If It's Wednesday...

Yes! (Picture me in Usain Bolt pose.) Got the Hodgepodge picture and figured out how to link it!

1. It's October so let's get this out there first thing...have you jumped on the all-things-pumpkin bandwagon? How so? 

I have not tasted pumpkin yet this year (although do I love it). Honestly...I'll probably just wait for the pie at Thanksgiving. And I don't really like flavored coffee. In any case, my daughter informs me that drinking pumpkin spice lattes is so basic.

And in case you don't know what that means (I certainly didn't):

Per Urban Dictionary, a basic [um, girl] is "unflinchingly upholding of the status quo and stereotypes of her gender without even realizing it. She engages in typical, unoriginal behaviors, modes of dress, speech, and likes: I've gotta get to Hollister and Bath and Body Works for the third time this week, they just announced a new sale! I just don't know how I'll ever fit in that mani-pedi with Amanda and Brittney today....I need a pumpkin spice latte or a cosmo right now, I can't handle this pressure."

2. "We have more power than will; and it is often by way of excuse to ourselves that we fancy things are impossible." Francois Duc De la Rochefoucauld

What's something you once thought impossible, but in hindsight see as more a matter of lack of will?

Hmm. Well, I once thought it would be impossible for my (math loving, English hating) son to write his college application essays, but through force of (my) will, he is getting there (slowly). Ditto with my packrat husband: last weekend, for the first time in years he cleaned out the closet where he keeps old hard drives, CDs, printers, etc. Again through force of (my) will.

Does that count?

3. The rose is America's National Flower, but every state also has its own flower. Are you happy with yours? If you were in charge what would declare your state's flower? If you're outside the U.S. what bloom would you like to see labeled as your country's national flower?

Hey, what do you know? Pennsylvania's flower is the mountain laurel! I never knew that!

Source

Pretty!

We have lots of laurel (not mountain) in the yard (hence blog name). It doesn't bloom like that. (Can you tell I'm not much of a flower person? Lol.) I'm happy to stick with the mountain laurel as the state flower.

4. What have you lost interest in recently?

Wearing makeup. I've never worn much, but I didn't used to leave the house without putting on mascara at least. Now, after six months of not working in an office...let's just say it's all natural, almost all of the time. (And if I'm always wearing workout clothes, maybe I'll actually get to the gym!)

5. In your opinion, who's the best living musician?

Wow, another tough one. I'll go with the obvious and say Paul McCartney. The Beatles...Wings...he even made me like a Rihanna song!

6. S'mores—love 'em or no? Ever make them indoors? Last time you sat around an outdoor fire? Are making s'mores and sitting round a fire pit on your autumn bucket list? Do you have an autumn bucket list?

I do love a s'more. One thing I do not understand, however, is eating burned marshmallows. What is with you people?! Don't stick it right in the flames...toast it!

Bucket list? Well...I'd like to "decorate" my house for the fall. This generally involves a pot of mums on the front porch and a few gourds in a bowl on the dining room table.

7. Your favorite small town? Why?

Stockbridge or Lenox, Massachusetts—quintessential New England small towns. I may be slightly biased, but with the Berkshires, Boston, and the Cape/Vineyard/Nantucket, isn't Massachusetts the best state of all? ;)

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We just got invited to a friend's house for a Halloween get-together and the text said, "Costumes optional." Ugh! I never know what to do for this kind of thing! I don't really want to dress up...but I also don't want to seem like a spoil sport.