Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Leafing through the hodgepodge

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge, head on over to Joyce's to see what other people answered.



1. Are the leaves turning color where you live? Have they begun to fall? Will you have to rake when it's all said and done? Is that a chore you love or loathe? They are beginning to change and fall, I love walking through them. I am not missing yard work, and will not miss raking leaves, I really loathed that chore.
2. When did you last shake like a leaf? I do when things don't go my way. I get really upset when things happen that I can't control. Monday, that happened, I won't go into more detail.
3. After 20 seasons with the NY Yankees, Derek Jeter played his last official game Sunday afternoon. Jeter has been described even by opponents as a 'class act', both on and off the field. The NFL is back in action this month too, with several players in that sport also making headlines. What are your thoughts on athletes as role models? Should a professional athlete be expected to act as role model or is that going beyond their job description? What responsibility do the organizations these athletes work for have when it comes to dealing with off the field behavior? Discuss. I'm not a sports fan and I really don't care.

4. What season of the year is toughest for you in terms of your health? Why? Probably fall, I usually get some kind of cold/allergies and I hate dealing with them.
5. The top six healthy food trends of 2014 according to Eating Well are- clean eating (more veg, less meat, less sodium, limit alcohol and processed foods),  trash fish (you know those fish that get caught in fishermen nets and are thrown back? It seems chefs are finding creative ways to make them more appetizing),  cauliflower (this year's IT vegetable), kaniwa (essentially baby quinoa, so like quinoa only smaller), fermentation (think pickling except with twists on flavor we're not accustomed to), and community supported food (farms operating with community support/membership). Okay-so how many of the hot healthy food trends for 2014 have you experienced, encountered, enjoyed? Any you've tried and said ewwww? Any on the list you'd like to try before year's end? I like cauliflower.
6. In seven words or less, bid September adieu. Tomorrow will be kinder.
7. What's something on your October calendar that makes you happy just thinking about it? My 5-year anniversary of being at my job will be soon, I'm thinking of baking a cake. My grandmother's birthday is coming up, she'll be 97 or 98.
8.  Insert your own random thought here. I'm so ready for a break from my life, unfortunately, I have to come back to it.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

It was all downhill when I saw the buttons

Hello all, so what have I been doing other than filling out the hodgepodge? Not a ton actually, trying out our new media box at the library (it's kinda like a redbox), reading and checking out way too many books.
The other day, I made myself hamburgers, I'd never done that before. I know, it's sad, I'm 31 years old and I just made hamburgers for the first time. I made them Sunday afternoon/night and had all 4 eaten by Monday night. They were really good.
 I've been wanting to spend money on myself for awhile. I know I should be saving money and I'm trying, but it sucks. I recently joined a swap where we shop for our partners on Etsy, so I know someone's spending at least $25 on me, maybe more, but I still wanted to shop.
I also wanted to do a steampunky costume for Halloween, mostly because I have a top hat, ribbon and gears to add to it. I have a flowy skirt, so I was hoping to find some kind of top and wear some boots I just bought, but I've come up empty on things. My plan was to shop the thrift stores for clothing, but the one I thought might have some good pieces didn't have any here.
Anyways, on to my shopping trip today. I saw these cute button canisters:
 I mean, how cute are those? I don't have a place or need for them, so I didn't buy them. I also found a really cute perfume bottle, but didn't buy it.
My next stop had this cute sign:
 and a handmade cyclones care bear that I almost bought. But, it was about $15 and I really don't need it. I basically wanted it because it was ISU themed and handmade. It was really cute.
My next stop was a toy store where I wanted to buy a marble, but I didn't have any cash and most of the small businesses downtown have a minimum spending limit to charge. It also seemed kinda stupid to charge $.40 for a marble, I might go back later with some cash and buy it. In the basement I found what we all need:
 a giant lego head.
At my last stop, I saw the cutest steampunk jack o lantern, only it really wasn't:
 When I walked around the corner, I first saw the pumpkin and the clock. I thought the clock was attached somehow as an eye. Wouldn't that be cool to add other things to it for a steampunk jack o lantern?
My second to last stop was where I found the buttons. Here's what I bought:
 lots of vintage buttons ( 4 bags at $2 a piece, and a jar of buttons), a brass W (top left corner, it's kinda hard to see), a jack o lantern and a pewter pig.
These are my favorites:
 My favorite of all is that one above the yellow one. It is carved dark MOP, with a tiny white MOP piece attached in the middle. Anyone know anything about it? The yellow one and green one are both glass balls. Most of these are glass. The top two I'm not entirely sure about they're pretty light, but sparkly. The black one's a little hard to see, but it's got some flowers on it.
 The one behind the green one is metal with what looks like a mirror behind it, but it seems pretty new. The pink ones, the red/white one and the other white one are all plastic. I just liked them. The large copper one is metal. The fern ones at the bottom have ferns cut into them, I'm pretty sure they're glass too.
I miss buying vintage buttons. I knew it was all downhill when I saw the buttons, and then there was a minimum of $10 to charge, so I had to find more.

This weekend, there is an annual art festival, I'm hoping to find something cool there.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Falling into Hodgepodge

So, it's hodgepodge time again. I think this is the only thing I do on here regularly. Head on over to Joyce's to see other people's answers.


1. It's fall. Y'all. My favorite season of the year! What's something you love to do this time of year that makes you feel it's officially fall? And unrelated to that, do you ever say-'y'all'? I know it doesn't really mean fall, but here it totally does. A local art festival will be happening this Sunday, and I'm totally saving for that. Plus, a couple churches have their fall fairs coming up and the library's semi-annual book sale is coming up in October.
I do say y'all occasionally. That mostly started when I began listening to country music.

 2. When did you last have a falling out with someone? Has it been resolved? A year or so ago, I stopped talking to my best friend. She didn't give me any comfort when I broke up with my ex and it kinda seemed like she had talked to him before we were 'officially' broken up. Then last year she contacted me on my 30th birthday and I thought we were good again, except it felt like I apologized more than she did. I showed her something I thought to be a big accomplishment for me and she kinda brushed it off. Then, she didn't talk to me until around her birthday (a bit longer than 6 months) and I decided she wanted me to just wish her a happy birthday on her big birthday. I didn't think that was right (to just talk to someone when it's convenient for you). So I stopped talking to her again. After she went away to college and then graduated and moved (not that far away, mind you), it seemed like so much work for her to call or converse with me (this was before I broke up with my ex), I knew we were growing apart anyways.
No, it hasn't been resolved.

3. A song you love with the word 'fall' in it's title? Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. You really can't go wrong with Tom Petty, plus it came on my mp3 player when I was in Hawaii, so every time I hear it, I'm transported back there.

4. What's something you've recently let 'fall by the wayside?' Cleaning. I'm not that great at doing it regularly, but it's getting annoying when I have to clear a path to get to the couch. Or when I run out of plates.

5. When did you last attend an event, read a book, watch a movie, try a new recipe, or visit a shop-town-tourist attraction that fell short of your expectations? In what way? I feel like everything I psyche myself up for does that. For some reason I get really excited about stuff, and then I get disappointed that it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm always looking for something really cool (mostly to buy) and I just don't seem to find it. Of course, most of the reason is, that I have no idea what it would be.
6. Describe a time you said or thought, 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
7. Was today better than yesterday? Why or why not? Not really, I was expecting something and it didn't happen. But, I did get my shopping done for a swap, and I started a book that seems pretty good. I got to eat ice cream for supper, and I've been wasting way too much time.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. I joined Pinterest. I'm not sure that's a good thing. I've been avoiding it because people say it sucks away their free time, and it really does. I basically joined because every time I'd go on it through people's links it would beg me to join, and I'm in a swap where I shop for someone based on their social media things. One of those was their pinterest page, and the thing kept getting in the way when I tried to look at their page, so I joined. I'm finding it a little confusing. I tried to install the "Pin it" button on my IE browser, but it didn't work.
Sadly, I'm wasting my time on it, but the pictures are so pretty. If you wanna see what I've been wasting time on, go here.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

I wanna spend money

I wanna spend money. But, there are no good looking garage sales, and next weekend is an annual fesstival, so I'm saving for that. I really want to buy some vintage buttons, or jewelry, or linens. I really want more stuff. I've been craving different and interesting foods lately. I've been scouring Amazon's grocery department but haven't found anything I want to spend my money on. I wanna go to Hobby Lobby and buy art supplies and stuff. I just want to buy something cool, is that too much to ask?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

New Swap

So, I signed up for this swap the other day.

 It's hosted by Rivers and Roads and Taking Steps Home, basically you get a partner, shop for them on Etsy and send them cool stuff. You spend at least $25 which is a bit steep for me, but I've been itching for a swap lately, so I signed up, plus I'll get it back in gifts from my partner.
Sign ups are until tomorrow, but if you're interested, head on over here to sign up.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Aging Hodgepodge

So, it's Hodgepodge time again. I will try to publish the correct one this week. For some reason, blogger decided to not publish last weeks, so when I thought I added it to Joyce's list, I had added the previous week. I went back and added it on Sunday, but I bet most people missed it. If you're interested, go here. Otherwise, head on over to Joyce's blog to see this week's answers.


1. I'm celebrating a birthday this week so a question relating to aging feels appropriate. Douglas MacArthur is quoted as saying, 'You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair." Would you agree? If not why not? I'm not entirely sure what that all means. I don't get how these things equal an age. I've always said you're as old as you act and feel. We all know some people act very childish, but sometimes I think it's because they feel old. I would think there's some medium in there somewhere.
2. What remarkable feat, interesting piece of trivia, or historical event occurred on your birth day and month? Not necessarily in your birthyear, just the same date/same month. Wikipedia says July 2nd is the midpoint of the common year, there are 182 days before it and 182 days after it. In 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution severing ties with Great Britain, although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not approved until July 4th. Amelia Earhart disappeared, the alien spacecraft crashed at Roswell, and that is the end of the interesting stuff.
 3. Describe a time or circumstance where you wanted to 'have your cake and eat it too.' How about the time(s) I've had to make my own birthday cake, I totally ate it.
4. What's something you do that makes you feel young? Something that makes you feel old? Reading makes me feel young, especially when I go back to favorites of my childhood. Hanging out with some of my co-workers makes me feel old, a few of them are in their 20's so when I mention something from my childhood and they look at me like I'm nuts, I totally feel old. Or sometimes getting up, and my back aches, that's always a nice way to remember how old you are.
5. When did you last do something that was 'a piece of cake'? How about setting up my home network, I thought it would be harder, but I found it extremely easy.
6.  Beef, wine, and cheese all improve with age. What's something else you'd add to that list? (not necessarily food or beverage) Furniture. Especially if it was made with strong materials. I have quite a few antiques pieces that have withstood the test of time. I like to buy antiques over new stuff because I know they've done well through the years and I feel they will keep going.
 7. If I were to have a giveaway when we hit Volume 200, what should I give away? By my calculations we'll hit Volume 200 on November 26th, the day before Thanksgiving, which means whoever wins would have whatever it is in time for Christmas. Personally, I like other people's creations. Or, vintage hankies.
8.  Insert your own random thought here.  I just finished this book: Inside Charlie's Chocolate Factory. It's a YA nonfiction book (YA 823 MAN) and it's all about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, apparently we're celebrating the 50th anniversary this year. If you look at the pages of the book from the outside, you see there is a rainbow of colors, each one a different section in the book. There is an introduction from one of Roald's grandchildren about the wonderment of chocolate at his house. The book starts out with re...d: the background on writing Charlie and the Chocolate factory, then goes into orange: Charlie going to video and stage, next is yellow: focusing on the various illustrators of the books, and then blue: showing the effect on popular culture with various memorabilia including a LEGO Chocolate room and tiny dolls of Willy and Oompa Loompas. Purple follows focusing on chocolate, and how people tried to make Wonka bars and take chocolate to whole new levels, finally there is green: with the thoughts from critics and fans about the book. Throughout, there is illustrations from the book, movies, plays and fans creations. Very cool!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Hodgepodge

It's Hodgepodge time again! Go over to Joyce's blog to see other people's answers.

1. On Thursday we pause to remember a dark day in history-9/11. Will you mark it in some special way? Sadly, I wasn't even thinking about it. Thursday is my first day off since the 3 day weekend, I was looking forward to BINGO and ice cream sundaes. I will remember them, maybe listen to Tim McGraw's Please Remember Me remix with audio from that day.

2. Do you ever/still...listen to an actual radio? Watch a videotape (VCR)? Look up a number in a phonebook? Refer to a paper map while traveling? Set an alarm on an alarm clock as opposed to your phone? I rarely listen to the radio, mostly because I don't really like the new music people are putting out. I do watch videotapes sometimes. We had a few garage sales this summer and as I was sorting through things, I decided I needed to keep the VCR because certain things I taped off TV are not on DVD. Sadly the quality of the tapes has declined quite a bit, and you can really see it on these new flat screen TV's. I did have to look up a number in a phone book for my father, but I don't use the phone book that often. We have looked at the atlas on road trips, there's a lot of tiny roads around here. I also don't use alarm clocks, but I never did, I'd set the alarm on my stereo, which I don't think was that helpful, cause it really didn't wake me up suddenly as it did help me wake up.

 3.  Is it ever a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don't know? I don't discuss them with people I know. I've found they are very heated topics and no one ever changes their opinions on them, so I tend to stick to safer topics.

4. What's a dish you haven't eaten all summer, but come September find yourself craving? Have you made it yet this month? Nothing really comes to mind

5. What's something you know nothing about? Just one thing? There are several things I know nothing about, but that's too much thinking for right now.

6. September is Classical Music Month. Do you like classical music? If so, what's your favorite piece? I'm not a huge fan of classical music, I like my music to have words. But, I do like Beethoven's 5th, or Trans Siberian Orchestra, they may be a stretch for classical music.

7. What's the oldest thing you own? I don't know. I do have a doily I bought at a sale that had a note affixed to the back of it saying it was from 1910. I have a penny from 1912. I have an old steamer trunk, a book from the early 1900's. My oldest thing before (after) that would probably be a radio of my grandparents. I do live in a house that was built in the 1890's, does that count? 

8.  Insert your own random thought here. I think I'm ready for a change in my life. I can feel it, I don't know what it will be, but it feels like it should be something big. Someone last week told me I should follow my heart (we were talking about my change in job titles and the reorganization at the library), I'm just not sure where my heart wants to go.

Quilts Galore

Lets begin with the really exciting news, shall we? Today was the grand opening of the library, and it was crazy. Not only did we have the whole city (probably not quite that many) inside, but we also had a musician, magicians, a balloon creator, our mascot, Smyles, Not Elmo and an author signing her books. Like I said, crazy. But, I believe everyone was overjoyed about us being open again and are excited about exploring the library and checking things out. The returns were nuts too, it's like everyone waited until today to return their items. I believe there's still quite a few that are not checked in yet, but they will be soon, so not to worry.
Yesterday, my mother and I went to a quilt show. Every time I go somewhere with either of my parents, I'm a little on edge. They always seem to bring up stuff I don't want to talk about. It's gotten way better now that we don't live so close. We had a somewhat pleasant lunch. She picks me up at the library, about 10 minutes later than she said she would, the part about her making my time not as important as hers has not changed (we make plans for a certain time, and she's never ready at that time, and I'm always waiting for her), and then she suggests a place to go for lunch, which I replied that I just went there on Friday. This place has about 10 things on the menu, and they're not that great, there's one thing I like, and I had it Friday. So, I ordered something that was the equivalent of a grilled cheese sandwich, if I had known that I wouldn't have ordered it. I'm pretty sure it was a piece of processed American cheese, grilled. There was also way too much bread, so I took the top off and attempted to eat the bottom that was grilled a tiny bit too much.
Anyways, here are the quilts I really liked. Unfortunately, their not the greatest pictures.
This one had a lot of texture and buttons.
 This one was very metallic.
 This one was my favorite, with all the different sewing techniques and other things going on in it. I like the mixed media aspect of it.
 This one's hard to see, but there are two tiny gloves on it.
 This one was called Raggedy Ann and Andy.
 I like the flower on this one.
 This one was about the artists' husbands cancer. She had negative things about cancer outside the body and things he liked inside the body. She said it was a work in progress and she would add things as she found them.
 I didn't think this one was really a quilt. It looked like she had drawn with metallic paint crayons on the black background and added a few stitches.
 Also very cool stitching techniques.
I wish I had taken my camera and gotten some close-ups.

As you can see, I don't particularly like the regular quilting style, ok I do, I just like it when people do more.

Tuesday, September 02, 2014

End of summer hodgepodge

It's hodgepodge time again, head on over to Joyce's blog to see other people's answers.

1.  What's something you wanted to do this summer that you never got around to actually doing? Find a really good garage sale. It feels like every year there’s one sale that’s great: has great prices and lots of cool stuff to choose from, I didn’t find one of those this summer.
2. Share a favorite memory of your own back -to-school days as a child. I love back-to-school shopping. I remember going to Target with my brother and mother and picking up the lists that told us what we needed and picking out supplies. I really loved getting notebooks and folders the most. I’d make sure my notebooks and folders went together, one for each class. I recall doing this through college as well.

3.  What's one chore or daily task you prefer doing 'old-school' ? Mail. I miss getting cool things in the mail. I love sending people things in the mail. I used to have pen pals, I miss those. It’s always fun to get news of your penpal.
4.  Share something you've learned in life through the 'school of hard knocks'. Don’t trust people. Sad as that seems, when I trust people or depend on them they just end up letting me down. I’ve learned to only trust myself, and if I need something, I’m the one to provide it for myself.
5.  As a child, did you mostly bring or buy your lunch for school? What was your favorite thing to find in your lunchbox? We were talking about this the other day. I remember doing both. I remember the breakfast for lunch days at school, you never wanted to miss those, but I also remember taking my lunchbox to school. I don't know of anything I looked forward to seeing in my lunchbox.

6. Football season is upon us which has me wondering... how big of a sports fan are you (not just football) ? On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being 'I scream at the players through my television screen' and 1 being 'is knitting a sport?' where do you fall in fandom? I don’t like sports. I may work basketball games, but it’s more to see the fans, I really don’t like any sports myself.

7. Share a favorite quote you think might inspire students of all ages at the start of a new school year. Imagination is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration--Eisnstein. I just like that he's telling people you have to work for things. Most likely it's not just going to pop out of thin air. Most ideas come from years of hard work and sometimes it pays off.
8. Random Thought: It's fall. I'm excited and not excited about it. I like that the year's moving on, but like always I'm not happy that life's going so fast. I like that it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas soon and that my parents will be moving into their permanent home and I'll get to see the finished product. I don't like that I will be back to not using my brain at work and that I need to really get into the job search and that I will also need to be looking at apartments again. Not having laundry here and maybe not having a friend live as close will be an issue next year, also my internet keeps dropping. It's something that happens every summer, I know it's not on Centurylink's end, I think it's something to do with the wires and this old house. It would be so nice to have internet when I want it.
I'm also not excited that it's the end of garage sale season, I feel like I haven't found anything really cool this year, and I keep wanting to find that item (whatever it may be), but I'm trying to save money now that I'm paying a higher rent and life keeps getting in my way.