Hodgepodge + Currently

Linking up with Joyce for her hodgepodge questions-

 1. What's a task you do on a regular (or semi-regular basis) that feels like it should be an Olympic event? 

Maybe making dinner? That answer so banal/ basic, not to mention, there are many ways to make dinner. For example, making dinner can be as easy as throwing a frozen meal in the oven. I guess I am talking about making a healthy meal mostly from scratch that everyone likes. THAT is no easy task and pulling it off can feel like winning gold at the Olympics! (Or what I think winning a medal may feel like. I am never going to win one so suffice it to say that I will never know the feeling of winning a medal at the Olympics :)). 

2. What's in the trunk of your car right now? 

I always keep an umbrella, a small blanket and a jacket or sweatshirt. I hate being cold so 

I like to have cold busting options when I am away from home. My car has a built in first aid kit in the 

trunk. I have never used it and often forget that it is there. I recently vacuumed my trunk and the 

first aid kit caught my eye. It has some good things in it- hopefully they will never be needed...

3. Summer foods vs. fall foods...which do you prefer? 

Would you rather-watermelon or caramel apple? iced coffee or pumpkin spiced latte? potato salad or sweet potato casserole? barbecued ribs or roast turkey? ice cream sandwich or apple pie? corn on the cob or candy corn? 

Caramel apple, no coffee is the best coffee, too close to call on potato salad or sweet potato

 casserole (I like them both quite a bit), roast turkey, apple pie, punting on the last one because the food 

genres are different :). I like them both. 

4. August 7th is National Lighthouse Day. Have you visited any lighthouses? Do you have a favorite? Is a lighthouse something you seek out if you're visiting an area known for theirs? 

Yes, I have visited a few lighthouses. In 2022, I visited (went inside) two lighthouses and saw a third 

one but couldn't go inside it. In March, Alyssa and I were in northern Florida for spring break. On 

route to visiting a friend in Port Orange, we stopped in St. Augustine mainly to see an iconic lighthouse there. 

I did seek out the lighthouse there! It was pretty; I'm glad we stopped and went up in it. 

In June of 2022, we all went to Maine and saw the iconic lighthouse in Port Williams. We could not go 

inside of it. 

In October of 2022, I met my sister (who lives in Canada) at Erie, Pennsylvania. We spent some time at nearby Presque Isle where we went into one of the lighthouses there. We did not seek this out- it was a bonus of being on the peninsula!

I think my favorite one is the Presque Isle lighthouse. The inside had fascinating information about the Great Lakes. 

5. Light at the end of the tunnel, out like a light, give the green light, a lightbulb moment, in a new light, in the limelight...of the 'light' idioms listed which applies in some way to your life lately? Explain. 

The light at the end of the tunnel- meals are about ready to get a whole lot easier! I will miss the girls at the dinner table when they go to college. However, I won't miss too much making meals to satisfy everyone's preference/ food idiosyncrasies. Alyssa, whom I lovingly refer to as La Petite Fussy One is just that. She *feels* food the most. She loves to eat the food that she loves, enjoys those foods, talks about them, compliments me highly when I make something she loves, etc. But then when there is something she doesn’t like, oh, I hear about that as well.  

Donnie is not fussy at all! There are a few things that I've made that he didn't care for but the good thing is that he will eat it anyway and just calmly relate that it wasn't his favorite. He and I will both eat leftovers for days!! I picture making a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week... and not making much thereafter for the week until it's Friday night pizza. I won't do that every week but definitely plan to do it some.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I had to drive a car today that didn’t have a back up camera. I should add that I had to go in reverse a decent bit in a car with no back up camera. I started to feel some anxiety- I am so used to backing up with the aid of a back up camera. I told myself to suck it up, buttercup! I had to deal with reversing with no back up camera for years and years! It´s just that I had gotten so accustomed to that aid. Well, I did it and didn’t hit any object!

Next, linking up with Jennifer for Currently

Currently loving, looking forward to, dreading, eating and buying in August

Loving: the garden and its produce- to date, I have picked 26 tomatoes (they have been really small, who knows why?), 5 zucchinis, 17 jalapenos and 6 cucumbers. (Yes, I document each veggie that I pick!!) Many more of all variety are almost ripe. I have started to give away produce. Tomatoes I can turn into sauce but not sure what to do with the overabundance of other veggies except to give them away.  I have already made bread two or three times and brownies once with the zuccs. 

Small suburban plot of land problems aka gardening with HVAC unit close by...

A trellis by any other name...

The leaves are huge!

It’s a veritable jungle in there (underneath the zucchini leaves)

‘Lil tomatoes about ready to be made into sauce

Made the first batch of the season the day before we left for Florida.

Yesterday’s morning haul. I ended up bring in more of each by the evening.

Looking forward to: Donnie has a BIG birthday in August. We have one celebration planned but I'm sure there will be more than one by the time it's all said and done.

Dreading: Sending the girls off to college. The house is going to be so quiet and who is going to complain about what I make for dinner?? (See above)  Kidding, sort of. 

Eating: A mixture of things from good tasting to good for you. Alyssa has been requesting meals that she wants me to make before she leaves for college. So, recently I made chicken pot pie. It's something that I only make every two months or so, so it is unlikely I will make this again before she leaves (though I will if she expressly asks for it again, of course!). 

Have been eating pizza both homemade and from Sam's Club. Donnie and I have been doing our Sam's Club run near lunch time on Saturdays so that we can enjoy a cheap date at the food court :).

Homemade is my favorite...

I have been making zucchini bread and zucchini brownies. The latter turned out pretty good- they were very moist, and they tasted good. They just didn't taste decadent like traditional brownies. We all agree that we like zucchini bread much better. 

And a little fast food- picnic outside with my best teenager. We got the $5 meal deal. I traded my nuggets for her drink 🤭

Buying: Great timing on this prompt: Ohio's sales tax free holiday is going on right now. The holiday is for all items up to $500. We have been buying things for the backyard project, for the girls heading to school and just life in general. The better question is what haven’t we been buying??

We’ve already unboxed a lot of what we have purchased recently. Regarding the Target boxes, I went for about six years without buying anything from them. I didn’t buy from them because I disagree with the political ideology that Target’s products promote. Target has, thanks to many conservatives’ boycotts and social media expose of the products, back pedaled a little. And I think they’ve stopped a clothing collaboration with a Satanist? (And yes, just typing that last sentence makes me sad for the indication of a civilization on the decline- that a store would ever collaborate with a Satanist portends sadly/poorly for the West.) I do plan on the purchases that I made at Target to be a one-off. Alyssa really wanted some things from Target for college. 

To end on a more positive note: Currently my favorite flower- this is part of the zucchini plant :).