The Word is Hodgepodge

I am participating today in Joyce's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Joyce posts thought provoking questions on her blog and we all answer on our own blog.

I am participating today because of the first question in particular...

1. What is one piece of advice you would give a 'just turning' 21- year old adult?

If this were a hypothetical question and I was giving advice to any 21-year-old, I might not put too much thought into my answer and say something like, "This is the time of your life; enjoy every moment to the fullest," or "You'll never feel this free at any other point in your life, so relish it before real life sets in." But this isn't really a hypothetical question and I am not answering just any 21-year-old. There might actually be an almost 21-year-old in my family whose industrious mother might just be collecting nuggets of wisdom through a blog, perhaps, to pass along to this particularly important 21-year-old. If that's the case, then my advice is more of a thought to share with this particularly special girl approaching this milestone in her life. As full and free and as alive as she may feel right now, there are many years ahead of great fulfilment and freedom and life that she can't yet imagine. Happy Birthday Hypothetical 21-year-old! Now that that's been said, you can live it up...right after you check in with your mother.

2. Besides cooler weather (or warmer weather, depending on your hemisphere) what is one thing you are looking forward to this fall?

Shorter days which actually translates into longer snuggle and reading time on the couch with my boys in the evenings.

3. What sound lulls you to sleep?

Complete silence. Even a constant restful sound like the whirring of a fan or the peaceful babbling of a mountain stream can keep me awake.

4. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency 'kit' and/or disaster plan in place?

Yes and yes. And in honor of National Preparedness Month, I think I need to review our kit contents and our plan. Thanks for the reminder.

5. How has your blog changed since you started blogging? Or has it?

I feel like my blog must have changed since I started it because I really had no plan or theme for it at the start. Now I have broad themes that all swirl around my family. I don't know if anyone else can recognize that, but I do. I think I have changed since I started blogging. I am definitely more appreciative of my family (immediate and otherwise) since blogging began. Blogging may not be the reason for my new appreciation; circumstances may have dictated that and blogging is just my latest way of expresssing it.

6. What's something you've recently learned to do on the computer?

I have recently been pulled back into my former career as an accountant. I am bartering services with a friend: I'll set up the bookkeeping for her new OT business if she'll be my photographer's assistant at an upcoming shoot. So recently, I have learned the ins and out of QuickBooks Pro 2011, version 8.0. It's actually not so bad, doing a little bookkeeping. It feeds my organizational beast.

7. Is a picture worth a thousand words? Elaborate.

As a photographer, I would like to go out on a limb and say that a GREAT picture is worth ONE word. A great image captures a thought, a feeling, idea and shouts that one word out to any and all who see it. I don't know if I've ever captured an image that great myself but I strive to. In the meantime, a really good image is worth as many words as can be conjured in the minds of those who take time to ponder the image.

8. Insert your own random here.

How about a random image...

Words like precious come to mind...