Saturday 9 Questions & Answers

So Emotional

Saturday 9: So Emotional (1987)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.


1) Whitney sings that she keeps her lover's photo beside her bed. What's on your bedside table?

Lamp, candle stand, a wedding picture and a recent one of my husband and me, a jewelry box and devotional book

2) She's getting frustrated, waiting for the phone to ring. If your phone were to ring right now, who would you expect to be on the other end?

Probably my sister.

3) The video was filmed at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, PA. It seats 6,200. As the nation reopens from Covid19, would you feel comfortable sitting knee-to-knee with a stranger in an arena like this?

Yes I would.

4) This week's featured artist, Whitney Houston, appeared on the daytime drama As The World Turns. She played herself, performing with Jermaine Jackson at the Miss Cinderella contest in the fictional town of Oakdale. Have you ever been hooked on a soap opera?

Never hooked although I did watch some many years ago.  I can't even remember the names of them.

5) Whitney had a sweet tooth, and her favorite breakfast cereal was Fruity Pebbles. Do you often eat cereal for lunch or dinner?

I may occasionally have a bowl at night but not often.  Never for lunch.

6) At Whitney's wedding to Bobby Brown, her bridesmaids all wore lavender dresses and the groomsmen had custom made alligator shoes. Have you ever "stood up" for a friend or relative? If so, do you remember what you wore?

Interesting but I have never been a bridesmaid.  I have sung for several weddings but have never been an attendant.

7) In 1987, the year this song was popular, Cher won the Oscar for Moonstruck. Her most famous line was, "Snap out of it!" When you think of Cher, do you first think of her movies, her TV show, or her music?

To be really honest, Cher never crosses my mind unless I happen to see a picture of her or have to answer a question about her; therefore, none of the above.

8) Michael Douglas won the Oscar that year for Wall Street. His most famous line was, "Greed is good." His character goes on to say that, "Greed in all its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of all mankind." Do you agree?

Greed?  If this word were to be used as a hunger or desire for all these things, then yes I would agree.  On the other hand, there is and has always been so much greed in our society and it could very well be that this has been the most motivating factor.  I still prefer to think of it as humanity's desire and hunger for something better that has pushed mankind to accomplish so much.

9) Random question: When you woke up this morning, were you ready to get out of bed? Or do you wish you could have snoozed for a bit longer?

I was ready to get up although it would have been nice if I could have slept later.  I try to do my 4 plus miles before daylight while it's quiet and the streets aren't busy.

This is the linear path in my neighborhood that is part of my walk in the dark every morning.

Laboring In Love

Join us at Joyce's place to see how all the Hodgepodgers answered the following questions.

From This Side of the Pond

1. Something you've done in recent days or months that might be described as a labor of love?

Laboring in love is more like what I do.  Because I love, I do certain things such as wash my husbands dirty underwear and workout clothes, keep the house clean and neat, and de-weed the flower beds.  I really can't think of anything that I do that would be considered laborious and a drudgery.

2. Last time you 'worked your fingers to the bone'?

At the risk of sounding super lazy, I just do not work that hard.  There were times when we were young and I worked outside along side Dick with yard work or doing an addition to our house.  When I worked outside the home, there were tasks, events and occasions that required long hours and a lot of stress, but it didn't involve physical labor.

3. According to a recent survey people named the following ten jobs as the hardest-nurse, doctor, paramedic, police officer, firefighter, surgeon, healthcare worker, bomb squad, farmer, and prison warden. Of the jobs listed which would you say is the hardest?

In this current climate, I would say police officer.  Can you imagine what it must be like to put on that uniform every day not knowing whether you will come home, or what kind of hate and disrespect you will face?

But, probably the hardest job labor wise is a farmer.  Their work never ends.  Sadly, this is another group that gets less and less respect these days.

The one you'd most like to do?

My childhood dream was to be a doctor until I realized math was involved.  LOL!  Seriously, I don't want to do any of them at this point.

Least like to do?

Prison Warden

What's one job you would add to the list?

A church pastor

4. A recipe you make that is labor intensive, but worth it?

I don't make labor intensive food!  If there are very many steps to a recipe, then forget it.  I cook well and the food is always eatable and enjoyable, but never labor intensive.

5. Last job you did or task you completed that required teamwork?

That would be the party we did for Dick's 80th birthday a couple weeks ago.  My daughter and granddaughters and I all had tasks that fit our skill set and it came off without a hitch.  In fact, it was perfect!

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

I hosted a group of ladies for a brunch Tuesday morning.  It was such a lovely and enjoyable time.  Check back next Monday to hear all about it.

This will give you a preview.

We all need to hear about good things around us.  Sometimes we feel that there is little going on that is really good and encouraging.  The following story is a beautiful example that there is still goodness and kindness out there.  How can we also be that example to a hurting world?

Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was just a few feet from the finish line, but became confused with the signage and stopped, thinking he had completed the race. A Spanish runner, Ivan Fernandez, was right behind him and, realizing what was happening, started shouting at the Kenyan to continue running. Mutai didn't know Spanish and didn't understand. Realizing what was taking place, Fernandez pushed Mutai to victory.

A journalist asked Ivan, "Why did you do that?" Ivan replied, "My dream is that someday we can have a kind of community life where we push and help each other to win."

The journalist insisted "But why did you let the Kenyan win?" Ivan replied, "I didn't let him win, he was going to win. The race was his." The journalist insisted, and again asked, "But you could have won!" Ivan looked at him and replied, "But what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honor in that medal?

What would my Mother think of that?"

Values are passed on from generation to generation.

What values are we teaching our children?

Let us not teach our kids the wrong ways and means to WIN.
Instead, let us pass on the beauty and humanity of a helping hand. Because honesty and ethics are WINNING!

A Rambling Monday

It just feels like a good time to ramble a bit about what has been going on.

Weekend before last when we went to Dallas, we did more than just eat and party.

Granddaughter Cassidy moved into the cutest little apartment several months ago and we were overdue a visit.

Her building is in the Turtle Creek area of downtown Dallas.  It is a very quaint area and does have an interesting reputation that we won't go into here.  Her building is old dating back to pre-Prohibition days.  There are still the tin ceiling tiles in places, but the apartments have been completely remodeled in recent years.

The rug and the art work on the wall, which is exemplary of all her trips abroad, were the inspiration for her color scheme.

Cassidy took her time picking out all the just-right furnishings and I was thrilled to be part of some of the shopping.  She has such a great sense of style and composition, which makes me so happy.

There is so much natural light that it was difficult to get very good pictures.  She did the two paintings that are yet to hung, but will be lovely over her headboard.

I loved the little vignettes she has created that bring so much personality to her little home.

It is tiny, efficient and totally perfect for Cassidy.

Afterward, we went to the neatest place.  The "Thrift Studio," a pop-up shop,  could take hours to really go through and see every thing.  (It didn't take Dick near that long.  LOL!  Their purpose is to provide a huge designer furniture and decor sale to benefit "Dwell With Dignity," whose mission is to help families escape poverty and homelessness through design; one household at a time.

This happened to be their opening day.

Top designers from across the city donate home decor and furniture that is sold at least 60% off.

100% of the sales go to the non-profit DwD.

The pop-up will go until Sept. 26th and prices, though rather high the day we were there, will continue to drop , so there could be some extremely good deals toward the close date.

This cutie was not for sale!

The art work was amazing!

For anyone living in the Turtle Creek area, or anyone not afraid to drive in downtown Dallas traffic, there could be some amazing deals to be found.

This pouting figure on one of the Dallas streets seems to sum up the feelings of many during these crazy days.

While we were partying in Dallas, Jackson had his own party going in Northern Indiana.  Friends gave him a Handy Man Shower which was the most perfect thing they could have planned.  He and McKenna are currently rehab'ing the house they have bought and will make their home after the October wedding.  Are they not the cutest?

Not a current picture

Dick and I celebrated his birthday by having several couples over for dinner on Tuesday evening.

Not a current picture

Then on Friday night, we celebrated our 55th anniversary by dining out at a wonderful local restaurant with some of our closest friends.  We enjoyed the food which was amazing and the music complimented the whole evening.

On Sunday, we closed out our week of celebrating by having after-church lunch at a hole-in-the-wall place out in the country, known for their delicious food and down home atmosphere.  Needless to say, that plate of fried catfish fillets will be good for several meals.

That is about as random as it gets around here.

May you enjoy and be safe on your Labor Day!

Happy Birthday Post

Since it's Wednesday we are joining Joyce for another week of answering questions.

1. The Hodgepodge lands on the second day of a brand new month. Tell us one thing you're looking forward to in September.

I am going to go back to Dallas at some point to stay with Ava Grace while her parents take a little trip.  I can't wait.

2. Do you enjoy browsing second-hand shops? Last thing you bought or 'inherited' second hand?

Yes I do.  The last thing I bought was several pairs of pants and shorts at a lady's consignment shop, at the beginning of summer.

3. Something you had second thoughts about after committing to, purchasing, or posting/commenting  online?

I often had second thoughts about some of my FB comments and that is why I took a long break from doing any posting or commenting.  I think the last thing I had second thoughts about was a comment I made to a friend.  It probably wasn't really necessary.

4. What's a product or service you use that you'd rate as second to none?

A product would probably be our Instapot.

A service would definitely be our dentist nephew.  He is the very best and in fact Little Rock has chosen him as the most outstanding cosmetic dentist in the city several times. 

Smile Arkansas

5. Something you do so often or that comes so naturally to you it's second nature ?

Taking my morning meds

Wearing my teeth splints at night

Saying grace before eating

Reaching out for Dick's hand when I get into bed

6. Insert your own random thought here

Last night we hosted three other couples for Dick's birthday dinner.  Because our eating space is a bit limited, I set up two tables - one for the men and the other for the women.  This also aids in conversation.

Happy Birthday, my love!

Loving Bunch of Folks

There was no social distancing with our family last weekend.  In fact, we are the smoochingest bunch you can imagine.  For example:

Lots of love was going around all over the place.

There was also a lot of posing for the camera.

Cassidy wearing the "Cassidy" - a cute original outfit named for her

Needless to say, a good time was had by all.