The Wednesday Hodgepodge Welcomes 2026!

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 are three words you would use to describe your 2025?

 

Tired   -   Musical   -   Work

 

2. I ask this question every January, and I always get comments about how we shouldn't be banning words. This is fun and games so just play along.  :)

Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness (go HERE to read about how the words are chosen). Here's the list for 2026 - 

67 ⁕ demure ⁕ cooked ⁕ massive ⁕ incentivize ⁕ full stop ⁕ perfect ⁕ gift/gifted ⁕ my bad ⁕ reach out

Which one (if any) do you use most often? Which one of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word you think should have made the list?

The ones I use most often are "perfect" and "my bad". I'm sure I say "perfect" the most, and I use it both literally and sarcastically. I'm already very tired of "6-7" and hope it goes away soon. I'm a little irritated by the way "demure" is used now. I feel like it's got a new definition that's not quite the same as what it has been up until the last year or two. I can't think of any word or phrase that I wish was on the list or could be banished. 

3. What are your nightly rituals? Is that different from your 'ideal' nightly ritual? If so what's your ideal?

 Almost every evening, my husband and I have an evening coffee. Not sure that counts as nightly because it happens earlier in the evening, but it is a ritual! I think of the nightly rituals as the ones immediately before going to bed. So those rituals include doing a lesson or two in Duolingo, getting the coffee ready for the morning, washing my face, and double checking my alarm is set. I'm not proud of it, but my nightly ritual almost always includes some mindless scrolling or game on my phone too, after I plug it into the charger on my bedside table. I do read before turning off the light, but it's not every night.

I don't think that could be described as my ideal! For one thing, I need to go to bed earlier. Ideally, I'd read for awhile every night. 

 

4. January 6th is/was National Bean Day. Do you like beans? Which one is your favorite? Last thing you ate made with beans?

 I do like beans - not all beans, but quite a few different kinds. My favorites are great northerns, and pintos. I guess I could say chickpeas are a favorite too, since I love hummus. I believe hummus is the last thing I ate made with beans. I had crackers and hummus in my lunch yesterday. (Chickpeas are considered beans, right?)

Coffee beans are my clear favorite though. Drinking my coffee right now and enjoying those beans!

 

5.  Are you easily embarrassed? Elaborate.

 Yes, I think I'm embarrassed easily, though I usually manage to hide it and power through. I'll just dwell privately on the dumb thing I said or did that embarrassed me and quietly beat myself up over it for weeks. Possibly years. Haha. I'm only partly kidding. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

One week into the new year and I haven't done all the wrap-up things for 2025, and I haven't even got my 2026 calendar up! I often get a calendar for my birthday, which is right after Christmas, but that was not the case this year. And since I waited to buy one until after my birthday, I'm still waiting for it to arrive. As for wrapping up, our Christmas decorations need to be shoved back into the closet somehow. I did the 52 Books Challenge again in 2025 - well, I didn't read 52 books, but I checked off a number of the prompts - and my wrap-up post for that, as well as my kick-off post for the 2026 reading challenges, is coming on my book blog Just A Second. I did get my December Bookshelf Review posted though.

And this is where I put in a plug for the current Wednesday Quotes link-up which you can find here: WQ - New Year's Resolutions. We are doing Wednesday Quotes all through 2026 and would love to have you stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes! The Everyday Images photo link-up is back in 2026 as well. The Everyday Images #78 - Wrapping Up 2025 is currently open, and you'll find the first set of prompts, should you choose to use them, in that post. 

How would you answer any of these questions? Leave a comment and let me know! I'll do my best to visit fellow Hodgepodgers over the next couple of days. I always love seeing everyone's answers.

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

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