First Line Friday #38: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. 
• Food and Whine:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop... 

Reset!

I am thankful for...

• A good report at my last eye doctor's appointment.
• New athletic shoes.  My old ones were worn slap out.
• More days lately where I feel good rather than not.
• Online tutorials for regular stuff I don't know how to do.
• A great therapist.
• Inexpensive journals.
• Flowers
• Birds
• I'm thankful that our apartment's leasing office warned us about the water being turned off for maintenance.  They didn't tell us anything last time and it wasn't pretty.