First Hodgepodge of 2016

Hello, dear friends.  As the song goes... baby, it's cold outside.   I haven't left the house for two days.  Chowdah and Chili tell me it's time to don the puffer coat and do something because they need their space.  

If it's Wednesday, it's time for Hodgepodge.  

1.  Are you ready for new?  Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015?  Do you want it to be?

All I care about is that my family is happy, healthy, and employed during 2016.  And I lose 25 lbs. And I develop a super fast metabolism.  

And my arms look like Kelly Ripa's.  

2.  January 6th is National Technology Day.  Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration?

I am constantly frustrated by technology.  Nothing ever works for me.  I tried to order theater tickets on line this morning and ended up calling the box office because the computer would not allow me to buy more than one ticket.

  
I'm probably the only person you know who gets lost using a GPS.  The Mister put a tracker on my phone so he can see where I am when I call him when I get lost.

Twitter and Tumbler are mysteries to me, and I wouldn't even attempt to figure out Snap Chat. 

I am constantly in touch with my girls and the Mister my assistants for technical help.  They're always so happy to help.  I can hear them roll their eyes over the phone.  

3.  It's that time again... Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, misuse, and general uselessness) in 2016.  You can more about the decision-making process here, but this year's vote getters are -

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why?  Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

I have a "friend" on Facebook who always starts every status update with the word "So."  She usually writes some meaningless diatribe about common, everyday frustrations.  It goes something like this...

So, I got up late, got the kids to school just in the nick of time, worked out for 3 hours, and I pull up to the cleaners, and there are like five cars ahead of me. Really?
or
So, I am behind this BMW and he decides to stop and take a left but forgets to use his blinker!!  I guess blue BMW's don't have blinkers!  

  You're probably thinking "So?"

As for the other words, I don't hear them very often.  Manspreading is a new one to me.  I asked the Mister since he takes the train and ferry on a regular basis.  He said that he's never heard the word. He's probably the biggest offender of all and is totally oblivious.

Women can fight back, though.

4.  Share one of your current health related goals.

5.  Let's talk fifty shades of gray.  As in the color.  Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more.  Are you a fan?  Do you have the color or in some variation in your home or wardrobe?

If you looked into my closet, you would find a blur of  black and gray.

I do not have a lot of gray in my home.  But I will tell you that I did a post on my friend's house in Texas which is one of the prettiest homes that I have ever visited.  She and her husband built and designed it and the entire house is done in shades of gray.  It is positively stunning.

Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area... which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

My hair grows so quickly that I need my roots done every couple of weeks. 

Thank you, Clairol, for inventing a product that gets me through 'til my next appointment.

6.  Certain foods are concerned "lucky" if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain, 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight.  Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year?  Is that a tradition in your home?  Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you.

I couldn't be convinced to eat any of the above-mentioned foods for good luck.  If someone is willing to take their life in their hands and wake me up at midnight, I would hope that they would be holding a quart of ice cream with a side of Fudge Everything! and skip the grapes.

7.  What is the single biggest time-waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year?

And I'm not going to do a darn thing about it.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Dear Geico:

You win the prize for the most obnoxious commercial of 2015.

Evidently, I am not the only one who feels this way.

Bring back the old guy and we can still be friends.

What words would you like to see banished from the English language?

Until next time...

First new word of 2016:

Dogspreading