Hodgepodging Insomnia

 Getting the Christmas Tree


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1.  What's something blogging has taught you about yourself?

I find blogging to be much more difficult with cats than with dogs.

Tommy, inserting himself into the conversation

2.  Leftovers...are you in the 'reheat and eat' camp or the 'put them in the fridge until they spoil and then toss them' camp? What's your favorite thing to have leftover? What can you not abide as a leftover?

I'm totally in the reheat and eat camp, as long as the leftovers don't get shoved to the back of the refrigerator and resurface later with fur on them.  I try to keep track of leftovers, but sometimes... I mean, when the refrigerator has a ton of produce in it, it's not that easy! ANYway, my favorite thing to have leftover is beef pepper steak. What I can't abide as a leftover is anything eggy. Ewww.

 View from Highway O

3. 'Me time'...your thoughts?

My 'me time' is divided between 'God and me time' and 'cats and me time' - in that order. I read a lot during the day - and again at night when I can't get to sleep or stay asleep. My brother told me that he read that sleep deprivation is the No. 1 factor (even above diet and exercise!) in predicting (or getting?) dementia. I wish I could figure out a way to sleep more and better. I also pray when I can't sleep, so at least that's a good thing. Now you know what I'm doing in the wee hours between 3:30 and 5:30, or for about two hours after I've had five hours of sleep. I then usually get another hour or so of sleep after that, before Tommy wakes me. What would be my favorite thing to do during 'me time'? Find answers.

An old barn near Hayward, WI

4. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with?

I think they simply want someone who will listen to them, someone they know they can trust not to take the conversation beyond the two of us. And maybe someone who will help them mull things over and see things from a different perspective.

 Sunrise on November 28, 2017
The heavens declare the glory of God

5. If your childhood had a smell what would it be? Tell us why.

Well oddly enough, the first thing that came to mind was the solution used in the milking parlor to dip cows' teats in before putting the milkers on them. That iodine? smell mixed with whatever other cleaning stuff was going on in the barn. And probably cow bodies mixed in. For someone who spent little time in the barn except for occasionally doing milk dishes, it's remarkable that it was my very first 'smell' memory after reading that question. My second would be furniture polish. I was the designated polisher and had that job every Saturday morning before I could go play. I don't know what my younger sister was doing during that time, but maybe cleverly escaping Saturday morning chores. I might have been watching cartoons while dusting the living room furniture very, very slowly.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

So far I have the Advent wreath ready and waiting, the real Christmas tree on the porch up and lit, a star that a friend gave me last year is hanging on the porch wall, and the little fake tree is up in the living room. I have it decorated with lights only, but will probably take them down until the family is here at Christmas. Why? Because Tommy and Smokey enjoy getting into the tree, dragging the strings of lights down, etc. I really don't mind.

From anglicanpastor.com: 

THE WAR ON ADVENT:

"You have heard of the supposed War on Christmas. But the real war is not about whether retailers use the word Christmas during December or not. In fact it is not even the Christmas season until Christmas day anyway. The real war is happening in many American churches. Its not a war on Christmas, its a war on Advent, and I want to enlist you on the Advent side. We need an Advent army that fights not with boycotts or browbeating, but with an invitation to a quieter, older path." READ entire article.

The chimes went wild yesterday.

***

Smokey, watching me make supper

I hope you're having a great week, everyone!

***

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December 8 through December 17.

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It's the Hodgepodge, Thankfully!

 Thanksgiving (October) 2016 hayride
Our non-traditional Early Thanksgiving
This is the difference between celebrating Thanksgiving mid October
and celebrating it early November, (cold, drizzly, yukky) as we did this year.
Hopefully we can go back to October for next year.


Join Joyce and the Gang
for

She writes the questions;

we write the answers.

Plug them into your own blog post

and Join in!

Thanks, Joyce!

1. Tradition...how tightly do you cling to tradition when it comes to holiday gatherings and celebrations? For instance do you always do the cooking, never eat at home, always go to grandma's, never miss the parade, always watch football, never change the menu, always eat at 2 PM, etc.? Have you ever celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving away from hearth, home, and family? How did that feel?

I'm not sure how tightly I cling to tradition, for my goal is to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family, whenever most of them are available to get together. Thus, our Thanksgiving this year was on November 4. What's taking the rest of you so long?? ;-) BUT, If Thanksgiving is going to be celebrated at our house, there will always be turkey and stuffing. It works out well for Mr. C. and me to roast the turkey (with stuffing) and ham here, cook the potatoes and squash, and ask the others to bring the other sides and dessert. We don't ever eat out for our family Thanksgiving. Never ever watching football is a time-honored tradition, and usually eating at 1 PM works best for us.

One year Mr. C. and I flew to London on Thanksgiving Day evening, although the kids who were left here at home had already had their Thanksgiving dinner with us before we left. So we were at St. Paul's Cathedral for the First Sunday of Advent. How did that feel? Pretty wonderful!

 Yesterday at 11:30 AM

From the Porch

 Yesterday at 1:30 PM
Same porch

2. Help...is it easy for you to ask for help or are you a do-it-yourselfer? How is that a good/bad thing?

It's not particularly easy for me to ask for help. I was raised to be a self-sufficient type, as were my parents, and I think we passed that on to our kids, which I now kind of regret. I say 'kind of' because I do love that they are responsible adults, thankfully. I don't think there is a fine line between being able to ask for help and being totally unable to do anything for oneself, but you know that old slippery slope.. I err on the side of self sufficiency, I guess. Not that I don't ask Mr. C. for help moving boxes of books (among other things), but you know it doesn't count that I ask Mr. C. for help. :-)  

On the other hand, I constantly ask God for his help and mercy. I would say 'often,' but I think constantly is slightly more accurate.

3. Abundance...what is there an abundance of in your kitchen?

Refrigerator magnets, mostly photos of the family, some souvenirs. This is limited to the refrigerator, thankfully. Oh. And coffee mugs. Yeah, quite a few. And I keep meaning to do a blog post on those mugs.

4. Name...the smallest thing you're thankful for? the biggest?

 She put on her builder hat and asked me what she should build.

I said, 'Build me a castle.' This was her response.

3.5 years old. What a fun age!!

The smallest: the Micro SD card for my camera. Technically, I'm sure there's something even smaller that I'm thankful for, like microsurgery. But...

The biggest: our family

But the by-far-way-biggest: God's grace in the person of Jesus Christ, Lord of all.

5. Key...What do you think is the key to living a more grateful life?

 Samaritanspurse.org

I think that every American should visit a third-world country to see how most of the world lives. That helps a lot. When you see the majority of people (including children) who struggle daily just to survive, it reminds us how trivial many of our 'needs' truly are.

6. State your own random thought here.

The you-know-whats are not allowed on the table or countertops, but it was sure nice to have Tommy's company as I was sorting through books yesterday in one of the bedrooms.

I'm thankful that Tommy doesn't have to be considered a meal.

 Happy Thanksgiving!

 ***

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Figgy Pudding

Cranberry Tea

Natural Handcrafted Vegan Soaps


...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at
 
HomemadeSoapNSuch


and at


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Join me on Instagram: @cranberrymorning

I needed supervision.