So What's the Word?: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Want to join the party?  Mosey on over to From This Side of the Pond  for the Hodgepodge link-up!

Share a winter memory from your childhood.

I'm sure you are asking for happy memories, so let's not go there.

What was on your blog this time last year? (Besides the Hodgepodge of course!) If you weren't blogging, what in the world were you doing with all that free time?

Along with the normal Hodgepodge and Simple Woman's Daybook entries, my posts at the beginning of last year were reflecting the encouragement from the Lord and passing it on to those who read my blog.  One post was on the fact that my accidental birth was not an accident in God's eyes.  My favorite from that time is my post called "Done."  I quote in part:

I'm done with feeling guilty no matter how little or how much I eat, especially at church and recovery meetings.  My mantra of "other addicts don't get to treat themselves with their drug of choice, so why should I" is not working.  What's "bad" food for one person isn't necessarily a problem for someone else.  I'm so freakin' afraid to eat anything for fear that my choices will send someone else into relapse.  Not to be ugly (or TO be ugly) if an addict wants to use my eating a cookie as an excuse for him to smoke dope, that's his problem, not mine.  I'm done with being out of balance. 

Can I briefly rant?  It bothers me that when my blog entries are on more of a positive/upbeat note, I have very few readers.  However, when all hell breaks loose and I'm on the verge of going over the edge, readership soars.  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that anyone would read my blog at all, but I have to ask;  Are people happier when I'm struggling instead of when things are looking up?  If so, why?  If not, what's the problem?

Ellen Goodman is quoted as saying, 'We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.' 

Do you see more flaws or more potential in your life at the start of a new year? Have you done anything specific this month to address either one? Does the new year truly begin for you on January 1, or is there some other month of the year that feels like a fresh start and new beginning?

Actually, I feel like March 1st should be the beginning of the year instead of January 1st.  It's the time when new life it happening all around, spring cleaning (supposedly) happens, and the mulligrubs of winter are quickly fading into the background.  That would help with having optimism rather than pessimism as we "walk through the rooms of our lives."

Who's an athlete you admire or respect and why?

Nancy Grace
Photo by Heather Phillips

Professional athlete?  Serena Williams.  Not only is she a beast on the court and a supreme athlete, but she's also gorgeous.  He muscles and beauty are worth aspiring to.  I've got her calves, but that about it right now.

Amateur athlete?  Nancy Grace, a fellow member of ARC (Anniston Runners Club).  Mrs. Nancy is in her 70's and still runs like a gazelle (plus she kicks my butt in our spin class at the Y).  In fact, this weekend, she set the half marathon state record for her age group.  I want to be like that when I'm over 70.  Heck, I just want to make it to over 70.

Do you like cream in your coffee? Whipped cream on your pumpkin pie? Cream cheese on a bagel? Sour cream on a baked potato? Cream of wheat for breakfast? Have you ever had a scone with clotted cream? Of all the creamy foods mentioned, which one sounds most appealing to you right this very minute?

Cream in my coffee, well, tea now (coffee gives me heartburn and nausea now).  Too late for that now, but tomorrow morning at work, oh yes.

Where were you last kept waiting for 'hours on end'? Or for what felt like hours on end? How well did you cope?

I recently had a lengthy car repair.  I was without my car for two days.  Two days without my wheels feels like years.  I coped by reading and sleeping a lot.

Believe it or not, when next week's Hodgepodge rolls around it will be February. Huh?!? Bid adieu here to January in seven words or less.

Too cold for me; come on SPRING!

Insert your own random thought here.

Photo via ClipartPanda

Speaking of reminiscing, two years ago, I was asked by Annie, my sister-in-blog if I could chose one word for your coming year, what would it be?  I chose the word metamorphosis.  It is happening, but very slowly.  I think I need to chose another word: Community.  I realize that if I'm going to complete the metamorphosis and be all that I'm called to be, I'm going to need to have the help of community.  I guess realize is the wrong word.  I've known this for a long time and had tried various methods to establish community, but none of them worked.  I blogged about it here and here, so I'm not going to rehash it here.  Getting well in community is a biblical principal, but after so much chaos, I tried to go it alone.

I can't.

I wish I could, but I can't. 

I have three close leaders who are praying for me, a wonderful mentor I speak with regularly, and the encouragement of my friends from the YMCA, the Journey Training and ARC.  However, these still feel distant to me.  There's a lack of closeness and intensity that I can't seem to shake.  Something is missing.  I still feel like I'm working on a DIY project and others are sitting back watching it go horribly wrong.  That's the best way I can describe it.

I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that community is at the crux of it.