Here we are with February’s first “This or That” post. Please join me.
Back in the day I played video games with my boys and loved it. Here are a few to almost give away my age:
Mario and Super Mario Bros.
Pac-Man & Ms. Pac-Man
Donkey Kong
Space Invaders or Asteroids.
Remember early Atari Games? Ping pong or Pong?
Do you have memories of any of these games?
Oh, boy, I had to look these up to remember. Here’s a link to one site. They weren’t like the video games of today. When married, we played a NASCAR video game. I wrecked my car more than I raced. It wasn’t fun to keep losing. About ten years ago, I played a video game with my youngest son. I haven’t played one since.
At school, when kids earned free-time, I’d sit with them as they played an age-appropriate computer video game. They made me play sometimes, but I didn’t complain. It gave me a break too! We had small class sizes in this particular job–Special Education. Our students had learning disabilities in reading and math. One sixth grade boy had permission to bring his Sims game. Personally, I had to wonder about that one. It was an earlier version, though.
Growing up in an era before video games, I played many board games. To name a few I liked:
Sorry
Parcheesi
Scrabble
Chinese Checkers
Checkers
We had the game of Yahtzee, but I never liked it–admittedly, because I never learned how to play. My older brother was nine years older than me, so he never stuck around to play games. That left my younger brother to be my opponent. We were opponents in many ways besides in a game, as we never got along as kids. Now we do. He’s all I have left other than cousins, and my boys, of course.
It looks like I couldn’t choose a “This” or a “That” and instead chose both. How about you?
If you missed the first “This or That” post, you can find it HERE. Thanks for joining me! This week we have food choices. Last week we had weather. I may reduce this topic to twice a month instead of three times.
Mmm, the taco looks so good to me right now. About five years ago, I gave up eating red meat for health reasons. My eyes will enjoy the taco since my taste buds choose not to. I’ve eaten so much chicken over the past five or so years, I’m beginning to tire of it. For these reasons, out of the two images, my choice is the picture on the left.
I’m not perfect. I’ve cheated a couple of times with Stouffer’s frozen stuffed peppers, and bacon on a sandwich at a restaurant, pre-pandemic. I might eat them again if the craving calls.
I’m ashamed to admit, but I rarely cook real meals or prepare anything from scratch. Normally, my chicken breasts go into my Crockpot a couple times a week. Once cooked, I can use it for chicken noodle soup and other dishes–even a Caesar salad. I don’t consider this simple method as preparing a meal. All I do is season it with salt, parsley, paprika, celery seed, and sometimes pepper, thyme, or lemon, then I turn on the crock pot. Nothing to it. (Salt is to keep my low sodium levels up.) Sure, I fix a side dish like rice… Mostly rice and a vegetable. Each meal gives me leftovers. Easy-peasy yet BORING.
This pizza in our “This or That” image calls me because I’ve been craving veggie pizza for about six months. The last time I made “sort of” homemade pizza, I still ate red meat. At the time, I used Boboli Pizza Crust, jar pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, fresh mushrooms, onions, green and/or red peppers, pepperoni, and black olives. Sometimes I used taco blend shredded cheese with the mozzarella. These ingredients, minus the pepperoni, may go on my next grocery list. So, if nothing else, my This or That post this week gave me another meal choice to think about.
Now it’s your turn. Your choice? Why?
Good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions. ~Author Unknown The Quote Garden
“This or That” image Credit: Love Kissed Books. This or That Banner credit: Image from PicMonkey. Text and editing are my own.
Greetings! This is the first post for a new theme. For the heck of it, I thought I’d give this one a try. I’m calling it “This or That Thursday.” Apologies if I’m stepping on toes here. I know, I know it’s not Thursday, but this coming week, I plan to participate in Marketing for Romance Writers Monthly Blog Challenge. So, today I’m introducing my theme early, so next week I’m not posting jibber-jabbering’s too close together—Thursday and Friday. It makes sense in my head.
Without inquiring into a multitude of articles and posts like this one or this one, I don’t know if this topic has a specific day like Thursday Thoughts, for example. Twitter has a This or That page. I don’t plan on using a Hashtag for the theme. Or is this a meme?
I’m unsure if I’ll post this topic weekly, but if I do, it’ll be three times a month, for the reason stated in the first paragraph. Let’s see how this plays out.
This or That questions have been around a while and has rules and games to play. Silly me, thinking I had a good idea for a blog post theme all on my own.
Until I check out the specifics, I’ll post a picture and write a little about which one I like. Feel free to join in by posting a comment.
I’m torn on this one. I live in Michigan, a Winter Wonderland. I’d betray my state if I chose palm trees. However, the older I get, the more I detest snow. When we have the first snowfall of the year, I want to cozy up with a blanket and a hot beverage to enjoy looking out at the changing landscape. I don’t mind a white Christmas. After that, it can melt and not come back. 🙂
“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, “Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” – Lewis Carroll
The reality is, I don’t drive on snowy roads. I’m not an outdoorsy person anymore. This sets limitations on where and when I go anywhere, including going outside to walk—the cold also contributes to not taking a stroll in the snow—toes, nose, and hands freezing. It’s quiet while walking in the snow. Peaceful. But then you must clean off vehicles and shovel snow. In my case, the plow leaves chunks of snow and ice behind my car in my parking space at the apartment. Fortunately, I have a kind, young neighbor who clears it when he can.
Thirty-five-degree temperatures aren’t too bad if there is no wind. It’s fun to make a snowman. I have a pleasant memory of playing in two-feet of snow with my husband on our property in Pennsylvania one wintry weekend. To this day, I have no idea why he thought he could drive the car to the storage shed at the rear of the property. Chains on the tires did not help. We both shoveled and pushed out the car and made a path to back it out—laughing all the while. And sweating. Yes, you can sweat in the cold.
I tell my boys who live on different coasts of the United States, that I long to spend winters with them to escape the snow and cold. They see snow periodically in the winter, but it isn’t like in Michigan. As I write this post, it’s snowing in Virginia where my youngest son and daughter-in-law live. My oldest in Northern California can drive a little over an hour to see snow that’s six-feet deep. I know, I’ve seen it myself on a jaunt to Shasta Ski Park.
But I haven’t answered my own “This or That” question.
In order to know if I’d miss a snowy winter, I’d have to live in a warmer climate to experience it in real-life. My California boy got married in the month of December some years ago, and I remember standing outside in my sleeveless dress, though it was a bit chilly. My husband and I walked around San Francisco in a jacket the night we flew in. Near the bay, it did get a little cold. I admit, the drive north the next day was beautiful, dry, and sunny. Before many more years pass me by, I will find out what it’s like to spend winters without snow and blustery cold temperatures. So, with another moment’s thought, I think KNOW I’d LOVE it. I could be a “winter visitor!”
Did I pick the warmer climate after all? Now I’m curious. Which This or That will you choose?
Image credits: Snowman Pixabay Jill Wellington. This or That Thursday image: PicMonkey template designed & manipulated by Mary. This or that photo image: Love Kissed Books
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