Feeling frantic? Ready?

Are you running around frantic right now?    Thankfully, I have less on my calendar than I normally do today and tomorrow since my rehearsals are on break until the new year.   So, yes, I have plenty of time to answer the Hodgepodge questions.   How about you?

1. What's left to be done on your Christmas to-do list? 

I still need to pick up a few stocking stuffing items.  I also need to do some grocery shopping.  I think everything else is done.    If not, it's not going to matter!

2. The Hodgepodge lands on the first day of winter this year. What's your favorite thing about winter? 

Ha!  Nothing.     Seriously, it's my least favorite season.    I don't like cold weather.   I don't like the way the earth looks dead - grey and empty.  I don't like that I spend too much time indoors.  I don't like the shortened hours of daylight. 

I know - to everything there is a season.  But I don't have to like them all! 

Thankfully, I live in an area where spring arrives early.   So, I wait...

3. In what area of your life are you immature? Feel free to elaborate or not. 

Oh, I think people who know me would say there are several areas!  ha!   Seriously, I don't feel like an adult yet in many ways... and although I am way over the halfway point of my life, I still question myself at times about what I want to do with it.  I think I am immature when it comes to my passions...  music, politics perhaps.  I tend to go with my heart and not my head.   I don't analyze. I go with my gut.  I am selfish. 

But, the good news about feeling immature is the freedom to act silly!
 

4. What was the most (or one of the most) important lessons you learned in 2016? 

Never count your eggs before they are hatched!!  

I was pretty sure I was going to be happy on Election night - but I was stunned. Shocked.  Scared.  In denial.   I'm still there.    I don't want to get too political, but it was a wake up call to me.  I thought I knew humankind, but I felt a huge disappointment that night.   

So, it reminded me to put my hope in God.  I pray for level heads and for peace.    I am on a faith journey and perhaps this is part of my bumpy road, helping me to keep looking to, and putting my faith in, God.

5. It's Fried Shrimp Day...are you a fan? What's your favorite way to eat shrimp? Will there be shrimp somewhere in your holiday feastings? 

I have a seafood allergy.  I don't eat much of anything that comes from the ocean - BUT  - I love shrimp.  I have introduced it into my diet over the years and I think I have a tolerance to it now.  Thank goodness!!  

I am like Forrest Gump's friend who worked on a shrimp boat - and I love shrimp grilled, bar-b-qued, and fried!  I just had an appetizer of coconut shrimp the other night.  

I live in the lowcountry of South Carolina where the shrimp are caught and served fresh daily!  They are wonderful here!

6. What sound lulls you to sleep? 

I am fortunate to fall asleep easily.  Most nights I turn off the light - and the sound of silence is all it takes.

7. What one word best describes your 2016? 

Blessed.        I know it's cliche' but it's true.
 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

As this year comes to an end I'd like to thank Joyce, our Hodgepodge leader, for the weekly questions and her commitment to the Hodgepodge. I'd like to thank my readers of it, some I know but some I have only met here.    I hope your Christmas includes celebrating the birth of Jesus, and I hope you get to spend some time with family and friends, and enjoy good food and drink - and stay safe if you travel!! 

See you in 2017 !