January Hodgepodge

Happy new year Hodgepodgers! Here are the questions to round one of 2026 (round 635 for real). Answer on your own blog then hop back here on Wednesday (January 7th)  to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2025? 

I just wrote a whole post on this- I chose the word ‘faith’ as my word of the year in 2025. I decided this year that instead of choosing a word for the upcoming year (2026), I would spend some time reflecting on the previous year and then pick a theme word.

In addition to ‘faith’, I would add growth and family.

2. I ask this question every January, and I always get comments about how we shouldn’t be banning words. This is fun and games so just play along : ) 

Every January 1st since 1976 Lake Superior University has published a list of words they’d like to see banished from the Queen’s English. Words may be banished due to misuse, overuse, or just general uselessness (go here to read about how the words are chosen). Here’s the list for 2026- 

67 • demure • cooked • massive • incentivize • full stop • perfect • gift/gifted  • my bad • reach out 

Which one (if any) do you use most often? Which one of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word you think should have made the list? 

I would be very curious to be a fly on the wall in the round-table meeting where they determine which words *should* be banned. That sounds like a fascinating discussion! Honestly, I think that 67 is good fun and crack up when my kids use it out of the blue- like in church when the pastor says “lets read psalm 2:6-7” and all three of my kids are silently wildly gesturing with their hands with giant grins on their faces. At least they were listening!

I feel like “full stop” and “my bad” were slang from my day, and the kids these days have moved on from those phrases, so they can go ahead and be banned.

While I don’t think that they need to be “banned”, I think that there are a few words that need to be re-defined or put on a watch-list, because I find them way overused and therefore undervalued- words like gaslighting, toxicity, phobia, PTSD- I think we use those words kind of flippantly nowadays, and so it cheapens the real, actual times that those things are true. Does that make sense?

3. What are your nightly rituals? Is that different from your ‘ideal’ nightly ritual? If so what’s your ideal? 

Between 7-8 we are all hands on deck with parenting- either playing a game, or reading to the kids, getting them through the potty/brush teeth/find your blanket/put on PJs routine. Then, Theo and I sit on the couch and watch about half an episode of a show while I do my cross stitch and we eat popcorn. Around 9, we head to our bedtime routine and then hop in bed and read a book out loud together. This is new- and we have been enjoying it. Then Theo goes to sleep while I stay up and read for 30 minutes or so. I typically turn my light out by 10:15. We are so BORING haha!

4. January 6th is/was National Bean Day. Do you like beans? Which one is your favorite? Last thing you ate made with beans? 

Not a huge fan of beans, although I will always opt to have black beans on my Chipotle Burrito.

5. Are you easily embarrassed? Elaborate. 

Yes and no. I find it easy to laugh at myself if I’ve done something like trip or forgot to show up for something. But I do find myself easily embarrassed if I feel like I’ve stepped on someone else’s toes or if I think people are watching/judging me.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We had a lovely Christmas break- our cups were so filled. We started back at school this week and have already faced a number of challenging obstacles. Instead of being so frustrated that it’s already feeling kind of overwhelming, I am thankful that we were able to start the year with so much peace and fortitude in our hearts/minds. It’s still not easy to face some of these challenges, but I’m glad we were able to have such a lovely break.