A New Year of Hodgepodge

1. Share one favorite moment/memory from your Christmas holiday. 

It was simply having all the family together at our daughter's home and enjoying time with the grandkids, including our brand new grandson.

2. What was the best thing you ate over the holidays? Was it homemade or store bought? If it was homemade did you make it?

It's a toss up.  We had ham and lasagna, corn spoonbread, and some amazing potatoes (red skins cubed and baked with sour cream, cheddar, and mozzarella).  It was all homemade, but my mom took on part of the cooking since I worked until 3:00 the day before our gathering.  She made the lasagna and spoonbread, but she used my recipes.

3. What was one of the most beautiful things you saw over the holidays?

The way my daughter and her fiancee take care of their new son with complete devotion.  All of a sudden they are grown ups.

4. What does fresh start mean to you?

I think you can just make up your mind to do things differently.  Moving, changing jobs, getting new friends, etc. isn't required unless you want it to be part of your fresh start.

5. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very positive and 1 being not so great) how would you rate 2016 in terms of personal achievement and well being? Explain.

I don't think 2016 rates higher than a 4.  It just wasn't a good year for me personally.  It was financially difficult, personally unsatisfying, lonely, boring and just difficult in general.  The only things that saved it from being a complete bust were our daughter getting engaged and moving out and the birth of our grandson. 

6. Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they'd like to see banished from the Queen's English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness. Go here to read more about how the words were chosen or, if you're like me, to find out what in the world the word or phrase even means or the context in which it's used. There were quite a few on this year's list I'd never heard before.

Here's the 2017 list of banished words-

You, Sir-focus-Bete Noire-Town Hall Meeting-Post Truth-guesstimate-831-historic-manicured-echo chamber-on fleek-bigly-ghost-Dadbod-listicle-get your dander up-selfie drone-frankenfruit-disruption

Which word on the list would you most like to see banished in 2017? What word or phrase would you add to the list?

I haven't heard half of those and I don't really feel like the rest need to be banished.  I can't think of a word that annoys me enough to banish it, either.

7. Large or small, light or deep, share with us one goal you have for the new year. 

To act less introverted.  I am an introvert and sometimes that gives people "permission" to treat me like I am invisible.  I'm determined to present myself more confidently, to speak up in conversation, to tell people when they have hurt me rather than say "It's okay."

8. Insert your own random thought here.

This is my third day down with an intestinal virus.  On some fronts it's getting better...on others, not so much.  It's really throwing my plans for a great start to the new year in the dumpster, but hey, I'm getting lots of sleep I hadn't counted on.