Life's A Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge.  Answer the questions on your own blog then add your link to the end of my post.  Don't forget to visit your neighbors!  Here are my answers~

1. What's something people might ask you for help with?

Hmmm...can't think of a thing I'm an expert on. Childcare? Disagreeable toddlers? I'm good with kids so maybe something child-related.  

I'm also always happy to help out doing whatever needs doing, provided its not something on my list in question #2.

2. What's something you might ask people for help with?

Computer malfunctions, any sort of car trouble, and moving furniture. Just ask any big strong boy my girls know (and a few who were strangers, but who were lucky enough to be passing by when a couch or mattress needed carrying down stairs in 105 degree heat). Most boys they know have hauled something up and down stairs, lugged something heavy to the car, or have loaded bins and boxes in and out of a storage unit for us at one point or another in the past seven years.  

You wish we were friends in real life too, don't you? Ha!

3. Did your family take summer vacations when you were a child?  If so, where did you go?  If you're a parent, did/do you plan summer vacations for your own family?  Did/do they resemble those you took as a child?

Not every summer, but there were some summers we took big trips.  My grandparents lived out west so we made trips to Colorado and New Mexico to visit them, just not every summer (I wrote about that here and here). 

I have older siblings and a couple of summers we also did that thing parents do where they combine a vacation with a college tour.  I'm sure it was a lot of hours in the car, and some of it was likely boring, but funny how I only remember the fun family togetherness where we got to swim in hotel pools and eat out a lot.  Kids don't need fancy.

When my own girls were growing up we usually spent a week at the beach and we all still enjoy that. We're kind of always traveling, always have been too...we've never lived near our families so we'd always try to see them at some point every summer. And of course once we moved overseas travel became a way of life.  

It's a hard habit to break. 
Just sayin'. 

4. Pool-lake-ocean...which one is most appealing to you on a hot summer day?

D. All of the above.  

I prefer boating on a lake and swimming in a pool.  I do love swimming in the ocean, but only if the water temperature isn't too frigid or the undertow too powerful.  

5. Have you ever justified using the expression 'you gotta be cruel to be kind'? Was it really necessary or were you rationalizing?

I don't think there's ever an excuse for cruelty. I do think tough love is sometimes necessary in raising children who might be living on the edge, but never cruelty. Tough love is still love. Cruelty isn't love.

6. The Journal of Psychology recently mentioned the results of a survey identifying the ten most hated foods as-liver, lima beans, mayonnaise, mushrooms, eggs, okra, beets, brussel sprouts, tuna, and gelatin. Of those foods, how many do you actually hate?  Any you'd add to the list?

The only one on the list I 'hate' is liver.  I like everything else listed and would even say some of those foods are favorites.  Brussel sprouts, eggs, okra, mayo and tuna are eaten around here on a regular basis.  

7. What's your favorite book or movie set in a beach or lake town?

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy is one of my favorite books. He's one of my favorite authors and I like pretty much everything he's ever written.  His books are set mostly in southern coastal towns and he writes so beautifully you can practically smell the low country air.  

As far as movies go Jaws still twists my stomach into knots, even though I know what's coming. On Golden Pond is definitely another favorite. A sweet story that makes me want a summer cabin on a gorgeous lake with a little wood boat to take out fishing.  

I'm sure when I read other answers to this question today I'll remember a few more I love.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Excited to have special friends coming to town for a few days. We've got big plans to lounge on the patio while we catch up on life, live and in person. Can't wait! The last time the four of us were together we were guests in their home on Prince Edward Island.  

New Jersey is probably similar, right?