Happy New Hodgepodge

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to me! I still have birthdays but I stopped adding the years a while back. So I'm still 49. Not really. I'm still 53! WooHoo! LOL

Here's to the Hodgepodge and a fresh NEW YEAR that will bring my first grandchild! 

1. Are you ready for new? I am. Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? YES! Do you want it to be? YES! Because it is the year of me becoming a grandmother! 

2. January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology? My biggest struggle is keeping ahead of the kiddos to whom I teach technology. LOL

3. It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, and general uselessness) in 2016. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? I think, vape. Because I have no idea what it is and it sounds more like a word that I would try to make up while playing Words with Friends. Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add? I'm sure there is but I can't think of any right now. Oh, I looked up VAPE. Yep, let's get rid of that one. 

4. Share one of your current health related goals. Still working on the weight loss thing. Also, I'm giving veganism a go. Is veganism a word? Anyway, it has made a HUGE difference in many ways. Also, working on fitness again. That was more than one, and yet, related. 

5. Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? I am. Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe?  I do not but, I will by this summer. The nursery at my house, for my granddaughter, is going have a vintage theme and the color scheme will be peach and gray. Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now? I'm seeing more gray hair on my head (HATE it) and I feel like an old gray mare. Gotta get over that before the granddaughter shows up in July! 

6. Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Around here it's Hoppin'John, collards, cornbread...but no, I didn't eat it. Is that a tradition in your home? Nope. But my mother cooks it so, if anyone here wants any, they can go the hour to her house and enjoy! Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you? Cooked greens. 

7. What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year? My job. I hope to not return next year and enjoy being a caretaker for my granddaughter while her parents work. :) Ok, the job isn't actually a 'time waster', but it gets in the way of my abilty to waste time. LOL The biggest time waster in my life is worry/stress. I plan to get some people out of my house and eliminate most of the stress that way. Ha!

8.  Insert your own random thought here. Ladies (and any gents), I'm still collecting grandmother advice! Please share yours in the comments! Oh, we know the gender due to the genetic testing that the parents-to-be opted to have (no worries, BTW--is this a new trend now or is it merely an option that is offered? I'll have to ask Birdie). We don't have to wait until February!

ALSO, winter has shown up and the only way I would be any happier is if it would snow! I'm actually wearing long pants to work AND long sleeved tops! I get to turn on the heater at home and cozy up in front of it. Life is enjoyable in winter! And when you're expecting your first grandchild. :)

Have a great rest of the week, y'all!