ARE YOU READY FOR SOME HODGEPODGE?

Welcome to the 93rd edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the party today!  Add your link at the end of my post and be sure to visit some of the neighbors.  Here are my answers~

1.  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams.  Are you a fan?  Who do you root for?  If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

I'm definitely ready for some football.  It's one of the many things I love about fall. College football is my favorite and in our house we root for the Tennessee Volunteers. My NFL loyalties are slightly complicated, the result of moving too many times.  My first loyalty lies with my original hometown team-the Philadelphia Eagles. After that it's the Jets and whoever Peyton Manning is playing for (those Vol roots run deep!)

Also, my apologies to those of you who live outside the US on this one.  I normally edit questions that are "American" in nature so you have an alternative, but I missed doing that here.  

2.  What's something I'll always find in your closet?

blue jeans and heels

3.  Share one of your earliest memories.

This one popped into my head right away...I guess I was about 5 years old and we had company.  They had kids too and we were all up in the bedroom my sister and I shared playing records.  Yes records.    I picked up the Peter Pan album and it snapped right in two which startled me.  I had a lifesaver in my mouth which I accidentally inhaled and it became lodged in my throat.  Instead of running for my mother I went and hid in the closet.   I don't know why, but I guess I thought I'd be in trouble for breaking the record.  My parents weren't mean so I don't know why my brain spazzed,  but it did. Eventually the lifesaver went down which is why you're lucky I'm here to tell you this super interesting story.  

4.  What circus act best describes your week so far?

I'm spending a few days with my daughter and getting here was a bit of a circus.  My flight was delayed twice and had three gate changes.  Fi-na-lly we boarded, but just as the pilot got the plane backed out of its parking space he announced that a 757 had dropped it's tailbar? and then managed to run over it, blocking the only alley to/from the runway.  

On top of that, the pilot informed us that on Saturdays and Sundays, Newark is working on  runway improvement so they shut a runway down and inbound and outbound flights use the same runway.  He may have said more but I plugged my ears and sang lalala.  His words were confirmed though, when we hit the brakes hard,  just as another (much larger) plane landed mere feet in front of us.   Well, it felt like feet.  

 Is a circus this exciting?

I was supposed to get to SC a little before 5 PM and had plans to meet my sister for dinner.  Instead I got in about 9pm and daughter2 and I grabbed chicken fingers from the drive-thru at Zaxbys.  

My circus act?  How about aerial?  The bar kept swinging towards me but I just couldn't grab hold.

5.  What's a food you disliked as a child that you love now?

Brussel sprouts.  I despised them as a child but they're one of my favorite vegetables now.  Daughter2 and I shared these on her birthday-

Crispy brussel sprouts with serrano ham, manchego cheese, and a sherry glace.  De-licious!

6.  Describe your summer in three words.

family, faith, and sorrow...sometimes life is hard, even on the brightest blue sky summer days 

7.  Where were you on September 11, 2001?  Will you do anything special to mark the day?

I was working as the Director of a preschool on 9-11.  The bookkeeper and I were in the office waiting on the Xerox guy to come in and repair our machine.  We'd seen him pull into the parking lot and couldn't figure out why he was just sitting in his car.  When he finally came in he gave us the news.  I walked to each classroom and whispered the news to the teachers. We cancelled afternoon classes and parents began trickling in to collect their children.  We had parents who worked in the Pentagon and lots of Secret Service families in our school.  

I was at my daughters yesterday so she got an extra hug.  I called my daughter1 and my mother too.  I prayed for the families of the innocent victims and gave thanks for the brave police officers and firefighters who fought human instinct by running into a place people were fleeing.  Our military too, those who went to war as a result.   I thought about how freedom is precious and most definitely not free.  It must be protected and there is a cost.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This week's questions took a turn downbeat but there's always something for which to be grateful.  So nice to have a grown up dinner and conversation with my daughter2 on her birthday Monday evening. 

She really is 2-2 precious!