A New Year, A New Hodgepodge!

Linking up with Joyce today and answering her Hodgepodge of Questions for the week.

 

 
1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-

amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, trickeration, ginormous, and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Go here to read more about how the words are chosen.

I laughed at most of the reasons the people in the article wanted these words banned. Buzz words annoy me. Hubby has shared a lot of the buzz words in the business world (move the needle being his least favorite). From the list above I would say that I find these the most annoying: Baby Bump (Your pregnant and it shows, so what?). Man Cave (So many things wrong with that I can't even start...). Thank You in Advance (What if I don't do what they are thanking me for doing???)

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

I don't think so. I can't remember very many times when I felt really embarrassed. We went out for lunch yesterday with some very good friends to celebrate my birthday. He likes to make fun of how old I am (even though he is 9 years older than me). The waitress kindly asked if I was 26, (I liked her instantly) and my friend said, "No, twice that!" (Very! Loudly!) He was trying to embarrass me. Didn't work. (But please know that I am NOT 26 times 2!)

3. What is your go-to snack?

I know I should answer something like carrots or an orange or celery. But in reality it is more often that not, nuts or crackers. This is my favorite trail mix of late:

4. Have you ever been to Washington D.C.? If not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most want to see in that city? If you have been, what's your favorite site/attraction?

Nope, never been to D.C. I will admit I've been nervous about going there since 2001. But, if someday I went, I would like to see the White House and go to the Smithsonian Museum.

5. Sit ups-planks-lunges-squats...which do you hate the least

Sit-ups. At least I can do a few of those. I think.

6. What's a small act of kindness you were shown that you've never forgotten?

I've been trying to reach back into my memory to think of something that has stuck with me over the years. Not coming up with anything. I'll probably think of it as soon as I hit the publish post button.

But an event from last week stands out to me. Several days ago, I texted our good friends to see if they were available to get together to celebrate my birthday. We live about 2 1/2 hours apart, so I figured out where half-way was and hoped they could make it. He called me last Thursday asking if we could do lunch and while we were hashing out the time, he told me that he was working on moving up some meetings so he could get done early enough to make the lunch because I was very important to them. Brought tears to my eyes. Very kind of them. Very meaningful to me.

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

Yes. Once in college. I've been turned down a lot because of low iron and I gave up trying. I think it's very important. My baby girl was the recipient of blood when she was tiny and I am forever grateful to whoever donated that blood and likely saved her life. (Go here to read that story.)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
As I've mentioned once or twice in this post, (smile), yesterday was my birthday. Hubby made a big effort to make it special for me, as he always does. He put up our Happy Birthday banners to cheer me in the morning when I woke up. He came home at 11:30 and showered me with presents. (smile) Then we took off for a three hour lunch with our friends. For supper, we drove to another town to meet another couple that evening. That meal only lasted two hours. (smile) In between and after we did a little shopping and I talked to my kids. Fun, fun day.