Friday, January 29, 2016

Embracing Quiet

I'm giving Five Minute Friday a try again this week. The instructions are simple-write for five minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. Link back to Five Minute Friday and invite others to join in too. Consider yourselves invited. Finally, be generous and leave an encouraging comment for the person who linked up before you.

Five minutes of Quiet


The phrase takes me back to mothering small children, back to the days and years I yearned for please just five minutes of quiet.


Almost overnight my girls are grown, and more often than not my house has too much of the quiet I once sought. The same cannot be said for my head. My head does it's best to run a steady soundtrack of everything under the sun.

What do I need at the store? Do I need to do laundry? Married life is hard sometimes. Why did I eat that? Why did I say that? Why didn't I say that? My girls. Are they eating right? Healthy? Content? Locking their doors? Not texting while driving? Seeking God's will for their lives? Am I? What am I doing with my life?

What about...what if...I should...I should have...and round and round it goes. 

I'm reading an interesting book at the moment called The Listening Life-Embracing Attentiveness in a World of Distraction. While I'm not too far in, it's already speaking to me. The author (Adam McHugh) says life in this century often has the feel of an emergency room, with no where to go to escape all the noise. He suspects sometimes too, that the absence of quiet may actually be a reluctance for quiet.

In my case I don't think that's true. I don't try to drown out my internal chatter with a lot of external noise in order to avoid facing my internal chatter. I think I'm guilty of quite the opposite. Of giving too much attention to all my internal chatter. One point the author made that has resonated so deeply with me is this...we won't be transformed by giving voice to all the noise in our souls.

And that's a struggle for me.
To quiet my soul and listen.

Listening is not a passive thing. It requires practice and discipline and most of all obedience. I think it's fair to say I'm still a work in progress.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Wednesday Blogging AKA The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Can you believe this time next week we'll be in to the second month of the year? January did not linger. If you've answered the questions here today, add your link at the end of my post. Do your best to drop by and say hi to the blogger who linked before you, because comments make the world go round. The blog world anyway.

Also, I'm wordy today. Some days are like that on From This Side of the Pond.

 

1. Share a winter memory from your childhood.

I remember waking to the magical gift of an unexpected snow day. Of the urgency to hurry through breakfast and put on all those layers in order to get out in it. I remember neighbors up and down the street shoveling sidewalks and drives. I remember building forts made of snow, running from neighbor boys who threw wicked icy fastballs, and sledding with my sister. 


That's me in the blue and my sister in red, standing on a sled. We find something hilarious here, and I wish I knew now what it was. Maybe the notion we were preparing to sled on concrete? Our driveway must have been icy, because I'm not seeing any snow.  I do remember we loved sledding in that saucer.  It was fast and spun like crazy, and all you could do was hold on to the flimsy plastic handles and pray you didn't tip out. It dented easily but you could un-dent it pretty easily too. Do they still make those? 

Also, this picture. Sigh. This is one picture I have of us standing side by side that when I look at it I see my own girls. The unmistakable trace of family around the eyes and nose.  The giggles...the camaraderie...the give and take and push and pull, the deep deep love you feel for that person who grew up beside you.  I see it here. 

2. What was on your blog this time last year? (Besides the Hodgepodge of course!) If you weren't blogging, what in the world were you doing with all that free time?

As it happens I wrote a whole post about this very thing. It was seven years ago this month I started blogging, and I recapped my Januaries here in A Stroll Down Blog Memory Lane.  

Specifically last year though? The wedding of course. 

3.Ellen Goodman is quoted as saying, 'We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.  Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.'

Do you see more flaws or potential in your life at the start of a new year? Have you done anything specific this month to address either one? Does the new year truly begin for you on January 1, or is there some other month of the year that feels like a fresh start and new beginning?

I think I see potential in my flaws? Does that make sense? I like the word picture she paints of walking through our lives room by room, and I would say this is something I do beginning in December. I see areas that need improvement and come up with a plan to improve. I'm not always successful at following through with the plan, but I get excited about making the next year better in some way. 

For me September has always felt like the fresh start, clean beginning. There's something about the end of summer, a new school year, the shorter days and cooler nights and the year-end within sight, that makes me feel hopeful. Like change is possible and inevitable and should be pondered and planned for so I'm ready come January. 

4.Who's an athlete you admire or respect and why?

I imagine some people will turn their noses up at this question, because honestly all we seem to hear about are the athletes who misbehave, and it might be hard to come up with one to admire. I think there are many, and I love when successful people use their money and their name and give their time for good. I especially love the stories of generosity and kindness, performed away from the camera, which isn't always easy to do. 

Tim Tebow, the Manning brothers, and Phil Mickleson are all on my list. 

5.Do you like cream in your coffee? Whipped cream on your pumpkin pie? Cream cheese on a bagel? Sour cream on a baked potato? Cream of wheat for breakfast? Have you ever had a scone with clotted cream? Of all the creamy foods mentioned, which one sounds most appealing to you right this very minute?

I love cream in my coffee, but just a splash and only the good stuff please. No flavored creams, no artificial creams, just the deliciousness that is half and half. Whipped cream on my pumpkin pie? Yes! In my case it might make more sense to ask if I like pie with my whipped cream.  No to the sour cream on a baked potato, yes to the cream of wheat, and a yes to the scone with clotted cream. While clotted cream doesn't sound all that appetizing, it is so yummy! 

Right this minute I'm sipping my Tuesday morning coffee with a splash of cream and all is right with the world. Morning coffee is one of life's small pleasures. 

6.Where were you last kept waiting for 'hours on end'? Or for what felt like hours on end? How well did you cope?

I can't think of anything recently, but one that used to get on my nerves was the veterinarian's office. I always, always had a ridiculous wait there, longer than at any 'human' doctor's office I visited. Yes, I know there are emergencies, but there's also overbooking and poor scheduling. 

7.Believe it or not, when next week's Hodgepodge rolls around it will be February. Huh?!? Bid adieu here to January in seven words or less.

One month closer to the lake house! 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm participating again this year, in the April A-Z blog challenge and wonder if anyone else here is doing the same? For those of you who aren't familiar with the challenge, it's a writing exercise where you blog every day in the month of April (except Sundays), using one letter of the alphabet as your daily prompt. April 1 is Letter A and April 30 Letter Z, which is perfect because when you remove Sundays in April you're left with 26 days and 26 letters. For more info or to sign up, click the link posted here. 

I will tell you up front, there is everything under the sun in terms of content in the blog world, and you figure that out pretty quickly in this challenge. In the past couple of years the organizers have very helpfully created categories, so when bloggers sign up they can select one to identity their blog genre...humor, photography, travel, book reviews, memoir, zombies... 

Okay I kid on that last one, but only sort of. Who knew there were so many sci fi/gaming/mythology fans out there in the blogosphere?  My blog defies description (ahem) so I opt not to choose a category. And you can write with a theme in mind, or you can fly by the seat of your pants. 

Guess which kind of blogger I am? 

Actually I always have a general theme, but it's not one thought out too deeply or too far in advance. I'm more of what you might call a free-flowing blogger-ha!, and believe it or not I do have an idea floating around in my head for this year. I just need to decide if I can fill 26 posts on this particular subject or if I'll run out of steam by letter G. We shall see. 

I enjoy this challenge a lot, mostly because it rolls around each year right about the time my blog needs an energy drink. It requires discipline and helps me remember why I like to write.  I've met some lovely folks via the hop each year, so I'm in. Let me know if you're participating and I'll look for you there. 




Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 253

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


1. Share a winter memory from your childhood. 

2. What was on your blog this time last year? (Besides the Hodgepodge of course!) If you weren't blogging, what in the world were you doing with all that free time?

3. Ellen Goodman is quoted as saying, 'We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives...not looking for flaws, but for potential.' 

Do you see more flaws or more potential in your life at the start of a new year? Have you done anything specific this month to address either one? Does the new year truly begin for you on January 1, or is there some other month of the year that feels like a fresh start and new beginning?

4. Who's an athlete you admire or respect and why?

5. Do you like cream in your coffee? Whipped cream on your pumpkin pie? Cream cheese on a bagel? Sour cream on a baked potato? Cream of wheat for breakfast? Have you ever had a scone with clotted cream? Of all the creamy foods mentioned, which one sounds most appealing to you right this very minute?

6. Where were you last kept waiting for 'hours on end'? Or for what felt like hours on end? How well did you cope?

7. Believe it or not, when next week's Hodgepodge rolls around it will be February. Huh?!? Bid adieu here to January in seven words or less.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Sunday, January 24, 2016

A Stroll Down Blog Memory Lane

I woke up this morning wondering what in the world I'd blog about at the beginning of a new week given the quiet weekend with the snow and the ice and the staying in my awesome sweater pants for two solid days.

Yes, bloggers sometimes wake up wondering what in the world there is to say that hasn't already been said or that won't bore readers to tears.

As I lay there thinking it dawned on me that it was on a long ago January day I first began blogging. January 21, 2009. A Wednesday like any other except I was living in England and my girls were in college and I didn't understand what a blog was, but other than that the same as Wednesdays in 2016.

Seven years.

A lot has happened in seven years, this I know without looking at life spelled out in writing. Still, I thought today it might be fun to look back to the first month of the year in days gone by. What was on my blog in January as the calendar rolled round and round into the future?

Also, I like photographs and there are many here on From This Side of the Pond, so as a bonus I'm going to choose one favorite from every January since the first one. That won't be hard at all.

2009

England. A trip to Leeds Castle. Cleaning out my nightstand. Procrastinating. My dog. Moving house. Moving country. Goodbyes.

I had no comments on my first post and one comment on my second. It was from my girl's high school Young Life leader who had moved back to the US a couple of years prior. Always the encourager.

My third post had two comments, again one from the YL leader and one from, GASP!, a stranger. And then later more strangers, with real life friends weighing in now and then, but the strangers! 

Where do the strangers come from? How do they find my blog? Are they stalkers? Is this safe? What in the world am I doing? I had no idea strangers would read my blog, and certainly no idea they'd comment. Why would a stranger read my blog?

Writing was suddenly a thrilling kind of scary fun.

2010

fondue, transition, repatriation, what I learned blogging for one whole entire year, random dozens answered, a book giveaway, my sleep habits, my dog's sleep habits, and a look back at boating on the Chesapeake with golden haired girls who went and grew up

2011

snow, ice, more snow and more ice, NYC, NYC in the snow and ice, college-aged daughters home for the holiday, random dozens answered, the routine of mid-life, attempting zumba, a traveling husband, my back yard hawk, the Cake Boss, airport runs, taxes, transitions and goodbyes

2012


a new year, college-aged daughters home, grown up daughters working in big cities, hanging out with said grown up daughter in a big city, our nation's capital, goodbyes and transitions, NYC food, NYC energy, Hodgepodge questions asked and answered, a traveling husband, jet lag, hiking with jet lag, my pup, the Garden State, and a camping recap from an accidental winter camping trip taken with Girl Scouts more than ten years prior

2013 

a new year, Hodgepodge questions asked and answered, hanging out with a grown up daughter in a big city, both of us sicker than dogs, my sweet pup, beauty in the Garden State, the weather, snow days, snow days gone by, Maryland days gone by, the Superbowl

2014


days I'd like to do-over, homemade Christmas crafting, Hodgepodge questions asked and answered, being brave, fragments, regular crafting, five minutes of deep thoughts, everyday mid-life, and snow

2015

The wedding. That's it. The wedding. To put it another way- love, marriage, daughters growing up, DIY, friends, dreams, plans, the weather, and the best day ever.

To summarize-

Count on me discussing weather during the month of January.
Also eating, drinking, and sleeping all of which seem interesting at the time.
I miss my pup, big snows, a country not my own, and daughters asleep in their bedrooms upstairs.
The earth is full of so much beauty it sometimes makes my heart burst.
I've said a lot of goodbyes.
There is enormous satisfaction in capturing small moments and ordinary days.
I feel complete surprise at the fullness of life in a season called middle age.

Friday, January 22, 2016

On Being Present

Linking up with Five Minute Friday today. Easy peasy. Set the timer. Write. No editing, no second guessing. Just do it.


Today's prompt-present

I haven't participated in Five Minute Friday in several weeks mostly because it tends toward the deep and I've been swimming in the shallow end on my blog of late. I was scrolling through my dashboard earlier which led to the re-reading of some older posts, and I couldn't help but miss the writer I was. She's still around here somewhere, we just need to get reacquainted. I think that's where this word comes in.

As it happens I've had a post in my draft file labeled Present for some time now. The post was blank, but I'd scribbled the word down almost a month ago with every intention of someday getting back to it. And every week I'd open my dashboard, see it sitting there, and think not today.

So why then did I ever put pen to paper (or fingertips to keyboard) and spell out the word present? Here's the short version...

You know how it's kind of become a thing to have a word for the year? I've done it myself the past four years, when a particular word seemed to be everywhere I turned and felt like it had my name on it...joy, love, fearless, seek...

This year though? This year I just wasn't feeling it. I'd see people talking about their 'one word' and I'd scratch my head and say hmmm...what's going to be my word? And then nothing.

Blank space.

Empty air.

I think sometimes we force this kind of thing and I determined not to do that. Not to pluck a word out of thin air and wear it like a badge and call it mine.

We have a lot going on here at the moment, and I know if you read here you're saying 'doesn't she always???', but really, we have a lot going on here at the moment. And without over thinking it I've just let some of the online stuff go in order to be here. In the middle of my life.

Then there's the fact that recently I've become quite disillusioned with social media. Or maybe it's people I'm weary of. People spouting off and taking offense at every little thing under the sun, desperate to convince me their opinion is the right opinion. I might be late to that party, but Facebook for sure has lost some of it's appeal, both in tone and content. I started skimming more, commenting less, reading less, stepping away.

It's easier than one might think.

As I took some baby steps back it struck me that I'm often only halfway present in the present. I began mentally inventory-ing some of my habits and decided I want less multi-tasking. Less checking of the phone and more real listening. Less feeling irate and more praying. Giving less attention to the whiners and complainers in this world and filling my heart and mind with the beauty of the earth and the people I love.

Present. Really really present.

I guess that's why I left the post blank. The longer it sat the more the idea of sharing it felt almost contrary to the word itself. Contrary to why I chose it. Or did it choose me? But today I clicked on Kate Montaung's blog and Friday link up and there it was.

My word.

And I decided to write it all down because when I write I'm present in my own life. It's where I examine and resolve and remember how satisfying it is to truly be in the moment.  I want more of that this year.

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Weekend Wanderings

How about a little catch up? I'm going to tell you know now that all pics were taken with my iPhone, which means they're just so-so. 

As opposed to pics taken with my real camera which are so much better. Ha! 

True confession I've gotten lazy with the picture taking. My big camera has a piece rattling around inside, and I have no clue what it is. Since it's only sometimes a problem I don't think about taking it to the experts until I'm out somewhere trying to snap a photo and the zoom jams. Tilting it this way and that is almost alway a fix.  

When it comes to technology I'm your girl. 

Beside the mechanical snafu there's also the small matter of my squad grumbling whenever I suggest we take a picture. Do you have a squad? Does everyone have a squad? Does yours grumble when you want to take a picture? fyi-I've been looking for a reason to use the word squad. Apparently it's a thing now, but I'm not sure it's working for me. 

The word squad wings me right back to sitting on a hard gymnasium floor in 7th grade rows behind a designated captain, all of us dressed in blue onesies- aka gym suits. Anyone? Worst of all they snapped! All the way up the front! 

Back to present day...last weekend hubs and I trekked back to Atlanta to attend the boat show. It's that time I guess. Boat shopping is a bit more fun than car shopping but for me a little bit goes a long way. Boat dealers really really want to SELL! you a boat! You need! a boat! Today! Best time to buy! is at the boat show! That last bit may be true, but we're not quite ready to purchase. We need water and electricity at the dock still, because this man will not own a boat he can't wash. 


He's looking quite comfy here though, isn't he?  Personally I felt like this one had his name on it (and of course so did the dealer!) but we're not there yet. Also we still need a house, but whatever. It's good to look, and for a quick minute I allowed myself to get a little bit excited about summertime on the lake. 

We spent the rest of the weekend with friends just hanging out, watching football, and loving the fact that we're all finally living in the Southland. 


In the meantime, some NJ friends who retired to Maine phoned saying they were going to be in Hilton Head for a few days, and did we want to pop over? 

Why not? 


Please disregard my crazy wind-blown beach hair and the stylish get up. It was chilly on the beach and I opted for warmth over beauty. It was the right call.

This was a quick trip, but oh so nice to see the ocean in January. The skies were sunny and blue, we went for walks on the beach, tracked a dolphin across the surf, and indulged in a delicious seafood dinner Sunday night. Plus we love catching up with friends scattered around the globe.


I'm partial to shore birds.


And swinging in the sunshine.


Pretty sure they're wondering how secure the bolts are.


I'm a firm believer in standing at the ocean's edge. In feeling small. In soaking in the wonder. No matter how brief the visit, there is something about the magnificence and untamed beauty of the sea that remind me life is lovely indeed.

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Peaceful Easy Hodgepodge Feeling

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Please only link here today if you've answered the questions. And be sure to skate over and say hi to the blogger linking before you...we're all about being neighborly here in the middle of a week. Here we go-


1. Speaking of skating...when did you last 'skate on thin ice', 'skate over the details', 'encounter a cheapskate', or just plain skate?

Our financial planner sent us some information last week relating to all the recent turmoil in the stock market, and I might have 'skated over the details'. I like hubs to worry about that stuff-ha! I did read it, got the gist of it, but didn't get bogged down in specifics. I will if I need to, but for now I'm gonna skate. 

2.  What would you say is the biggest problem of people your age?

Staying on top of your health and finances. As you reach/enter retirement there are so many decisions to be made relating to your future which by the way, is no longer on the far off distant horizon. It's now. Also, I think I mentioned here last week that once you pass the 50-mile mark you no longer take your good health for granted. 

Or it could be that we talk too much about retirement planning and the fact that our health isn't what it used to be? You decide. 

3. What's your favorite accessory? Is it something you wear every day, often, or only on special occasions?

My wedding band because I love the sparkle and the sentiment behind it. My watch because I feel naked without it. A bracelet Daughter1 gave me for Mother's Day is also very dear to my heart and I wear all three of these every day. 

4.  January 20th is National Cheese Lover's Day Are you a lover of cheese? What's your favorite dish made with cheese? Last thing you ate that contained some kind of cheese?

Never met a cheese I didn't like. We've had some fabulous cheese trays in our recent travels, this one just last weekend-


It was every bit as yummy as it looks. We sampled a cheese I hadn't tried before-bellavitano, which was delish. My favorite dish made with cheese would probably be my mama's homemade enchiladas.  

5. What's something guaranteed to make you roll your eyes?

Walking behind someone wearing their 'pants on the ground'. Seriously, isn't it past time we retired that trend? The other day I had the misfortune of riding up an escalator behind a young man struggling mightily to keep hold of his trousers and step off the moving staircase. I do not understand the appeal or the message of this 'fashion statement'.  Not even a little bit. 

6. Your favorite book series?

The Anne books...Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island...

7. Why did you choose your profession?

I always knew I'd work with children in some form or fashion, and started college as a nursing major. I suffered through many torturous hours of organic chem, only to change my major to speech pathology at the end of my freshman year. I don't remember exactly how I got there, but I think an advisor pointed me in that direction. It was a great fit for me and I enjoyed working in the field for several years. 

Motherhood has always been my passion though. 

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

Hubs and I were away for the weekend, then extended our travels for another couple of days, so getting the HP questions written and posted was a little challenging for me this week. There's a lot going on here in real life at the moment, and I'm giving myself permission to keep the questions light or to take a break now and then. I have a lot of blogging to catch up on, but am spending very little time on the computer so a conundrum.

I don't blog from my phone or ancient iPad which means I need to be at home if I want to write anything of substance. Life will happen and I am trying to roll with it.

In other news, I was so sad to hear Glenn Frey passed away. The Eagles are the soundtrack of my youth and I love their music still. A reminder yet again that life is short. Too short to spend hours on the Internet. Love your people and catch us up when you can.  



Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 252

Well that was quick! It's once again time for the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then skate back here tomorrow to share answers with the universe.  See you there!


1.  Speaking of skating...when did you last 'skate on thin ice', 'skate over the details', 'encounter a cheapskate', or just plain skate?

2. What would you say is the biggest problem of people your age?

3. What's your favorite accessory? Is it something you wear every day, often, or only on special occasions?

4. January 20th is National Cheese Lover's Day. Are you a lover of cheese? What's your favorite dish made with cheese? Last thing you ate that contained some kind of cheese? 

5. What's something guaranteed to make you roll your eyes?

6. Your favorite book series

7. Why did you choose your profession? 

8. Insert your own random thought here. 

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

A Colorful Hodgepodge

January is rolling right along, which means it's time for another edition of the Hodgepodge. Please only link here on Wednesdays if you've answered the questions. Thanks! Also, there are not a lot of rules associated with this meme, but I do ask if you link your answers that you take a minute to visit the blogger who linked before you. Everybody needs somebody, right? Here we go-


1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

I ran into my daughter2 in the grocery store on Sunday afternoon, and couldn't stop smiling. Quite often it really is the little things. 

2.  Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colorful places on earth are:

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, india~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.

Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or traveled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colorful?

If you didn't click on the link to see the pretty pictures you should! So many colorful little towns and villages around the world. When I read questions like this one, where I have to choose a single fabulous destination, I'm always torn between re-visiting a country I know and love (Italy! France!) or opting for a new and different locale. In this case I'm going with Vernazza because Italy. 

In thinking about colorful spots I've been fortunate to see in my life and travels, several places came to mind.  Three off the top of my head would be:

 Rapeseed in bloom, as far as the eye can see-UK

The Christmas Market in Strasbourg France


 Shanghai, China...definitely one of the most interesting and colorful cities on planet Earth

3. "Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

I think there's some truth in the saying, but hesitate to use the word everything. Sometimes what I want is on the other side of laziness. ahem. 

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

I hope there's a perfectly torched creme brulee headed my way. The kind where you very gently tap the topping with a spoon, and it just barely crackles. 

Regarding desert and dessert-I don't struggle with that particular pair of words because I fall back on an old childhood trick known as sweet sugar. A sure way to remember the double s belongs in dessert. 

5.  What song almost always makes you cry?

The Star Spangled Banner, when sung well, can easily make me cry. The same is true of a beautiful rendition of How Great Thou Art. And if Garth Brooks song The Dance comes on the radio I almost always change the station. Cannot.handle.it. 

6.  January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup, thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain.

We're building a house from start to finish so 'from soup to nuts' seems fitting. 
Especially the nuts part! 

7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say.

Be brave. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

If you've never listened to Shane and Shane's Psalm2 I highly recommend. I might be wrong in saying this, but I don't think it's available in CD format, strictly a download via iTunes. Maybe I'm the only one out there still buying actual CD's-ha! Everything is downloaded or streamed or some such nonsense now. I'm not quite there. 

Anyway...about the 'CD'... I'm obsessed. If you're looking for soul-soothing music, uplifting, encouraging, and beautifully written lyrics check it out. There are 12 songs on the playlist? and I wanted to link to my favorite, but couldn't decide which one that would be. Here's one of my favorites~Better Than Life-



Enjoy your Wednesday all! 



Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 251

Welcome to another week of random. I provide the questions, you provide the answers...on your own blog of course! Hop back here on Wednesday and add your link because great minds and all that. See you there! 


1. Share one thing that really makes your day.

2. Lots of these kinds of lists out there, but one found here says the fifteen most colorful places on earth are:

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy~Burano, Italy~Havana, Cuba~Rio de Janiero, Brazil~Chefchaouen, Morocco~Balat, Istanbul, Turkey~Menton, France~Jodhpur, India~La Baca, Buenos Aires, Argentina~Guanajuato, Mexico~Capetown, South Africa~Valparaiso, Chile~Wroclaw, Poland~San Francisco, California~and Pelourhino, Salvador, Brazil.  

Of those listed which would you most like to see up close and in person? Of all the places you've seen or traveled in your own life, what would you say was one of the most colorful?

3."Everything you want is on the other side of fear." Jack Canfield  In general, would you agree or disagree with that statement? Why?

4. Imagine you're stranded on a desert island and dessert appears...what do you hope it is? Do you ever struggle to remember which spelling is desert and which is dessert?

5. What song almost always makes you cry?

6. January is National Soup Month.  Everything from soup to nuts, in the soup, thick as pea soup, souped up...which saying most recently applies to your life in some way? Explain.

7. Write a two word note to your younger self. What does it say?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Monday, January 11, 2016

January Things

You can only write so many random posts filled with un-related bits of non-essential mumbo jumbo before you run out of synonyms to use in a title. Hence the original and uninspired heading January Things. 

Let's catch up. Not a whole lot is happening around here besides the usual January not-that-interesting-but necessary-life-stuff. There's my ever optimistic post-Christmas efforts to organize the paper piles accumulated when normal life has been temporarily suspended for holiday life.

Holiday life is so much more fun, isn't it?

Also, I thought we were moving towards a paperless society? What is all this paper? I do so much 'bookkeeping' online now, but think I'm part of a generation that still feels the need for a paper backup 'just in case'.

January is also the time of year I update our calendars and book appointments with all the medical professionals a post-50 life requires. For those of you who are something less than that magical number, let me just say it creeps up on you and suddenly keeping up with your healthcare is the equivalent of a part time job.

In January I return to a stricter routine in terms of meal planning, exercise, and tackling some of my goals for the new year. My girls gave me a beginner's calligraphy set for Christmas and I can't wait to dive in. They ordered the kit complete with video how-tos,  from Laura Hooper Calligraphy, and she does absolutely gorgeous work. I've always had a thing for pretty paper and beautiful handwriting, and am anxious to learn from a professional. If you're a fan of words that look like art check her out on Instagram.

Of course January is also filled with football. You should know I have a rather complex system in place for determining team loyalty in any given game, both college and professional. Essentially it's based on where I was living when and who's who in any given match-up. For instance if the Eagles are playing the Cardinals it's simple. I grew up a Philly fan and feel no loyalty to Arizona, so Go Eagles! If on the other hand, the Ravens are playing the Broncos, well that's where things get a bit more dicey. We lived in Maryland for a number of years and naturally cheered for the Ravens.

Except we always, always root for Peyton because our number one loyalty is to the TN Vols and Peyton was a Vol before he was a horse, Colt or Bronco. Do you see my dilemma?

One of our 'rules' when it comes to college football is that we root for teams in the SEC. Now within the SEC there's a hierarchy too, with our Volunteers at the top of the heap and the Crimson Tide and/or Florida at the bottom. Still, if an SEC team is playing a non-SEC team we root for the SEC, even if that team is Bama.

Except tonite. Tonite we're rooting for Clemson because Clemson is in our backyard and we love! the coach. Go Tigers!


What else? We're finally ready to pour the foundation at the lake house, and are really hopeful it will happen this week. When I say 'we' you know I mean the professionals, right? Hubs and I will watch. Or hubs will watch and I'll go see it once it's done, because that's pretty much how I roll when it comes to this part of the home build puzzle.

January weekends often find hubs and I at the movies because it's January. What else is there to do? Last weekend we saw The Revenent, and I think I've almost recovered. It was super intense and I 'watched' most of it with my eyes closed. Even the weather in this film is stressful. Leonardo DiCaprio is always completely convincing in whatever role he plays, and this was no different.

He won the Golden Globe if you pay attention to such things. Hubs and I watched a bit of the awards show because I enjoy the fashion, but honestly we are so out of touch with the programs nominated and the actors too. I didn't know who half the people were, and hadn't heard of more than half the series mentioned. We must be old.

And on that note, I think you're caught up.
Carry on.

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

So It's The Hodgepodge

Happy New Year! The Hodgepodge is back and I'm glad you are too. If you've answered this week's questions add your link and join the party. Please visit the blogger who links before you since that's the neighborly thing to do. Here we go-


1.  Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

Am I ready for new? I think so. If by new you mean new house-ha! Every year tends to stand on it's own, so certainly 2016 will be different in some form or fashion from 2015. Of course there are constants in life too, but has there ever been a year that's looked precisely like the one before? We're moving into our lake house this year, so a new chapter. 

2.  January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

Currently? The Internet in the apartment is somewhat intermittent. Most days I log onto the computer and get a message saying I'm not connected. Grrr... I have to refresh it a few times and eventually it connects. The wireless printer has to be shut down and rebooted every time I want to print because of this irregularity, and hubs can't get our Apple TV to work for the same reason. The struggle is real, but a very first world problem.  

3.  It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, or general uselessness) in 2016.  You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

So, they want to banish so? I know I overuse that one in both my speech and my writing, but I suspect it's more annoying in speech. 

None of the words listed bother me too much. Maybe if I were in the business world I'd find them more annoying because they're more prevalent and  problematic there. If I have to choose I'll go with 'break the Internet'. Most things that 'break the Internet' are Kardashian related or just plain ridunkulous.  

What word would I add to the list? Like-'She was like all mad because we couldn't like go shopping.'  

4.  Share one of your current health related goals.

Go to bed earlier.

5.  Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, pain, wardrobes, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe? Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

I like the greige tones as opposed to a gray gray. I think the color is too sterile and cold and needs the beige to warm it up. I will likely have a bit of greige somewhere in my new home. As for the idioms, I'm going with gray hair.  Nothing a visit to my favorite stylist can't fix. 

6.  Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight.  Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

My mother might correct me, but I don't remember eating particular foods on New Year's Day. It wasn't until I married my Tennessee boy I learned I was supposed to be eating black eyed peas at the start of every new year. Initially I wasn't a fan, but they've grown on me and I enjoy them now. I also love cooked greens and we had both over the Christmas holidays. I say that counts. 

7.  What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will  you do about it this year?

I think I might save this question for a blog post all it's own. One of my favorite things about the Hodgepodge has been the writing that springs from a question or someone's comment. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

True confessions...my Christmas tree is still up. Today might be the day. Might.



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 250

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first official Hodgepodge of 2016! Answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow (Wednesday) to link answers with the universe. See you there!


1. Are you ready for new? Is 2016 likely to be very different than 2015? Do you want it to be?

2. January 6th is National Technology Day. Currently, what is your single biggest struggle or frustration when it comes to technology?

3. It's that time again...time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they'd like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, and general uselessness) in 2016. You can read more about the decision making process here, but this year's top vote getters are-

So (at the start of every single sentence), conversation (as in hotly debated topics where we're invited to 'join the conversation'), problematic, stakeholder, price point, secret sauce, break the Internet, walk it back, presser, manspreading (common in larger cities where some men take up the entire bus or train seat by sitting wide), vape, giving me life (refers to anything that may excite a person or make them laugh), and physicality

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you'd like to add?

4. Share one of your current health related goals.

5. Let's talk fifty shades of gray. As in the color. Gray is currently a popular color in home decor, paint, wardrobes, hair, wedding party attire, and more. Are you a fan? Do you have the color in some variation in your home or wardrobe?  Gray hair, the old gray mare, gray matter, gray area...which gray idiom can you most relate to right now?

6. Certain foods are considered 'lucky' if eaten on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. Cooked greens to bring economic fortune, black-eyed peas or lentils also symbolize money, pork which symbolizes progress, fish for good luck, and if you're in Spain 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight. Did you eat any lucky foods on the first day of the year? Is that a tradition in your home? Of the foods listed, which most appeals to you?

7. What's the single biggest time waster in your life and what, if anything, will you do about it this year?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Monday, January 4, 2016

The Post Christmas Post

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the slower paced, relaxed week that follows Christmas. While I love all the activity during Christmas I really love the quieter less frenetic days that follow. I enjoy sitting by the tree, afternoon tea time, and lots of breathing space. 

Daughter1 and her hubs flew back to the West Coast the Sunday after Christmas, but Daughter2 was here and she spent most of the week hanging out in our apartment. Her apartment might be just a couple hundred yards up the hill, but she and her greyhound made themselves at home in our extra bedroom and I loved every minute.  

Daughter2 is a Beach Body coach and she and I went to the gym and worked out which was necessary and fun, but mostly just necessary. ahem. Her aunt had given her the Fixate cookbook for Christmas and we enjoyed looking through the healthy recipes and trying several, most of which were keepers. 

Every afternoon around 3 o'clock we'd make tea have a cookie and play Skipbo or Dominoes or Yahtzee. We cooked dinner together and watched football and had some really good talks. We face-timed her sister in Washington and made plans for a couple of fun things to do together later in the month. 

It felt so good to have a daughter in the house after Christmas. To not have all the family fun come to a screeching halt immediately after the big day. We eked out all the goodness we could and I've tucked it away with the advent wreath and memories of another year gone by. 

Oh, and I didn't take any pictures because I didn't feel like it-ha! I just enjoyed being. Plus when I look at my daughter2 this is still pretty much what I see in my head-


She might now be a quarter century in years, running her own life, and master of her third grade classroom but still... this is her...full of mischief, tender hearted, and the biggest bluest eyes you ever did see. 


Hubs and I welcomed 2016 with friends at their home near Atlanta. I like to ring in the new year in the comfort of my own home or someone elses, and have never been big on being out amongst the masses (and scary drivers). This was perfect. 

Particularly this cheese tray-


Also the company, but especially the cheese tray. It was fab!

We stayed in our pj's all day Friday, or at least until we had to leave the house to meet more friends at a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner. I wonder if waiters get tired of 'could you take our picture?' requests. 


Doesn't stop me from requesting, but I do wonder. 

Hubs and I headed home Saturday morning. The sun was finally shining and we detoured past the lot to see how wet is wet. Seriously, this weather is for ducks and fish and loch ness monsters, not for people building a house! 


We grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant on the lake and soaked in the spectacular view and all that gorgeous sunlight glistening on the water, reminding ourselves it will all be worth it in the end. 

Now when that end will be is still a mystery, but that's what keeps life interesting, right? It will be THIS year, and that's good enough for me. Hello 2016! 

Sunday, January 3, 2016

As Time Goes By

A lot of life is contained within a single year.


Joy and sorrow. Boredom and adventure. Routine and surprise. Change.


One year ago today we watched our first born baby girl become a wife.


She took the hand of the boy she loves and promised to cherish him forever and ever amen.


He promised the same right back and set her like a seal upon his heart.


Surrounded, buoyed, loved beyond measure by family and friends, they stepped confidently into the future as husband and wife.



They moved to the far off land of Washington and made a house a home.


They have loved well.


Happy First Anniversary to the Dr. Captain and his Mrs!


May your love grow deeper, wider, and more wonderful with every passing year.