Tripping Over the Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Just a reminder there will not be any Hodgepodge next week (August 4/5). We'll be wrapping up some travel here and then making our way south, aka moving, so I'll need a break.

Is moving a break?

The HP will be back the week after (August 11/12) so check back then for a new set of questions. We're here today though, so let's get started.

1.  I recently read here about four secrets to happiness from around the world. They were-

Overcome your fears by facing them head on, allow yourself to relax and reset, work to live versus living to work, and find the good in life. Not sure if these are the actual secret to happiness, but which of the four do you struggle with most? Which one comes most easily to you?

Biggest struggle would probably be facing my fears head on. Does that come naturally to anyone? I will say I'm definitely better at it than I used to be. 

Finding the good in life comes most easily to me. 
I can always find the good. 

2. How would you spend a found $20 bill today?

I had a manicure this morning (Tuesday), so might have used the $20 towards that. 

3. Ego trip, power trip, guilt trip, round trip, trip the light fantastic, or trip over your own two feet...which 'trip' have you experienced or dealt with most recently? Explain.

We're traveling to Canada via Maine and back again in the next week, so round trip works. We'll be attending a wedding in Prince Edward Island so trip the light fantastic also works. 

4. If you could master any physical skill in the world what would it be, and how would you use that skill?

This is hard. In thinking about all the possibilities I realize I'm quite mediocre at a whole bunch of stuff-ha! I'd love to be a great dancer, and as long as we're going to master the skill, sign me up for DWTS or the NYC Ballet. 

5. As July draws to a close, let's take inventory of our summer fun. Since the official first day of (North American) summer (June 20th) have you...been swimming? enjoyed an ice cream cone? seen a summer blockbuster? camped? eaten corn on the cob? gardened? deliberately unplugged? watched a ballgame? picked fruit off the vine? taken a road trip? read a book?  Are any of these activities on your must-do-before-summer-ends list?

I have not been swimming at all this summer which is so sad. I love to swim. There's a pool in the apartment complex where we'll be living in less than two weeks, so ask me again in August. And since I've enjoyed more than one ice cream cone a few laps in the pool are feeling necessary. 

Hubs and I saw Jurassic World which I think qualifies as a blockbuster, have not camped, but have eaten corn on the cob because it's not summer without corn on the cob. 

I haven't gardened because we're currently without a garden, haven't picked fruit off the vine, and I only accidentally unplugged thanks to a tornado wreaking havoc with the power for a long, hot, three days. I've been to a couple of minor league ballgames, and have read several books. 

Have we taken a road trip? Um, yeah. We've been on the road more than we've been home. 

6. The Republican Presidential candidates will debate on August 6th. What's your question?

Here are a few things I'd like to hear every candidate address, both sides of the fence or no side of the fence- 

• What are the two biggest issues facing America today?
• Tell me why I should believe you're going to do what you say you're going to do. 
• Do you support a pathway to citizenship for illegals currently living in the US? 
• What about illegals brought here as minors? Do you support in-state college tuition for illegals brought here as minors?
• In a few short sentences tell me what America means to you. 

7. What's your most listened to song so far this summer?

I Do by Holly Maher and Always Been You by Marie Hines. 

True confession...those two songs are on my daughter's wedding video and it's possible I watch it once a week. Or twice. Maybe three times. Whatever. Here's the link if you somehow missed it when I linked to it twice before- Best Day Ever Link

Like I said...ob.sessed. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

My girls are together in Washington this week. Makes my heart so happy.

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."~Marion C. Garretty

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 230

Hello Hodgepodgers! One item of business to note: There will not be any Hodgepodge next week (August 4/5) as we'll be wrapping up some travel, and then moving into our apartment down south.

Or as I like to call it-Phase 3.

The Hodgepodge will return the following week (August 11/12), so thanks for understanding! Now back to this week...answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with your peeps.

1.  I recently read here about four secrets to happiness from around the world. They were-

Overcome your fears by facing them head on, allow yourself to relax and reset, work to live versus living to work, and find the good in life. Not sure if these are the actual secret to happiness, but which of the four do you struggle with most? Which one comes most easily to you?

2. How would you spend a found $20 bill today?

3. Ego trip, power trip, guilt trip, round trip, trip the light fantastic, or trip over your own two feet...which 'trip' have you experienced or dealt with most recently? Explain.

4. If you could master any physical skill in the world what would it be, and how would you use that skill?

5. As July draws to a close, let's take inventory of our summer fun. Since the official first day of (North American) summer (June 20th) have you...been swimming? enjoyed an ice cream cone? seen a summer blockbuster? camped? eaten corn on the cob? gardened? deliberately unplugged? watched a ballgame? picked fruit off the vine? taken a road trip? read a book?  Are any of these activities on your must-do-before-summer-ends list?

6. The Republican Presidential candidates will debate on August 6th. What's your question?

7. What's your most listened to song so far this summer?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

On the Road Again. Or Still?

It's Monday which means time to check in here. I'm so ready to get settled into our apartment and then hopefully into some sort of routine with my writing. We shall see.

Hubs and I have been on the road all week which I know surprises no one, and guess what? We'll be on the road all this week too. As I've been saying for several months now... 'tis a season.

Except I think 'on the road' is a way of life here as opposed to just a season, but I like to pretend one day we'll be settled down with our feet up and no place to go.

Also we really do enjoy all the going, we just need a little staying now and then for balance. ahem.

We left NJ last Tuesday and took our time getting to SC. We arrived on Wednesday morning, and headed straight for the lake to dump a carful of belongings. Not in the lake, but in the storage unit we're renting near the lake. We've got the little red car in storage there too, and she started right up on the first try. That doesn't always happen with the little red car, but apparently heat and humidity agree with her, so whoohoo!

Next stop was back to town to my sister and brother-in-law's home to dump the rest of our luggage, shower, change and then head back over to the other side of town to collect Daughter2 for dinner with the in-laws. Not her in-laws or our in-laws, but Daughter1's in-laws.

Course Daughter1 and her hubs were way over on the west coast where they currently reside, but their families had a lot of fun catching up over dinner. Both sisters were there too, just no newlyweds. Pretty sure we're going to see the kid's in-laws more than they do, but that's okay because it gives us a chance to talk about them. Hi kids!

Thursday I broke down and got a haircut, my first since we moved. I went to my daughter2's stylist so it wasn't too traumatic. Y'all finding a new girl to cut my hair ranks high on the list of move stressors. We had a nice lunch afterwards with Daughter2 (I'm not even living there yet, but already loving how easy it is to see her) and then we drove back out to the lake to meet up with our builder.

He had our actual large blueprints and also the gazillion pages that go behind the floorpans. All the lines and squiggles and footnotes referring to insulation and electricity and foundations and muckity muck muck. Oh I know it's all important, but I want hubs to worry about the part that's not fun. Just skip straight to the pretty drawings of my house please.

It feels very official to have blueprints, although there are still one or two little bits and pieces that need correcting, and we have to tag trees on the lot as to what stays and what goes, and then somebody has to come say it's okay because you can't just knock down all the trees when you're beside the water, nor would we want to, and then there's all the choosing and the paying of course, but still... it's nice to have blueprints.

On Friday we met Daughter2 for breakfast, then hubs drove me to meet up with some college friends so we could transfer my luggage to their car for the ride to North Carolina. We're moving to South Carolina which I know is confusing, but I was going to a sorority reunion in North Carolina. And hubs was going on to Tennessee to catch up with his folks, because we were in the neighborhood.

More or less.

I had a fabulous weekend in the mountains with college girlfriends. The kind of weekend where we talk too much and laugh too much and relax to the nth degree. In other words-perfection. 

The view's not bad either.

The weekend went by way too fast, and on Sunday hubs picked me up and we headed back to NJ. It was slow going because have mercy, the traffic! Yikes! What should have taken ten hours took fourteen so we didn't roll into my mom's driveway until 1:30 in the morning. I know! 

We have a glorious forty eight hours with no where to be, then it's back in the car and over the border. Legally of course-ha! We're going to a wedding in Canada, and since Prince Edward Island is basically the end of the earth, we're making some stops along the way. It's a beautiful part of the world, and we are so looking forward to catching up with friends as we travel north.

Life is a highway, and we're riding it that's for sure!

A Light And Airy Hodgepodge

Is it hot where you live, because it has been HOT here?! Let's dive right in to the Hodgepodge, shall we? If you've answered the questions, be sure to link at the end of my post.  Here we go-

1. Is your home air conditioned? If it's not air conditioned, is that by choice? Did you grow up with air conditioning? If not how did you cope with the heat? Share about a time or place you remember as being too hot-the temperature kind of hot, lest anyone be confused.

Yes we had air conditioning in our home. We weren't falling for that 'You don't really need air conditioning in this part of North Jersey' malarkey a second time. The first time we lived in North Jersey we did not have a.c. We didn't need it often, but the thing about a.c. is, when you need it you need it. All it takes is one 90 degree week in August with a three year old and a ten month old, both covered in chicken pox, to convince you of that!  

Our house in S.C. will have a.c. because I cannot imagine living in S.C. without it. The house I grew up in didn't have a.c. initially, but my parents had it put in after we'd been there a couple of years. I remember as a little girl sleeping in an undershirt because it was too hot for pj's. 

A time I was too hot? How about Sunday when my mom's a.c. failed and the humidity was about 1000 percent? It was repaired on Monday, but once the house heats up it takes a good long while to cool off. 

2. What's something in your life right now that falls under the heading 'up in the air'?

When will the lake house be completed? 

Also, when will the lake house be started? 

The answer to the latter is 'soon'. Not soon like your mama told you when you were a kid and she really meant never, but soon like sometime in August. 

3. Your favorite light and airy dessert?

One of my favorites would be Eton Mess, a mixture of strawberries, pieces of meringue, and whipped cream all stirred together to make the perfect light and airy dessert. 

4. When did you last feel like you were 'floating on air'?

My daughter's wedding day-January 3, 2015. How's that for specific? 

5. Airport, airmail, airtight, airhead...which have you most recently encountered? Explain.

I'll go with airport since I was there on Sunday. We were collecting my mom who was returning home after a trip down south. 

6.  Have you ever been to the Alps? If so where did you go? If not, is this a destination on your must-see list? If you were headed that direction this summer, which of the following would be your preferred activity...a gentle walk, a serious walk, a bike ride, a boat ride around one of the lakes, or summer snow skiing?

I've been to a number of storybook towns and villages in the Alps, too many to list but highlights would include Innsbruck, Seefeld (Austria), Garmisch in the Bavarian Alps, and Chamonix in the French Alps. Chamonix is one of my favorite spots btw, and I wish it were on my travel itinerary this summer. 

Sadly moving house and international holidays do not mix. If I were headed that way I'd love a serious walk or a boat ride around one of the lakes. 

7. What is one saying or phrase that was considered 'cool' when you were growing up?

I was a teenager in the 70's and a phrase that came to mind was 'to the max'. We tacked that on to a lot of sentences, but it was just another way of saying 'as much as possible'. 

'Book' was another popular term, as in "I need to book" aka run/go/hurry on out of here. They don't sound all that cool in 2015, but maybe they did in 1975? Or maybe we just thought they did?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

On Monday we unexpectedly lost our precious dog Dixie. She was thirteen years old, but still so young at heart. If you read here regularly then you know how we all feel about this girl. She was a complete love.

And we are so sad. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 229

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Hop back here tomorrow to share answers with all your friends and neighbors. See you there! 

1. Is your home air conditioned? If it's not air conditioned, is that by choice? Did you grow up with air conditioning? If not how did you cope with the heat? Share about a time or place you remember as being too hot-the temperature kind of hot, lest anyone be confused.

2. What's something in your life right now that falls under the heading 'up in the air'?

3. Your favorite light and airy dessert?

4. When did you last feel like you were 'floating on air'?

5. Airport, airmail, airtight, airhead...which have you most recently encountered? Explain.

6.  Have you ever been to the Alps? If so where did you go? If not, is this a destination on your must-see list? If you were headed that direction this summer, which of the following would be your preferred activity...a gentle walk, a serious walk, a bike ride, a boat ride around one of the lakes, or summer snow skiing?

7. What is one saying or phrase that was considered 'cool' when you were growing up?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Stray Thoughts and Minor Obsessions

That title makes this post sound more interesting than it will be, so fair warning. I've been keeping a list on my phone of what I suppose you'd call stray thoughts, and this seems like a good place to put them. Some of those stray thoughts might be considered borderline obsessions of mine at the moment, and oftentimes my blog is where I go to figure that out.

In no particular order...

Iced coffee. Definitely an obsession. I refrigerate whatever is left in the morning pot and drink it over ice later in the day. Like right now. I'm having an iced coffee. When you spend the summer moving it's the little things that keep you sane.

The Royals. Almost an obsession. As in I adore them and read the websites and look at all the pretty pictures every time one's posted. Kate's hair, Kate's clothes, George's soft blue cardi and mischievous grin, baby Charlotte and her fabulous pram, the English countryside...they're all happy distractions from so much turmoil going on in the world.

Earthquakes. Trying not to make it an obsession. Mostly succeeding although hubs and I may have ordered an earthquake kit for our daughter and son in law yesterday. We're not crazy or paranoid but we do have a little too much time on our hands right now, and this is where your thought train travels while in limbo.

Who read the super scary article in The New Yorker called The Really Big One? The tag line under the title is 'An earthquake will destroy a sizable portion of the coastal Northwest. The question is when.' Huh? Why is this the first I'm hearing about plates colliding somewhere besides California? The article goes into great detail about the likelihood of a major earthquake striking the Pacific Northwest.

The same Pacific Northwest where my daughter1 and son in law live.

When my daughter first told me she and her now hubs would be moving to Washington after they married I was sad about the distance, but a little bit happy she was leaving D.C. In D.C. she rode the metro every day and worked a block from the White House, and I remember thinking how much safer she'd be under the soaring evergreens of Washington State than in our nation's capital.

Safety is an illusion. I suppose deep down we know this, but some weeks it's made more real to us than others, and this has been one of those weeks. I've heard so many sad things in the past few days, and that combined with everything splashed across our headlines and TV screens can make me want to hide away somewhere with all my people.

Which brings me to another obsession. This song by King and Country. Oh my word I am obsessed. I play it loud and sing along only slightly off key. I let the lyrics and the melody wash over me as I remember I'm not carrying the weight of the world on my own two shoulders.

None of us are. So many people I talk to feel a general sense of uneasiness these days. The world is shifting in ways that are sometimes confusing and hard to understand. Despair feels close enough to touch.

But then so is hope.

We don't have to carry the burdens of this world alone.  We can set them on the shoulders of the One who knows our every need and weakness. He set the world in motion and nothing is too big or too hard or too heavy for Him. Sometimes it's good to write that down and say it out loud.

Sometimes it's good to sing it at the top of your lungs and a little off key.

Hot Fun In The Summertime Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. We've had a few new faces join the party in recent weeks, so welcome especially to the newbies. I don't ask a lot here, just three little things-

• Please only link if you've answered today's questions (I delete non-Hodgepodge links)
• Add a link back here so anyone visiting your blog can play along too. The button code is in my sidebar so you can easily copy and paste. 
• And finally, leave a comment for the blogger who linked before you because that's the neighborly thing to do. 

Now on with the show!

1.July 15th is National Give Something Away Day.  What can you give away? Will you?

From my vantage point mid-move I will tell you there is always something we can do without. In the past six months we've given away clothes, furniture, and assorted miscellany by the pound. I'm sure there will be plenty more once we're in our still-to-be built house, but for now I guess a smile or kind word will have to do. 

2. Do you have a mantra? Please share with the class if you feel comfortable doing so.

My mantra is simple...'Every little thing is gonna be okay.' 
Because it is. 

3. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? How many times a week do you shop? Do you make a list or pray for inspiration in the produce aisle?

I used to do all the grocery shopping, but in our temporary digs here with my mom we're all sharing the load. I'm sure once we're re-settled I'll go back to my weekly menu planning and list making. Grocery shopping is a chore I kind of enjoy. 

My preferred way is to plan meals for the week, and I definitely shop from a list, a) because I love making lists, and b) I'm over 50. Without a list you don't remember what you came for when you're over 50. Truth. 

4. Is there a TV show you're embarrassed to say you watch? You're going to tell us what it is, right?

Once upon a time I watched The Real Housewives of Orange County and later The Real Housewives of NJ. When it comes to 'reality' shows I might tune in for the early days, but I've never been a loyal fan of this sort of programming. The combination of too much yelling and ridiculously bad behavior wears me down. 

Probably my most recent embarrassment would be Sister Wives. I used to record it and watch while I ate my lunch, but once hubs retired he was not on board so I gave it up. 

I have to add as I was proofing this to publish my daughter mentioned The Bachelor/Bachelorette. I'm not watching the current season, and I didn't watch last season either, but I've seen more than a few of this one. 

5. A recent article listed fifteen words we should eliminate from our (written) vocabulary in order to sound smarter-

that, went, honestly, absolutely, very, really, amazing, always, never, literally, just, maybe, stuff, things, and irregardless

Of the fifteen, which word is your most overused?

I'm going with 'that'. When I edit my writing I find a lot of thats. Yes, believe it or not I start out with more words than you see here-ha! I try reading the sentence without the word, and 9 times out of 10 I don't need it. I know I also use the word 'just' a little too often, but I like it so will probably continue in my overuse. 

I might reduce the occurrence, but won't completely eliminate any on the list except irregardless. That word is mostly misused, and makes me twitch.  

6. So apparently dying your hair gray (in your youth!) is a thing right now. It's called 'The Granny Hair' trend. Your thoughts?

Why???? I don't get this trend at all. Perhaps if all the strands of my brunette self were brunette down to their roots, then gray would be a novelty? I have to say I don't get it, and I'm not a fan. 

7. A while back Buzz Feed asked members to share the most beautiful sentence they've read in a piece of literature. A hard thing to narrow down, at least for me, but let's try. What's one of the most beautiful sentences you've ever read in a piece of literature?

"Dear old world,' she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you."

~L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We move into our rental in less than three weeks. Between now and then we will log over 3200 miles in the car driving south then north then south then further south. We do complicated well. Or crazy? Maybe it's crazy we do well. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 228

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then link back here to make the middle of the week a little less middle-y. See you there!

1.July 15th is National Give Something Away Day.  What can you give away? Will you?

2. Do you have a mantra? Please share with the class if you feel comfortable doing so.

3. Who does the grocery shopping in your house? How many times a week do you shop? Do you make a list or pray for inspiration in the produce aisle?

4. Is there a TV show you're embarrassed to say you watch? You're going to tell us what it is, right?

5. A recent article listed fifteen words we should eliminate from our (written) vocabulary in order to sound smarter-

that, went, honestly, absolutely, very, really, amazing, always, never, literally, just, maybe, stuff, things, and irregardless

Of the fifteen, which word is your most overused?

6. So apparently dying your hair gray (in your youth!) is a thing right now. It's called 'The Granny Hair' trend. Your thoughts?

7. A while back Buzz Feed asked members to share the most beautiful sentence they've read in a piece of literature. A hard thing to narrow down, at least for me, but let's try. What's one of the most beautiful sentences you've ever read in a piece of literature?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Inspire

It's Friday I think, which means it's time to blog. Yes I've become a Wednesday/Friday blogger. Hubs loves to read here, but says lately he's giving it just two stars. Sadly I cannot argue.

We're still at my mom's, still in limbo, still anxious to move on to the next thing, but trying to make the best of our current thing. One way we're doing that is we're walking for miles. Miles and miles and miles. Guess what? I'm enjoying it a lot.

Yes, even nature's stair master.

Two years ago I would not have said such a thing was possible, that I could truly enjoy and look forward to a good power walk, but turns out it is very possible. I've always liked to hike, but this is different. This is exercise for all the right reasons, and I owe my change of heart and mindset to a little big thing called boot camp.

Which I miss a lot. Go figure.

Dragging myself out of bed in the cold (oftentimes ridiculously cold) dark of night to make a 6 AM workout every Monday-Wednesday-Friday changed me, and I like the new me better. I still get my daily email from the trainer and love opening the message knowing it's going to be something positive, encouraging, and helpful. Somedays it's a motivational quote or story, somedays a reminder to stay on track or drink more water or maybe it's a healthy recipe to try. Some days it's a good old fashioned pep talk.

I first heard about boot camp from two people I knew through two completely different avenues (my hairdresser and my dental hygienist), but they both raved about it at almost the same time. Coincidence? They both looked great, really fit and healthy, and they both also shared with me about their very noticeable change in energy level since they started making time for boot camp every week.

That definitely peaked my interest because do you know what you miss a lot when you hit middle age? A whole lot of things actually, but near the top of my list is the energy I had before my hormones ran amok.

True confession here-I have never been an athlete. Boot camp sounded like something for athletes or exercise hounds or people who live on rice cakes, the plain unsalted kind. Both women assured me this was different. That it wasn't a room full of athletes, although some certainly are. For the record I am not one of the some, but still it was a very mixed group. Men and women. Young and not so young. Some weighing more than they'd like and some just looking to feel better about their health and nutrition and daily habits.

I told hubs I was going to try it for three months, and he always encourages me to find something I love, but he might have also rolled his eyes a little knowing my level of co-ordination. ahem. I thought I'd sign up for three months because I know myself, and when it comes to exercise regimens the three month mark is about where I lose interest. Not this time. At three months I discovered I  really liked it.

You're never too old people!

I was feeling stronger, had more energy and less jiggle (if you're over 50 you know what I'm talkin' about), and the biggest and maybe most unexpected benefit, I felt more clear headed than I had in a long time, definitely since hitting the M word.  

The trainers who run the program are a perfect team. A little good cop/bad cop, but most of us need a little of both so it works. Plus the bad cop wasn't bad, just honest-ha! When it comes to addressing habits that need changing a little honesty is both good and necessary. And here the honesty always came with a huge smile, a word of encouragement, a reminder that you're not defined by a number on the scale. Most importantly, always a practical plan for how to get back on track and plenty of support in your efforts to do so.

Last week hubs and I were on one of our five-milers in the stinkin' heat and the high humidity, and as we powered on I thought to myself, 'I feel good. I'm glad I'm out here walking.' Now maybe you're one of those people who've always loved to exercise, someone who needs to run like they need oxygen, but that's never been me so these kinds of thoughts still surprise me.

I've learned a lot about myself this last year and a half, and I can't say enough about the trainers who run boot camp and the other programs they've put in place to help us replace poor habits with healthy ones.

I'm physically stronger than I ever imagined I could be. I'm not going to challenge anyone to an arm wrestle or anything, but I am strong and I have never in my life been physically strong. It feels great.

I know what I need to eat and how much, in order to feel good in my clothes. Not saying I always manage this, but I'm definitely on the 80/20 track as opposed to the 40/60. I don't beat myself up over the 20 either. Our health is more about our daily habits and the choices we make regularly over time as opposed to a single day.

You cannot out train poor nutrition. Truth. This is the boot camp mantra and while we'd like to think we can eat whatever we want as long as we work out, we can't. Habits are formed in our youth, so it's best to develop some good ones that don't need breaking when your metabolism slows to a crawl. Ask me how I know.

You can't out train poor nutrition. I think they'd want me to say that twice-ha!

One thing I also adopted thanks to boot camp, was more realistic goal setting. The trainers suggest you try something called 3 in 30, which basically means setting three goals to accomplish in the next thirty days. They usually checked in around day 15 which was a reminder to re-visit those goals and take stock or make adjustments. This was so do-able. Much more so than five big huge ginormous impossible things you say you want to master in a year the way so many of us do come January 1.

I like to look back at this short journey and take note of the timing. It was perfect. Perfect in that I had enough time to develop some brand new skills, make changes to my menu planning, gain confidence and actual enjoyment out of exercise all while in a truly supportive environment.

I try to imagine how this season of in-between we're currently living would play out without the benefit of new habits established last year. Instead of feeling capable I'd feel overwhelmed. Instead of feeling disciplined I'd feel guilty for not doing what I know I need to do, which is eating right and exercising more.

So I'm grateful. Grateful that we're never too old or too clumsy to do something positive for our health. I'm especially grateful for people who live up to their business name-Inspire. Grateful for people who use their gifts to encourage, uplift, and 'inspire' others to do the same.

Summertime and the Hodgepodgin' is Easy

Welcome to another edition of the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then add your link IF you've played along. The first three questions are a tad heavy for early July, but sometimes that's how we roll. In my defense, they didn't feel heavy when I wrote them, and if it's all too much just know there's chocolate in question #4.

Okay here we go-

1. When did you last 'swim against the tide'?

It's hard to swim against the tide. Exhausting in fact, kind of like I imagine swimming against a literal tide would be. It does not come naturally to me, but there are times when circumstances force us to say/do the hard and unpopular thing. I suppose I swim against the tide in terms of prevailing political opinion on a whole host of issues. 

In my experience it's much easier to swim against the tide if you're part of a 'school of fish'. Much harder to be the lone fish. While it's not often I'm the lone fish,  a particular conversation does come to mind and what I remember most is that it absolutely wore me out. At the end of the day my integrity was still intact, which I think is important when you're swimming upstream.  

2. What's the last self-help or self-improvement book you read?

I'm currently reading Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott. It's so good I had to grab a highlighter. I try to read my Bible every day which, if you're looking for self-help or self-improvement, is the very best book out there. 

3. "Tolerance is a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness." (Sir James Goldsmith)

Agree or disagree? Discuss. With civility please, because i think we have a good thing going in our very diverse (in geography, age, religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, and cooking abilities) neighborhood here on This Side of the Pond.

I've really grown to hate the word. No offense anyone-ha! It's just that the word has become all jumbled up with judgement and name calling and the basest of the base. Ick. Tolerance is a virtue, but only to a degree. 

Tolerance is not demanding everyone be tolerant, bragging about how tolerant you are, and then when a viewpoint contrary to your own is expressed, calling that person a racist-bigot-ignoramus. Welcome to America in the year 2015.

Call me old fashioned, but I still believe there are some absolute truths in this world. Yes there are areas where we can agree to disagree, but there are also areas where we can't. And that's where I think the word tolerance gets lost. 

4. What is one of your most vivid memories of the kitchen from your childhood?

I have so many clear memories of the kitchen from my childhood home it's hard to choose just one. My mom still lives in that same house and the kitchen is the heart of it all. 

Christmas baking looms large in my mind (naturally!) and I remember standing on a chair beside the stove to help in the painstaking process of dipping freshly rolled buttercreams into silky melted chocolate. My mom's would be perfect, but I was impatient and mine often had a little swirl in the chocolate where I tried to remove it too quickly from the toothpick. 

I've carried on this tradition with my own girls, and I'm still sometimes impatient while daughter2 carefully waits out the minutes so hers are just right. Carousel of time people. 

5. How did/do your own children's summers compare with your summers as a child? If you're not a parent, answer as it relates to what you've observed about the current generation of children vs. your own childhood.

Very similar I think, mostly in the way childhood summers felt. Mine were a delicious concoction of carefree, outdoorsy, sunshiny, hours with plenty of time for day dreams. As a child I spent a lot of time outdoors, playing made up games with my sister and friends, swimming, and riding bikes. We read a lot of books, colored endless pictures, spent a week at camp and a week in Vacation Bible School, and some years made a trip out west to visit our grandparents, although not every year. 

I think my girls would describe their summer experiences in much the same way. They might add something about our awesome beach vacations too. We didn't take beach vacations when I was a kid. My parents did take us to the shore for the day, but only now and then which felt like a huge treat.  Because it was. 

6. Tell us what body of water you would most like to be on or near today, and why?

I'd love to be on 'our' lake. Technically it's not ours, but a small piece of the shoreline is. I'm more than ready to be sipping morning coffee on the dock. 

The dock which is not in place yet, but is under construction. Which is more than I can say for the house, still in the design-review-paperwork stage.  

If I can't be on our lake then I'd settle for my favorite Italian lake-Maggiore, or even a boat ride down the Thames. I'm not picky. 

7. Share a favorite song about water, or a favorite song with the word water in it's title, or a favorite song to listen to as you sit beside the water.

A favorite song about the water? Sailing by Christopher Cross. 

A favorite song with water in the title? An old camp favorite-Come to the Water. 

Song to listen to as I sit beside the water? Beach music please...anything by the Embers, the Catalinas, the Drifters. Throw some Kenny Chesney into the mix and I'm good. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today is my beautiful mother's birthday. Here she is at my daughter1's wedding-

Happy birthday mama! Thanks for loving me and Jesus and books and home, and for sharing those loves with me. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 227

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then drop back here tomorrow to share answers with the universe. See you there! 

1. When did you last 'swim against the tide'? Explain.

2. What's the last self-help or self-improvement book you read?

3. "Tolerance is a tremendous virtue, but the immediate neighbors of tolerance are apathy and weakness." (Sir James Goldsmith) 

Agree or disagree? Discuss. With civility please, because I think we have a good thing going in our very diverse (in geography, age, religion, political persuasion, ethnicity, marital status, upbringing, and cooking abilities) neighborhood here on This Side of the Pond.

4. What is one of your most vivid memories of the kitchen from your childhood?

5. How did/do your own children's summers compare with your summers as a child? If you're not a parent, answer as it relates to what you've observed about the current generation of children vs. your own childhood.

6. Tell us what body of water you would most like to be on or near today, and why?

7.  Share a favorite song about water, or a favorite song with the word water in it's title, or a favorite song to listen to as you sit beside the water.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The Birthday Splash Bash

The 4th has come and gone, a very different sort of holiday for us and made me feel a little homesick for tiny town. We had some fun holiday traditions there, plus the weather was just eh here, and I think you know I'm all about the weather. We did barbecue chicken indoors, but we missed the lakeside festivities and our small town parade and spending the day with friends on our very own patio.

Still we managed to squeeze in some birthday fun of another kind. My mom has a birthday this week, and per our usual way of doing things we like to make the celebrating last longer than a day. My brother and sister-in-law had us all come to their house yesterday for an afternoon by the pool, followed by a really lovely dinner early evening. We were missing my oldest sis and her family, and of course my girls who I'm always missing, but the rest of my mom's 'kids' were there, and the weather finally cooperated so a nice day all around.

Here's my nephew trying to escape what we call the depth charge. I've been where he is and there's no escaping-ha! Hubs and my brother entertained my nephew in the pool, or maybe it was the other way around?  Regardless, they did not have to be talked into it because boys will be boys. Also, you should know nine year old boys never get tired.

There was some diving for dinosaurs, cannonballing from an uncle's shoulders, and more than a little splashing.

Oh, and two cakes! My sister and brother-in-law bought these beauties from a bakery in Philadelphia called Bredenbecks. The writing looks funny on the strawberry shortcake, but that is due to my stellar photography, not the baker.

Bredenbecks has been in business since 1889 so obviously they're doing something right. Both confections were scrumptious, and I thought the chocolate was one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen.

My mom was spoiled with hand made art work, flowers, and gifts, and I hope she felt loved on the day.

 I mean, how could she not?

Friday Brain Dump

Hubs and I walked together this morning. We walk (he runs) most mornings, but normally if he goes right I go left. Y'all there is a whole lot of togetherness in our days just now and sometimes I need to go left. Hi hubs! Love you! He gets me and my crazy need for a little space in my head.

The good kind of space not the spacey kind of space.

An.y.way...we walked. Together. Almost five miles. We'd walked about three when we landed on the road leading to the Duck Pond, and I said wanna go check it out, and he said sure, so we wandered around the long way. When I'm in charge of directions we often take the long way because that's just how I roll. After thirty one years of married life hubs is still sometimes amazed at my complete lack of 'where the heck are we' sense.

The Duck Pond.

I have not been back in this part of the neighborhood in decades, but it's a place associated with my childhood. The plant life around it looks all grown up and wild, and the water is full of algae and there aren't any ducks but there are plenty of geese and where there's geese you need to really mind where you step, but still...complete throwback.

I remember my sixth grade class walking here dressed in medieval garb. Our teacher was taking a film class and used us students to help with her final project. This was back in the day before YouTube or iMovie or cameras the size of a watch so we thought it was kinda cool. We were studying The Crusades and a hike to the Duck Pond was our version of a re-enactment.

The Duck Pond was a hangout and there were a few houses around, but not like there are now. As kids we rode our bikes there, skated across the surface when it froze (was that safe?), and got into a bit of mischief, some kids more than others which is how its been with kids since the actual crusades. I've been a rule follower all my life so not a lot of tales to tell on me.

Not interesting ones anyway-ha!

We have some plans for the weekend which include fireworks and a birthday party (for my mom, not America although Happy Birthday America!), and later today mani/pedis with my mom and sister-in-law because what is more American than apple pie and pedicures?

It has rained buckets this week and I finished a book I was reading, which was completely melancholy. This in-between season was probably not the best time for melancholy, but once I started I had to finish. A book has to be truly awful for me to put it down in the middle, and this one was not truly awful. Just truly awfully melancholy- The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. It won the Booker Prize a few years ago, so I should have known. Fantastic writing but you need a good long nap, a serious cry, and a box of chocolate to recover.

On a happier note...today my darling daughter1 and her sweet husband celebrate a whole half year of married life. They are just too adorable for words, and I can't help but smile when I think about their wedding day, and their charming home on the complete opposite far side of the earth from me, and the way they look at one another.

Love is grand!

Hodgepodge in the USA

Welcome to the Hodgepodge on this first day of July. Are you in summer mode yet, or like me still trying to figure out how it got to be July? You know the drill here-answer the questions on your own blog, then jump back over to add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to at least say hi to the blogger who linked before you, because that's the neighborly thing to do. Here we go-

1. On Saturday July 4th America celebrates her Independence (If you're not American,  feel free to answer in terms of a national holiday in your own country) What is your favorite thing about the day? Your favorite food on the 4th? Do you fly a flag at your house? Fireworks-yay or nay? Any special plans this year?

I love the 4th, and probably my favorite thing about the day is the patriotic pride on display in the form of flags flying, tiny town parades, and children and adults alike dressed in red, white and blue. We definitely fly the flag at our house, and my favorite food on the 4th would be red ripe watermelon. Fireworks are a must. We don't have firm plans this year, but whatever we do we'll end the day watching fireworks from the deck in my brother's back yard...prime viewing for their small town's spectacle.

2. What's something  you recently got for free?

Besides advice? I guess it would be the scoop of frozen yogurt my pup was treated to when hubs, my mom, and I went for ice cream last week.

3. The Statue of Liberty, The Liberty Bell, The Washington Monument, or Mount Rushmore...how many on the list have you seen? What is your favorite historical American monument, and why?

I've seen three of the four listed, never been to Mount Rushmore although I'd like to someday. Of the four my favorite is probably The Liberty Bell. I love the history associated with the city of Philadelphia and the story of our nation's early days.  

4. When it comes to the news are you more ostrich (stick my head in the sand) or hog (they have room to take a whole lot in)? How much attention have you given the recent news reports regarding ISIS and the acts of terror they've perpetrated against those who do not share their beliefs or support their cause.

I'm probably somewhere in between, but I've certainly been paying attention to the stories mentioned. I think Americans are so easily distracted by things that don't matter in the long run. I wish we could focus more on the atrocities being perpetrated against Christians, and a little less on Bruce Caitlyn Jenner et. al. I'm not in the mood to rant today so I'll leave it at that.

5. We're talking plain ice cream...vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry? Choose one.

It really depends on my mood and whether or not the ice cream is homemade. If it's homemade then give me good old plain vanilla. 

6. Share a song you love containing the word 'stars' in the lyrics or title.

He's Everything to Me 

Some of the best lyrics ever written. 'In the stars His handiwork I see, On the wind He speaks with majesty, Tho he ruleth over land and sea, what is that to me? Till by faith I met Him face to face...and I felt the wonder of His grace...then I knew that He was more than just a God who didn't care, who lived a way out there and...' 

7. Describe and/or say goodbye to June with an acrostic.

Just a whole lot of rigmarole

Unloading boxes, cars, houses, suitcases

New location and never ending paperwork

Eager to get started on the next phase of our home build. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Sunday hubs and I met my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew at the Tall Ships Festival on the Camden waterfront. There were ships on both sides of the river, but we parked on the NJ side since that seemed simplest.

One word- crow.ded. The festival was essentially rained out on Saturday, so the whole world decided to turn up Sunday. 

We spent a big chunk of the day standing in line, but the weather was delightful and it was fun hanging out beside the water. Also, stepping below deck on one of the Tall Ships confirmed for me the fact that I was not born for a life spent at sea. 

Monday was a picture perfect day, so my brother and sister-in-law invited us over for a swim and BBQ. We had more paperwork to tend to in the morning, but the rest of the day was spent relaxing beside the pool and sitting in the cool breeze on their back deck while the moon showed off. We decided Monday's weather was going to be included in the top ten days of summer. 

Not a bad way to wrap up a crazy-busy June.