This was meant to be an easy week. Amid a short, but no less crazy week of Thanksgiving, long car rides, sicknesses, tree lighting and then tree decorating, we found time to celebrate WOLFENOOT. What is WOLFENOOT you ask? Well, you'll just have to listen to find out. (Or else, you could just Google it, but where's the fun in that?)

This started out because the Oxford English Dictionary word of the year for 2018 is "TOXIC." We already talked about TOXIC MASCULINITY back in April, but we had more to say about it, and just the idea of what is TOXIC today anyway. We saw a couple of movies that always adds a jump off to our conversations. But the one that was the most raw was Bohemian Rhapsody. It brought back a very painful and HIGHLY TOXIC TIME in John's youth. This is a heavy, and definitely NOT a fun, Podgecast, so don't have a listen in the car as you're heading to grandma's house for pumpkin pie.

What is HOME? What defines it? Why do so many people not feel at home? Christina and John ask these questions while discussing the novel "The Book of Unknown Americans," by Cristina Henríquez. Listen and see how your definition of HOME fits.

Christina and John have a laugh reading people's "To Don't" Lists. Things people would never and should never do. Always wanting to try something new, we decided to record The Podgecast and broadcast it on Instagram Live. So thank you to the people who tuned in, and thank you for those who listen!

No, this week's Podgecast is NOT about food. Not about SQUASH or MINCE-MEAT. It's about how we SQUASHED our original idea, then we MINCED words in one recording and weren't happy so we REPEATED the entire thing! This week is a true HODGE PODGE reflection on a very crazy week for us. On the plus side, it's only 51 minutes!

What do you do to save money? Christina and John have laughs along the way of trying to keep as many greenbacks in their bank account as possible. They talk about the creative and perhaps not so appealing ways they avoid spending money.

***We totally see we could have used the ¢ and the $ signs for the "C" and "S" in "CHEAPSKATES," but honestly it looked dumb.***

Between Christina and John, we have two education degrees, numerous years working in schools and a BUTTLOAD of opinions on education. We picketed with our local teachers when they were on strike and at the same time, we have seen first hand what happens when education doesn't work for the students. After seeing the film, Won't Back Down with the always amazing Viola Davis, we decided to spend a little bit o' time talking about education and what it means to be a teacher today.

*(AKA - we had a really rough couple of weeks and we just wanted to talk about something silly and fun and about the places we like to go around town.) Do you think we had any life lessons about what and where we eat? Yeah... it's us, so of course there are.

Discomfort. Comfort. Able. Discomfortable. We need to walk through the various stages of these places to get to a place of true living. As we do this we can also validate the needs and rights of others. It means WORK. It means being out of our comfort zones. But it also means we are all capable and ABLE to change not only ourselves...but the lives and rights of others. It’s ok to be discomfortable...it’s a new word for a new way of thinking.

So there's this story of a man who bamboozled a number of good people on his way to the top of an empire. He swindled and conned and connived and lied and lied again. Then there's the story of The Founder! (See what I did there?) It originally started out as a simple assignment from a fellow podcaster (@africanprincessinamerica) Leave it to Christina and John to turn a simple assignment into a whole "thing" about the state of the nation. But it was right there, we couldn't help ourselves. Have a listen!