Everybody's Workin' For The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post. Before you run off be sure to leave a comment for the blogger before you, because that's how the Hodgepodge rolls. Here we go-

1. Something you've labored over recently? 

Hmmm...I can't think of anything recently that involved true labor.  I guess I'll say planning a trip. Not physically laborious but it's been a bit of a brain drain getting all the bits and pieces to come together. 

2. How will you rest on Labor Day? 

Ha! We'll have a houseful here, including all three of my grandsons, so I'm not sure rest will be on the agenda. We're all looking forward to being together though, and there will be plenty of time to rest next week. In the meantime I plan to embrace all the noisy fun. 

3. Margaret Mead is quoted as saying, "I learned the value of hard work by working hard." Would you agree? Where and how did you learn the value of hard work? 

I agree with the saying. 

I learned the value of hard work from my parents. Growing up we were expected to work hard- try hard- do our best-whether that meant in school or in a household chore we were assigned. My parents worked hard too. They lived within their means, saved for a rainy day, and were generous with their time and resources with those less fortunate. That was the example I had and the one I have tried to emulate. 

4. It's National Eat Outside Day (August 31st). Will you? Do you enjoy dining 'al fresco' or do you prefer indoor seating? 

Hubs and I love dining al fresco and we eat outside every chance we get. If the humidity is ridiculous then we opt for indoor seating, otherwise we're all about eating outside. We have a table on our screened porch and love to eat out there in the autumn months especially. 

5. Somehow it's the end of August. What was the best day of the month for you and tell us what made it so?

We've had a lot of 'best days' this month so it's nearly impossible to choose just one. My best day would definitely be one where grandchildren were part of the equation. A day at the beach with Daughter1 and her family or a morning spent sitting on the porch with the cutest little nugget I know.  

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of the littlest man, here's the cutest thing you'll see today. This month. Maybe ever-

Be still my heart. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 475

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

1. Something you've labored over recently? 

2. How will you rest on Labor Day? 

3. Margaret Mead is quoted as saying, "I learned the value of hard work by working hard." Would you agree? Where and how did you learn the value of hard work? 

4. It's National Eat Outside Day (August 31st). Will you? Do you enjoy dining 'al fresco' or prefer indoor seating? 

5. Somehow it's the end of August. What was the best day of the month for you and tell us what made it so? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Blueberry Waffles With A Side Of Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. August 24th is National Waffle Day...what's something you've 'waffled' on recently? 

Booking hotels for an upcoming trip. I spent so much time reading reviews and comparing prices vs. value vs. convenience and yadda yadda yadda that it was hard to hit the reserve button. But I did and it's done and that's that. I'm not a huge waffler, unless you ask me where I want to eat. 

2. Do you like waffles? Make your own or 'leggo my Eggo? Any favorite toppings or add-ins? Waffles or pancakes-which do you prefer? 

I like a home made waffle and I definitely prefer waffles over pancakes. Pancakes are usually too heavy for me.  The only time I have frozen waffles in the house is when the grandboys are visiting because they like waffles of all kinds. As far as toppings go, there must be butter and a little maple syrup. Blueberry waffles are my favorite and I like mine with a side of bacon to help cut the sweetness.  

3. Do you have any momentos from this summer (or past summers)? What do you do with them? 

Do words count? Yes they count and I put them here-ha! I do have seashells from past trips to Marco Island which is where we used to go when our girls were young (er). They're in a jar in one of the guest room baths. Occasionally we'll buy a t-shirt or ball cap but we haven't done any of that this summer. 

When we traveled around Europe we bought furniture and prints and my favorite-pottery. I enjoy it all still today. 

4. One thing you'd like to do before summer ends? 

A sunset boat cruise. We just need to put it on the calendar and then the weather needs to cooperate, but I'm pretty sure we can make it happen. Plus, PSA- even though we're all sliding in to autumn mode, summer doesn't officially end for another month.  I get it though, because fall is my favorite and for some reason feels like a shorter season than all the rest. 

5. Life is too short to argue on the Internet.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Speaking of booking hotels, I did something stupid recently. We are doing a little road trip in September where we'll be making several stops en route to a wedding. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where those stops would be and where we should stay once we decided. About a week later hubs asked me about a charge on the credit card for a hotel we had considered but hadn't booked. I shrugged and said maybe I'd booked using one of those deals where you pay in advance. 

Oops. That wasn't it. 

Apparently I did book it only I booked it for July not September. Bother. The hotel even tried to call me late one night while I was at my daughters and when hubs asked who it was I said SPAM. It was 11:30 PM and because I didn't recognize the number I didn't pick up. 

Bother. Bother. Bother. 

Life is too short to beat yourself up about stupid stuff  Right? 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 474

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. August 24th is National Waffle Day...what's something you've 'waffled' on recently? 

2. Do you like waffles? Make your own or 'leggo my Eggo? Any favorite toppings or add-ins? Waffles or pancakes-which do you prefer? 

3. Do you have any momentos from this summer (or past summers)? What do you do with them? 

4. One thing you'd like to do before summer ends? 

5. Life is too short to___________________________________. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Meetin' And Greetin'

We have a big family. I guess you'd call it big? I have three siblings and hubs has three siblings and all our siblings are married and some have children too, and then there's also my mama and hubs mama, so I guess that qualifies as big. 

And we're all spread out geographically too so it takes several months for the newbies joining our family to meet the oldies already here. It's probably best that these introductions happen in stages because we're all baby hogs and nobody wants to hand over baby boy once they've got him on their lap. 

I get it. 

First things first. Gotta meet the aunt whose been his mama's best friend since the day she was born. 

Next up were the cousins. 

I mean THE COUSINS!! 

These little men were sooooo excited to meet their very first cousin. 

What's a cousin? Does he talk? Why not? When will he talk? Can he throw the ball? Why can't he throw the ball?

Baby boy is well loved by these first new friends who are also family...

Also he's tough-ha! 

Little man was also introduced to my mama when she was in town this month. They share a name which made their meeting extra special. My girls like to share the baby's gender before baby arrives, but they always hold off revealing the name until baby is actually here. I like this. 

Hearing his name was a sweet surprise and made my mama a little teary. His middle name is her maiden name, and it all made me a little teary too. 

My oldest sister and her hubs drove out to the lake to pick up my mom so they were also able to meet their newest great nephew while he is still pretty new. 

My oldest sister loves babies and you have to check her car when she leaves to make sure she's not taking yours home with her lol. 

Then last weekend hubs brother and sister-in-law took his mama for a meet and greet. How awesome is it to be so loved by not only your grandparents but by your great grandparents too? 

I will tell you. 

It's completely awesome. 

Okay little man, that's ten down, thirteen more to go. On your momma's side I mean. Your Daddy's got more than a few folks waiting in the queue too.

Welcome to your great big loud big fun big loving family...

 I suspect you'll fit in just fine. 

Just Add Water

I can't remember a summer as full as this summer has been. Guest room sheets have been washed on the weekly, sometimes twice weekly with people coming and going. I look for blank spaces in the calendar and see none. Almost none. I've spent more time with my mother and my daughters and my grandchildren this summer than at any other time in recent history and I'm not mad about it. 

In fact, it's been pretty wonderful. 

I need to catch my breath, except remember that calendar with no blank space? Rolling in to fall we'll be looking much the same. Daughter2 asked me to send her a list of Sundays we might be able to travel over for baby boy's dedication service and I said there are three. Three between now and the first of November which sounds crazy even to me. 

My heart feels so full of family right now and I've realized that this is the antidote to all the icky noisy angry stuff and nonsense going on in the world today. Circle the wagons and love your people. My daughter has a verse in her kitchen that I also have tried to keep in mind, this summer especially-

'And aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, 
as we instructed you.' 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Now I know you're probably thinking it's not real quiet here, but in the sense this verse implies we are living a quiet life. To me that means having a close circle of family and friends, filtering out distractions, appreciating the gift of beauty found in creation, and enjoying the small things.  

Let's talk about the beach. 

I haven't had my toes in ocean sand since before Covid. We do have islands in our lake that have sandy beaches, but ocean life is different than lake life. 

Daughter1's hubs had a medical conference in Kiawah Island SC and they invited us to come along for the first half of their trip and the in-laws to come along for the second half. Whenever I say inlaws hubs reminds me we are also 'the inlaws' but for the sake of my blog I use the term to mean them, not us. 

We stayed in one of the 3-bedroom villas at The Sanctuary and had an absolutely marvelous time which included sun, sand, and an 8 PM bedtime for everyone-ha! Almost. 

We loaded up the wagon after breakfast most mornings for the short easy trek to the beach. Along the way we crossed a little foot bridge with marshy river water on either side and hubs had the boys saying 'we're in Gator country now'. Which we were. Alligators look like they're sizing you up when you pass by, don't they? 

We live in South Carolina so we made the kids walk on the inside of the path which may sound a little paranoid but better safe than sorry. 

Every day we counted the alligators and turtles, heron and skink. 

We counted moments and smiles and how many times Nana and the mancub climbed that great big ladder at the resort pool, the one that led to the swirly twirly twisty turny water slide for a fun fast ride down.

A lot. A lot, a lot. In fact Nana lost count of how many a lots but there were a lot. 

Besides swimming and sliding and beaching and nature observing we had fun dinners, a favorite being fresh fish and fries at the Salty Dog Cafe that sits beside the marina-

One evening we sat and sipped Prosecco in the Ryder Cup Bar overlooking the famed Ocean Course. If you golf you know this course is a big deal, and if you don't just know the Ryder Cup Bar is lovely and the views wonderful. Also don't try to go when the President comes to town. 

Fortunately we left town before the President arrived or we wouldn't have been able to get through the gate.

Or on the green-

Days at Kiawah found us with our feet in the surf...

and fish on the line...

...in hand too...

There were boys on boogie boards-

sandy hands-

sandy bottoms-

sandy castles-

and sandpipers-

There were beautiful reflections-

beautiful sunsets-

Ice cream dreams...

Memories made...

...and more love shared than a heart can hold. 

Back To School Hodgepodge Jitters

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. August is National Back To School Month...how does that make you feel? Share a back-to-school memory. 

I don't have school aged children at home but this time of year always makes me feel a bit nostalgic for that 'first day feeling'. So much possibility! September still feels like the start of a new year for me, much more so than January. 

A back-to-school memory? This-

A long ago first day on-the-porch picture. Tradition. The sweetness of sisters. The way a moment is captured and then it's gone, but when you see the snapshot even twenty-five years later you remember. 

2. Something you've learned in 'the school of life'? 

Time is precious. 

3. Three words to describe your current mood.

contemplative, tired, hopeful

4. A summer food you've eaten too much of/are tired of? A summer food you haven't had enough of? 

I'm not sure there's any summer food I'm tired of. I love all the fruits and fresh vegetables that are bountiful in the summer months. I guess maybe I haven't had as much corn on the cob as I would have liked, but other than that we've done a lot of tomato-watermelon-berry eating all summer long. 

5. What small stuff do you sweat that you know you shouldn't?

Hmmm...a tricky question I think because quite often if you don't sweat the small stuff it becomes large. For the sake of answering I'll say running late due to traffic or some other sort of delay completely outside of my control but I nevertheless want to control. And I can't. So I sweat.  

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have a lot to catch up on here in terms of words, pictures, and happenings, which feels like a big thing but is probably just a small thing so I'm not going to sweat it. In the meantime here's our Tuesday morning sunrise which always helps put life in perspective-

The big and the little. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 473

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

1. August is National Back To School Month...how does that make you feel? Share a back-to-school memory. 

2. Something you've learned in 'the school of life'? 

3. Three words to describe your current mood.

4. A summer food you've eaten too much of/are tired of? A summer food you haven't had enough of? 

5. What small stuff do you sweat that you know you shouldn't?

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Sisterhood Of The Traveling Hodgepodge

Welcome to another week in the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. 

fyi-there won't be a Hodgepodge next week (Aug 10) because I have a few too many things happening and somethin's gotta give. The Hodgepodge will return the following week (Aug 17). Thanks for understanding! 

Now, here we go-

1. Do you have a sister? Tell us something about her. If you don't have a sister, tell us about a friend who has been like a sister. Or tell us about a sister-in-law if you have one who is extra special. 

I have two sisters whom I adore. Can't imagine life without them. And I have four sisters-in-law who are all pretty special too. Oh and I've birthed sisters who have been the bestest of friends from Day 1, which makes me so happy, and in conclusion let me just say sisters are my favorite. 

As far as telling you something about my sisters, well...we are a part of each others hearts. We laugh, cry, sing, fight, forgive, share, and  remember. I can tell my sisters anything and they are always on my side even when I might be wrong. Ha! They may try to get me to see another side of things, but they are on my side from the start and that counts for a lot. 

I'm pretty sure my girls discuss me with one another, which is just one more great thing about having a sister. Moms can be a lot sometimes and it's nice to have a sister to vent with and laugh with and remember how much you both love your mom. 

2. Resister, assister, insister, persister...choose one and explain how it relates to you and your life lately. 

I guess all of these could be applied to me in some form or fashion. Much as I hate to admit it I'm a bit of a resister when it comes to trying anything new. I almost always end up being talked into the fun, but I like to dig my heels in first and make you work for it. Hubs is nodding his head. 

I'm extremely determined so will persist, sometimes longer than I should. And I'm a helper so happy to assist in whatever way assisting is needed. I volunteer in a local soup kitchen most Thursdays so assist is probably the one that fits best at the moment. 

3. Share a favorite song, book, movie, or television program that features sisters.

Song-Sisters, Sisters as performed in White Christmas. My girls loved to copy that act when they were small and it was too cute for words.

Book-The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Movie- The Parent Trap, both the original and the remake with Lindsay Lohan

No tv shows are coming to mind. 

4. August 3rd is national watermelon day...are you a fan? Do you like watermelon flavored candy? Besides eating the melon as is, do you have a good recipe made with watermelon? 

I am a huge fan of watermelon. Watermelon candy not so much, but actual watermelon is one of my favorite foods. I don't do a lot with it besides eating as is, but I saw this recipe the other day and want to try it.  (Chile-Coconut Watermelon crudo) Sounds like a lot of steps for what it is, but I'm super curious about the taste. 

Also, hubs makes a watermelon smash cocktail that is a bit of trouble, but really delicious. 

5. 'Tis August...what are three things you're looking forward to this month? 

A few days at the beach with Daughter1 and her family, a women's retreat in the NC mountains with some current and also soon-to-be friends from church, and a wedding in one of the prettiest places I know.

Actually called 'Pretty Place' and the name fits. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Cotton candy summer evening sky...

Also makes for a 'pretty place'. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 472

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to share your answers via the linky tool. See you there!

1. Do you have a sister? Tell us something about her. If you don't have a sister, tell us about a friend who has been like a sister. Or tell us about a sister-in-law if you have one who is extra special. 

2. Resister, assister, insister, persister...choose one of the words listed and explain how it relates to you and your life lately. 

3. Share a favorite song, book, movie, or television program that features sisters.

4. August 3rd is national watermelon day...are you a fan? Do you like watermelon flavored candy? Besides eating the melon as is, do you have a good recipe made with watermelon? 

5. 'Tis August...what are three things you're looking forward to this month? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.