Begin the Beguine

It is so good to be back with the Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Thank you Joyce for these interesting questions to begin our new year.

1. Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

Yes, I am ready for new.  New what, I'm not sure, but I am ready to begin a new year with all the anticipation that a new beginning brings.  It will be different in that we will do less traveling this year and our focus will no longer be on celebrating a specific event; however, I hope we don't lose that excitement of now being married 51 years.  I hope we can spend 2016 celebrating what God is doing not only in our lives but in the lives of our family and friends.  Yes, I look forward to new beginnings and the continuation of good things from 2015.

2. January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

Two of my grand girls have mastered Snapchat and I had hoped for lessons, but time ran out for that.

3. It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, and general uselessness) in 2016. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-  
So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality
 
Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

Most of these are not mis-used in my world, some are not even used, and some I'm not familiar with  such as "vape".  Using the word "so" to begin a sentence is aggravating to me and probably something I do occasionally use.  The one word I would like to see banished is inserting "like" within a sentence fifteen times.  Now, that is like useless to me.

4. Share one of your current health related goals.

While visiting our son and his family, I had a Cervical MRI which showed a pretty bad, messed up neck.  Arthritis and stenosis are not a good combination.  While there, I had an epidural injection.  So, one of my health related goals is to continue doing the PT and massage therapy on my neck, along with other exercises and hopefully, keep my neck from getting too much worse.

5. Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe?  Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

I am not a big fan of gray.  I find it rather cold when used in a large amount in home decor.  I much prefer the warmer tones.  I am doing all I can on a monthly basis to keep the gray out of my hair, and have only one gray suit.  I do like it so wear more becoming colors near my face when wearing it.  I do love the color used in weddings.  In fact, my granddaughter used a pewter for her wedding last May and it was so elegant, as seen on Cassidy below.

"The old gray mare" is certainly not what she used to be.  It is so frustrating to realize I can no longer do some of the things I did just a year ago.  This doesn't keep me from trying, but I will never be able to do certain things again.  But, that's alright!

6. Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

We do not eat any of the traditional New Year's foods you listed to bring in the new year.  Because we are Louisianans, we usually have a gumbo for New Year's Eve and it is always better the second day.

Black-eyed peas is one of my favorites any time of the year.

7. What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year?

I don't consider it a waste of time, but I probably spend more time reading than I probably should.  I can really get caught up in a good book and easily lose track of time.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

As you may or may not know, we spent Christmas week in the Bahamas with our son and his family to watch our grandson play in the Popeye's Bahamas Bowl.  And we WON!

Hubby and I and some other team family members were interviewed by Kalamazoo newsmen and featured on their news cast.  Click the link below.  How fun was that!
Bronco players, parents in Bahamas getting ready for big game

It was a wonderful time with family in this beautiful place.  I will show more pictures in another post, but this is our bunch after the game with our Big Boy left guard, #65 who played a great game.

Way to go Broncos!