Wednesday, June 25, 2025
It’s Wednesday and hodgepodge day with Joyce!
1. What does adventure mean to you?
I don’t think adventure has to mean bungee jumping or anything dare-devilish like that. I think adventure means breaking from your daily routine or saying yes to new experiences. Teaching high school was an adventure, for sure! You never knew what would happen – you think I’m joking, but I’m not!
2. What are your thoughts on tipping? What businesses or service providers do you regularly tip? Do you resent being asked if you’d like to add a tip? What about when a suggested amount is presented?
Ok, I am a big tipper in a restaurant. I was a waitress at both Pizza Hut in my college town and in my hometown and at a floating restaurant on the river in my hometown. I loved those jobs and I think everyone should work in a restaurant at some point. I tip at least 20% and usually more. I tip my hairstylist. I carry cash for pedicure tips because you can’t add it on their machine for some reason. When the person simply punches in something on an i pad and spins it around I do not tip like that and I stopped feeling guilty. Sometimes I put some cash in the jar. The spinning of the i pad for a tip has gotten out of hand!
3. I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream…do we? Is ice cream a favorite treat at your house? What’s your favorite flavor? Regular, soft serve, gelato, sherbet, or some sort of non-dairy version of ice cream…what’s your pleasure?
We don’t always have ice cream in the house but this summer we have had Tillamook brand vanilla bean and neopolitan. Tom loves ice cream. He has it several nights a week after dinner. I have it maybe once a week. My favorite would be vanilla with toppings probably. It’s all about the toppings for me! I love caramel sauce the most I would say.
4. What’s your ‘back in my day, we____________________ ‘ story or saying?
wrote notes instead of texting, wrote cards instead of texting, made phone calls instead of texting, read books instead of reading online, had to use the card catalog to find books – ha! That was fun explaining to high school kids…”so you had these little drawers you had to pull out…”
I am having a lot of nostalgic moments this summer of realizing I won’t have these fun little moments with my students anymore. Who will listen to my drivel? I will miss having a captive audience and almost like a stand up routine.
5. Somehow this is our last Hodgepodge in the month of June. Next week’s Hodgepodge lands in July. Wow. Sum up your June using three adjectives.
I can’t believe it! My June has been full of rain, reading, cooking, and lots of time at home. I have had lots of social moments, too. I feel that June has been restorative for me. I am coming down off of the school year, which was really good one for me, but I knew it was probably my last one. The school year did not allow much work/life balance so I felt pretty depleted much of the time and then 2025 was hard with the loss of my mom, of course. I have had time to process and it’s nice that I can talk to my sisters most days and process with them. They’ve never said “I don’t want to talk about it” to me.
6. Insert your own random thought here.
I realized last week how much the lack of sun affected me. The sun came out and my mood shifted!
Why does it seem like I go to the grocery so much more in the summer? I did a Kroger delivery Saturday and then went back to Kroger a few hours later for a few things. Then, Sunday I went to Trader Joe’s! Eek! Are you like this, too?
What would you tell me about any of these questions?
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
I feel like I live at the grocery store… but weirdly I go less in the summer (but probably because we’re at the orchards, farmer’s markets, etc. more!). We all LOVE ice cream so I don’t keep it in the house but we end up going out for ice cream at least a couple times a month. I HATE that we are such a tip culture but that said I am a generous tipper too because really so many jobs are so underpaid, underappreciated, and just not easy when dealing with the public.
LikeLike
Haha – yes! I need to get to a farmer’s market this Saturday!
LikeLike
I’ve been going to the grocery every few days, and like you, to a variety of places. I go to Aldi, Kroger, Walmart, Sam’s Club for items constantly it seems like. Granted there are five us here most days and the young adults have hearty appetites but it’s been a lot of grocery shopping. One of the kids commented on it recently so it really is a thing! I forgot about the card catalog- I loved opening those little drawers :). I was a server, too, when I was younger (I waitressed at a Pizza Hut as well!) and it solidified in me always being a big tipper in restaurants, baring absolutely terrible service. Have a great day!
LikeLike
I’m glad I am not the only one! That’s so funny – I loved working at Pizza Hut.
LikeLike
I have to work hard at not feeling guilty if I don’t tip at the Ipad – I do right now because I feel like a schmuck if I don’t! It’s so awkward.
I like going to the grocery store a few times a week, it’s more enjoyable and I don’t feel the stress of having to get everything for the week. That’s a perk I have come to realize of working from home and you’ll enjoy it in your retirement I bet!
xo,
Kellyann
LikeLike
I was the same and now I carry ones for the tip jar. Sometimes I tip and sometimes I don’t. It depends on how complicated my order is and if I felt like they did alot.
Yes, I also think you might waste less food that way. I am trying to figure out how to work it!
LikeLike
Yes bring on the sun! Wishing you lots of sun, fun and boat time for the rest of the summer! I can’t imagine how you are feeling- I am sure so many mixed emotions after such an amazing career!
LikeLike
Thank you! It is! But, I’m doing ok with leaning in to the feelings and letting them happen.
LikeLike
I try hard to shop just a couple of times a week, usually on a Monday, then later in the week to restock for the weekend. I make a thorough list to avoid running out for just one or two things, because while the store isn’t far, it’s also not right down the street like I had in my previous home. I miss the personal touches that used to be part of communication-notes, phone calls, face to face conversations. We have to be intentional about those things now. Have you considered a podcast or engaging with reels somehow? Might be something you’d enjoy. Have a great day!
LikeLike
That is a great plan and maybe one I will try in retirement. Monday in the grocery if I can? I actually like to “Fiona Ferris” it and get ready/dressed and make it more like a fun outing. I see so many people I know at the store. My little part of the city is like a small town much more so than the small town I grew up in. I know employees at almost every single place I visit, too. I also like to get the Fresh Market meat deal on Tuesdays.
It’s so funny you said that about the podcast because my best guy friend and I have talked about a podcast for several years. He did one with a lady called Fortyish and I guest hosted twice. Now ours would be about life in our 50s and we have lots of ideas. I would love to try talking on a reel. It was a goal last summer and I didn’t do it.
LikeLike
Congrats to you on your retirement! I taught high school for ten years and middle school for two and a half years. Every single day was a new adventure.
LikeLike
Thank you! So you can relate to the adventure to which I am referring! Lol!
LikeLike
I can just imagine how much of an adventure teaching high school was. The stories you could tell. hehehe
Yes, the forced tipping has got out of hand. I will tip when I want to and I feel like it has been deserved.
Texting really has taken over, I know my girls would rather text than speak on a phone.
I go to the shop more in the summer, I think it’s because I like the walk out in the sunshine.
LikeLike
So true! I could write a book if I could remember everything!
Yes – exactly!
It has. I like to talk! I think so, too. It’s easier to get out and the food needs to be fresher.
LikeLike
Amy, now that’s a great picture!
The grocery store makes me sit and shake my head! I would bet I go 5 times a week, but I am picky about how long food sits. Like lunchmeat for my husbands lunch must be used in 2 days, as is lettuce. I am also an ice snob. I eat it and it must be from one fancy grocery store, it must be pure white and an eatable size. I go through about 4 bags a week, and again I don’t like it to sit. Yes, there is such a thing as “fresh” ice!
Have a great day!
Missy
LikeLike
Thank you! I keep using it because I rarely get a photo I like.
Your comment makes me chuckle. I get it! I am weird about food being in fridge too long and it annoys Tom. I am so scared of food illnesses! I have a smaller fridge now and I don’t like it too crowded either.
LikeLike
I wholeheartedly agree about adventure. I can’t imagine how you must feel as you realize you won’t be teaching again; I’m sure you’re partly glad and sad. I can imagine you having that almost stand up routine each day with them. I am sure they loved you; you’re a funny gal! The sun being out or not being out is definitely a mood shifter. It’s a struggle on the rainy days, and we’ve had many of those like you. Summer doesn’t seem the same when it’s rainy all the time!
LikeLike
Thank you for understanding my complicated emotions!
I am working on a possible podcast with my best guy friend. That would be so fun!
Yes, this summer has been so weird so far but I am just going with it! Today is a pool day! Woohoo!
LikeLike
I bet teaching at the high school level was indeed an adventure! You brave soul! 🙂 The sun has true magical healing powers…I’m convinced of it!
LikeLike
I bought a Cuisinart ice cream maker on eBay and we love it! I have made vanilla 2 times and chocolate once. I want to try making strawberry next. I tip well too because I have 2 daughters who have worked as servers and baristas so I hear their complaints about non tippers!!
LikeLike
I read somewhere once that nurses and teachers were horrible tippers. I have always been a big tipper. The only person I never tipped (and I’m embarrassed to admit it) was the woman who did my nails when I was doing that. She owned the salon so I figured she was getting a pretty good hunk of my payment anyway. Other than that, I’ve been known to tip 100% if I think there’s a reason. My first hair cut after Covid…I tipped her very generously because she’d lost all that income. At first, she refused it, but after my explanation, she graciously accepted it. We have ice cream almost all the time because Mike loves it. I can take it or leave it. My June has been exhausting and overwhelming.
Can you link those gorgeous glasses? I don’t really need any, but I love them every time you show them!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
LikeLike
I know what you mean about the spinning of the iPad! I think I’m a good tipper too. Also, the few times a year I pay for Hadley to get her nails done, I have her bring her cash for the tip!
Back in my day – I was telling Hadley how we used to pay money for certain songs/ring tones 🤣June has not been restorative for me …that would have been nice. Love the TJ plants 🙂
LikeLike