Showing posts with label September 11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label September 11. Show all posts

Thursday, September 13, 2012

13 on 13

It's the 13th day of September and since I have approximately 13 random thoughts today, this post makes perfect sense.  In fact it kind of wrote itself.

1.  I've loved these past few days spent with my daughter2.  I'm staying in her apartment and she's made it so cozy.  She's teaching 5th grade this semester so she gets up at the crack of dawn and packs her lunch and then I drive her to school so I can use her car during the day.  There is something very satisfying about watching your grown up child be grown up.

2.  Speaking of grown up tasks...daughter1 phoned this morning to say she'd just come from the dentist.  Now this may seem like a little thing to you, but I have been
NAGGING!!! gently encouraging her to find a new dentist ever since she moved to DC.

A year ago last April.
I know.
She was pretty pleased with herself.

I was pretty pleased with herself too.

3.  My daughter2 and I spent some time talking about our own memories of 9-11 on Tuesday.  She shared with me that they'd discussed the events in her 5th grade class that morning and we were both taken aback by the fact that only one or two of the kids in her class were even born then.  That 9-11 is now in a 5th grade history textbook. That the world changed that day and these children will never know the before, only the after.

They had so many questions.
There are still no easy answers.

4.  Daughter2 has an extremely busy and exhausting schedule just now so I had plans one afternoon to make a couple of meals for her freezer.  Daughter2 has a very well stocked kitchen...a big crock pot, an electric kettle, an immersion blender, but I turned the place upside down and could not find a can opener.  I texted her to ask where it might be and she told me she meant to buy one because recently she opened a can using a knife and scissors.  Oi.  Hubs-don't read that last bit.  I insisted she go that very day to get a can opener.  I'll sleep better at night knowing she isn't attempting knife stunts in the kitchen.  Hubs will say she is her mother's daughter.

5.  When I visit my girls I can count on doing three things...filling a frig, filling a gas tank, and running a car thru the car wash.

6.  Not complaining, just keepin' it real.  I can also count on shopping, eating out, and lots of talking so it's all good.

7.  I have to applaud and smile a little too, at my daughter's efforts at energy efficiency.  She was walking behind me turning off lights.  Ha.  That's what happens when you pay your own utility bills.

8.  Now for a mini blog rant-word verification.  AARGH!  Is it really necessary??? I don't allow anonymous comments on my blog which helps reduce spam, and I do have comment moderation running which also helps, but the word verification feature is off. It very nearly sends me over the edge on Wednesdays when I visit the Hodgepodge posts.  Sometimes it takes as many as four tries to get the word/number combo correct.  After two tries I am more than ready to move along. It's like some kind of test or something.   Word verification...just say no!

9.  Hubs is in China and texted me a picture of a dinner option on the menu -turtle.


Earlier in the week it was a pigeon.  On a menu where you have poultry, beef, lamb, and seafood exactly where does turtle fit?  My dad used to like turtle soup which gave us kids the heebie jeebies. As the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.

10.  Have you seen this?  A couple who are new parents of twins were flying with them for the first time and they made little goody bags with candy and earplugs for all the passengers.  Kindness makes the world a nicer place.

11. What's the deal with 'chevron'?  Suddenly it's everywhere.  Again.  Except when I was 12 we called that zigzag.  I do love this dress though.

12.  Do you watch Toddlers and Tiaras?  Me neither.  But I did catch a news clip recently of a 4-year old contestant in the costume portion of the pageant whose mom dressed her as Sandy from Grease.  Bad Sandy.  The one in black leather with the cigarette hanging out of her mouth.  The 4-year old's ciggy was fake but as she took to the stage her mom instructed, 'Don't forget to smoke!'  Now I'm a big believer in pretend play but this is in.sane.   Is it any wonder kids have so many issues in this crazy mixed up world?

13.  I hate to leave here tomorrow.  Knowing when I land I'll go directly to the train station and collect daughter1 for a weekend at home helps.  I'm beginning to come round to the notion of a family compound.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME HODGEPODGE?

Welcome to the 93rd edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the party today!  Add your link at the end of my post and be sure to visit some of the neighbors.  Here are my answers~


1.  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams.  Are you a fan?  Who do you root for?  If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

I'm definitely ready for some football.  It's one of the many things I love about fall. College football is my favorite and in our house we root for the Tennessee Volunteers. My NFL loyalties are slightly complicated, the result of moving too many times.  My first loyalty lies with my original hometown team-the Philadelphia Eagles. After that it's the Jets and whoever Peyton Manning is playing for (those Vol roots run deep!)

Also, my apologies to those of you who live outside the US on this one.  I normally edit questions that are "American" in nature so you have an alternative, but I missed doing that here.  

2.  What's something I'll always find in your closet?

blue jeans and heels

3.  Share one of your earliest memories.

This one popped into my head right away...I guess I was about 5 years old and we had company.  They had kids too and we were all up in the bedroom my sister and I shared playing records.  Yes records.    I picked up the Peter Pan album and it snapped right in two which startled me.  I had a lifesaver in my mouth which I accidentally inhaled and it became lodged in my throat.  Instead of running for my mother I went and hid in the closet.   I don't know why, but I guess I thought I'd be in trouble for breaking the record.  My parents weren't mean so I don't know why my brain spazzed,  but it did. Eventually the lifesaver went down which is why you're lucky I'm here to tell you this super interesting story.  

4.  What circus act best describes your week so far?

I'm spending a few days with my daughter and getting here was a bit of a circus.  My flight was delayed twice and had three gate changes.  Fi-na-lly we boarded, but just as the pilot got the plane backed out of its parking space he announced that a 757 had dropped it's tailbar? and then managed to run over it, blocking the only alley to/from the runway.  

On top of that, the pilot informed us that on Saturdays and Sundays, Newark is working on  runway improvement so they shut a runway down and inbound and outbound flights use the same runway.  He may have said more but I plugged my ears and sang lalala.  His words were confirmed though, when we hit the brakes hard,  just as another (much larger) plane landed mere feet in front of us.   Well, it felt like feet.  

 Is a circus this exciting?

I was supposed to get to SC a little before 5 PM and had plans to meet my sister for dinner.  Instead I got in about 9pm and daughter2 and I grabbed chicken fingers from the drive-thru at Zaxbys.  

My circus act?  How about aerial?  The bar kept swinging towards me but I just couldn't grab hold.

5.  What's a food you disliked as a child that you love now?

Brussel sprouts.  I despised them as a child but they're one of my favorite vegetables now.  Daughter2 and I shared these on her birthday-



Crispy brussel sprouts with serrano ham, manchego cheese, and a sherry glace.  De-licious!

6.  Describe your summer in three words.

family, faith, and sorrow...sometimes life is hard, even on the brightest blue sky summer days 

7.  Where were you on September 11, 2001?  Will you do anything special to mark the day?

I was working as the Director of a preschool on 9-11.  The bookkeeper and I were in the office waiting on the Xerox guy to come in and repair our machine.  We'd seen him pull into the parking lot and couldn't figure out why he was just sitting in his car.  When he finally came in he gave us the news.  I walked to each classroom and whispered the news to the teachers. We cancelled afternoon classes and parents began trickling in to collect their children.  We had parents who worked in the Pentagon and lots of Secret Service families in our school.  

I was at my daughters yesterday so she got an extra hug.  I called my daughter1 and my mother too.  I prayed for the families of the innocent victims and gave thanks for the brave police officers and firefighters who fought human instinct by running into a place people were fleeing.  Our military too, those who went to war as a result.   I thought about how freedom is precious and most definitely not free.  It must be protected and there is a cost.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

This week's questions took a turn downbeat but there's always something for which to be grateful.  So nice to have a grown up dinner and conversation with my daughter2 on her birthday Monday evening. 

She really is 2-2 precious!

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 93

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.  Answer on your own blog and then hop back here tomorrow to share the love.


1.  ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams.  Are you a fan?  Who do you root for?  If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?

3. Share one of your earliest memories.

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?

6.  Describe your summer in three words.

7.  Where were you on September 11, 2001? Will you do anything special to mark the day this year?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.