Veterans Day 2025 and Hodgepodge

Veterans Day dawned in my neighborhood with clear skies and a cold brisk wind. The weatherman said the day would feel more like January than November. He was right!

I'll start off with my responses to Joyce's Hodgepodge questions for this week and follow that up with snapshots from our Veterans Day observance.

Here are Joyce's questions for this week's Hodgepodge. If you want to link up with your own answers, click here.

1. What does patriotism mean to you? 

To me, patriotism means sincere commitment (allegiance/devotion) to my country according to what our Constitution provides, voting according to what I believe is in the best interests of our citizens, and respecting our leaders and those who uphold our laws.

2. September-October-November...your favorite fall month? Tell us why. If you live in the southern hemisphere use these months but sub spring for the word fall. 

My favorite "ber month" (as some call them) is November because it is after Halloween (which I dislike more with every passing year) and emphasizes thankfulness to God for His provision and watchcare.

3. A song you love with the word thanks (or some form of that word)  in the title or lyrics?

"Thankful" by Josh Groban. Click here to listen to the song.

4. November is National Peanut Butter Month. Are you a fan? What's the last peanut butter bite you had? Fill in the blank: peanut butter on a spoon. Oh, and you can't say jelly. 

In this household, peanut butter is on the list of kitchen essentials, just after water. 🤭 While jelly goes with it well, I usually opt for margarine. AND I'm a firm believer that if you just cannot fall asleep at night, a good spoonful of peanut butter placed on the tongue and swallowed helps. I try to avoid getting it onto my teeth since I'm also a firm believer in going to bed with clean teeth. 

5. This week's gratitude question-What event from this past year are you most grateful for? 

I can't boil it down to just one event. I'm glad that (aside from a couple of trips to the ER in August) we have survived this past year in relatively good health. Since both of us are in the "late autumn" of life, good health is really appreciated.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Here is my re-cap of Veterans Day. 

Gary posted our flag right after breakfast. The stiff, cold wind (unusual for our area at this time of year) unfurled the flag beautifully. 

One of our sons and his wife (whom we consider a daughter) drove a couple of hours to visit. He is a veteran, as is Gary. Of course I wanted my picture with these two heroes!

Gary is retired Air Force and 
Tony is retired Army

Here is Tony with his wife, Mary, who has adopted me as her second "Momma," as she likes to call me. (I love that!) By the way, just for the record, between the two of us we have:

5 daughters (including their spouses)

5 sons (including their spouses)

19 grandchildren (including spouses)

6 great-grandchildren

an undetermined number of cats and dogs in the family as well as one rabbit and one mule -- none of which live with us!

I won't break the numbers down any more than that because just to arrive at the above figures, I had to remove my shoes and socks so I could count on my fingers and toes!!

They are both so very photogenic!

Here are 2 views of one of Gary's hats -- helpful to wear when promised a military discount at a restaurant on this special day!

I won't divulge any specifics, but Gary has told me some very interesting experiences he had in his military and later government careers. I'll just say, you wouldn't want to cross this man!

This is my lunch plate at Miller's Ale House:

Zingers and Wings

This was a  huge plate of seasoned chicken (not too spicy) over a large bed of French Fries. I ate all the chicken and left at least half of the fries (too full!!!). It was wonderful!

In addition to the special occasion to honor Veterans, the day, November 11, is the anniversary of the day Gary and I met! 

The above snapshot was taken just minutes after we were introduced to each other in the parking lot of the amenities center of our +55 retirement community. The mutual friends who introduced us must have felt we'd be a good match since they had the foresight to take several pictures of us at, literally, the very beginning of our relationship. I remember when they told us to stand side-by-side, my shoulder brushed Gary's and I pulled back a little because I didn't want to appear "forward." It was not an especially good hair day for me, but here we are (below), 4 years later, which proves the hair did not discourage!

And this (above) is us now. We purposely wore the same shirts we had worn the day we met. We've been married 3 1/2 years (later this week) and have not regretted that decision at all. The Lord brought together two widowed, lonely people who now laugh every day with a beautiful commitment to each other. 

Us on December 2, 2021

To give you a little more of our story, we did not date until nearly a month later. The same couple that introduced us hosted a small, very informal cake and ice cream party for the husband's birthday, inviting the two of us. We visited in the kitchen with our plates, barely aware of everybody else. A week later we began dating and the rest is wonderful history. 

By the way, Gary has been proofreading and helping me to edit all of my blog posts since early 2022. That was my idea, but he is well aware he became "blog fodder" when we began dating, He needs to read my blog out of self-protection!!

Until next time,

May the God of hope

fill you with all joy and peace

as you trust in Him.

Romans 15:13

Thankful for the Ordinary

Internet photo from Jupiter, Florida

There's not been a lot of interesting things happening around here to report from this past week. We did church, I attended my ladies' Bible study, paid bills, got the oil changed on our second vehicle, made a trip to the public library, changed our clocks back to Standard Time, and I bought for myself a new food processor, as well as the ingredients to make some treats with it. 

Please don't take that paragraph as a negative or mundane assessment  of my calendar. Every one of those things listed is a blessing. At our age, we best not take for granted being able to get ourselves out of bed every morning without assistance, enjoy a variety of clothing choices from the closet, cook our meals and feed ourselves (so far, without bibs!), drive our cars, shop, pay our bills, and so many other things. All of the ordinary is a blessing.

When I was twenty years old, in an impulsive act of anger, I decided to move out of my parents' house to a studio apartment just a couple of blocks away. While leaving the shelter of my parents may or may not have been timely, the way in which it was done was definitely not wise. But I was sure I knew what was best for myself and I acted upon it.

That first night in my own place all by myself, as I put the sheets on my bed, in an unguarded mental moment, it hit me just what I had done.

I threw up. Upchucked my supper. Barfed. 

I had 'made my bed' so to speak, and now I had to live with it. 😏 To me, that was a clear illustration that God deals with His children when they mess up. 

Some of the ordinary, daily blessings I had taken for granted before, were now either gone entirely, or I had to figure out on my own how to make up for their loss. I had no telephone, no car, and had to carry my groceries home on the city bus. I had to cook for myself which led to the quick realization that cooking for just one is a challenge. 

My anger and impulsive behavior was not serving me well.

A couple of months after moving into my own place, my parents took a job transfer to a large city nearly a thousand miles away, and my fiancé left for boot camp in another state. My life-long girlfriend (Sister), who was still in school, had moved with our parents, so I learned loneliness in a new dimension. 

So when I say I am grateful for the seemingly unremarkable mien of my life, I know what I'm talking about. 

But God is good -- all the time. No experience is wasted in His economy.

Before I leave that story, I'll share with you that later I made amends with my parents. In the year after my move they had [amazingly] borne up with my disrespectful behavior, even following through on the original plan to pay for my wedding. They kept in touch with me and continued to send me Christmas and birthday gifts, etc. 

Nearly a year to the day of my angry departure from their home, my new mother-in-law had a stroke, lay in a coma for 3 months, and then died of pneumonia in a nursing home. I had been married only a couple of months when this happened. I felt too young to have to face such a dire reality of life; but good sense grew out of it all, starting with a sincere, heart-felt letter written to my parents admitting my mistakes and asking for their forgiveness. 

They forgave me. I feel sure they thanked the Lord for bringing me back to good sense and new-found, much-needed maturity.

In the season of Thanksgiving, I often remember some of the lean times in my life (which have been blessedly few), most especially this story just shared with you. We all have so much for which to be grateful and should be sure to express that to our loving God.

Moving on to Joyce's Hodgepodge Questions this week.... if you care to join in and link up, click on this link. My responses are in ORANGE.

1. Besides Thanksgiving, something on your November calendar you're looking forward to? 

I have learned over the years that it’s better for me to not share what I’m planning to do but to write about it after it’s happened. Plans change and explanations may need to be private. (This is my personal observation and preference.) 

So to answer this question, I’m looking forward to a focus on gratitude and eating seasonal favorites. I can fill you in on what we actually did in November after the fact.

from my FB friend, Karen

2. Dictionary.com's word of the year is '6-7'. Huh? Is it even a word???

I had to consult the internet to find out its meaning because apparently I'm old and this particular slang is not part of my vocabulary. Is it part of yours? No 

According to the article I read, it's a viral term, more of an inside joke with an unclear meaning driven by social media.

What do you think? 

Would I be out of line in saying, “that’s just nuts!!!”?

Dictionary. com says it's selection each year is a 'linguistic time capsule reflecting social trends and events, but they also admitted to being confused by '6-7'. Some say it means so-so and is sometimes accompanied by the up and down hand motion we associate with the phrase so-so.

What word do you think would have made a better choice? 

“And so forth…”

3. What's a food, trend, activity, or thing people love but you think is just so-so? 

As pretty much black/white, good/bad when it comes to opinions, I’ve pondered this question for the last couple of days and honestly can’t come up with anything that I’m “just so-so” about. Either I love a thing or I really dislike it. I will surely offend some if I state my dislikes, so let's just leave it at that. 

4. Are you a tea drinker? Hot or cold? How do you like yours and at what time of day? Do you like flavored teas or teas billed as calming, energizing, healing, etc? 

I am enjoying a hot cup of black tea as I respond to these questions. Most days I have this tea (alternating with green tea) at about 3pm while we are sitting on the lanai reading our books, doing puzzles, or just staring outside at Florida’s beautiful flora and fauna. 

snapshot from 2017

My previous blog was titled, “Sweet Tea and Sandals,” to honor my relocation in 2017 from Colorado to Florida. I love the way Southerners prepare sweet tea. I often order it when we are eating out. 

(And yes, for the record, I miss that blog. In August 2022 I made a serious mistake that led to the blog's very unexpected obliteration. Truly aghast, I just didn't know how to fight the powers-that-be to retrieve it, so it's gone.)

5. The November Hodgepodge has always included a weekly gratitude question. Here's the question for today-what are three things that make your heart sing?

1) the assurance of my eternity in Heaven because Jesus Christ has forgiven me of all my sins, past, present, and future

2) gratitude that God has given me the titles of wife, mother, grandmother, and friend even with all the diverse experiences that come with those titles

3) BBQ (pulled pork, my recipe for beef brisket, Firehouse Sub sandwiches, Whiskey River BBQ burgers at Red Robin)

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

One of my family members is an airline pilot. He recently flew into Tel Aviv. He said that when the pilots change radio frequency, the control tower greets them with, "Shalom." I love that! Oh that we all would speak peace upon encountering one another.

Until next time, 

May the God of hope fill you

with all joy and peace

as you trust in Him.

Romans 15:13

Running Into November

 

Thanksgiving Bird for November
Heart in Hand pattern

For me, the highlight of October was the first week, when we celebrated Gary's birthday. 🎉The rest of the month was filled out with a lot of medical appointments for both of us (all routine, annual check-ups) and encounters with a shocking number of skeletons. 

Aside from the marvel of how our Creator God has created the human body, I do not relate well to this macabre "decoration," but then as I've said before, I'm no fan of Halloween. 

I did a little research regarding this trend. As well as being a part of October 31 festivities, there is a cultural fascination with the gothic, nostalgia, and dressing the skeletons up for the different holidays.

Yes, we saw a skeleton Santa Claus in the hardware store yesterday. Where is jolly ole' Saint Nick?!!

cross stitch for September - October

Anyway, I'm glad to turn the calendar to November. One of the notations on my page for today is to change out the cross stitch from "Home is where our story begins" (a Lizzie Kate pattern) to "Thanksgiving Bird" by Heart in Hand. I no longer do any needlework (except for mending as needed) but I enjoy displaying projects from my past. 

With November here, autumn has definitely arrived in Florida. We woke up to 47 degrees yesterday, and colder than that today. But I can handle it....

Yes, I was there! But now my home is in Florida where there is no snow to shovel and our five Camelia bushes are in glorious bloom - - yes, in November !!

With the arrival of cold temperatures, I went shopping for a pair of sweat pants to wear on our bike rides. It was money well-spent!

Another advantage to living in a temperate climate, is having our car dealership drive to our house for oil changes and tire rotations. Ford has come several times in the two years we've had this vehicle for routine maintenance and recall notices. It's been great to watch it all happening from the garage. Speaking of car fluids, this sign caught our attention:

Back at home, as we sip our first cup of coffee every morning, I usually ask Gary about his plans for the day. Often he teases me with his signature, "Nuthin'!" But the other day he woke up saying he needed to get a hair cut. He added that he was considering a buzz cut. I immediately vetoed the idea. He persisted with the idea and I held firm.

When he came home after his trip to the barber, I called out,  "Do you still have hair?" He informed me that yes, he did but that a butch cut costs $2 LESS than a regular man's cut. I kissed him and thanked him for spending the extra bucks for my preference. As you will see in snapshots to follow, he is blessed with a good head of hair.

race arrow sign

Our +55 community had its annual race Saturday morning. In spite of the cold, we got outside early on our bicycles so we could avoid the runners.

 

scarecrow guards the Begonias

We rode past some refreshment stations along the way and a few costumes, too. Our Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) directed traffic, which can be shockingly wild. I wish our CERT people were out there all the time.

Here they come!

Anyway, the race was some 3+ miles long with runners on the multi-purpose path that is behind our house. Of course this was a good opportunity for 'blog fodder,' so we made our way across our back yard and onto the grassy median.

Gary spied them first. I saw a side of him that I've not seen before. Most of my readers may not know that my guy is a former marathon runner.

One of the first things we did together as a couple was to hang his framed marathon posters on the lanai wall. These posters are from: 

  1985 Marine Corps Marathon 

 1986 Marine Corps Marathon

1988 New York City Marathon

1992 Marine Corps Marathon

1996 Marine Corps Marathon

And one more on another wall:

1984 Marine Corps Marathon

These posters are from only 6 of his races. He's run many more in a lot of locations. He's got the T-shirts, too. He tells me he also ran the JFK fifty-mile race twice. Those races started and ended in western Maryland taking him along the Appalachian Trail and along the Potomac River in Virginia and West Virginia.

So, with that said, what I had not seen in him before was how involved he gets with runners. 

He grins and claps and grins and claps and... (you get the idea). He also yelled out to the runners (most of whom were walking, truth be told). He knew exactly what to say. 

Lookin' good!

You can do it!

You can win this!

They gave you a good T-shirt!

Let's get that blood flowin'!

There are only a few ahead of you; you can win this!

Only 2 1/2 miles to go!

(faces edited for privacy)

It was great fun for me to see this side of Gary. When I asked him how he knew to call out all of that, he said he's heard it all from his races. 

He no longer runs. His hips eventually required replacement, so biking is his current sport of choice. It's a good thing because although I've learned to be a biker through my association with him, I would not have been able to do the running. 

🚴🏻🚴‍♀️🚴🏼‍♂️  🚴🏻🚴‍♀️ 🚴🏼‍♂️  🚴🏻🚴‍♀️🚴🏼‍♂️  🏃‍♂️🚴🏻 🏃🏻‍♀️🏃

When I looked up scripture verses having to do with running, this passage spoke to me the most:

Therefore, since we are surrounded 

by such a great cloud of witnesses,

let us throw off everything that hinders

and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance

the race marked out for us,

fixing our eyes on Jesus,

the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

For the joy set before Him 

he endured the cross, 

scorning its shame,

and sat down at the

right hand of the throne of God.

Consider Him who endured 

such opposition from sinners, 

so that you will not grow weary 

and lose heart.

Hebrews 12:1-3

Until next time, stay the course! You can do it!