Wednesday Hodgepodge

I am participating in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge with a heavy heart as my grandmother passed away just a couple of hours ago (on Tuesday, when I wrote this post). I am feeling a little melancholy and nostalgic.

What is something in your life right now that feels a little 'hodgepodge'?

Our weekend plans. The kids and I had plans to go to Oklahoma this weekend for our annual trip to see Santa, to celebrate Christmas with Rick's family, to visit friends, and attend Rick's company Christmas party. We look forward to this weekend every year. We get to stay in a hotel and eat out and have lots of fun. But we are also trying to arrange my grandmother's funeral around everyone's schedule which is a little tricky. My mom has asked me to officiate at her service (it's a family-only service). So I am a little out of sorts not knowing if we can keep our plans or need to alter them. It's also a little hard to have a celebratory weekend in the midst of the loss of a beloved family member.

What does 'peace on earth, goodwill to men' mean to you?

For me it's just caring about people and doing all we can to promote peace wherever we are. This time of year that is extremely easy to do or exceptionally hard. So we should be especially mindful of it as we go about our days.

Which edible treat are you most looking forward to sampling this December?

Stuffing and noodles. We had them for Thanksgiving and we will have them again for Christmas. I could eat them every single day. Comfort holiday food at its best.

It's that most wonderful time of the year ... do you agree, and if so why is it so wonderful? If not, what would you say is the most wonderful time of the year?

"It's that most exciting time of the year ..." With birthday celebrations, Christmas, and the hope of snow, my kids are bursting at the seams at all times. For me personally, however, it's not my most wonderful time of the year. Mine is early spring or fall. Spring makes me so excited with all of the newness! I love to plant and see everything turn green and pretty. The warmer spring temps are so refreshing. Then fall is my happy time with the coolness following a, typically, hot summer. The pretty colors, sights, and smells of fall make me feel so happy. This time of year is really just a big 'ol blur and by the end of it I am exhausted.

What was the last word you looked up in a dictionary (actual or online) and why?

Shoot. I have thought and thought about his and can't remember. I do look up words online pretty often, but I cannot for the life of me remember the last one (or any one, for that matter).

Besides a Christmas tree, what is your favorite thing to decorate this time of year?

Can my inner-Scrooge come out and say that I loathe Christmas decorating? I just don't see the sense in it! I have said for the past 20 years that if I didn't have kids I wouldn't even put up a Christmas tree. It is a lot of work. Then I have to spend another full day taking it all down again. This year we only put up a tree and our stockings. I am trying to keep things as simple as possible. If I had to pick one thing I do enjoy decorating with it would be the countdown chain we make every year. We include Eli's birthday and the kids get really excited each night when they tear off a link and yell out the number of days until his special day and Christmas day.

Share one thing you have learned (about yourself, people, or anything at all) in the Wednesday Hodgepodge, or through blogging in general.

I have been blogging since 2007. I used to really put my opinions out there on my blog. Some people liked it, some didn't. I made friends and lost friends because of being outspoken about my feelings. Throughout the past couple of years I have posted very few opinions on my blog. In fact, I stopped posting on my other blog, Taulman Times, because I just didn't have it in me anymore. I do a LOT of thinking and I have a LOT of opinions. I just don't really care enough to share many of them anymore. I try to keep this blog more about the positive growths of my family. So I think I really enjoy Wednesday Hodgepodge because it gives me a chance to dig into some of my opinions and share them.

Insert your own random thought here.

Like I said at the opening of my post, my grandmother passed away today. She had been in poor health for several years and was living in the nursing home here in our hometown. She had a lot of trouble breathing and really deteriorated in her quality of living in the past year. Her actual passing happened very quickly, however, so I was not able to tell her one last time how much I loved her. She wouldn't have been able to hear me as she was on morphine, but I still had a few things I wanted to tell her .... like how much I appreciated her getting up early every Sunday morning to prepare for her Sunday School class she taught at church and then taking us to Sunday School every week; and how much I cherish the Saturday nights we spent with her when we were kids watching Love Boat and Fantasy Island and playing Double Solitaire; and how she is my favorite grandparent; and how much I appreciate her words of wisdom about how to be a good wife; and how I cannot think of one moment in my life when I have ever been mad at her or upset with her. She was a tough old broad but there is no doubt in my mind how much she loved me and how proud she always was of me. I am so grateful for the 91 years of her life and her involvement in mine. Rest in Peace, Grandma. Breathe easy! Hug Jesus for me.

This is one of my favorite pictures of my grandma from several years ago.
My grandma was always tickled to see the kids. Her birthday was on
St. Patrick's Day so we always came to see her, all decked out in our green,
 to wish her a happy day. She will definitely be on my heart
for every St. Patrick's Day for the rest of my life.