Nom de Hodgepodge

Welcome to the last Hodgepodge in this merry month of May. 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. Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names? 

I don't have a strong opinion about my name. I don't dislike it, and can't really imagine anything different.  That's who I've always been so yes, I guess I do like it. I'm not named after anyone. 

When we found out we were expecting daughter1 hubs and I immediately settled on her name. We were less sure of a boy's name, but no matter, because we were both certain baby was a girl and we were right. We just loved the name, both first and middle, and it suits her. 

There was just one other girl with her same name in her preschool and kindergarten class, but then all the way up through university we didn't know another. Fast forward to present day and we have three in our church besides her so maybe it's more of a SC thing? We still love it. 

Daughter2 has a name that belonged to one of hubs grandmothers and also one of my great grandmothers which is nice. The name definitely suits her. We gave her hubs other grandmother's name as a middle, and I knew and loved that grandmother so was happy to pass it on. 

My grandchildren have a combination of family names and names their parent's loved. They are all more traditional which I love. One has his dad and granddads' first name and then our surname as his middle. One has my dad's name as his middle. One has my mother's maiden name as his middle. Both grandgirls share middle names with their mommas which is sweet. 

2.  A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one...which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose? 

I'll have the blueberry pie please. That's a favorite and I make at least one every summer. Hubs birthday is early September and I sometimes make him a blueberry pie instead of a cake for his birthday dessert. 

If I were picking something not listed it would be angel food cake topped with strawberries. Red and white. I'll make one of these soon as my daughter1 requests this for her birthday dessert every year and she has one coming up soon. 

Fun fact...she has a son turning the age she is in this photo but we won't time travel down that rabbit hole today. 

3.  What's a job you'd like to try for just one day? 

I'd like to check groceries at the supermarket for a day. I can't really explain why this appeals to me, but it's a job I think I'd enjoy. I like grocery shopping and am nosy about what people have in their carts. I'm also picky about the bagging-just ask my hubs.

4. Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer? 

I've put out some patriotic decor because it's a big year for America and I want to celebrate that. I needed new cushions for my upper deck and went with a patriotic theme. I bought hand towels for the guest bath, patriotic soaps, and I've ordered a candle for my coffee table with a patriotic label. 

I mentioned my front door wreath in Monday's post, and I have a patriotic door mat there too. Of course the dock is decked out with a flag and a patriotic wind sock and in general the lake is full of flags flying and people celebrating the freedoms we enjoy. 

I'd post pictures of my new pillows, but it's been raining cats and dogs since Friday so we have the outdoor furniture covered and the pillows tucked away. They'll be out all summer so I'm sure they'll turn up on the blog eventually. 

5. It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!  

Moved my momma early May

All the blooming beauty added brightness to the month

Yearning for sunshine as we turn the page to June

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I'd kind of forgotten I wanted to host another Day In The Life link up for anyone who'd like to join the fun. New season, new routines. 

Unless you're retired then it's same old same old. Ha! I kid. 

Anyway, let's say June 18th. It's a Thursday. Choose a day to keep track of that falls between now and the link up, then hop back here to add your post to the party. If you don't know what I'm talking about here's the 411-

Pick a day and give us the play by play of your life on that day. Some bloggers do their posts by the hour, some by chunks of time, whatever works for you. Most people add photos but that's up to you. If you're like me you need to set the timer on your phone to remind you to take pictures but again, you can do your post in whatever way you like. 

I wrote one back in November you can read if you want an idea of how mine looks-A Day In The Life, Autumn 2025

These posts are fun to read and I feel like they're great connectors. Hope to see you there! 

The Age Of Invention

We've hit Day 9 in the A-Z today, so let's get to it...

I is for (re) Invention

Not gonna lie...I was feeling a little bit stuck today, not only with this letter, but also with my theme. So many of the words I want to write about overlap in terms of content, and I don't want these posts to be the same thing said twenty-six different ways. 

I was thinking I might do some sort of all about me (all about I) write-up for this letter, but that stalled too. My daughter came into the room while I sat frozen at the keyboard, and I asked her to tell me something about myself that I might not have talked about here, and she said, 'you developed a love of adventure later in life'.

Hmmm. Do I love adventure? 

I said I think the word is overused and also I've decided I'm actually not someone who loves adventure.  That currently there is no great big thing I feel inspired to see-do-accomplish, and she said that's because I've spent the past twenty years seeing-doing-accomplishing, and now I'm living a more settled life and I haven't quite figured out how to do that, or even how a quiet life should look. 

She reminded me we never really put down roots. We squatted with tent pegs, embraced people and places and experiences for a year or two or six, then yanked up those pegs and set up camp somewhere new. 

There was always something new. 

And now we are settled. We have roots taking hold, and I'm once again feeling the need to re-invent myself for the season I'm in. 

Like every season I've walked through, but this one looks more, for lack of a better word, ordinary. My kids are launched. In fact, they're more than launched. They're college graduates, married women, mothers of little ones living their own adventure. 

When I told my daughter I thought the word was overused she said, 'well I think romanticizing the little things we do to make a house a home, to make motherhood feel less mundane, to make the ordinary feel special is a good thing.' 

She's right. Call the life you're living an adventure and an adventure it will be.  

You don't have to paddle down the Amazon or bungee jump the New River Gorge to call something an adventure. There's more than one way to define the word. More than one way to see your world. 

So here I am living my own little adventure. 

Figuring out what to do with my days and my daydreams in life's third act.

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

Half Full or What Glass?

Some of these A to Z Challenge letters are more problematic than others, and settling on a word for letter J required collective brain power.  I asked my daughter what she thought I should write about and she said, "Well you could write about yourself" 

Because I'm delightful?

Not quite what she meant, but let's pretend it was.

J is for Joyce 

I was thinking about how to tie in my theme of delight with my word and here's where I landed. I am an optimistic person. At least that's how I've always thought of myself. There's a little quiz you can take online (here) to determine if you're an optimist, pessimist, or realist and I came up as an uber realist.  

The description of an uber realist says I've always got a plan (true), and a plan B (true), I set reasonable expectations (I think so), I'm determined (true), and I'm probably listed as the emergency contact for several people I know-ha! I think that might be true too. 

In spite of what I'm sure is a completely scientifically accurate quiz as far as online quizzes go (ahem!), I still stay I'm an optimist. Maybe an optimistic realist? A hopeful person who wants to see the good in people, circumstances, and life, and who also sees nothing wrong with having a plan.

And maybe a plan B. 

A person who knows that sometimes you have to look really hard and dig really deep to find the good, but whose instincts tell her to do just that. And you know what? Sometimes that inclination to always be pointing out the bright side-silver lining is irritating to people who tend to see the glass as half empty. Who deal with what is right before them and choose not to think about what might be.

People who will tell you there isn't always a silver lining to be found.

Since I'm apparently more of a realist than I thought I know this. I know bad stuff happens and disappointments come our way and plans fall apart no matter how full we see the glass. I think it's how we react when any/all of the above happens that is the truer test of our levels of optimism, pessimism, and realism.

Also our faith and sense of hope in Someone greater than ourselves, and in that sense I'm definitely an optimist.

I'm going to find what might be the most microscopic bit of good in the failed plan, the disappointing circumstance, the hard thing, and I'm going to fix my eyes and my mind on that.

And fair warning...

It's very likely I'll try to get you to do the same. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 308

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. What color is prominent in your home? Are you glad about that or wishing you could cover it up or remove it?

2. What's something you'll NEVER do again?

3. Tell us a couple of ways you fit the stereotypes associated with your gender, and a couple of ways you don't.

4. May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Have you ever owned a motorcycle? Ever ridden a motorcycle? If the opportunity presented itself would you hop on a motorcycle and go for a ride?

5. If someone wanted to understand you, what should they read, watch, and listen to?

6.  Insert your own random thought here.
SaveSave

SUYL-All About Me

I know most of the bloggers who link up with Kelly's Korner on Fridays are young enough to be my sister-ha! okay daughter but whatever, I'm linking up anyway. I love her blog.

Kelly's bringing back a link up she used to host on Fridays called Show Us Your Life (SUYL), and this week's theme is All About Me. Everyone participating is invited to tell their story so we can get acquainted. Hop over to Kelly's Korner if you want to play along.

I've been blogging since 2009 and feel like more than a few of you know everything there is to know about me. If that's you feel free to carry on with your weekending, but I'm guessing a handful of new readers will stop by via the linkup, so for you newbies here's the 411-

I've been married 32 years this June to my college sweetheart.

He is still my sweetheart.

Also in my head I'm 35.

We've moved nine times in 32 years (you do the math) with stints in Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, New Jersey (twice), Maryland, England (sigh), and most recently South Carolina (the Upstate not the Lowcountry). My hubs retired at the end of February 2015, but accepted a brand new job in February 2016 so he's back on the treadmill.

Also the new job is not in South Carolina, but if you want complicated we're your people.

I am still manning the home front, fluid as that concept may be. I've worked as a speech pathologist, kindergarten teacher, school director, and have spent much of my non-working adult years as a volunteer. Volunteers make the world go round.

We sold our home in Northern NJ last June and moved into an apartment here in SC to supervise, fret over, and mostly hurry up and wait for our lake home to go up. We're halfway there, or at least I like to think we are.

I hope to goodness we've reached the mid point.

Is it possible we're not at the mid-point???

We broke ground at the end of September, and the rains came pretty much immediately after. We've had an enormous amount of weather related delays, but currently the dock is in, the house is framed, and fingers crossed the roof went on this week.

We're learning so much in the process and
thinkknow it will be worth it once we're in.

The absolute joy and deilght of my life are my two girls, both in their mid-20's. They inspire and amaze me with their brains, humor, creativity, and most of all with their tender, caring hearts. They're best buds and have been since the word go.

Daughter1 married the love of her life in January 2015, then promptly moved to the complete opposite side of the country to start life as a Mrs.

She works part time for Young Life, and full time spoiling her hard working Dr. Captain husband and their Boykin Spaniel. She blogs from Washington State at Sincerely Shannon.

Daughter2 lives right here in the Upstate (yay!) and teaches third grade. In her spare time (ha!) she keeps up with her Beach Body health and fitness program and her cute and slightly quirky Greyhound, Gemma.

Daughter2 also blogs (It's Elementary), and I so love keeping up with my girls both in person, and through their writing.

My blog is hard to quantify, but I like to say it's a slice of life, and a mostly happy one at that. I use too many words (you've probably figured that out on your own) and think I'm maybe more storyteller than blogger. You'll find a wide range of topics here, but the most common themes are mid-life observations, growing up girls, parenting young adult children, married life, the weather (sad, but true), our home build, our travels, life across the pond, home, family, and God's amazing grace.

I love Jesus, books, a cup of tea at 3 PM, all things England, 70's music, hiking, sunlight on the water, and new mercies every morning. I am a total and complete optimist (yes, even in 2016) and I host a fun meme here every week called The Wednesday Hodgepodge.

Whew. Okay, your turn. What's your 411?

The dog ate my homework

How do you handle awards on your blog? Do you acknowledge? Respond? Follow the bestow-er? Tag others to play along? Smile, think 'that's nice' and move along? I'm wondering because in the past couple of weeks I've been tagged by several bloggers and I've kind of just left them all out there hanging. Something about that doesn't feel nice so I'm going to attempt to respond and acknowledge all of them in one big post...think of it like the Oscars and I win in all categories. I'm not going to tag anyone because I know some people don't like to play and others might wish they were asked plus all that linking is more than my its-almost-summer-brain can handle on a Friday. Thanks to all of the bloggers who mentioned my blog...I do appreciate it!

Beverly at The Beverly Buzz and Donna at The House on the Corner both gave me The Pay it Forward Award...for this one I'm supposed to mention the bloggers (check), link to their blogs (check) and tag five bloggers to do the same (two out of three is good, right?)

I was also given an award over at Rainbow's Daily Life -The Versatile Blogger Award...I need to thank the person who gave the award (Thanks Rainbow!), tell seven things about myself (more on that in a minute) and tag fifteen recently discovered blogs. FIFTEEN!? Yikes. I'm going to go all rebel on you and skip this step.

Way back at the end of May (sorry Empty Nest...it felt like it was yesterday!) I was also tagged in a game of blog tag ...I need to answer some questions and then tag eight blog friends to answer the questions and carry on with the tagging. I'm going to answer the questions and count that as my seven things about myself that I need for The Versatile Blogger award mentioned above. Hey, what do ya know? I am versatile!

Here we go-

1. Do you think you're hot?

Oh brother. Are we talking temperature because if we're talking temperature then yeah baby, I'm definitely hot!

2. Upload a picture or wallpaper that you are using at the moment.

I took this picture recently in the outdoor shop called Cabelas. We stopped at their Pennsylvania store on our way home from D.C. a couple of weekends ago and I thought this item was interesting. Did you know they made dusters specifically for dusting game? Cabelas is an absolutely amazing shop...everything you might need for outdoor fun plus incredible displays of stuffed game like this one-

I guess if you have a display like this one in your house you would certainly need a game duster. And a very understanding wife.

3. When was the last time you ate chicken?

A barbecue at my sister's house last Monday...it was delish!

4. The song/songs you listened to recently-

I listen to a lot of music in the course of a day so I'll go with the last three songs played while writing this post:

Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's, Free by Zac Brown Band, and Spit in the Rain by Del Amitri...told you I was versatile.

5. What were you thinking while doing this?

I used to be hott and not just hot.

6. Do you have any nicknames? What are they?

Really only one and family members are the only people who use it-Jo

7. Tag eight blogger friends

And this is where I drop the ball.

Finally, just yesterday Scoot's1Mom tagged me 'For Bee-ing a Blessing' in a very sweet post on her blog My Hands, His Glory-thanks Scoots1Mom!

Whew...I feel like I just finished an overdue book report. Have a great weekend everyone!