AuburnChick's Adventures

It is currently 3:10pm, and I am only now able to write my post for the Hodgepodge.

This week – well, every week – is definitely about surviving. Seriously though.

So, here’s how the Hodgepodge works. Joyce posts her questions on Tuesdays. You answer on your own blog, visit hers on Wednesday, link up with Joyce, and visit other people. Easy peasy, unless you’re me and had a hectic Tuesday so you couldn’t write, much less schedule a post, and then are left to doing so in the waning hours of Wednesday.

Sheesh.

Let’s get to the questions.

1. What’s something you resolved to do this year? Have you done it?

Let’s see . . . I’m not big on making resolutions really, so this is a little tough. I guess something we, meaning the hubby and I, resolved to do was clean out our house. We are in the process of fighting with our insurance company – a very well known company that shall remain nameless until the day I write an angry post about them – to get repairs paid for from Hurricane Michael, which hit over eighteen months ago.

We are making headway in the cleaning – not with the insurance lady. I better not talk about that too much because I’m still angry.

We have thrown out a lot of stuff and have been moving things to a storage unit so the house is uncluttered when we get new flooring (among other things).

2. Where do you go to find quietude?

Right now, quietude exists on my back porch. It’s screened in and catches a lovely breeze. I spend hours upon hours on the computer each day because I am teaching online. Being outside is my respite from the craziness of the decluttering that is happening inside.

3. A friend asked this question on her Facebook page and said I could borrow it for the Hodgepodge…you’re only allowed to buy 5 things at the grocery store, and all must start with the first letter of your first name. Whatcha’ buying?

Since my name is Nathalie, I guess I need to think of things that start with the letter N. This is a difficult letter, by the way.

Nut butter (I cheated here)
Nerds (I do love this candy)
Nutritional Yeast (a vegan’s go to for all things cheesy)
Nuts (because the hubby likes to snack on them)
Nutmeg for flavoring all of the things.

4. The television show Survivor, the Gloria Gaynor song ‘I Will Survive’, survival mode, survival of the fittest…pick one and discuss.

I think it’s fitting that I have an EASY question after the previous one. I see what you did there, Joyce.

Hands down, the show Survivor. I love this show and have watched almost every season. I think I’ve missed one.

This season has been the absolute BEST because they brought back some of the most famous winners and have pitted them against one another. Every single week is full of twists and turns, and the tribal councils have been shocking. I like to text my daughter-in-law during/after the shows (she’s two hours behind me) so we can discuss the happenings.

5. Share a favorite quote or saying about strength.

6. My Random Thought

I have to share the most random discovery I made recently.

Do not ask me how I came upon this YouTuber. I started out by watching a video about how to improve your Zoom meetings.

Well, you know how YouTube “suggests” other videos, right?

So I saw another video by the same girl that had tips for the “mature woman” on how to apply eye shadow.

Oh. My. Gosh.

I’ve been doing things wrong.

All of my life.

This lady’s handle is HotandFlashy, and she’s amazing.

Look her up for more videos.

She’s good. I’m serious.

Here is a selfie I took last week – for comparison purposes . . .

Here are a couple of pictures of me the first day I tried some of HotandFlashy’s tips.

Excuse the hair. I’m sure she has videos for this as well – videos my crazy life hasn’t let me have time to watch.

I got better with my second go. Here are pictures from today’s application . . .

My world has been rocked. I will never apply eye shadow the same way again.

Have a great rest of the week! Thanks for visiting!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Wednesday Hodgepodge | 4 Comments »

Good Wednesday morning! I cannot tell you how glad I am that Joyce restarted her weekly Hodgepodge posts because they have helped me get back into the blogging game and keep at it during hectic teach-from-home days.

If you want to play along, answer on your own blog and link back up with Joyce.

I’m going to try to do a better job of visiting other bloggers. Last week bit me in the rear, let me tell you, so I apologize if I did not reciprocate.

This week’s theme is karaoke, and y’all, this is going to be interesting.

1. In Monday’s post I mentioned I would incorporate the word I was given for letter K into this week’s questions. That word was karaoke. On a scale of 1-10 how excited would you be to find out there was karaoke happening at your next gathering/outing with friends? 10=gimme that microphone!, and 1=I suddenly remembered there’s somewhere else I need to be. Have you ever actually done karaoke? If you had to perform karaoke what would be your ‘go-to’song?

I have been to a karaoke thing once while on a cruise several years ago. I did not, however, sing. I’m not brave that way, so I’d put myself at a 3 as far as how excited I’d be if there was going to be karaoke happening at my next gathering. With that said, I have to rave about my Chicky girl. She bravely did karaoke during one of our cruises, and it was hysterical. She and one of my nephews did a Grease duet, and we were rolling. I’ve decided to save the world by not doing it. Ever. I once heard my voice that I’d accidentally videoed years ago when we were singing happy birthday to Chicky. It took me years before I sang out loud at church after that.

Now, if I suddenly developed a voice, I’d do the song Part of Your World, from the movie Little Mermaid. I don’t know why. I’ve just always loved that song.

2. How do you listen to music these days? Favorite app or do you listen the old fashioned way? Do you have music playing often in your home? Is there still a CD player in your car?

When I’m in the car, I listen to XM Radio. I believe that I have a CD player in my car, and I do have CDs in the house, believe it or not, but I don’t listen to them in the car. When I’m out for a walk, I listen to a cardio playlist from songs I’ve downloaded. When I’m at home, I’ll play music through Alexa or the Pandora app on my TV.

3. The HP lands on US tax day this year. Or what used to be tax day before everything including filing your taxes was cancelled, delayed, postponed or extended. FYI- filing your taxes has not been cancelled, only delayed for a bit.

Besides staying away from anyone and everyone, what have you found taxing lately?

Honestly, this stay-at-home thing hasn’t been too hard for me. I am an introvert and have been struggling with anxiety since October, so staying in has been fine with me. The most taxing thing about being home is shutting down the computer at the end of the work day. I love, love, love working from home, but I am trying to learn how to balance myself a little more.

3. You’re without power so no oven, and you can’t open your frig or freezer in order to keep what’s in there from spoiling. And you don’t have access to take out. What will you make us for dinner?

This question immediately reminded me of what we went through after Hurricane Michael. We had no electricity for twelve days, so we had to get creative – or rather not. I ate soup straight out of the can. I also ate fresh fruit, which I picked up from donation centers. So yeah, we’d be eating real fancy around here. 🙂

4. I’ve seen this exercise going around Facebook and thought it would be a good one to include in the HP…what are five things everybody seems to love and go crazy for that you personally don’t care for?

This is so easy for me and will probably surprise people given that I’m a vegan. I personally do not care for avocados, sweet potatoes, coffee, blueberries, and beer.

5. Insert your own random thought here.

I am so glad that we are working from home right now because yesterday, I woke up with a headache. This, in and of itself, isn’t unusual for me with my allergies being as they are right now. But, the headache ramped up to a 20 on a scale of 1-10, and I found myself in bed with an ice pack on my head. It was one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had.

Gambit was pretty concerned and snuggled up super close.

The Mr. took good care of me and even, at one point, brought me a thermometer. It’s sad when you can’t even have a migraine these days without worrying.

I read my temperature as 99.6, and we were nervous . . . until the Mr. walked out of the room for a second and then returned to tell me that he thought I’d read the thermometer upside down.

Sheesh.

So we took it again, and it was 96.9, which I later read is actually okay.

Whew!

By early evening, I was able to return to the den and watch a little TV.

The headache is gone this morning, thank heavens, although I am walking on eggshells a bit.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Wednesday Hodgepodge | 5 Comments »

Hello everyone. It’s Wednesday, which means that it’s time for another round of the Hodgepodge. Joyce has cooked up some fun ones for us, so let’s jump in. Post your answers on your own blog and link up with Joyce here.

Oh, and thank you for visiting today!

1. Has spring sprung in your part of the world? How can you tell? Did March come in like a lion where you live? Going out like a lamb or something more ferocious?

I live in the Florida Panhandle, so spring has definitely sprung! it always amazes me how quickly we go from frigid 50-degree weather to blistering 80-degree temperatures. Talk about going out like a lamb!

Here’s a sign that spring is doing its thing . . . the revival of one of my plants.

I’m really enjoying watching it come back to life.

2. The last thing that caused you to spring to your feet?

Yesterday morning, I was out on my back porch and minutes into my first Zoom meeting of the day with my students when all of a sudden, my sprinklers came on. I figured I’d be okay, aside from the noise, but then I noticed that the sprinkler closest to my porch was actually spraying into the area where I was sitting. I had to grab my laptop and paperwork from my table and run inside.

I need to go back, at some point, and adjust that sprinkler.

3. Do you have a spring clean to-do list? What’s one chore on the list you’ve already managed to accomplish? What spring clean chore do you most dread?

This question made me chuckle because I don’t do spring cleaning. I clean when and what I can, and right now, that’s not much.

Now, I will say that the Mr. and I have already been cleaning out closets and cabinets in anticipation of the repair work that will need to be done in our house – repairs from Hurricane Michael.

I’ve also been selling stuff on Facebook Marketplace, so my house is a disaster. I’m choosing to turn a blind eye for now.

4. Tell us something you’ve learned about yourself or the wider world as a result of social distancing/the virus crisis.

Gosh. There are so many lessons I’m learning through this pandemic.

I’m learning that I can make do on much less than what I thought.

I’m learning just how much stuff I have wasted over the years and how rewarding it is to find ways to make things stretch.

I have learned that it takes much less toilet paper to get the job done than one thought before this pandemic made the good stuff so hard to find.

5. Something you love that’s the color pink?

I am having a hard time with this question. I guess I’d have to say that I like certain fingernail polish colors that are pink.

6. My Random Thought

I am on Day 3 of online teaching, and I don’t mind admitting that I am slap worn out.

Monday, I got up early, put on makeup, and sort-of fixed my hair because I had an online training to attend.

After my training, I spent at least three hours on the phone with students and parents.

In between, I was averaging between 25-30 emails an hour.

Yesterday, I hosted five or six Zoom meetings with my students to give them an overview of class and how their online instruction would proceed.

It was great to see their faces. In fact, at one point, I had about fifteen kids in one meeting, and it was chaotic and noisy, much like class had been some days.

It was wonderful.

Many students expressed the wish to return to school. They are overwhelmed with the magnitude of actually having to manage their education from afar.

Teachers are feeling that way too.

We know, though, that we will adjust. I’m sure that give or take a week, we’ll have our new routines figured out and will be able to breath a little easier each day.

Right now, it feels like we are running through our days at a full-out sprint. We are ready for the foot to come off of the accelerator as we ease our way back into the slow lane.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Wednesday Hodgepodge | 4 Comments »