Party Hats: The Weekly Digest and Hodgepodge

Note:  Once again, I'm combining the digest with the hodgepodge (don't be mad Miss Joyce).  Enjoy! 

Looking out the window....

The shrub roses at the church are still blooming

I made a run to the Target in Belmar and saw these lovelies in the planters around the parking lot: 

Dahlia

This is a variety of Coleus I've not seen before.

I have a loop around our block that I walk during work breaks when the weather is nice.  These are from my most recent jaunt:

Another variety of hibiscus

These are called Autumn Joy Sedum

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

Jazz--an institution?  Perhaps it is.  After all, the Latin root for institution is statuer, which means "to put in place," or "to stand."  And in some sense that's what jazz is to me--a place to be, a place from which I can see and hear, be seen and heard. - Pastor Robert Gelinas, Finding the Groove, p. 10.

 

Lord, let me go where You lead. Let me go on Your errands, under Your command, and in the power of Your Spirit. Lord Jesus, come in with me and be my guest, and then walk out with me and cause my heart to burn while You speak with me along the way.- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 266.

 

In addition, one of the greatest boundaries you can create to stay healthy in the digital world is to have a full life. A full life is one in which you are investing your time and energy in relationships and activities that are meaningful, enjoyable, and worth engaging in. - Cloud and Townsend, Boundaries, p. 236. 

 

And that's what social media has become: people being f*ing stupid! - Robert Welsh, make-up artist and YouTuber.

 

There are two kinds of sermons that are bad: 1) the sermon that has nothing of the preacher's personality in it... and 2) the sermon that has nothing else. - Jesse Duplantis

 

I'm thinking about...

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

Are you more life of the party or more party pooper? If your answer is somewhere in the middle which side of the middle do you lean towards more? 

I lean more toward "life of the party" but not to the place where I become an attention whore.  I've seen both extremes (party pooper and attention whore) and they are quite hurtful to everyone attending.

Birthday party, beach party, cocktail party, dinner party, charity fundraiser, surprise party, costume party, garden party, Christmas party, reunion...what's your favorite kind of party? 

Any gathering where all are loved and celebrated is fine with me.  I've not attended many of these types of parties, but they sure sound fun. 

Cheese, wine, and balsamic vinegar all improve with age. What would you personally add to the list? 

I believe that a well-loved book improves with age.  I have many books, both fiction and non-fiction, that I've read multiple times (and will read again), yet the stories or information within them never gets stale but instead get better, more exciting, and/or more salient.  Some examples include:  the Bible, C. S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, and Jan Karon's Shepherd's Abiding.

How do you feel about your birthday? How do you want to be celebrated? Or don't you? 

May I be selfish here?  I enjoy getting older and don't dread birthdays.  However, traditionally my birthday celebrations have not turned out well.  The exception was the 50th birthday party that Diana threw for me three years ago, which was great. If I never have another celebration, I will relish that one for the rest of my life.

May I be practically selfish here?  I would like my birthday celebrated, but not by my own request.  What I mean is, I know that throwing my own birthday celebration will either be a crap show or incredibly lonely (Who wants to eat cake and ice cream alone and open a gift you bought for yourself?).  However, I'd like for people to want to celebrate, not feel guilted into it.

Photo from my DC trip in 1990.

What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birthday and month? Not necessarily your same birth year, just the same date/month. 

The Lincoln Memorial was dedicated on May 30, 1922.  

Share two good things about your life right now. 

See the "I am thankful for..." section below.  

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

• The Oxford Inklings by Colin Duriez ✮✮✮✮  
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan ✮✮✮1/2
• Dorothy L. Sayers by Colin Duriez  ✮✮✮✮  

I'm currently reading...

• Finding the Groove by Robert Gelinas
• Persuasion by Jane Austen
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Let's Groove Tonight'" is here. 
• My previous hodgepodge, "Puppy Power" 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...

Speaking of celebrations...

 

I completed my 25 for 2025 goal of creating 100 cards for Cards for Kindness.

I am thankful for...

• All the beautiful flowers I've seen this spring and summer.  I'm hoping we have a real fall with all the colors here in Colorado this year.
• Air-popped popcorn.  
• My beta fish, Freddi, is still hanging in there.  I've had him for three years and he's nearly at the end, but still kicking...slowly, but kicking.
• Good insurance. 
• The great sermons our church leaders have been presenting while our lead pastor has been on sabbatical.  I'm also thankful that our lead pastor can take such a rest.  He's going to be shucking the corn when he gets back in October.    

Puppy Power: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

  

What gives you energy? What takes it away? 

What gives me energy (not an exhaustive list and in no particular order): 

• 
  Spending time with God
• Caffeine 
• Laughter - laughing myself or hearing others (especially children) laugh
• Creativity
• Music (whether I'm listening to it or playing it)
• A good mix of people time and solitude (I'm an ambivert)
• The sight, smell, and feel of craft or school supplies
• Morning showers
• Rest/naps

What zaps my energy (again not an exhaustive list and in no particular order): 

• Toxic people
• Too much junk food
• Winter
• Meetings that serve no purpose
• Depression
• Big crowds at the store where no one moves and every aisle is blocked
• Dehydration
• Being too hot or too cold
• Headaches
• Too much screen time 

How often do you shop for clothes? What accessory do you always wear? 

I don't buy clothes on a set schedule.  Because I still losing weight (hallelujah), I'm slowly replacing items as needed.  The end of this month, I'll most likely hit the thrift store and other familiar haunts to hunt for cold weather clothes and shoes.  The accessory I always wear is earrings.  I know, it's not really a clothing accessory, but I don't wear belts at all and only wear scarves or hats when it's cold (unless it's Easter). 

What's something free that you feel grateful for? 

My salvation in Christ, for one (free, but definitely not cheap).  That makes the other free things like fresh air, clean water, library books, and living in a free country all the more precious.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner...which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What's your go-to comfort food? 

I'm working to enjoy each meal rather than seeing eating as a necessary evil or cooking for one as a wasteful chore. Right now, I think breakfast is my favorite because I can have it any time (not just the breakfast hour).  Can cereal be considered a comfort food even if it's grown up good-for-you cereal?

Insert your own random thought here. 

n case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Scraps and Such 04" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Let's Groove Tonight" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #38:  The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. Note: I have completed the volume, so this post also contains the "last thoughts" section.
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)

Let's Groove Tonight: The Weekly Digest and Hodgepodge

NOTE:  This week I am combining my (semi-) weekly digest with my (semi-) weekly hodgepodge.  See the "I am thinking about" section for a few of this week's hodgepodge questions.  

Looking out the window....

These Rubber Rabbitbrush plants were outside the 
Green Mountain Rec Center.

 

I've been meaning to get in a walk at Union Square Park before the summer flower beds stopped blooming. I finally made it.

These are called Scabiosa, or Pincushion flowers.

 

I never tire of photographing hibiscus flowers...

 

...or black-eyed Susans...

...or daisies.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

We have here an ever-living gospel, as full of life as when it first came from the lips of God. It is as strong to convince and convert, to regenerate and comfort, and to sustain and sanctify as ever it was in its first days of working wonders. We have an unchanging gospel that is not green grass today and dry hay tomorrow, but is always the abiding truth of the immutable God. Opinions change, but truth certified by God can no more change than the God who uttered it.- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 255.

 

God will never alter the terms of His relationship with us. - Pastor Randy Conway, Table Mountain Baptist Church, 8/31/25 AM service.

 

"Just the way we want it" is not a bad paraphrase for "amen."  What is needed at the end of this great prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is a ringing affirmation of the goodness of God and God's world.  If your nerves can take it, you might (occasionally?) try "Whoopee!"  I imagine God himself will not mind. - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 269.

 

I'm thinking about...

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

"Sober alkies are often asked, ‘When did you hit rock bottom?’ But a more informed question might be, ‘How many times did you hit rock bottom?'" - American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson 

What's your number one food pet peeve? 

About food or involving food?   Well, I've already gone on a rant here about food fads, so I'm not going there again today.  My biggest pet peeve involving food is people who smack loudly, chew with their mouths open, or worse, go on camera and turn eating into a grotesque freak show for dollars (one of MANY reasons I avoid TikTok like the plague--I care too much about my brain).

What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

My musical tastes are pretty much the same.  I enjoy many genres and eras of music, but the sounds of the 70s and 80s are still my go-to.  If you look at my Happy 911 playlist on Spotify, a good bit of it is both Christian and secular music from the 80s.  That's my groove right there!

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

• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ✮✮✮1/2 
• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard ✮✮✮✮ (Please see my "first thoughts" and "last thoughts" on this book here.

I'm currently reading...

• Finding the Groove by Robert Gelinas
• The Oxford Inklings by Colin Duriez 
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Almost Autumn'" is here. 
• My previous hodgepodge, "Scraps and Such 04" 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...

 

I am thankful for...

• Insulated tumblers that don't cost as much as two weeks worth of groceries and a tank of gas to purchase.
• A successful "gym rat" summer.
• A good report at my recent physical.
• Getting to see my friends at Table Mountain Baptist.
• Easy to follow YouTube tutorials. 
• Free air at the tire store down the street from my apartment.  Also thankful for the tech who showed me how to use the air myself in case they were too busy to do it. 
• Rice cakes (both flavored and plain).
• God continuing to provide pretty papers and supplies with which to make cards. 
• Businesses that still take checks.
• Enjoying my first class of the year.  I'll be teaching the course again in a few weeks.