A Rosy HodgePodge

Happy Wednesday!    Ugh - we're having heat advisories today & tomorrow with crazy high humidity.  This chubby girl doesn't like the heat!  

Thanks again to Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for this weeks' edition of the HodgePodge! 

1. How would you define 'the good life'?

Spending time with loved ones.  Watching the sun set while listening to the frogs (simple things like that).  Having enough $ to be comfortable and enough left to play with.  Our health. 

2. What's the most used app on your phone (and are you proud of that)?

Without looking it up, it's between Facebook & Instagram.  I technically have 3 accounts for each.  On FB, I have my personal account and my Halloween-y one, then I maintain the account for my VFW post.   On IG, I have my personal account, my Halloween-y one and one for my skeleton, Chuck.

I don't feel I spend a whole lot of time on them, so I guess it's nothing to be ashamed of. 

3. 'Every rose has it's thorn', 'everything's coming up roses', 'looking through rose-colored glasses', 'it's no bed of roses' or 'stop and smell the roses'...which rose idiom best relates to something in your life currently. Explain.

Everything is coming up roses.  The Spawn finally took the grandson into the doctor and got him started *today* on some ADHD meds.  Hopefully this helps him to settle down. 

4. How do you feel about floral flavorings in food or drink (rose, hibiscus, elderflower, lavender)? 

 I've only tried hibiscus tea and it's definitely an acquired taste.  

5. Over the course of your life what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?  

What would life would have been like if I had chosen a different path at sometime or another in my past.  But then I make myself stop, since parts of my life I would not want to change.  If I'd stayed in the Navy - I wouldn't have met the Spouse - and I'm glad I didn't miss out on that!  If I didn't have the Spawn, I wouldn't now have the grandkids.  

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of the grandkids - both have had graduations in the past week.  

 

Goodbye Pre-K!

The granddaughter will be starting kindergarten in the fall. I didn't get many pics of her ceremony since she decided to cry all thru the songs and refused to cross the stage to get her "diploma" because she didn't like that they used her first / last name instead of first / middle.  

I think the Spawn would have preferred her to go into Young 5s.  She's got the brains for kindergarten but is still pretty immature.  She's eligible for both Young 5s and Kindergarten, but they don't have that program at our local elementary school and Bean would probably freak out being in a different school all alone, knowing that Mom or brother weren't close by. 

The grandson will be starting 1st grade in the fall. 

The picture above shows the before & after of him seeing us. 

He "crossed the bridge" into first grade and stopped to get a pic with his teacher.

I guess it's a thing in the past couple years where schools take the song "Don't Stop Believing" and change the words slightly to apply to kids.  

Just a little girl, living with her mom & dad, she took the yellow bus to school one day. 

Just a little boy, born & raised in North Detroit (since that's where we are), he took the yellow bus to school one day.....

a teacher in a spotless room, the smell of paint & Elmers Glue

for a day that seems to go on & on & on & on & on......

it's just so stinking cute!!!!! 

The future's so bright, they gotta wear shades!

A post called HodgePodge

I'm late to the party this week!    Thanks again to Joyce at From This Side of the Pond - it's amazing how you come up with all these unique questions each week!!

1. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children, how did you choose their names?

I'm pretty neutral about my name.  It's interesting that even given how short my name is - there are several guys at work who call me "Leese".  

There's a lot of family connection in all of my siblings (and younger) names.  I don't usually use their actual names in posts, but it applies for this one.  

Us girls are Laura Lee, Linda Bea and Lisa Marie.  The L-a's are supposedly a coincidence as well as the middle names rhyming.  Laura & Linda's middle names are the same as Dad's parents' and mine is a variation of Mary, which is Mom's name.  

Dad was James Curtis.  I had a half brother named Curtis James.  My brothers are John James and Terry Curtis.  Then there are nephews named James Richard & Alexander Curtis.  Even my grandson is Adam James.  Oh, and the niece named Lisa Beth (after me & her mom)

For the Spawn... as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I had picked out Brandon James.  Then the doc said there was a 70% chance I was having a girl, but she had her legs crossed so they couldn't tell for sure.  So since the Ex was a wanna-be bullrider from Texas (he wasn't very good) I suggested Angela then he could have his Copenhagen Angel (is a song by Chris LeDoux).  So there's that. 

2. A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose?

The red velvet cake!   But I also make a simple, fairly healthy but tasty red, white & blue trifle made with layers of angel food cake, whipped topping, strawberries & blueberries.  

3. What's a job you'd like to try for just one day?

The first thing that popped into my head was a fighter pilot - GO FAST!!!! And shoot guns / missiles!   I'm trying to hold down my practical side, since I don't think my chubby, out of shape body could handle the amount of Gs I'd want to do and my lousy vision is against me.  But one can daydream!   

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer?

Ugh - I didn't get any pictures yet, but I have 2 of these blowmolds out on each side of my front door.  And that's pretty much it!    I'll probably put them away for a while, then bring them back out of the 4th of July.    I didn't decorate my office at work for Memorial Day, but will for the 4th. 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!

I had to look this up!  I never knew the name for this activity. 

M - making plans with the Spouse for our upcoming 20th anniversary!

A - all the plants at the greenhouse - I want them! 

Y  - yay for the random neighbor who stopped by last Friday morning and offered to mow the lawn before the long weekend at a very reasonable price!  And also, for the Spouse having that exact amount of $ in his pocket to pay him!  

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Last night we swore in (or "installed") the all the new 2026-2027 officers at the VFW - and since I'm the social media / website / newsletter peep - of course I took pictures.  

Honestly - I 'm ashamed that it took me so long to embrace ChatGPT - you'd never know that I used it to remove several people out of this picture!  

Remember & Honor

Remember what your three day weekend is actually for. 

from Great Lakes National Cemetery

Today, at my VFW.