Let’s Look and Hodgepodge

Hello and happy Wednesday. How’s the week treating you? I think the busy weekend we had has me “surviving” not “thriving.” It’s already midweek, so we’ll just keep moving right along.

Today is a double dose of blog posts!

I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for Let’s Look, but that post for me is short and sweet…

…so I’m also linking up with Joyce for her Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Starting with Let’s Look…so far this year, we’ve looked at…

• Things we outsource without regret in January…
• Ways we’ve turned into our parents in February (I missed out on the February post, but I’m sure I’ve turned into them in the best possible ways.)

This month, we’re looking at…favorite family vacations.

In July, one of our Share Our Lives posts was about best vacation memory. Well, I couldn’t choose just one memory, so I recapped quite a few vacations there.

One thing I’m grateful for is our fall break tradition of going to the 30A area of Florida with friends. We’ve gone the past four years and have made countless memories as a family of four but also with friends who feel like family.

Moving on to Wednesday Hodgepodge…

Here are my answers to her prompts this week:

1. Are you a naturally trusting person? Is trust built on logic or ‘gut instinct?’ Does everyone deserve a second chance?

I think I am, but I also think I’m a pretty good judge of character when trusting people.

Trust is built on a little bit of both of logic and ‘gut instinct.’ I guess the more you’re around people, the easier it is to “read” who you can trust or not. I try to find the good in people and not be jaded.

As far as deserving a second chance…depending on the situation yes, I’d say most people would deserve a second chance. Of course there’s the saying, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me” and “Don’t let someone show you twice who they really are.”

2. ‘Beware the Ides of March’…March 15 is on the ancient Roman calendar, these words were made famous by William Shakespeare in his play Julius Caesar. Caesar was assassinated on March 15th 44 B.C. Have you read any Shakespeare? If so, do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to Rome?

Listen, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried to read Shakespeare with one hundred freshmen! Thankfully, they go into Romeo and Juliet with some foundational knowledge. We’re actually reading RJ right now…and Romeo and Juliet just got married…which always as my freshmen shaking their heads.

Reading Shakespeare is tough, so I try to mix it up for them. We read the graphic novel version (online) for Acts 1 and 2. Then, we read the full text for Act 3 with comprehension questions. I usually read the “bridge” text (shorter version) for Acts 4 and 5. With my Advanced classes, we read the full text and students even volunteer to read parts. I always sprinkle in activities to check understanding and take a deeper look into certain vocab words. One of my fellow teachers shared the Broadway play (via You Tube) with Orlando Bloom as Romeo, so we watch a little bit after each act.

When I was sixteen, I went on a two week trip to Europe with school. We went to Italy, but we didn’t go to Rome.

3. Do you like a Caesar salad? If given the choice between garden/house salad or Caesar which do you order? Anchovies or no? What’s your favorite salad dressing?

I do like Caesar salad, and if it’s on a menu, oftentimes, I will order it. No anchovies…no thanks! Overall, my favorite salad dressing is Ranch.

4. Where do you typically work (or blog if that’s easier) at home? Do you have a dedicated office space? Are you happy with the space?

At home, I typically sit on the couch or at the kitchen table to work. It just depends what I’m working on. If I need to spread out a bit, I will go to the kitchen table. We have a dedicated office space but not a full office. We use what would be our formal dining room partly for office space. It just fits our needs better.

I wrote this post back in 2020 sharing how we updated the living room and dining (office) space. The space serves our needs. Since we all have laptops, we can all kind of work wherever we choose, but it’s nice having the cabinet for storage (school supplies, envelopes, chargers, etc) and the bigger desk if we ever need more space.

5. Snow drops, daffodils, lenten roses, crocus, hyacinth, or early tulips…what’s your favorite Spring flowers?

Tulips from Trader Joe’s…

I think I buy flowers the most in the spring. I guess I’m ready to sprinkle in some color and freshness around the house after winter.

…I know they aren’t listed because they aren’t an early flower, but I love my hydrangea mug that I got last year at a local boutique. I need to bring it out into the coffee mug rotation.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It’s almost St. Patrick’s Day which means it’s almost corned beef, cabbage and Irish soda bread time. I always host my brother’s family, and I guess time slipped away. I just texted the other day to check on their weekend plans.

Along with random thoughts…I love Irish soda bread and say every year that I wonder why I only make it once a year?!

Have a great Wednesday!