Wednesday Hodgepodge: On the Fly

Notes from our Hodgepodge Hostess: "Hello Hodgepodgers! I have lots of catching up to do after a week away, but in the meantime here are this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge questions. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with the universe. See you there!"

1. Tell us about a time you felt like you were 'flying by the seat of your pants'.

Phrases.org says that to fly by the seat of one's pants (or trousers, if you're British) is to "Decide a course of action as you go along, using your own initiative and perceptions rather than a predetermined plan or mechanical aids." Maybe these days we need to rephrase it to something like "getting across town without the aid of Google Maps' route finder."

A lot of my life has felt like that, but it`s not necessarily a bad thing. 

2.  When or where would you most like to be 'a fly on the wall'?

How about on Noah's ark? Because the flies on the wall would probably be the least crowded.

3. 'Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.'-Henry David Thoreau

Would you agree? Why or why not?

Maybe.

I think it was the last time I participated in a Wednesday Hodgepodge, that the theme was slowness and patience. At that time we were waiting for something important to happen that did seem frustratingly elusive. However, if we hadn't kept chasing it, it wouldn't have just come and sat on our shoulders either. So sometimes sitting and waiting is enough, but other times you need to be persistent. This might also be true of happiness...not an end in itself or something to be pursued for its own sake (as I think Thoreau was saying), but you can take definite actions and make choices that do create more happiness for others or for yourself.

5. What is one task or chore you tend to do 'on the fly'? Is this something that really needs to be done another way?

The boring bits of housework are an obvious target. Mr. Fixit is a better house cleaner than I am, and he is always more patient with the small details of things. But I am good at organizing stuff and cleaning up messes.

Last year's board game purge

6. What was happening the last time you thought to yourself or said aloud, 'Wow, time flies when you're having fun', and you meant it.

The last time I thought about being married for twenty-five-plus years. (I hope my husband is reading this.)

7. This Thursday is National Garlic Day. Will you add garlic to your menu on Thursday? Do you like garlic? What's your favorite dish made with garlic?

Mmm, garlic...I never heard of National Garlic Day, and I'm not sure what we're eating tomorrow. These days I am often not sure at all what we're having for dinner. We are trying to eat everything in the chest freezer (no room for that in the apartment), and there isn't much left in there anyway by now; we're trying not to buy too many extra groceries, although we're just moving across town, so a trip over there with food isn't that big a deal. It's just the principle of the thing, as the Melendys liked to say.

So yes, the garlic...I made garlic bread on the weekend with some leftover Mini Pretzel Croissants from Walmart. I split them in half, arranged them on a toaster oven tray, spread them with margarine that had been mixed with garlic powder, sprinkled them with dried parsley and a bit more garlic powder, and set the oven to medium-toast. We had the garlic toasts with a frozen pizza and some salad, and it was about as good as being at Nameless Pizza Restaurant. Just missing the jug of root beer.

8. Insert your own random thoughts here.

Meals may be random, the seat of the pants may be random, but it's all coming together. Three Hodgepodges from now, we will be already settled into our "walking in the air" apartment. 

Linked from the Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.