Owl-o-Ween Hodgepodge

It's a treat each week to go door-to-door, virtually speaking, through this fun little meme called the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  No costume, shoes, or warm coat required!  Thanks, Joyce, for handing out questions every week like they're candy corn. 

In my case, the answers tend more toward corn. 


Anyway ,trick or treat!


1. What's something you're dealing with that might be described as tricky?

Quilt borders.  You'd think that it would be as easy as measuring the four sides of the perimeter, right?  Well, think again.  Getting the thing squared up is job one, measuring (in three places TWICE) and then the opposite ends. Easier said than done.

2.  What's your treat of choice?

I have so many treats of choice. Yesterday my treat was a mani-pedi. Today my treat was a new pair of  hot pink flannel PJ's.



3. Did you/will you carve a jack-o-lantern this month? Which real (living or dead) or fictional 'Jack' would you most like to meet in person? Why?



I didn't carve a pumpkin, but our kids did. The one above is by our youngest son  (11) who  carved  this Oriole Bird logo jack-o-lantern.  I can't get over his drawing skills, for starters, and then to translate that iinto carving skills.  My great grandfather had artistic ability like that. He used to take a piece of tin and carve an outline of a 10-point stag using nothing but scissors. No drawing. Just tin and scissors. The genetic component of this talent never ceases to astound me. 

My daughter Sarah carved this cute owl: 


Steve and Ambrey carved a happy face together. 


Ben and Dee shared the knife to do a Ravens pumpkin. 



All together now: 





Which "Jack" would I like to meet?  

How about Hugh JACKman ???    Yum. Isn't he a treat for the eyes??   



4.  In your opinion, what's the grossest sounding word in the English language?

Pus.



 

5. When did your heart last skip a beat? 

Sunday. It was around 9:30 a.m.  I was in the shower,  and I thought I heard my husband fall outside the bathroom door.   He had been sick and dehydrated all week and we were getting ready to go to Patient First instead of church.

I heard a loud "THUMP!" and then  "Zo!"  I turned off the shower immediately, scared that my man was on the floor with a head injury. (He fainted last winter after being dehydrated, and hit face first on the kitchen floor).   But this time it was not a fall.  He thumped on the locked bathroom door, asking me if he should go alone or would I be ready soon. Strange things happen when your head is covered in shampoo and your ears are filled with water spray.

FYI: do NOT scare me and then ANNOY me or you MIGHT end up with a head injury! Just a fair warning.




6. Monster Mash by Bobby 'Boris' Picket, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon, or Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters...your favorite 'scary' tune?

Mooooooonnnnnnnsterrrrrr Maaaaasshhhhhh!  

7.   It was a dark and stormy night when Hurricane Sandy reached our town  a year ago. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

My mom is going to have outpatient surgery today for her knee and I had every intention of sitting with my dad. But he called tonight and informed me that the doctor's office brochure discourages patients from having more than one family member in the waiting room. Space http://joyce-fromthissideofthepond.blogspot.com/limitations.   That irritates me. Really does.  I wanted to be physically right beside my dad to give him comfort and company and right there for my mom when she comes out of recovery. But instead, I have to wait at home for the phone to ring.   I assured them I'd be here praying. 

Pumpkin Patch Blessings

I love it that our four kids and the boys' wives enjoy doing things together, just the six of them sometimes.  Just when my boys thought that their Mom was the only crazy female who wanted to drag them all over creation to celebrate the seasons--and bother someone for a picture on top of it---they found wives who do the same.

God's sense of humor.

Last weekend one of the daughters-in-law initiated a pumpkin patch day for the sibs. They went out to the fields and gathered some, snapped some wonderful photos, and went back to Ben's to do some carving.  (Ben is the super tall one.)   I just adore this picture and count my blessings when I see it.

Friday's Letters, the Yikes and Yucks Version, EDITED

Stupid me!!! I linked to Half Past Kissin' Time, but that is Friday Fragments, not Friday's Letters. Oh, boy , do I have egg on my middle age face right now.  I didn't realize this when I posted. My apologies to the hostesses. I don't have time to rewrite, but I will say, if my post were a cake, I'd call it Fragments Frosted with Letters.


Having issued my embarrassment paragraph by way of introduction,

here's what my UNedited version said.....



Friday's Letters from Half Past Kissin' Time is a fun meme to participate in.




Dear Blogging Friends,  I have been MIA here because I've had quite the week, medically speaking.  On Monday morning, after 10 days of escalating headaches, my pain reached an 8.5 on the 0-10 scale, there was tingling in my right arm, I couldn't take any noise or light. Tried to get a doctor appointment but they were booked solid. Patient First doctor did a quick neurological test and sent me directly to the ER for  a CT scan.  That was about 11:00 a.m. ;  I decided I was too scared to be alone. So...

Dear Hubby,  thank you for dropping everything at the office to come sit with me in the ER.  You are always what I want near me in a crisis.  By noon, the pain was at its peak, but at least I knew you were there.

Dear  Daddy, what a surprise, what a comfort to see you walk into my hospital room by 12:15. Have I ever told you how much I adore how you always dress up for hospital visits? The quintessential chaplain, you sported your suit jacket and tie  for Mama last week for her surgery, and this week for my episode.  They say a girl loves a man in uniform, and I just love the threads you rock.

Dear Diagnosis, they labeled you a  migraine.  I have to say, after losing two friends to brain cancer in the last two months, I was nervous as you-know-what to hear your name. When I couldn't knock you out in 24 hours with ibuprofen,  an ice pack ,  and a dark room, I had to take action.

Dear Nasty Stomach Bug, I say it is HIGH time to get out of my husband's life. Within hours of being released from the hospital, I have seen you level this man.  He's been a freezing cold, convulsing leaf one minute and a burning hot muffin the next.  For four days straight!  He has been seated on the throne longer than Louis XIV.


Dear Marriage Vows, the "in sickness and in health" line that were part of you? Yes, we have faithfully kept you, but much prefer the latter.  However, it sure is nice to know that covenant means something to people when the "going" gets tough. Or frequent. Or both.

Dear Nikon camera battery, I guess the orange light that tells me you're charging actually means nothing.  I went to pop you into my camera this morning to take a picture of my Middle School son dressed as a baby for Spirit Week. You wouldn't work. Zip. Zilch. Zero charge. I am guessing that after 7 years,  you signed a DNR order?    I sure did want to get a picture of Joel with that bib around his neck. We made it ourselves last night and it's rather adorable, if I say so myself.

It's Nacho Hodgepodge; It's Mine.

This is Volume 146 of the Wednesday Hodgepodge, thanks to Joyce and the crop of questions she is able to pick from her "mind fields."  (Oh, that pun bombed.)

Moving right along...

1. What was your biggest worry five years ago?  Is it still a worry? 

Losing one of my parents.   No, I have peace now. I truly believe that God will be All I Need when that time comes. 

2. Yesterday (October 15th) was National Grouch Day...what makes you grouchy? What cheers you up when you're feeling grouchy?

Too little sleep, people who sit at green lights in front of me, calling folks to the table for dinner and they don't come right away,  the neighbor's barking dog (which I've mentioned here about as often as she barks), being hungry, not understanding directions, people who take forever to make a decision, listening to too much small talk or to someone dominate a conversation. 

What cheers me up?  Comedy.  Listening to comedians on Youtube at nights till my face hurts.


3.  In one word, how does it feel to be photographed?   

Vain.


4. Besides your parents, who would you say had the greatest influence on you in choosing your life path?  Explain. 

A high school teacher, Miss Yarnall, who taught English, French, and home ec, was a missionary to Africa, was an Army nurse and (much later) the school nurse at my Christian high school .  I didn't realize at the time how much influence she had on me. She passed away last year at the age of 90. 


5. The crisp days of autumn are here ...what's something you like to eat, but only if it's crisp?

Nachos.


6. What's the most useless object you own?

My memory.   

Nah, I guess I don't OWN it. It's on loan like the rest of my parts.
Um, useless tangible object I own?   a big ole TV in my son's closet.  Too heavy for hubby and me to carry, and no one thinks about it when the buff sons are home. 

7.  Share a favorite fall memory. 

     In September of 2002, I was healed of a freak pelvic injury I sustained while giving birth to my last child--an injury that required me to use Depends, a walker, a round-the-clock nurse (ie my hubby), and a lot of pain medicine. 

     One month after my MIRACULOUS, INSTANTANEOUS, SUPERNATURAL  healing, we took a trip to New Hampshire to visit dear friends, and while there we hiked the White Mountains.  I don't think I've ever said, "Thank You, Jesus!" more times in a single day than I did that day as I  took step after step, up the mountain, down the mountain, pain free.  I hope I never forget that exhilarating gift.


8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Today, after school, after I reminded my boy to put the dishes away and his clean clothes, he did so and then plopped down at the kitchen table to do homework.  

Having just recently lost three friends in five months, I asked my   sixth grade son what legacy I'm leaving. He asked me to explain. I said, "What will you remember me for when I die?"

He thought about it and said, "For making me."   

I said, "For making you what? Do chores? Chew with your mouth closed? Hold the door for ladies?"

He said, "No. For making me.  YOU know...MAKING me?"   

Oh, the inflection with raised eyebrows cracked me up .