Hodgpodging A Holiday

 

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July, celebrating the good old U.S.A.  On the past weekend, we had family here, so on the actual Fourth, we spent without family and instead walked the Red Cedar Trail in Menomonie. It was a gorgeous day for it!

The following are a few pics from when some of the family was here and we took the kids to Sand Creek, WI, where there's a beautiful, wadable creek (about which I've written in the past.)

 Sand Creek, Wisconsin

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 312

Click HERE to join Joyce and the Gang

for Hodgepodge Wednesday.

Happy July 4th Hodgepodgers! And if you're joining in from outside the US of A, then happy Tuesday! Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then jump back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors.

Also, there's a little something going on with Photo Bucket right now causing my button (and thousands of other bloggers buttons, headers, content, etc ) to look a little funny. Until my IT department aka Daughter1 gets it sorted it's fine to just link to my blog without the button this week.

Here we go-

1. When and where were the best fireworks you've ever seen? Speaking of fireworks...do you know your hot buttons? The things people can say and/or do to set you off? When was the last time someone pushed one of your hot buttons?

Barron, Wisconsin. Because we were there with friends and had lots of popcorn and Twizzlers and the kids were playing games in the school yard. Hot buttons? People who leave their dogs outdoors in HOT or FREEZING weather and who don't provide fresh water for them and don't take them for walks. People who don't scoop their cats' litter boxes every day (or more often). People who tell me I'm obsessive about my pets. LOL  Actually, life has been pretty calm lately, no hot buttons pushed in the recent past. People are getting smarter, I guess. :-) Except for Wisconsin Public Television and Wisconsin Public Radio who seem obsessed with gender identity, fluidity, etc. etc. etc. What is the deal anyway?? 

 And don't they look thrilled that Grandma's taking their picture!

2. Have you hosted any outdoor summer parties this year? Attended any? What makes for a great outdoor party?

When I read this week's Hodgepodge questions, I wondered if this was the week I clue you all in to the fact that I really am a boring person (in case any among you hasn't yet caught on). Parties aren't my thing. Occasionally I'll host a party, but haven't done so in a long time. A great outdoor party is one that is far enough away that I don't have to hear it and one I'm not obligated to attend. On the other hand, I do love visiting with one or two or a few people at a time.

 Tending to the bluegills,

Taking them to the garden pond.

3. What does freedom mean to you?

Freedom means, first and foremost, freedom in King Jesus, who gives me freedom from guilt, shame, and fear, freedom from sin and death. As Lord of the Universe, he lives and reigns today and forever, and I love the freedom that I have to be myself and not have to prove anything to anyone, that I am completely acceptable to God because of Jesus. And I love the joy that freedom brings me every single day.

Secondly, freedom means freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, etc. which are precious and which need to be protected from overzealous legislators who would like to make a law about everything.

 Yes, we need to get the lattice installed.

4. July is National Cell Phone Courtesy month...what annoys you most about people's cell phone habits?

Of course, the thing that bothers me the most is talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. The other thing is when I'm in a store and someone is walking around, getting their groceries or whatnot and talking (loudly) on their phones so that everyone is informed of their business.

5. What's your current summer anthem?

Anthem? Is this another trend that I'm not privy to?? 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

          

Over the weekend we played Monopoly with the kids. I'm not the best player because I wait to buy particular properties, such as Piccadilly and Strand and Trafalgar, rather than being strategic about the whole thing. It's why I'm terrible at Scrabble: I'm working at constructing a GREAT word while everyone else is winning because they're putting down boring little four letter words. Sigh.

ANYWAY, that's not what I was going to tell you. This little boy in the photos above wanted to play Monopoly. It ended up being played on parts of two days. He is a real trooper. As you can see in the first frame, he is quite glum about having to pay rent to a greedy, meany landlord and he has no property. He's sure he's going to lose.

The last frame shows a happy boy who is winning, who I think got all of Grandma's Monopolies (yellow and red cards) at the end. He was a delight to play Monopoly with and has an incredible attention span.

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