Wednesday Hodgepodge - Thoughts on Sweet and Sour Things

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A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. What's something bizarre you've seen or heard recently?

I feel like the news is full of things that are bizarre almost every day, but I'm past any ability to be surprised! At least by political news! Here's a little side story that I found a bit bizarre - some dude that has won the lottery FIVE times this year?! And not just the five dollar prizes either, thousands of dollars! Is he really that lucky or what's happening here? Story: A Maryland man just won $50,000 in the state lottery. For the 5th time this year. All from the same gas station. 

 

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other food with 'sour' flavors? Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and grapefruit . . . of the sour foods listed which is your favorite?

I like sour candies and some sour foods, although I'm careful to only have small amounts these days, just in case it upsets my stomach! I can't remember the last time I had sour candies, but those gummy sours like Sour Patch Kids . . . yummmm! And lemon is one of my favorite flavors just in general.

 Of the foods listed, I think cranberries are my favorite. Toss-up between cranberries and grapefruit. I'm one of those unusual people that loves grapefruit juice. In fact, I love it so much that it was one of my top two cravings when I was pregnant with my first child. It was the thing that I went out to a convenience store late at night to get. So good! But being so acidic, it really brings on the heartburn, so I rarely enjoy it any more. 

 

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle.

 I have two aunts on my mom's side that I've always been very close to. Neither of them was married or had children, so they doted on their nieces and nephews. The year I was at college I lived with them and my boyfriend (who is now my husband) spent a lot of time there as well. Our relationship has been especially close since then. I have tons of wonderful memories of childhood vacations along with my aunts, spending parts of my summers with them when I was a kid, going to work with my Aunt Linda, sharing a love of books and music with them, and then lots more memories in the years since I got married, since they came to visit us regularly and were almost like grandmothers to my kids. It makes me so happy that my kids still take the time to talk to Auntie Alice and Auntie Linda on the phone. The aunties are now in their nineties and living in a seniors apartment, and getting quite frail in many ways, but they love hearing from us and always say how they wish we could get together and how glad they are for all the good memories. 

As it turned out, I went to visit them in their previous apartment for my Aunt Linda's ninetieth birthday party. Ninety! It was the first time I'd been in Manitoba in something like twenty years so that was fun. Also got to see my mom's younger sister (my Aunt Jo-Anne) and my only cousin on that side of the family. But here's the thing . . . that trip was in January of 2020. About two months before everything was shut down because of covid. So happy that I made that trip because who knew that it would be two or three YEARS before it would even be an option again? 

Me, my Aunties, and my Mom

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress?

 Up until this past fall, I would have said I was pretty good at it! I'm usually pretty even keeled, and take things in stride. I remember an ongoing situation with a church many years ago that was very stressful, and that did cause me a lot of the physical symptoms of stress - headaches and stomach upset, feeling shaky, and just general anxiety, but I carried on and I don't think it was obvious to others that I was greatly affected. I wonder if it was partly because I had young children and I had a job to do to protect them from those stress factors as much as possible? Anyway, this past fall when my husband lost his job and in the space of about six weeks, we dealt with us both being unemployed, and then with having to quickly pack and make a move to another state, leaving everything that had been home for twenty-five years, and at the same time abruptly became empty nesters. I think I'm doing okay now, but it's been a very hard transition and very stressful. I've rarely slept well in the past eight or nine months, my acid reflux has flared out of control, and I've worried about my mental and emotional well-being. 

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander?

 

Hmmm. I think about my family members and wonder what they're doing or I might sort of daydream about what the future holds for all of us. I try to wander to positive thoughts about the future, and don't let myself dwell on any worries. It's getting hard these days to stop our minds from wandering to dark "what if" places, with all the uncertainties and unrest, isn't it? Those are the thoughts that threaten to make me anxious and I don't need that! Especially when I know that I can trust God with all the unknowns. 

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
~Psalm 139:23~ 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Yesterday I did my photo challenge post (you can see it here: Everyday Images #13) and one my prompts was 'animal'. I hadn't taken many photos over the past couple of weeks and kind of settled for one I had of a family of geese. Then on the way home from my husband's work yesterday, we spotted this little guy beside the road:

Isn't he the sweetest thing? So cute! I totally understand why people think a baby raccoon would make a good pet, because he sure looked like he would be cuddly. I took a couple pictures and encouraged him to go home and find his momma and to not play on the road any more, so I hope he stays safe.

What are some sweet things you've been thinking about? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

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