One if by Land, Two if by Hodgepodge

It is Wednesday, and that means Hodgepodge day. Thank you to Joyce for hosting! Be sure to click over to her blog to enjoy her Hodgepodge post as well as her posts for the A-Z Challenge in which she is participating. She's an ambitious one, that Joyce.
Below you will find her questions and my answers. Enjoy!

1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income tax returns.  What's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'? 
It seems like a task that is 'taxing' should require using your brain. Balancing my checkbook would be 'taxing', but I don't do that. So I guess 'taxing' for me would be using the remote for the dadgum satellite tv, grocery shopping, and getting through the contents of my email inbox. First world problems, all.

2. Joyce is participating in the April A-Z blog challenge, and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on Day O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food?
Definitely not okra. Or olives. Blech! Onions are ok, and I do like char-grilled oysters in New Orleans, but I think Joyce forgot Oreos on her list. That's my favorite O food. And do you remember the jingle? Oh, a kid'll eat the middle of an Oreo first...

3.  What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience? 
I have written before about my trip to California on the train when I was in the first grade. Memorable, indeed, and a fun experience for my family.

In thinking about other things I experienced that my children did not, I also remember walking to and from school (5 miles, uphill both ways, of course) in elementary school and junior high. While it was actually only about six blocks, and I'm sure I complained now and then, I have great memories of walking home with friends and standing on the corner talking long into the afternoon. Since we live in the country, our children rode the bus, and missed out on the opportunity to jump the cracks in the sidewalk, greet the dogs along the way, and watch the changing seasons on the trek back and forth each day.

Another thing children (young adults) miss out on today is sharing a phone. They will never experience living in a dorm or a sorority house and sharing one phone with all the girls on your floor. We had to wait in line some evenings to use the 'LD' (long distance) phone in the closet. Can you imagine? And don't even get me started on typing on a typewriter....

4. Term limits for our elected officials...your thoughts? 
Sure.

5. On April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere made his famous 'midnight ride'...when did you last make a midnight ride?  Perhaps the fate of a nation wasn't hanging in the balance, but tell us where you were headed anyway.
Last weekend was my last Moms' Weekend at Purdue. With my baby. Who is graduating in less than a month. How did that happen? To celebrate, we had an evening out with his friends and their moms at the Neon Cactus. And since we were still out after midnight, I guess that counts as a midnight ride. More photos to come. :)

6.  What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider? 
A mouse. I always feel like I can grab something and smack a spider, but a mouse? They're just so.... mousey. I do remember coming home one day when our cat had caught a mouse. Trouble is, the cat was just playing with it, and the mouse was still alive. I freaked out tried to decide the best course of action, when Jennifer (age 8 or so) picked it up by the tail and took it outside. Just part of the preparation for her career as a vet tech. :)

7. I love it when people ask me____about my grandchildren______?

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 
Last week, I posted this picture of a cute little robin on Instagram. Mr. Robin Redbreast, a sure sign of spring, tapping on my window. So happy to see you!

Except that he is still there. Tapping, knocking, hurtling himself into our bedroom window. 
Over and over and over.

For SEVEN DAYS.

You can see the pieces of aluminum foil that Jim put up in the window to deter him. Not working.

So Jim did what we all do these days when we need to know something. He googled 'bird flying against window.' He found lots of people with the same problem, and even found video of birds flying at various windows. One solution he read about was to place a cutout of an owl or a hawk in the window so that the bird would recognize it as a predator. And stay away.

So I drew a couple of elementary-teacher-level owls and placed them in the window.

Apparently the bird likes my artwork. Or he doesn't recognize it as a big scary owl. (How can that be? Too cute?)

Because it is also...

not working! 
Any suggestions?