Puppy Power: The Weekly Hodgepodge

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Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

  

What gives you energy? What takes it away? 

What gives me energy (not an exhaustive list and in no particular order): 

• 
  Spending time with God
• Caffeine 
• Laughter - laughing myself or hearing others (especially children) laugh
• Creativity
• Music (whether I'm listening to it or playing it)
• A good mix of people time and solitude (I'm an ambivert)
• The sight, smell, and feel of craft or school supplies
• Morning showers
• Rest/naps

What zaps my energy (again not an exhaustive list and in no particular order): 

• Toxic people
• Too much junk food
• Winter
• Meetings that serve no purpose
• Depression
• Big crowds at the store where no one moves and every aisle is blocked
• Dehydration
• Being too hot or too cold
• Headaches
• Too much screen time 

How often do you shop for clothes? What accessory do you always wear? 

I don't buy clothes on a set schedule.  Because I still losing weight (hallelujah), I'm slowly replacing items as needed.  The end of this month, I'll most likely hit the thrift store and other familiar haunts to hunt for cold weather clothes and shoes.  The accessory I always wear is earrings.  I know, it's not really a clothing accessory, but I don't wear belts at all and only wear scarves or hats when it's cold (unless it's Easter). 

What's something free that you feel grateful for? 

My salvation in Christ, for one (free, but definitely not cheap).  That makes the other free things like fresh air, clean water, library books, and living in a free country all the more precious.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner...which meal of the day do you enjoy most? What's your go-to comfort food? 

I'm working to enjoy each meal rather than seeing eating as a necessary evil or cooking for one as a wasteful chore. Right now, I think breakfast is my favorite because I can have it any time (not just the breakfast hour).  Can cereal be considered a comfort food even if it's grown up good-for-you cereal?

Insert your own random thought here. 

n case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Scraps and Such 04" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Let's Groove Tonight" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #38:  The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. Note: I have completed the volume, so this post also contains the "last thoughts" section.
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)

Let's Groove Tonight: The Weekly Digest and Hodgepodge

NOTE:  This week I am combining my (semi-) weekly digest with my (semi-) weekly hodgepodge.  See the "I am thinking about" section for a few of this week's hodgepodge questions.  

Looking out the window....

These Rubber Rabbitbrush plants were outside the 
Green Mountain Rec Center.

 

I've been meaning to get in a walk at Union Square Park before the summer flower beds stopped blooming. I finally made it.

These are called Scabiosa, or Pincushion flowers.

 

I never tire of photographing hibiscus flowers...

 

...or black-eyed Susans...

...or daisies.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

We have here an ever-living gospel, as full of life as when it first came from the lips of God. It is as strong to convince and convert, to regenerate and comfort, and to sustain and sanctify as ever it was in its first days of working wonders. We have an unchanging gospel that is not green grass today and dry hay tomorrow, but is always the abiding truth of the immutable God. Opinions change, but truth certified by God can no more change than the God who uttered it.- Charles Spurgeon, Faith's Checkbook, p. 255.

 

God will never alter the terms of His relationship with us. - Pastor Randy Conway, Table Mountain Baptist Church, 8/31/25 AM service.

 

"Just the way we want it" is not a bad paraphrase for "amen."  What is needed at the end of this great prayer [the Lord's Prayer] is a ringing affirmation of the goodness of God and God's world.  If your nerves can take it, you might (occasionally?) try "Whoopee!"  I imagine God himself will not mind. - Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 269.

 

I'm thinking about...

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

"Sober alkies are often asked, ‘When did you hit rock bottom?’ But a more informed question might be, ‘How many times did you hit rock bottom?'" - American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson 

What's your number one food pet peeve? 

About food or involving food?   Well, I've already gone on a rant here about food fads, so I'm not going there again today.  My biggest pet peeve involving food is people who smack loudly, chew with their mouths open, or worse, go on camera and turn eating into a grotesque freak show for dollars (one of MANY reasons I avoid TikTok like the plague--I care too much about my brain).

What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

My musical tastes are pretty much the same.  I enjoy many genres and eras of music, but the sounds of the 70s and 80s are still my go-to.  If you look at my Happy 911 playlist on Spotify, a good bit of it is both Christian and secular music from the 80s.  That's my groove right there!

What I've read since the last digest...

• Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton ✮✮✮1/2 
• The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard ✮✮✮✮ (Please see my "first thoughts" and "last thoughts" on this book here.

I'm currently reading...

• Finding the Groove by Robert Gelinas
• The Oxford Inklings by Colin Duriez 
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• Mansions of the Heart by R. Thomas Ashbrook 
• Streams of Living Water by Richard J. Foster 
• On Reading Well by Karen Swallow Prior
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon

Recent blog posts...

• My previous digest, "Almost Autumn'" is here. 
• My previous hodgepodge, "Scraps and Such 04" is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here. (Updated regularly)
• My "I Can Only Blame MyShelf" reading challenge is here.  (Updated regularly). 

From the Workshop...

 

I am thankful for...

• Insulated tumblers that don't cost as much as two weeks worth of groceries and a tank of gas to purchase.
• A successful "gym rat" summer.
• A good report at my recent physical.
• Getting to see my friends at Table Mountain Baptist.
• Easy to follow YouTube tutorials. 
• Free air at the tire store down the street from my apartment.  Also thankful for the tech who showed me how to use the air myself in case they were too busy to do it. 
• Rice cakes (both flavored and plain).
• God continuing to provide pretty papers and supplies with which to make cards. 
• Businesses that still take checks.
• Enjoying my first class of the year.  I'll be teaching the course again in a few weeks. 
    

Scraps and Such 04: The Weekly Hodgepodge

Join the fun! 

Come on over to 

From This Side of the Pond 

for the Hodgepodge link-up!

From Volume #611

Do you have a favorite mug? Let's see it. Why is this one your favorite?   

My favorite mug changes with situations and seasons, but the mug pictured here is my current favorite.  I bought it from Amazon a few months ago.  I thought it would be fun to use in Zoom team meetings.  My co-workers think it's a hoot.

From Volume #616

What's worth standing in line for? 

Friendly customer service.  I will wait in a long line of families with buggies full to bursting if I know the cashier is polite and attentive.  I will avoid a much shorter line if the cashier looks like--as my mother would say--"Dammit, I'll eat you!" That's why I enjoy an establishment that doesn't have high turnover and I can recognize a familiar face.

Now, don't get me wrong, "polite and attentive" doesn't mean they have to be sugary sweet and hold a long conversation with me.  It means that the employee looks me in the eye and treats me like a person.  I don't think that's too much to ask. 

What are some things you find particularly peaceful or calming? 

• Classical music
• The sound of a box fan (or in my case, an oscillating fan)
• The laughter of children (especially babies who will laugh at anything)
• A mug of coffee or tea and a good book
• Hugs
• The whir of the sewing machine, the scratch of a pencil, or the swish of a paintbrush as I create 
• The sound of rainfall
• Bird calls (yes, even the crows) 

Insert your own random thought here. 

My niece (right), and her daughter, my grandniece (left) just recently ran their first 5k.
I'm so proud of them both.  They have been working on their health for a while.

In case you missed it:  

• My previous Hodgepodge post "Where No Couch Has Gone Before" is here.
• My latest Weekly Digest "Almost Autumn" is here.
  
• My latest First Line Friday post: #38:  The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard is here. 
• My "25 for 2025" challenge is here.  (Updated regularly)
• My "2025 I Can Only Blame MyShelf Reading Challenge" is here. (Updated regularly)