Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I put the I in Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge!  If you're here visiting today from the April A-Z challenge you'll find today's letter I, incorporated into my weekly meme.  I won't do this every Wednesday, but I have a few too many to-dos in my to-days this week, and something had to give. You can just scroll on down to #8 and read my A-Z bit, but you'll miss the awesomeness that is the Wednesday Hodgepodge if you do.  

Everyone is invited to play along in the Hodgepodge here on Wednesdays...answer the questions on your own blog and then add your link at the end of mine.  This is a very friendly neighborhood...thanks for stopping by!

Here are my answers to this week's questions as well as my A-Z entry for today~

1. Share one fun thing you did last week while the Hodgepodge was on Spring Break?

I had my youngest daughter home with me until Thursday, and that's always special. We went out to lunch, shopped, had mani/pedis side by side, critiqued The Voice because that's what people do when they watch other people perform, played a lot of Skipbo, and talked a blue streak.  I don't know exactly what that expression means, but if it means 'lots and lots of talking' then it fits. 

2. April 10th is National Sibling Day...do you have siblings, and if so are you close?  Share a favorite story involving one or all of your siblings.  If you don't have siblings did you ever wish you did?

I have two sisters and a brother, and I cannot imagine life any other way.  I love having sisters and a brother.  

A favorite story...hmmm...well, I could tell you about the time my brother was babysitting and my younger sister and I caught the kitchen on fire while he was on the phone, and then he promptly initiated 'project don't tell mom and dad'...I wrote on my blog a while back about the time I tricked my younger sister into giving me her half of a treat my mom had given us because she thought I'd eaten all of mine-teehee. I could tell you about the time my older sister and I were in an airport and when a man asked if we were twins she said 'almost'. ??? She's seven years older than me. 

3. Is it important to you to 'buy American'?  How far will you go to 'buy American'?  If you're not American insert your own country in the blank.

I want to buy American, but it has to be what I'm looking for...if two items are essentially equal, then sure I'll buy American.  That's not always what we find when we shop these days. The world is no longer a US-centered economy-it's global so competition exists on a much larger scale.

My brain is honestly too fried to delve into this too deeply here today, but suffice it to say I buy American when the American made product is well made and priced right, and I'm happy when that happens.  

4. Besides The Bible, what book has impacted your spirituality in some way?

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. If you've never read this book I highly recommend. Corrie ten Boom is one of my heroes.  Her example of forgiveness in the most undeserving of circumstances made a huge impact on me as an eleven year old girl and is one I go back to often.  

5. April showers bring May flowers or so the saying goes.  Do you find rainy days calming or depressing?  When were you last caught in a rainstorm?  What's blooming in your neck of the woods today?

I guess it depends on my mood. A day of rain after a few days of busy-ness is calming. A solid week of rain can get a little depressing. I was caught in a downpour just recently. My car had been in the shop for a few days so I had a bunch of errands to run the day I got it back. Naturally it was coming down in buckets on a day when I had three armloads of dry cleaning to maneuver into the car. Ugh.  

What's blooming here? Nothing. Seriously, nothing. My daffodils are only just now peeking out of the earth.  According to the weather people everything should open up all at once in the next week or so, and as such is expected to wreak havoc on those of us with allergies.  I've got my Allegra though, so bring on Spring!

6. What's your favorite yellow food?

That's a tough one, but I'm going with corn on the cob.  
And anything lemon. 
Also cheese, bananas and summer squash.  

Did I leave anything out?

7. April is National Poetry Month...what's a poem that holds special meaning for you, and why is it special.

The Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe.  My dad memorized this poem and used to recite it sometimes. When my niece was a tiny tot, no more than four or five, she learned some of it too, just by listening to my dad.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Like many of you reading here I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge . If you'd like to follow along I'm blogging my way out of a paper bag...click here to begin at the beginning. 

Today's A-Z entry is brought to you by the letter I~

I is for Innocence


"The prime purpose of being four is to enjoy being four-
of secondary importance is to prepare for being five." ~Jim Trelease


"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." ~Elizabeth Lawrence


"Sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now."  
~William Wordsworth, To a Butterfly


"The greatest poem ever known
Is one all poets have outgrown:
The poetry, innate, untold,
Of being only four years old.~ 
Christopher Morley, To a Child


32 comments:

  1. Love the beach pictures. And all your favorite yellow food. :) Have a great day!

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  2. Love this! And love the pictures!

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  3. Awwwww, I love the quotes beneath each of your sweet beach photos! When do our babies grow up to be so big??? Sigh...

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  4. I almost cited THE HIDING PLACE as well ... I received it for my birthday when I was in 6th grade - I've read it 100 times, I'm sure (and seen the movie version of it too - and as a play!).
    Conny
    www.ordinaryhausfrau.wordpress.com

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  5. Enjoyed your answers this week. I too have 2 sisters and a brother although I am the oldest.

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  6. The innocence of childhood in building sand castles. I remember building them on a beach when the tide came in and washed it away and my mother laughed while I cried. A lesson learnt I think.

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  7. Hehehehehe, "Don't tell mom and dad"....so typical of youth, isn't it? I can relate!!! Adorable images in your random...Oh, and I too LOVED Poe's works. All of them.

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  8. LOVE the footprint picture! The Hiding Place has been on my read list forever, I guess I should get to it. Sweet pictures!

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  9. I do believe that 4 is one of those perfect ages . Our granddaughter is 4 and she is just perfect. I love how excited she gets about everything and with a loud voice she proclaims me to be the "The Best Grannie EVER"

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  10. We both wrote The Hiding Place as our inspirational book! Great minds, don't ya know!

    Love that photo of the footprints in the sand. Makes me think about that poem as well, which was my favorite growing up!

    Have a great day!

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  11. "Sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now."

    I love that quote. It's perfect.

    And I love you Joyce but rating summer squash with lemons and corn on the cob? Unfathomable!

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  12. Those are such sweet pictures of your girls! This is the first time I've watched The Voice in its entirety; I'm loving the coaches and their relationship!

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  13. Ya know - it is hard to find USA products that are cheaper. Which is nuts! I hate on "Shark Tank" when they have people who want to make american made products but they're even like "We can produce it overseas for cheaper" - UGH!

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  14. I've been enjoying The Voice so much more this season with the two new judges. Allergies started this week here. Ugh! Love the poem you shared. There is a park I used to go to as a child called "Christopher Morley Park". Such fun!

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  15. I enjoyed reading the answers to all your questions- and those pictures and quotes for "innocence" were so sweet.

    I love the Voice. I'm a huge american idol fan but I think the Voice may have won me over this season!

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  16. You're doing a great job of "blogging your way out of a paper bag" :)

    It's great to have "The Hodgepodge" back! Thanks, again.

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  17. Sounds like a fun week. I would enjoy someone watching The Voice with me! I love lemons, use one daily in my water yet I totally forgot to mention it. Love your A-Z today and as always you pictures are perfect. Have a great week Joyce.

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  18. I loved the Hiding Place too. Cute picture of you and your siblings. I love lemons too! sandie

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  19. I just started watching the Voice and I love the judges this year I can't wait for it to get going. Love your sibling stories...I wish I had better recall.....I'm sure once we would get together the stories would flow...it's hard having four sisters today...all so different some more difficult than others. Love your spring break with your daughter sounds perfect. Happy Wednesday!

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  20. Love all your funny sibling stories- I've heard them all and they never get old. Corrie ten Boom is my hero as well- so glad you told me to read that book.
    Now, can we go back to the beach please??

    p.s "But we loved with a love that was more than love, I and my Annabel Lee..." (I memorized it too.. in 5th grade. I remember picking it out because it was bookmarked in that book that belonged to Poppy.)

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  21. Oh the hiding place slipped my mind. I LOVED it too! As a matter of fact, I may re-read this. I have recently put my grand daughter to work reading it. LOVED LOVED the beach pictures. Nothing as precious as little ones in their sweet innocence. I have 2 four year old grandchildren right now, and how I enjoy them. Enjoy your day!

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  22. I've never seen The Voice but have happened upon it twice lately. While I still won't be a watcher, I do enjoy the interactions between the panel members- I like all of them. Everything is blooming here. Including my allergies. Sigh.

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  23. I love the footprint picture the best I think! Precious. I was just musing about the approaching allergies myself...hmmm...unfortunate since it's all so pretty!

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  24. I didn't even think of squash! Duh! I guess it's been so long since I've had it. I hope to have some in my garden!

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  25. I love your photos and quotes for Innocence! I didn't even think of lemons or corn! (Don't know if popcorn would count since it's white when it pops)

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  26. Hi, I hopped over from Chatty Crone. Neat post and meme. I may try to join sometime.
    I am prolific, though.
    I love lemon ice box pie, the kind made with condensed milk, the kind I don't need to eat.
    My favorite book other than the Bible is anything by Billy Graham.
    I was the youngest of two girls. Sadly my sister passed away when she was five and I was three. A heart disorder/malformation that could be easily repaired today. Of course that was seventy years ago. So thankful for medical progress.
    I enjoyed my visit, Ginger

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  27. I am a new follower. Blessings, Ginger

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  28. The hiding place is one of my ULTIMATE favorites.

    Your brother and sister stories crack me UP. Once (okay I'll tell you this story since you ASKED ;)) my sisters and I were flying and I knew we were going to be landing soon. My little sister kept messing with the stewardess button and I kept telling her not to touch it. Right when she was touching it, the fasten seatbelt sign came on because we were about to descend. She was young enough that I had convinced her by the time we landed that pushing that button without a true emergency was against the law, and anyone who did it would be kicked off of the plane. I told her we were landing at the wrong airport so they could kick her off of the plane and she'd be lucky to see our parents again.

    When she saw our parents, she punched me. My parents still talk about watching us walk off the plane and seeing my baby sister turn around and slug me in the arm. We're BACK mom and dad!

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  29. i really liked your questions and answers---i too have two sisters and one brother---loved your beautiful photos and meaningful quotes!

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  30. Loved your sibling stories and your Innocence pictures! I keep thinking your brown paper bag of pictures was THE MOST PERFECT THEME for the A-Z. Really. Perfect. :)

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  31. OK, I was a bad. I waited til Sunday to do Hodgepodge Wednesday, but I worked hard this week and forgot there even WAS a Wednesday (almost). I knew there was a Thursday because it was a payday :-) The week has been rainy and cold and I just wanted it OVER... which is not a good way to think, really, but ... we are SO WAITING for spring to really come!

    Loved your pics and "To a Child" poem

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