Wednesday, April 17, 2013

O! It's the Hodgepodge

It's hard to cleverly combine the A-Z challenge letter of the day with the word Hodgepodge, but I try.  So glad you're here today, either to play along with the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge, to read my A-Z entry for the letter O (scroll down to #8 for that) or just to see what this side of the pond is all about.  Random.  It's about random.

Okay-if you're playing along with the Hodgepodge today be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post before you run off to visit the neighbors.  Here we go~

1. April 15th is the deadline for Americans to file their state and federal income taxes...what's a job you do on a regular basis that could be described as 'taxing'?

I'm going with the first thing that popped into my head-changing sheets.  I find that job taxing, but I do love clean sheets so I persevere.  House rules say I absolutely must put clean sheets on my bed before I go out of town. There is nothing like coming home from a trip to a pile of mail, a mountain of laundry, feeling tired, hungry, and maybe even a little blue, and knowing you can climb into cool sheets with no rumples. I highly recommend! 

2. I'm participating in the April A-Z blog challenge and the Hodgepodge happens to fall on letter O this week. In keeping with that theme...olives, onions, oysters, okra...of the foods mentioned, what's your favorite O food?

It's pretty well established here that no matter the letter, I like most foods. The foods mentioned are all some of my favorites but I'm going with olives. My in-laws used to give me olives in my Christmas stocking, and my sister in law and I have a little friendly competition going at the holidays as to who can get to the olives first.  I never met an olive I didn't like.

3. What is something memorable you experienced as a child that your own children (or future children/nieces/nephews) will not get to experience?

Several things came to mind but I think what I concluded is this-kids don't really understand the thrill of waiting for something anymore.  I know there are exceptions to this, but in the everydayness of life they can pretty much have access to what they want when they want it. 

Remember waiting for a radio to play your favorite song? For December to roll around so you could watch The Charlie Brown Christmas Special? For a phone to lose its busy signal? For your sister to get off the phone so you could have a turn? For the station signal to sound at midnight meaning no more TV til morning? For the mail to come (the real mail)? For strawberries in June and asparagus at Easter?   

There was something about the wait that made the getting just a little bit sweeter.  

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

I think it's worth a try. I do think there is value in having a mixture of experience in the House and Senate, so maybe we could rotate terms the way churches rotate their Deacon elections. Every year you would have some new, some in-between, and some oldies.  I definitely do not think the Presidential term should be extended to three as some people have recently suggested. 8 years is plenty!

I think DC is the world's biggest bubble, and the people who make law and policy need to get in and get out so as not to lose touch with the world outside that bubble.  They need to have 'real jobs' and be responsible for their own health care and retirement like the people they serve. I feel like term limits would add a level of accountability we've lost somewhere along the way.  

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.

I'm not a late night person, never have been...I'm pretty pleased with myself if I manage to stay awake til ten. Hubs and I had a late night in the city on our last anniversary...there may have been something more recent, but that's the one I remember.

6. What would freak you out more...a mouse running across your floor or a big fat hairy spider?

As much as that big hairy spider would freak me out I'm going with the mouse. There is rarely 'only one' and that thought really would freak me out. It's easier to get rid of a big hairy spider. Call hubs, and if he's out of town I can be like my daughters...throw a big piece of Tupperware over it with a note telling asking him to deal with it when he gets home.  

7. I love it when people ask me____________________________.

-about England.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm going to use this space for my A-Z blurb today. I know I said I wasn't going to do this every Wednesday, but I'm going to do this every Wednesday. Creating, answering, and visiting the HP every week takes time, and this month I'm also trying to hop around to some A-Z posts every day...'ain't nobody got time for all that, right?  
I've been sorting photos for my A-Z posts this time round, then choosing a few to blog about. What I've realized though, is there are some photos I like but there's not really a story behind them. 

Maybe it's the expression caught on a sunny summer day, or the big little girl pose in a backyard chair, but these photos somehow captured a piece of who my children were...who they still are, and who I imagine they will always be.  

Daughter1...my beach baby...sunshine and light...a magical combination of strength and delicacy...her father's face and her mother's heart.


Daughter2...depth behind the baby blues...always planning what's next...skinned knees and a light heart...her mother's face and her father's spirit.   



O is for O-dorable.
Because they are.  




32 comments:

  1. I completely agree about changing sheets. Taxing but worth it, especially to do it in anticipation of returning to them after a trip.
    The things we used to wait for...aah, yes. And your girls are 0-dorable--then and now. :)

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  2. Oh I so agree with you about the sheets. There is nothing like coming home from a trip when you are usually tired from the traveling and climbing into your own bed with nice clean sheets.
    I don't blame you at all for using your random thought for the A-Z thing. I am sure this meme takes up a lot of your time, why not combine the two.
    Your daughters are adorable. I love going through photos of my kids when they were young and seeing how they have grown and remembering fun times and daily life with them.

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  3. So you were apparently listening in on our family conversations this week, talking about okra and elected officials' term limits! Love it! Thanks, as always, for putting this together for us all!

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  4. I like that you like it when asked about the UK :)

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  5. Love the pictures. Hubby is going through some of our old pictures to make a collage for the dining room wall. It is fun however it is hard to decide which ones to use.

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  6. We are of the same mind on #3,4 & 6.You are on your own with the olives. Yes, they are O-dorable!!!

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  7. Joyce...I, too, have to change the sheets before we go out of town. There is nothing nicer than coming home to crisp sheets...makes for a sound night's sleep! I, also, have to mop the floor and vacuum...drives Chris bonkers! I cracked up what you wrote about the Tupperware and spiders. If Chris is on the road, that's usually what Abby and I do, too. No way am I touching that thing! Your girls are so cute in those pictures. Don't you often wish that time could just stand still?

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  8. I love your answer to Nr.3. So so true. The wait makes anything more meaningful.
    I had to smile at your Nr. 1 answer. So, I guess if your girls see you changing sheets, they know you´ll be traveling soon? :)
    I love that idea though and will probably be doing the same, next time I take a trip.

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  9. I agree with your answer about waiting for things. I mentioned waiting for the phone in the sorority house in my post. Waiting can be a good thing. :)
    And the photos of your girls? O-dorbs!

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  10. Loving your O-dorable pictures for the A to Z Challenge. Made me smile.

    Very good answer to number 3 and it is oh so true.

    Good questions this week, Joyce. Thanks.

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  11. VERY O-dorable! :)

    Oh man... what memories...the tv going off at midnight... kids will NEVER know that.

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  12. I agree about the sheets. Just yesterday I had to ask my husband to help me change ours because I couldn't stand the way they were gathering and the corners would pop off in the middle of the night. I don't know why I bother keeping that set! When I got into bed last night I said "Ahh!"
    I love what you wrote about waiting. So true!

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  13. I definitely agree with your thoughts on "the thrill of the wait"! Children with cellphones by the age of 8, parents buying cars for teens who aren't even old enough to drive...What ever happened to "the wait"?

    I agree with your thoughts on mice. Where there's one, there's another!

    Thanks, once again, for another great set of questions :)

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  14. Yes, they really are O-dorable! I liked your answer on Term Limits and agree totally. And, of course, the mouse issue, have mercy, so glad I'm not the only one scared too death of them. Happy Wednesday, it's good to be back!

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  15. I love that idea of coming home to clean sheets. I would always have to come home to a clean house but as I get older I don't care as much. Always had this fear of my MIL coming out because I died and my house wasn't clean. That's a cute olive story. I do like your list of things your children will not experience. I was thinking more of having to leave my house at midnight for something. My daughter looks like me but has my husbands spirit where as my son looks like my husband but has my spirit.

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  16. You are so right - it is very hard for children to wait - and it looks like adults too - lol - quick meals - quick this - we live in a quick society! Sandie

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  17. I have wondered how hard it might be to get this ready every week. You do such a good job, and I really appreciate it. Seems like most of us are on the same page about that mouse, haha. But I love what you wrote about kids today. Soo true. No waiting for much. Love the pictures of your girls! Enjoy your day!

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  18. Everyday I get the mail and it is two things - junk and bills. No thrill of a teen girl anticipating a letter from a boyfriend or a pen pal and trying to be the first to the mailbox :-)

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  19. Totally agree with the waiting part there is no waiting for this generation....everything is instant. Love the girls pictures...they are oh so adorable! Happy Wednesday!

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  20. Yep, term limits!
    Love the pictures of your girls. I sure have been enjoying your A-Z pictures of your family!

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  21. When I plate spaghetti I always add extra garlic to mine and chopped kalamata olives to the sauce on mine; Hubby isn't so adventurous, I mean not even a taste, with food, so I have to add the tasties to the plate and not the sauce. But I love me some polices in sauces and salad or just on their own.

    Your photos really are O-dorable!

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  22. I have the exact same house rule regarding the sheets and trips! I also make sure the bathroom is spick and span. I mean, who wants to come home from a hotel room to not so hotel like? Besides, what if we DON'T make it home? I wouldn't want people to think I was a slob. Ha.

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  23. I don't know why I didn't remember/write about some of the thing you did from our childhoods. You are so right about busy signals! But weren't they maddening? YES! And, definitely waiting for special TV shows was a treat - like "the Wizard of Oz" and "Peter Pan." We got to stay up late to watch them!

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  24. Thanks for your sweet words. (And I don't remember ever being that tan!) Also, thanks for still sending me real mail!

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  25. i am gonna remember that sheet thing, the next time i go away----it is good to wait for some things, it is true, the anticipation is part of the experience :)

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  26. i hate making the bed too... ugh!

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  27. Love love love the reminder about waiting! I have cassette tapes in my hope chest with mixes on them of songs I would sit there and wait til they came on so I could record them! And waiting for our favorite movies to come on each year...mine was Wizard of Oz. As an adult my mom bought me the collectors dvd but it's just not the same....I love the thrill of waiting. ANd girl...don't even get me started about the mail. When Nick was deployed on 6 month med cruises back in the day before internet and cell phones....I lived for the mails arrival each day! Thanks as always for such sweet perspectives on life.

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  28. You answer to #4 is right on. Waiting, it's something one has to learn and no one HAS to learn it anymore.

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  29. I would love to have clean sheets on the bed before we leave, but since we are usually up and out the door and zero dark thirty, I just don't have the time or energy to change the sheets that early in the morning. I'm lucky to get the bed made before we leave. ;-)

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  30. I loved your answer to #3! I used to hate having to wait for the radio to play my favorite song especially when they announced it would be playing "right after these messages". Ugh!

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