the last Hodgepodge of this year...what?!

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! Can you believe it's the last Hodgepodge of this year?! I'm glad that Joyce is bringing this back in 2025; and speaking of her, I'm linking up with her for today's post. 

1. What's one thing you want to get done before the calendar flips to a new year? This is a hard one to answer! I would like to continue on with cleaning things out. I emptied almost an entire drawer of things last week that was mostly unnecessary paperwork that we'd been holding onto. I threw it all in the trash! That felt good, because it was the "junk drawer" in my kitchen. Do you have one of those? I suppose what will need to be done is that my things will be separated from his; there's paperwork and documents that I will take with me moving forward. I need to work on the separation process so that my packing will be easier for me once that time comes. It's overwhelming to pack up 21 years of a home! I can't think about it too much, but I can start with small details like the purging process of what belongs to me. 

2. What's one thing that brought a smile to your face this year? I didn't make it all the way through my 2024 pictures, but I stopped when I saw these from May. For a week my niece and her girls came here to visit; it was the best week! I got to swim with my great nieces and I generally just loved being with them all while they were here. 

These were taken on our town square, and this was roughly one month before my whole world came crumbling down around me. Time will forever be marked from here on out as BD and AD (before divorce and after divorce), even though I'm not officially divorced yet. 

3. What do you like on a cracker? Do you have a favorite cracker variety? I love sharp cheddar cheese on a cracker. I have just plain saltines in my pantry right now, but my favorite variety of cracker is a Triscuit. 

4. Do you have plans to ring in the new year in a fun or special way? Are you typically awake at midnight on the last day of the year? I haven't thought that much about that night yet. I may end up either going somewhere or having a sleepover that night just to change things up. In the last few years, I haven't stayed awake until midnight. It's just another night to me, and when I was half of a couple, we never really made plans for that night anymore. 

5. What are three words that describe your 2024? This one's another hard one to narrow down. I can think of many words to describe both the people and the events in my life that have taken place this year, but I can't say those words here. (I'm laughing, so you can too.) I'm going to put my own twist on this and make it about me, so my three words that describe myself from this year are: resilient, transparent, and pertinacious. (Click on each word for the definitions.)

6. Insert your own random thought here. In the never-ending year that keeps changing and evolving into my new normal, we're down to two dogs in the house. Graham took his dogs back home from when they stayed with me while he traveled recently and was busy with wedding festivities for his friend who just got married last weekend. And two weekends ago, the person whose name I no longer mention here on my blog came and took Chip to live with him. So now it's just Chloe and Callie (the German Shepherd) who live here with Jonah and me. We're good with this now that we're used to it, and we are enjoying just being a two dog home. Isn't Chloe adorable? I was singing to her when I took this picture; she always stops and watches me when I do this. She and Callie get along fabulously and play together more than they have ever before. 

Thanks for reading my blog today, friends! I'll see you back here tomorrow. Love to all!

Jenn 🖤