More Than A Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Please only link here today if you've answered the questions. And why not answer the questions? The Hodgepodge is a fun little mid-week random that eases you over the hump and into the weekend.

Thursday's the weekend, right? Hubs says every day is the weekend when you're retired so happy WednesdaySaturday everyone!

Okay, here are my answers, and remember leaving a comment for your neighbor in the linky list is a small act of kindness everyone appreciates. Here we go-

1. Something on your October calendar that makes you smile?

We're going to see Jersey Boys at the end of the month. We've seen it twice, once in London and once in NYC, and both performances were absolutely fabulous. We left the show singing and I fully intend to do the same here. Plus, we're going with three of my college girlfriends and their hubbies, so an extra fun evening. 

2. Food for the soul or music for the soul...which camp are you in? Tell us why.

For my own soul music. For my loved ones, food. 

I can't imagine the world without music. Nothing transports me to deep waters, a better or different mood, or the memory of a place in time like music. My soul needs music. 

When it comes to my family though, I think food and the connections eating together create are one way I 'feed their soul'. A lovingly prepared favorite dish on your birthday, a pot of hot chicken soup when the world feels pear shaped, a holiday meal eaten on the good china, these are all ways I express my love and affection for them and whatever they're experiencing or needing in life at the moment. I like to think these small gestures feed not just their body, but also their soul. 

3. What are two or three things you've learned recently as the result of an online search?

When hubs and I take car trips it seems like we always end up Googling something random. We'll hear a song on the radio, pass an unusual town name or a historical marker of some sort, and we wonder aloud for a bit before hitting Google. On our most recent two hour road trip we searched the following-

Bat Cave North Carolina, the lead singer from the 70's band Boston, and Carl Sandburg's home. 

We pass the town of Bat Cave coming and going and were curious. I mean, how could you not be? The Bat Cave is now closed to the public (thankfully!), but it would be a cool address don't you think? It's the largest known granite fissure cave in North America and home to several species of bats. Since bats give me the creeps, I'm glad it's closed. Otherwise hubs would insist on seeing it up close and personal.

We heard an old favorite Boston tune on the radio and I said I wonder what happened to the lead singer who had such an amazing voice. Hubs can always be counted on to know the name of every single musician to ever belt out a tune or pluck an instrument and he said he thought Brad Delp had passed away, so we read a little bit about him. 

We also noticed an historical marker pointing the way to Carl Sandburg's home, and hubs and I both thought he was from the Midwest so we Googled it (yes, it is so a verb). Sandburg was from the Midwest, but lived the last 20+ years of his life in North Carolina. Hubs and I plan to pop over for a day trip sometime this fall. 

What in the world did we do before Google???

4. Share your favorite game day recipe. You can describe it, post the how-to, or add a link to the actual recipe.

Not sure I have a favorite, and to be honest I am not doing a lot of game day cooking here (snacks, dips, etc), but if I were I'd probably go for a big pot of chilli or meatballs in the crockpot. 

5. What are your five essential steps for creating the perfect morning routine?

Steaming hot coffee in a mug with the exact right handle, prayer and quiet time in a quiet space with the aforementioned coffee and my Bible, a power walk with my headphones on and my playlist rolling, a long hot shower, and a reasonable healthy breakfast. Bring on the day!

6. What small thing have you taken note of today?

It's been raining here since Friday all day and when the sun peeked out I definitely noticed.

7. Sum up your September in seven words or less.

My favorite month went way too fast.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I hopped over to YouTube to find a Boston song, because I feel sure some of you reading here today have no idea, and you know how YouTube works...one song leads to another, and another, and before you know it 'I lost myself in a familiar song'...



How can you not love the 70's? 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 237

Somehow we're into the last Hodgepodge of September. Hmmm...not sure how we got here so quickly, but you can't stop time so onward it is. Answer the questions on your own blog, then jump back here tomorrow and add your link to the party.  See you there! 

1. Something on your October calendar that makes you smile?

2. Food for the soul or music for the soul...which camp are you in? Tell us why.

3. What are two or three things you've learned recently as the result of an online search?

4. Share your favorite game day recipe. You can describe it, post the how-to, or add a link to the actual recipe.

5. What are your five essential steps for creating the perfect morning routine?

6. What small thing have you taken note of today?

7. Sum up your September in seven words or less.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Take Me Home, Mountain Roads

We spent the weekend in East Tennessee with friends who go way back.
Way way back.

But we're still young of course.

My daughter wrote last week about her college friends. How she misses that heart connection with the people who knew her when. She actually is still young, but I know exactly what she was trying to say. It's not that she doesn't have friends where she is, and she knows there are wonderful friends in her future too, but she recognizes even now that place deep in her heart where friendship and memory and youth are all tangled up and beautiful.

Me too child, me too.

There very rarely comes another time in your life where as an adult you get to live with your friends. I think the ex-pat community comes close and those friendships are also nestled down deep, but I was 40-something when we forged our bond, not a fresh faced 19 year old girl.

This past weekend was homecoming at our university. The minute I step out of the car and see these familiar faces my heart feels happy and light. It matters not if I saw them ten months ago or ten years, that feeling never changes. We've grown up and older together. We've married, had children, and collectively moved a million trillion times, but we're still us.

We stay in the same hotel, talk too loudly and too much and too late into the night. Coming home to them is like pulling on my favorite pair of blue jeans and I always feel a little blue when we part. For a minute I let myself travel down the road of wouldn't it be fun if we all lived on the same block, but I know I can't linger there. We're grown ups now.

Fraternities and sororities get a ton of bad press, but that hasn't been my experience at all. It's true  bad news makes the news, but there's much good that happens within the Greek community too. It's a place where leadership, scholarship, and philanthropy are developed and fostered in young adults, where friendships are built and nurtured through the years. I formed lifelong friends through my own sorority and also through hubs fraternity, bonds that have only grown stronger and more meaningful as the years roll by.

Oh how the years roll by.

Together we lived through the drama and angst of young life and young love. We bandaged broken hearts and laughed til our sides ached. We stood hand in hand on the brink of adulthood cheering each other on to new and different paths.

We cried together too, through some very tough stuff this grown up world brings, and now here we are, still us. Still celebrating life and accomplishment, still soothing hurts and heartaches, still hoping and praying the very best for each other, and still laughing til our sides hurt.

There are few places in this world that make me feel more nostalgic than East Tennessee. The hills still roll, those mountains they still beckon...

And we're still us.

I Feel The Earth.Move. Under My Feet

A little Carole King on this Thursday afternoon because if there's a song lyric that matches up with life I'm all over it.

Finally. We moved some dirt.

Not me personally, but the excavators officially started work on Tuesday. When hubs and I pulled up at 9 am that day, the sound of a chainsaw was music to our ears.

Our builder was there too, and he and hubs talked details. Not the kind of details I'm interested in like what will the kitchen cabinets look like, more ten foot setbacks and two feet off the property line and run off and gravel and silt fences blah blah blah. Call me when we get to the good stuff.

Like this-

Photo op only....insurance and all that nonsense you know. Also, I'm strictly management.

Our excavator is absolutely one of the nicest people we've met here in the Palmetto State. He's really helpful too, in steering us in the right direction when it comes to retaining walls, tree removal, and what to do with all that dirt. He didn't even lose patience when hubs re-iterated to him for the umpteenth time that we definitely positively absolutely must have a curve in the driveway.

For some reason hubs felt the need to explain, then explain again, and then 'just so we're on the same page...' and you know Mr. Excavator didn't roll his eyes even a little bit.

Hubs likes to drill down to the nth degree which is a blessing and a curse. Mostly I'm really happy he's retired right now because it's safe to say I'd never have gotten the driveway looking the way he's imagined it in his head since we began the design process back in May.

They started cutting in the driveway first thing so the work trucks can roll over it to access the lot. Later in the day a truckload of large gravel was dropped at the top of the drive. This is to help take mud off the tires so as not to annoy the neighbors we don't know yet.

No filter either. The dirt is seriously red here and I think I feel a country music song coming on.

Our lot is pretty heavily wooded which we love, but there's water out there and we need a water view. Also, the house has to go somewhere so trees must fall. The community and lake laws in general are pretty specific about what can actually be felled, but anything sitting where the house or driveway are going to perch can be taken down without a problem.

It was fun to watch the grabber lift ginormous trees like toothpicks, shake the dirt off, then swing them over to a pile for sawing and transferring off the lot.

Also, I wasn't kidding about the earth moving. When these big trees fall you literally feel it under your feet.  Once the house is built we'll limb the canopy up 50% which will be amazing.

I wonder if I'll post a picture?

On that note...I haven't decided how often I'll blog about the house build, but it's a bit all consuming so probably more than I should. I love pictures and too many words, but if you visit here often you know already know this.

And if you're new, I'll grow on you.
I promise.

Your Regularly Scheduled Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. So glad you're here! If you've answered the questions, add your link at the end of my blog and tell the world what you know. Be sure you say hi to the blogger who linked before you too, because there's no love like comment love. 

Here we go-

1. What have you 'fallen for' recently?

HGTV. I'd like Joanna Gaines to come decorate my house and then take me shopping for her wardrobe. I love her style! 

2. What's something you're 'squirreling away' for later?

I've got a few fun little things squirreled away for the lake house. I cannot wait to un-squirrel them. 

3. How do you like your apples? Sweet? Tart? Crisp? Cooked? Apples are one of the superfoods for fall...how often do you eat an apple either plain or as part of a favorite recipe? What's your favorite variety?

I love apples, this time of year especially, and have them in some form or another several times a week.  I'm fine with eating them in their natural state, but also love them in pies, sauce, or baked  alongside a pork roast or chop. My favorite is a crisp (must be crisp!) tart variety like a Mac, but I'll eat any kind of apple. 

4. According to Fodor's the ten best fall foliage trips in the US of A are-Aspen Colorado, The Catskills New York, The Berkshires Massachusetts, Columbia River Gorge Oregon, Green Mountain Byway Vermont, Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway New Mexico, Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Upper Peninsula Michigan, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, and Glacier National Park Montana. Which would you most like to visit this fall and why?

Glacier National Park is on my list of must-see places so I'm going with that. 

5. The topic of legalizing marijuana was raised in the most recent televised political debate so let's wade in too. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Four states have legalized marijuana for recreational use. Your thoughts?

I thought far too much time was wasted on this particular topic in the debates. I know that's not the question here, but I wish we'd spent as much time hearing the candidates views on ISIS, immigration, and free speech as we heard on this topic. 

I'm not in favor of legalizing marijuana, but not opposed to it in the treatment of disease. A couple of years ago I heard a speaker talk about the 'new marijuana', and she made it clear today's drug is quite different than it was a decade ago, much more potent and not always 'clean'. 

We've tightened up the drinking laws, and practically outlawed cigarettes, but we're going to legalize pot? Seems a little crazy to me. 

6. Are you okay to watch a movie already in progress, or to jump into the middle of a TV series, or must you see it from the beginning?

I'm okay to watch a movie already in progress, so long as you don't mind me bugging the daylights out of you with my ten trillion questions about what's happening. Since nobody wants that my real answer is no. I need to see a movie from the beginning, unless of course I've already seen it and this is a repeat viewing. 

We don't watch a lot of series TV, too stressful to keep up with or to quit after just one hour. It seems like programming today needs to be viewed start to finish, either by purchasing whole seasons in a boxed set or settling in for a weekend of Netflix binging. 

Remember when we waited a whole entire week for a new episode? 

7. Thursday (September 24) is National Punctuation Day. What rule of punctuation trips you up most often? What rule of punctuation, when broken by someone else, bugs you the most?

What rule trips me up the most? 
I love the ellipsis and overuse it to the nth degree. I'm working on it, but....

What annoys me most?
Apostrophes run amok. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Who has a Mac (the computer, not the fruit)? How do you feel about the new-ish photo format? I think it rolled out a few months ago, and loathe is not too strong a word for how I feel about the way photos are imported from my camera and stored on my computer.  

When I open the new Photos app my pictures take forever and a day to load, and once they're all loaded I can't find anything. They went all wonky in the switch. Pictures I had in albums are not in the new album format because some of my albums were apparently labeled events in iPhoto, only they're not in events now either.  

They seem to be wherever they landed when the migration happened, and I've resorted to watching online tutoring for help. I need to dedicate a day to sorting it all out, but ugh! Why did they need to 'improve' their photo process when iphoto was a breeze? Does anyone love it? Can you tell me why? 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 236

Okay I'm back and so is the Hodgepodge, just in time for the first day of autumn too, which is my favorite season of the year. I do know the arrival of fall means winter's coming too, but let's all see the glass as half full today, k?

Here we go...answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow (Wednesday) to share answers with the world wide internets.

1. What have you 'fallen for' recently?

2. What's something you're 'squirreling away' for later?

3. How do you like your apples? Sweet? Tart? Crisp? Cooked? Apples are one of the superfoods for fall...how often do you eat an apple either plain or as part of a favorite recipe? What's your favorite variety?

4. According to Fodor's the ten best fall foliage trips in the US of A are-Aspen Colorado, The Catskills New York, The Berkshires Massachusetts, Columbia River Gorge Oregon, Green Mountain Byway Vermont, Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway New Mexico, Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, Upper Peninsula Michigan, Lake of the Ozarks Missouri, and Glacier National Park Montana. Which would you most like to visit this fall and why?

5. The topic of legalizing marijuana was raised in the most recent televised political debate so let's wade in too. Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia currently have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. Four states have legalize marijuana for recreational use. Your thoughts?

6. Are you okay to watch a movie already in progress or do you need to always see it from the beginning? How about jumping into a TV series somewhere in the middle? Is that okay?

7. Thursday (September 24) is National Punctuation Day. What rule of punctuation trips you up most often? What rule of punctuation, when broken by someone else, bugs you the most?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

On Growing Older

So yesterday was my birthday which, if you follow me anywhere on social media, you already know. Because I'm a little bit obnoxious about my birthday, and my family posts pictures everywhere all the ding dong day, and I say bring it.

I'm not one of those women who dread their birthday. I'm the woman who instead counts down the days. The woman who pretty much the middle of August first day of September announces to anyone within earshot that 'IT"S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH', and then later tells the world 'IT'S MY BIRTHDAY WEEK', and 'HEY IT'S MY BIRTHDAY-EVE', and finally, at the end of my actual birthday sighs and says, 'Gosh I love birthdays'.

Because I do. I could insert many a cliche here...'aging is a privilege denied to many'...'it beats the alternative'...and so on, but hey cliches are cliche for a reason. There's some truth in the oft spoken word.

I don't hate getting older. I certainly don't love everything about it, and in fact there's nothing that makes me feel older here lately than my eyesight or lack thereof, but do I honestly wish I were still  35?

It's a passing thought every now and then I suppose, how much fun it would be to go back for a day or a minute, or when I'm trying to read my phone without my glasses, but certainly not permanently.  I was me only less so at age 35, and I imagine I'll say the same was true of this age when I'm 70.

For one thing I love my kids at this age. I've loved every age, but adult children bring richness and complexity and layers of depth into my life that's taken all the years of growing up and older together to build. At age 35 I had little girls who were positively adorable, who needed help with homework, and a car ride to ballet and those pesky school lunches packed every day.

Little girls who filled my heart to overflowing with their sweetness, their innocence, and their curiosity about everything under the sun, but you know what? Twenty years later I've got that and more, without doing algebra or making tuna fish sandwiches at 6 AM on a Monday.

I look forward to all the ways my girls grow our family, not just with the boys they've chosen to share their lives, but also with the experiences they bring to the table as adults, the places they live and travel, and their perspective on the world we live in which is sometimes from a vantage point I hadn't considered.

Marriage becomes richer with age too, at least I think so, and of course not without pouring lots in as the years roll by.  At age 35 hubs and I were busy with jobs and small children, paying bills, syncing schedules and calendars, figuring out who's going where when, and trying to find spaces of time for adult conversation about important matters like should we take this job? or make that move? and what does this or that mean for the future and for our family?

We're there now. The future we planned for and sometimes worried about at age 35, and it's good. Is it all good? No, but 35 wasn't all rainbows and unicorns either.

While there are lots of challenges in this season we're now living...health, family, and resources to name a few, it occurs to me that none of those challenges are completely new or particular to aging. They're the very same issues we've always dealt with, changing in shape and urgency depending on a whole host of factors, not just whatever age I happen to be.

There's so much in this world we can't control, but I do think we always have a choice as to how we'll view this life we've been given. Every year on my birthday I make the choice to be grateful.

I think of all the people I love who've loved me right back. I think of the family I grew up in, the one I married into, and the one I helped make, and I'm grateful. I think of all the people whose paths have crossed mine, who've blessed me with their friendship or wisdom or faithfulness and I'm grateful. Not as easy to say, but no less true are the hard circumstances I've encountered, the things that didn't go my way, and even those people who were not so easy to deal with, but who taught me something and have also helped shape who I am at 35 or 55 or 75. Life is so not boring.

As I was writing this post the lyrics to an old John Michael Montgomery song popped into my head...'life's a dance, you learn as you go, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow...'

On my birthday it's good to remember how much I love to dance.

Where to Begin Wednesday?

Maybe I can start a new meme for bloggers like me who are so far behind and out of sync with their writing they don't know where to begin. 

Or I can just dive in somewhere in the middle. 

Let's see...well, there's this beautiful girl who turned one quarter of a century old last week. Whoohoo! Happy birthday to my baby girl, and yes I can still say it because September birthdays last a whole month around here. Mine is on Friday, so family take note-ha! 

Conveniently I have a key to her apartment, so while she was busy teaching third grade I was busy setting up 25 big and little surprises on her kitchen counter. 

So much fun!

Well some gifts were fun and some were practical, because I'm a mom. I might have purchased light bulbs for her bathroom and a command hook for the back of her laundry room door, and wrapped them up too, because teachers don't have time to shop for lightbulbs and 25 is more creativity than I can muster just now. There were plenty of 'real' presents too, and I think the best part was just seeing it all laid out in front of her when she walked through the door at the end of a work day. 

We had friends in town from our Maryland days, who've known and loved the birthday girl since she was in the third grade herself, so they helped make it all feel more festive. I made her favorite and most requested meal (chicken divan) and a Texas Sheet Cake for dessert. 

She sparkles y'all, and that's the truth.

In other news, the lake house. I think I mentioned we were breaking ground last week, and we didn't exactly break ground, but we almost did. Does that count? Firstly on Wednesday hubs rode out to meet the builder and they encountered rain of epic proportions, so they mostly talked house plans and then went to lunch. 

Our friend who was in town visiting rode out to the lot with hubs on Thursday morning, and the builder and excavator were there, and we needed to make a few decisions sooo....decisions were made, trees were marked, water was admired, and we 'think' actual dirt will be moved end of this week or early next. The excavator was a day or two behind because of the crazy storms we've had and this is how it goes when you're building a house I'm told, so we're being patient. 

Mostly. 

Patient and anxious, but mostly patient. 

And anxious. 

This is the most important stage of the whole process, getting the ground and foundation right, and since we're all about the view and of course the house not falling down around us later, we do what we must. 

Our realtor is a gem, and last night he and his wife who is also a realtor, invited us for dinner and a boat ride. We had some friends in town doing a look-see around the lake, and since we connected these friends to our realtor we got to tag along on their waterside tour.  

It was an absolutely glorious evening on the lake. September is my favorite month. The clear blue sky, the soft almost autumn light, the birthdays, the new beginnings...what's not to love? 

We couldn't have asked for nicer temperatures, and every time I'm on the water I have to dig a little bit deeper for that patience I mentioned a paragraph or so ago. I'm more than ready to be inviting people to our deck for supper instead of the other way round. In the meantime I'll rely on the kindness of friends...

...which I'm gonna say is pretty much awesome.

This Week's Hodgepodge

I'm sorry for the late notice, but there won't be a Hodgepodge this week. We had to travel out of town this past weekend for the funeral of a dear friend, and only returned to SC Monday evening. I'd like to catch up around here -my desk, my laundry, my house, and my blog, but I know many of you count on the questions each week, so thank you for understanding.

The HP will be back next week in all her autumn glory (September 22/23). In the meantime I'm going to do my best to write an actual honest to goodness blog post because I've missed my little corner of the web more than you know.

Happy Tuesday!

The Wednesday Hgpodeogde

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you've joined the fun here today! If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and say hi to your neighbors.  Here we go-

1. Last thing you did on the spur of the moment?

Invited my sister and brother in law for brunch on Labor Day morning. I love brunch, and think it's a nice, easy, casual way to entertain. I set the table and made a breakfast casserole the night before, then cut up fruit and toasted English muffins in the morning. Easy peasy to get it all together in 24 hours, and that included a supermarket run.  

Hubs made his famous and fabulous bloody marys, each one hand-crafted, and they were so good. He did 'labor' over the garnishes though, which included pickled okra, olives, pepperoncinis, and a bacon swizzle stick. It turned out to be a really relaxing morning with good food and family. 

2. How well informed do you feel about the current Syrian refugee crisis?

Somewhat well informed, although does any one person understand it completely? A civil war has been going on there for several years now, and this is more of the fallout. There is much discussion and disagreement as to where everyone will live, how they will be integrated into new countries and cultures, how to determine if each and every person is on the up and up, what to do about the children, education, healthcare, food, shelter, and on and on it goes. I've read quite a bit about the challenges the refugees and the world face, and while I know it's a complicated mess, my heart breaks for parents running from their homeland with babies on their backs. 

3. What have you changed your mind about?

Brussel sprouts? I despised them as a child, but they're one of my favorite vegetables now.  

4. A medium sized non-poisonous snake found it's way into the pool trap this weekend. If you'd been sitting poolside would you have fished it out? Gone running? Called for help? Pretended not to know? Continued swimming?

Hubs was with me so I remained calm. There were a fair number of people inspecting the trap and one young man was making an attempt at grabbing it with his bare hands, but another more resourceful person grabbed the net and fished him out. Hubs reassured me that in spite of a small child shouting, 'That's a water moccasin!', the snake was in fact a common, harmless something or other. He also reassured me that's what pool traps are for...capturing unwanted critters and keeping them 'trapped', so I carried on swimming.  

5. September 10th is National TV Dinner Day...what's your idea of a great TV dinner? (Or at least a pretty good one!)

Remember the TV dinners that were divided into little compartments with one designated spot for each part of the meal?  Do they still make those? I haven't had one since I was a kid, and even then we only had them when my parents were going out for the evening.  A TV dinner somehow felt like a huge treat, and I remember in choosing what kind we wanted it was all about the dessert. Ordering dinner is still kind of like that for me-ha!

These days my idea of a great TV dinner is a big bowl of popcorn. 

6. Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying, "Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other." Would you agree? Where have you seen that played out recently? What's the second greatest virtue?

I agree. I think mothers and fathers leaving the only land they've ever called home, with nothing but their babies and the clothes on their back, facing an uncertain future in a place where they may not be welcomed with open arms, takes a whole heap of courage. 

I think the second greatest virtue is integrity, because without it the others I could mention herearen't worth much.   

7. What are three words you have trouble remembering how to spell?

Caribbean, Cincinnati, and ninety are three words I always have to think twice on when writing. Like just now I went back and looked at them again to be sure I had it all right, and even then I hit spell check on my post. Aaaaand of course I had an extra t in Cincinnati. Bother. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Let the ground breaking commence! Today's the day-whoohoo!!

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 235

It's been a whole week since I checked in here on the old blog. How did that happen? I have so much to say, but can't seem to get here and say it. I blame my chair. We've got a makeshift sort of office space set up in the apartment, and we bought a cheap chair that's too short for the table and consequently makes my neck hurt leaving me uninspired. I'll figure out a fix eventually, but in the meantime...let's hodgepodge! 

Be sure to hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party-

1. Last thing you did on the spur of the moment?

2. How well informed do you feel about the current Syrian refugee crisis?

3. What have you changed your mind about? 

4. A medium sized non-poisonous snake found it's way into the pool trap this weekend. If you'd been sitting poolside would you have fished it out? Gone running? Called for help? Pretended not to know? Continued swimming?

5. September 10th is National TV Dinner Day...what's your idea of a great TV dinner? (Or at least a pretty good one!) 

6. Samuel Johnson is quoted as saying, "Courage is reckoned the greatest of all virtues; because, unless a man has that virtue, he has no security for preserving any other." Would you agree? Where have you seen that played out recently? What's the second greatest virtue?

7. What are three words you have trouble remembering how to spell?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Hello September Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered the questions this week, add your link at the end of my post. Also, since we're talking common courtesy here today...please leave a comment for the blogger or two who've linked before you. Think of it as our little contribution to making Wednesdays and the world a nicer place! Here we go-

1. What's on your September calendar? Anything fun?

Well MY birthday for starters, and that's always fun. Also hubs birthday and Daughter2's birthday, so it's a birthday palooza here in September. Besides all that celebrating, hubs and I have plans to attend homecoming at our Alma Mater aaaand....we'll break ground on the house this month so whoohoo! I love September.  

2. You might be described as a natural born __________________________?

Optimist? Procrastinator? User of too many words? 

3. September is National Courtesy Month...what one act of courtesy would you most like to see more of in your home, town, or the world at large?

I think the world in general could use a refresher course in good manners. Let's quit publicly eviscerating people for expressing deeply held convictions when they don't line up with our own. Let's stop tossing around words like bigot and racist and fill-in-the-blank-with-the-most-vile-word-you can-think-of when we don't see eye to eye. Let's have a return to civil discourse.  Is that possible in the age of social media? If so I think that would be a nice place to start. 

4. Eager beaver, chicken out, clam up, or let the cat out of the bag...of the phrases listed, which one have you related to most recently?

I'm an eager beaver right now, in that I'm so ready to get going on the house. To borrow another animal phrase, I believe all our ducks are finally in a row, contracts have been signed, and we're ready for trucks to roll in and begin work. 

5. What's your movie theatre snack protocol? Do you chow down on snacks during the previews or wait until the movie begins? Do you buy snacks or refuse to pay those kind of prices? What's the last movie you saw in a theatre? How many thumbs up would you give it?

Snack protocol-ha! Hubs came up with that phrase so I cannot take credit. We always buy popcorn (no butter) and usually share a drink. I sometimes just bring a bottle of water with me, but normally we share a diet coke. Hubs always buys candy, usually Reese's Pieces, and I sometimes have candy-milk duds. I try not to eat all the snacks before the show begins, but honestly the previews now are about as long as the film so I'm not always successful at waiting.

The last movie we saw in theatres was Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. We liked it, turned my stomach to knots like the other MI flicks did, but in a good way. If you're a fan of the MI series this one won't disappoint. 

6. Henry Ford is quoted as saying, "Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind." Agree or disagree? Why?

I agree with Mr. Ford. I know when I'm busy I'm much sharper than when I have too little going on. I don't think 'work' necessarily means a paying job, although it might be that. It might also be volunteering, running a household, or any sort of project or task list that needs to be thought about and completed in a timely fashion. 

7. What's the last job you completed or task you performed where you had to 'work like a dog' until it was finished?

Emptying out the NJ house we sold in June. Whew! 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of eager beavers...hubs and I walked in a nearby state park on Monday morning, and saw the trail of destruction some actual beavers left behind.  

This poor tree was not their only project. 

  I'd kind of like to see one at work...does this happen in a few minutes or a few days? 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 234

Today is my husband's birthday...happy birthday hubs! Also, it's time for another round of Hodgepodge questions, so here ya go-

Don't forget to hop back here tomorrow and add your link to the party! 

1. What's on your September calendar? Anything fun? 

2. You might be described as a natural born _____________________?

3. September is National Courtesy Month...what one act of courtesy would you most like to see more of in your home, town, or the world at large? 

4. Eager beaver, chicken out, clam up, or let the cat out of the bag...of the phrases listed, which one have you related to most recently? 

5. What's your movie theatre snack protocol? Do you chow down on snacks during the previews or wait until the movie begins? Do you buy snacks or refuse to pay those kind of prices? What's the last movie you saw in a theatre? How many thumbs up would you give it?

6. Henry Ford is quoted as saying, "Nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind." Agree or disagree? Why?

7. What's the last job you completed or task you performed where you had to 'work like a dog' until it was finished?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.