Hodgepodge Wednesday Picnics and Ants

 It's time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce over at from this side of the pond.

 


 1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Picnic Day...will you celebrate? Do you enjoy picnics? Dining out of doors picnic or otherwise? What are three or four things I'd find in your picnic basket? 

While I enjoy a good picnic it is much too cold and rainy and windy this time of year to enjoy one just yet. As soon as it warms up and we get out all the patio and deck furniture I try eat just about any meal that I can outside. 

The boys and I used to picnic outside ALL the time!





While I've never owned an official picnic basket you'd probably find fresh fruit, salad, iced tea (though I haven't had any in months since I gave up sugar!), and utensils in my picnic basket. 

2.  A time recently where you felt 'antsy'?  

Gosh I feel like I have been antsy so often lately! I have been unable to sit still as my mind is constantly whirling. We have a whole lot going on this month that has left me very restless. This past Saturday we were helping pack up some of his dorm stuff and while he was busy removing some of the sticky things we used to hand things around the room with the hair dryer I was pacing around looking for anything else we could pack and take home with us so we'd have less to do on his last day of school next week.

3. As the saying goes...'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.'  Do you like lemonade? When did you recently need to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking?

I do like lemonade but I prefer flavored lemonades like the signature blueberry lemonade we got at the Jordon Pond House at Acadia National park. Or the strawberry lemonade most restaurants make.


I can't really think of a recent experience where I've had to make lemonade from lemons. 

4. Recently five 'celebrities' made a brief (ll minute) foray into space aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket. Did you hear about this? Your thoughts? If money were no object is this something you'd like to do someday? 
 
I had not heard about this but I would have no desire to travel into space aboard a rocket. 

5. Favorite thing about the 'space' you're sitting in right now? 

My favorite thing about the space I'm sitting in right now is always the view! 

This is the view from my bedroom window (taken a few weeks ago though)

6. Insert your own random thought here. Alec's college instituted a 3 year residency requirement this year... and yet they ran out of dorm-rooms when it came time for all the current students to pick their housing. Is it just me or is this crazy? It seems like in this day and age they easily know the # of student, the # of room/beds they have. Why up your residency requirements from 2-3 years if you can't accommodate those students anyway?

 Linking up with:



 

Comments

  1. Kim CarberryApril 23, 2025 at 6:26 AM

    I do love a picnic, especially when the weather is just right.
    It sounds like you have had a lot going on lately. I hope you are feeling less antsy soon.
    You have the most amazing view onto the lake.
    That does sound crazy, not having enough room to house all of the students.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Maria RineerApril 23, 2025 at 6:33 AM

    Well, I hope the college is building more dorms... nothing says bureaucracy quite like, "you have to do x,y and z" though they are literally impossible to do. Love your view!

    ReplyDelete
  3. HollyApril 23, 2025 at 6:43 AM

    Well that year for college went by quickly-what do you think? Eek! Totally understand your housing frustration- have heard similar stories all over the place- it is just crazy especially with the amount of money these colleges collect ever year-unnecessary stress!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Amy ScottApril 23, 2025 at 7:05 AM

    There is apparently a national college housing shortage. That to me means that too many kids are going to college! Ha! At UK they had to turn double rooms into triple rooms. They are also charging so much!
    You can't require they live on campus and not have enough spots - duh!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Memphis BridgesApril 23, 2025 at 7:24 AM

    Most universities cannot keep up with the housing demands I have found. Remind me to tell you about my daughter's sophmore year living situation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jennifer GoodwinApril 23, 2025 at 7:39 AM

    I loved reading your answers! I'm sorry that you've been feeling antsy lately; too much of that is not a great thing. I don't enjoy that feeling, so I assume most people agree with me on that. Your next week will be packed! I'm glad you're getting away this weekend with us girls, hopefully it'll sustain you for what you have to come! Two more sleeps!

    ReplyDelete
  7. JoyceApril 23, 2025 at 7:50 AM

    The housing situation just seems like unnecessary stress to put people through, and also super poor planning on the part of those in charge. It happens all over though. I live near a big university and a couple of years ago they were building more dorm space but it wasn't finished and they had to put students up in a hotel for their first semester. You have a pretty view! May is always so busy I think for everyone. Will your son be home for the summer? Have a great day!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dara @ Not In JerseyApril 23, 2025 at 8:21 AM

    Gabbie's school has a housing issue too. Luckily she managed to get in on an on campus apartment for next year! I feel antsy a lot too. I hope things calm down!

    ReplyDelete
  9. EllibelleApril 23, 2025 at 10:06 AM

    You do have such a wonderful view from your porch, I'd want to eat outside any chance I'd get too! The housing issues sound like they really shouldn't be an issue. Makes no sense. I'm sorry you are dealing with it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Tanya April 23, 2025 at 10:30 AM

    That is crazy about the residency requirement. It is probably just a way for them to make more money! At Auburn, the housing is ridiculous. They don't even have enough dorms for the freshman class. Luckily, there are lots of apartments around campus! See you soon!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Favorite TV Shows Growing Up in the 80's and early 90's

Image
Do you remember the TGIF lineups on Friday nights? I can remember planning sleepovers and time with friends around TV Show lineups of our favorite shows... or else trying to set the VCR to record our favorite shows if we weren't going to be home. And through the years I had SO MANY favorites! Growing pains aired in 1985 which put me around age 8 and it stayed on the air until I was 15 or so; I'm pretty sure most people in my age group watched mostly for Kirk Cameron and all his antics.  I still have a soft spot for family sit-coms!  The Facts of Life aired when I was just 2  and stayed on the air until I was 11 so I'm sure the episodes I remember so fondly were either some of the later ones and then reruns shown later on when I was old enough to watch from the beginning. I think everyone would have loved an Edna Garret in their lives.   Benson another sitcom that began airing when I was just 2 and was done by the time I was 9 (another one I must have watched mai...
Read more

Things That Make Me Laugh

Image
I loved the challenge of this week's list for our 26 lists link up.  I don't know about you but I really need to laugh more lately.  It's such a great stress reliever. 1.  Books-- I love a good funny book that makes me laugh out loud.  I haven't read one in a while but if you have any recommendations I'm all ears.  The last book I can remember making me laugh was the Un-Honeymooners. 2  The boys being silly. 3.  Watching shows like America's Funniest Videos or Family Feud. 4. My husband.  Most people don't realize it but he's actually pretty funny and often makes me laugh. 5.  Whenever my sisters/ family get together and we get to reminiscing (particularly if my Aunt Elaine is around) we end up laughing so hard at all the old family stories that we are all in tears by the end of the night.  It's fabulous. 6. Movies like Mom's Night Out, Christmas Vacation, and Grown Ups make me laugh out loud. 7.  When my ...
Read more

Alec's SCAP (Senior Culinary Arts Project) Assignment and Meal

Image
We have been hearing all about Alec's SCAP assignment all year; it counts for something like 75% of their final grade but luckily it is broken down into 10 or so mini assignments throughout the year.  Yesterday he presented his meal and we were allowed to invite up to 7 family members/friends to taste it. He won't know his grade until everyone in the class has gone but I'm pretty sure he crushed it.  Our meal was delicious.  Here are the assignments the project was broken down into: 1. Pick a region and research culture, history of native ingredients, and cooking methods and write an essay about what they discovered.-- He picked GREECE! 2. Figure out what native ingredients they wanted to work with and design a menu; each menu had to have a native fruit in their dessert and a native protein for their entree.  They had to come up with a 4 course meal: bread, appetizer, main dish and dessert.  The main dish had to have a protein, vegetable, and a starch.  3. ...
Read more

Some of my Favorite Sunset and Sunrise photos

Image
 As much as I love taking landscape and nature photos I'm pretty sure my favorite thing to photograph are sunrises and sunsets. The color displays are incredible and I feel like even if I take 5 photos of the same sunset or sunrise each photo is just a tiny bit different. The lighting changes so subtly and yet so fast.  I was reading A Grace Full Life's blog the other day and she had a post with a year of sunsets and sunrises and I thought it was just so pretty to see them altogether. While I haven't been paying close enough attention to do a full year of sunsets and sunrises I knew I had lots of photos from our travels and I thought I'd compile a list of some of my favorites! Sunrise- taken from our cruise ship balcony sunset at Walt Disney World resort, Florida Another sunset at Walt Disney World resorts in Florida sunrise on our lake Sunrise on Maui sunset on the big island of Hawaii sunset in the great smoky mountain; Tennessee Another sunset in the great smoky mou...
Read more

10 Most Popular Posts of All Time

Image
Each year near the end of December/ beginning of January I share the top 10 posts of the year but this year, in particular, I have noticed some much older posts that are still bringing in lots of pageviews and thought it would be fun to look back and see a top 10 list of all time.  I started my blog in June of 2012 and while so many of my first posts were long blocky, chunky rambles without any real photos of us and our family I just can't bring myself to delete any of them as I really do enjoy looking back and seeing how my blog has change and grown over time. Not surprisingly all my top 10 posts are from more recent years.  I love to look at what is popular and try to figure out WHY each post is so popular. Most of the time I can't but I love to speculate anyway.  10. Our 2022 Disney/Universal Trip Day 1 & 2 has almost 2000 views. Who doesn't love Disney and the Magic Kingdom? 😊 9. My Would You rather; Fall Edition had well over 3,000 pageview. I do, however, thi...
Read more