Hodgepodge - bye bye May.

I'm getting to the Hodgepodge a bit late this week.  I just got back from a short trip to the Pigeon Forge - Gatlinburg area with my hubby.  It was a business trip in a nice area.   So, I went along.  I'm wondering...  have you ever been there? I was so surprised by the ying and yang of the towns!   Pigeon Forge is a long strip of every fast food place you can think of, hotel and motels in a row... attractions (theaters, pools, amusement parks, etc.) I felt I was back in Myrtle Beach.  It had the same places to go that are up the road from me on "The Grand Strand".   Oh - except with MORE pancake houses!  They were everywhere!  Is this what Dolly Parton envisioned??  SO, so commericalized!   Thankfully, Gatlinburg has more charm - and the Smoky Mountains right next to it.  We did a bit of hiking - and went into an amazing natural cavern under the mountains.

So, I'm back home and getting back into the swing of things.   Here's the Hodgepodge.

 1. How should success be measured? Using that as your standard, who is the most successful person you know? (Or one of the most successful?) 

Being a success means doing what God put you on this earth to do!   It means being a viable person in this world - living with meaning, and finding happiness all along the way! 

I have more than several church friends who are successful in life.  

2. Have you ever been to a hot air balloon launch/fest/party? Ever taken a ride in a hot air balloon? Is that on your bucket list? According to Frommers the ten best hot air balloon adventures in the world are-

Loire Valley (France), the Serengeti (Tanzania), Napa Valley (California), Lake Champlain (Vermont), Cappadocia (Turkey), Istria (Croatia), Gstaad (Switzerland), Yarra Valley (Australia), Muelle (Costa Rica), and Albuquerque (New Mexico). 

Which one on the list would you most like to experience? 

I have only been in a hot balloon once - and it was tethered.  We went up in the air, but not very far.    And that's okay with me.  I don't have a desire to take a long and high ride in a hot air balloon.   I would be too fearful.  I know of a friend who took her parents on one and they had a hard landing.  All of them needed hospitalization from injuries and it took a long time to recover.  So, no thanks.
 

3. May 25th is National Brown-Bag It Day. Did you/will you pack a lunch today? When did you last pack a lunch for someone and what are your go-to ingredients for a brown bag lunch?

No, I will not pack a brown-bag lunch today.   It's been years since I have packed lunch in a brown-bag or anything else.  I used to pack lunch all the time for my daughters when they were in elementary school.  That was a LONG time ago!  

 4. What's one of your favorite dance scenes from a movie or television show? 

Wow!   I think most people will answer the final dance number of "Dirty Dancing."   But there are SO many to pick from, including... the dance scene in the mill in "Footloose"... and the final carnival scene in "Grease."   I love some of the old movie dance numbers too...  I love the "Sound of Music" dancing in the gazebo (I am Sixteen going on Seventeen.) and I love some of hte dancing in the movie "White Christmas"!

5. John F. Kennedy made famous the line, '...Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." So what can you do for your country?

Oh - the possibilities are endless!!   VOLUNTEER!  Give back!   Help in a school, clean up trash, work at a shelter, give your TIME - not just money.   IF we all made volunteering a part of life than I think we would be more united and we would help those who need it.  We would have empathy.   

America is a wonderful country!  We should not take it for granted, and we should all do our part!  We should not think only "What's in it for me?" but instead "What can I do to give back?"

6. Weekends are made for __________________________________.

...taking time to relax, and to enjoy something fun, and to share it with people you enjoy being with - but can't see during the week when work schedules get in the way.   Weekends are for church, and being thankful, and taking in some music or a movie.  It's the time to "recoup" and "rejoice".  That's why weekends go back TOO fast!!

7. On this last Wednesday of the month, bid farewell to the month of May in seven words or less. 

A beautiful month already over. Too soon.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

For those keeping track, I mentioned earlier that we may be downsizing soon.  We put an offer in on a place and are in the middle of the negotiations.  If it goes through, then this mama will have her work cut out for her...getting our current home in shape to show and sell, and getting rid of lots and lots of stuff!    I will have a BIG summer project!  

Be safe this Memorial Day weekend!    And, let's remember those who have lost their lives for America.  "The ultimate sacrifice".    Thinking of that...how can we not at least DO SOMETHING to give back?   (I am not a "Let's make America great again" person - because it IS great!!)