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So I had a birthday.  

A pretty big birthday number wise, but maybe not as big celebration wise because thanks Covid. Can you tell from my face it was still pretty great? What can I say...I love my birthday and my family tried so hard to make the day special and they succeeded. 

While I do have a few thoughts on this next new decade, I think that will be it's own post and today I'll just recap all the sweet stuff that made up my birthday week.   

Daughter2 was in the house and we had the best time running wedding errands all week long. We spent Monday morning at the party rental place, then met with the florist that afternoon. We had our hair and makeup 'trial' on Tuesday and wrapped it up with a dress fitting for the bride-to-be on Wednesday. 

Y'all. I forgot how stunning this girl looks in her wedding dress. 

No this is not her wedding dress, but I will tell you the sight of her in that gown literally takes my breath away.  I cannot wait to see the groom's face when he sets eyes on his bride on their special day.  

After the dress fitting we celebrated with crepes at our favorite crepe spot, so the order of these events would feel correct. 

1. Try the dress on and be sure it fits perfectly. 

2. Share one sweet and one savory crepe with your momma because it's almost her birthday and because we both love crepes and can never decide between the sweet and the savory. 

3. Pledge going forward not to feast on crepes or sweets in general pre-wedding. 

4. I mean except for the birthday cake we'll eat later. 

If it looks like we're eating in a parking lot it's because we are. The restaurant had some indoor seating available but we opt for dining outdoors whenever we can, especially when it's a crystal clear morning or there's a pandemic hanging about. 

On my actual birthday my little family planned the absolute best surprise. Let me just say I think every birthday needs a surprise. Not necessarily a surprise party, but definitely some unexpected little bit of happy that brings a smile to your heart and maybe a tear to your eye. 

And that's what they did.  

They had many many of my friends and all of my family record video wishes for me, then Daughter2 magically put them all together on the big screen (aka the TV) and it was too wonderful for words. No one had come close to spilling the beans which made it a real surprise. 

That evening we had a delicious dinner at a very nice restaurant in tiny town and shout out to my hubs who never fails in sourcing a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, because that's my favorite. He also knows I don't think it's a birthday without balloons and believe fresh flowers are one of the secrets to a happy life so he obliged.

It's true y'all. Fresh flowers in the house makes the world feel less harsh.  

Hubs kinda went all out on the balloons this year. I don't think he knew about these until I sent him last week to collect a giant 3-0 for daughter2's birthday, but now that he's on to them I predict there will be more jumbo going forward. 

Of course Daughter1 called and the mancub sang happy birthday from a million miles away and helped me blow out all the candles via Facetime which tickled him so much.  I have to tell you that when he utters the word 'Nana' in his precious little boy voice I have an actual pain in my heart. It's a happy/sad sort of pain but it's very real, and if you're living away from your own grands you know what I'm saying.  

Little brother clapped and smiled big and took a couple of steps on camera which also made my day/week/year, and all in all it was a lovely way to end the day and usher in a brand new decade. 

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." William Shakespeare

Growing Older With The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger linking before you. Comments keep the Hodgepodge rollin' right along. Here we go-

 

1. What's one thing you learned at the ripe old age of whatever age you are now?

Does Zoom count? I'd never heard of it before this year. 

2. I read here a list of foods that can help you look younger-

extra virgin olive oil, green tea, fatty fish, dark chocolate, vegetables, flaxseeds, pomegranates, avocados, tomatoes, spices, bone broth

How many of the foods listed have you tried? How many do you eat regularly? Your favorite from the list?

I've tried them all and regularly use extra virgin olive oil, eat fatty fish (salmon), dark chocolate, vegetables, avocados, tomatoes, and spices.  I like pomegranates but wouldn't say they're a staple here. If I could only have one thing on the list I'd choose vegetables.  

3. Something you miss from the 'good old days'? When were the good old days anyway?

Common courtesy, respect, and humor.

When did they occur? I'm not sure I can give precise dates, but feel pretty certain it was sometime prior to the invention of the iphone. 

4. What are two or three of the most rewarding things to be found in growing older?

There are many, but I'd say one of the best things about growing older is knowing who you are and being comfortable with that. Interacting with my adult children is pretty great too. 

Also see next question. 

5. What's your favorite part of your life right now?

Did you really need to ask? 

Grandparenting is not overrated. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

As I was turning off the light about 10:30 pm Tuesday night I suddenly remembered, that while I wrote the Hodgepodge questions, I never answered them. Bother. You'd think after almost 400 episodes answering would be automatic. Chalk it up to 2020 and/or turning a year older this week. 

On the bright side I did not overthink this one. Happy Wednesday! 

And The Seasons They Go Round And Round

This girl celebrates a birthday today...

She doesn't ask for much on her big day other than a blog post, so how can I not? That being said, eleven years of birthday blog posts means I might need to give this one a good hard think.

Plus thirty.
Feels like a thing, doesn't it?

Sometimes we call daughter2 my mini me. If you and I are acquainted in real life and you happened to meet her out somewhere without me, you'd still know in an instant she's mine.

It's more than just the physical resemblance. She and I also share many of the same mannerisms, patterns of speech, a particular way of seeing life.

We both work/worked as teachers

We both love to be in the kitchen.

We're both a little clumsy (sorry sweetie)

We're both determined. Or maybe stubborn is a better word? You decide.

She's a mamas girl and I am too.

Jesus loves us this we know.

We're both patient.

Responsible.

Chatty.

Overly-independent. ahem.

She and I are both September babies, and while I'm not into astrology at all, I will say she and I share more than a few traits common to the September-born.

Last night we watched an old home movie, the one from her very first birthday, and I was taken aback by how quickly the years have flown. How this small but mighty baby girl there on the screen has, in the blink of an eye, become the woman who sits beside me on the couch.

It didn't feel like the blink of an eye. The days, the moments, the ordinary living of life. It wasn't really the blink of an eye. We lived those years between then and now. Filled them to the brim with so much goodness, so much fun, of course there was hard stuff too, but it's the goodness that bubbles up most in my memory.

We grew up side by each she and I and we marked the moments every chance we got.

In the video my baby walks on chubby legs, feeds herself fistfuls of icing, smiles big at the world around her, and for a minute I wish I could be there again. Back in that dining room with the papered walls, my mom and dad at the table, her three year old sister in the middle of it all...the room bursting with celebration...love...family.

Except I don't think I'd really go back.

I know that while I might do a few things better, I'd likely make some new mistakes too. Hi. I'm a mom and we do the best we can with what we know at the time.

It seems my girls birthday posts always end up being a little bit about me too and that's okay. Our lives and hearts and beings are entwined in a thousand million ways and for that I'm grateful. I think we humans are a little bit nature and a whole lot nurture and all that I poured into mothering my daughters, the right words spoken and the opportunities missed too, all helped shape them in to the women they are today.

And the woman she is today is a complete treasure.

Welcome to this brand new decade my darling girl. May it be filled with more joy your precious heart can hold.  

Hodgepodge Laboring

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger linking before you.  Ready-set-GO!

  

1. Something you've done in recent days or months that might be described as a labor of love?

Planning my daughter's birthday dinner with all her favorite things, finding one or two special gifts that will be meaningful to her, shopping for family Christmas pjs for my daughter overseas...

Preparing foods and shopping for/making small gifts with meaning are a labor of love for me. 

2. Last time you 'worked your fingers to the bone'?

I pulled weeds on our back slope for an hour on Saturday morning, and I don't know about my fingers but I definitely worked my back to the bone.

3. According to a recent survey people named the following ten jobs as the hardest-nurse, doctor, paramedic, police officer, firefighter, surgeon, healthcare worker, bomb squad, farmer, and prison warden. Of the jobs listed which would you say is the hardest? The one you'd most like to do? Least like to do? What's one job you would add to the list?

Currently I'm going to say being a police officer in America is the toughest job there is, and the one I'd least like to do. Of the jobs listed the one I'd like most would probably be nursing. I thought about being a nurse while in college, then changed my major to speech pathology which was also a rewarding field. 

What job would I add to the list? How about window washers on our city skyscrapers? Or oil rig workers, the people who climb those ginormous communication towers...anything where you need your wits about you to do your work all the while knowing there is a danger of falling from a great height. Shudder. 

4. A recipe you make that is labor intensive, but worth it?

My mamas homemade enchilada recipe. They take me all day, but of course that could just be me. Honestly they've always taken my mom a fair chunk of time to put together too, so I think it's just a labor intensive recipe. Worth it? Absotively posilutely!!

5. Last job you did or task you completed that required teamwork?

I feel like hubs and I do things on a fairly regular basis that require teamwork of some sort. Managing the dogs (I'll feed while he waters), getting the kayaks back on the rack (he lifts and I help guide then in to place and hang on to the straps), docking the boat (I hang the bumpers while he maneuvers the boat into the slip, then I carefully, and also occasionally not so carefully, step off and pull us in), and the list goes on. We docked the boat more than once this weekend so that's probably the best example of recent teamwork.  And good news! There was hardly any yelling or swearing. 

We need this shirt. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Daughter2 has a birthday coming up this week and I will write a birthday post on the actual day because years ago she told me it's the one thing she looks forward to the most (no pressure Mom-ha!) but for today I want to share this-

For my beautifully strong hilarious girl on the eve of a brand new decade xoxo 

Hodgepodge Seconds

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered on your own blog, add your link at the end of my post then go say howdy to your neighbor there. Here we go-

1. The Hodgepodge lands on the second day of a brand new month. Tell us one thing you're looking forward to in September.

If you've been reading here a while then you'll know it's my birthday month. Also hubs birthday month and Daughter2's birthday month but let's talk about mine-ha! If you're a friend of ours on social media you'll be sick of us by the end of the month. It feels like we're everywhere. 

That being said, I think this year I'm more excited about Daughter2's birthday than my own, which I guess is motherhood in a nutshell. It's just so great to see her so happy and feeling excited about the new decade headed her way. 

2. Do you enjoy browsing second-hand shops? Last thing you bought or 'inherited' second hand?

I'm not really a second-hand shop kind of shopper. I like donating items there, but don't do a lot of browsing in flea markets, consignment stores, or charity shops. 

Last thing we inherited or got second-hand? Does a dog count? 

3. Something you had second thoughts about after committing to, purchasing, or posting/commenting  online?

A volunteer role I took on several years ago immediately springs to mind. It was not for me and I think I knew that when I said yes because I had second thoughts almost as soon as I agreed to it.  I should have paid better attention. 

4. What's a product or service you use that you'd rate as second to none?

Lots of things, but one would be a company we use that auto ships the air filters for our house. You select how often you want them and they customize your order to whatever size filters fit your home. It's a no brainer, completely reliable, one of those things you don't have to remember to do because when they show up at your door you know it's time to change the filters.  

This isn't a paid endorsement btw, but here's the website if you're interested. Ironically it's called Second Nature 

5. Something you do so often or that comes so naturally to you it's second nature ?

I feel like with the age I am now most tasks require some level of concentration or intention. I suppose in practical terms there are a number of meals I cook on a regular basis that I can prepare without thinking too hard or referring to the written recipe. 

If you want something deeper I'll say looking for the bright side of life.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Yesterday was hubs birthday and on his birthday he always asks for a chocolate cake. Chalk it up to 2020, but this year he said he wanted key lime pie. I haven't made one in ages, but the recipe found here is so good. Even better, the mancub facetimed so he could help sing and blow out the candle. 

This might be the thing I'm most looking forward to about my own birthday in a couple of weeks.

Yeehaw!

I'd call this post a weekend roundup except it's Tuesday.
Do we say Tuesday is part of the weekend now?

If you're retired you do.

Anyway, happy birthday to the hubs! This picture is from last year back when you could really celebrate life's milestones. No worrying about masks or hand sanitizer or gatherings of whatever size you wanted. 

Today is still his day though, and while we won't have a houseful like we did last year, won't have any daughters in the house like we did last year, or a fun lake party like we had last year, we'll still mark the occasion with a birthday dinner of his choosing and a homemade dessert. Topped with a candle because that's the law.

We had a fun couple of days this past weekend with shhh...out of town company. I feel like I need to whisper that or at least explain, because people feel free to weigh in on whatever anyone is doing right now. Rest assured we spent pretty much the entire weekend out of doors. 

Our friends haven't been anywhere and we haven't been anywhere so we decided to be nowhere together. They arrived from the Volunteer State late Friday afternoon, and hubs grilled wings on the Big Green Egg, his best batch yet if I do say so myself. We had a charcuterie board to go with and we sat on our deck and fell right back into our old ways of talking and laughing and remembering and it was so so good. 

True story-hubs and I spent nearly every weekend of our first year of married life at their house and we're all still exactly the same. I didn't take a single picture so you'll have to trust me on that. 

Wait. I did take one picture of... guess what? 

The evening sky. 

The weather was supposed to be stormy on Saturday, but the wind blew those clouds right on out of here and weather wise it was one of the most beautiful weekends we've had all summer. We spent the day on the water boating and swimming off the dock and the sun shone and it was Grand. 

Yes, with a capital G. 

I made a pot roast in the crock pot Saturday because I thought we'd have rain but it ended up being the perfect thing. I was able to enjoy the whole day outside without worrying about dinner and I don't know why I don't use my crock pot more in warm weather. Of course we dined al fresco since that's our favorite thing, and also because it's 2020.  

Our friends headed home late Sunday morning then hubs and I boated over to Daughter1's in-laws house to catch up in person, everyone on their own raft. We ended up talking and floating for hours. Summer has been so weird and we were overdue for a full weekend of lake living. 

Also we never tire of talking about all the fun things our grand boys say and do and agreeing on how completely adorable they are and how we're the luckiest of the lucky. 

Speaking of adorable...this little guy is ten whole months old.

He's still chill, still darling and daring and precious, and still 7000+ miles from his Nana. And I know the mancub would love to be here sitting on his Pawpaw's lap today, helping to blow out the birthday candles...

...but a kiss blown from the other side of the world is pretty great too. 

Time Passages

In yesterday's Hodgepodge I asked readers what they were doing five years ago, and decided I'd make that more or less the subject of today's post. When not a lot is going on in your corner of the world you have to reach a little for blog content.

After I asked the question it occurred to me that we've been at this whole Corona mess for five long months (feels like years) so I started wondering what we were doing just prior, and decided to take a peek back at that too.

Five months ago...we were in the first few days of everybody stay home !!! Stay far and away from everybody else in the entire world including your own extended family !!! Now in our house we'd been discussing the virus for a solid two months prior as it hit South Korea hard in January. A friend reminded me yesterday how we'd had a conversation back then, so concerned about my daughter and her family, never imagining we'd be in the same boat just a short time later.

Five months ago hubs and I drove home after spending a long weekend with friends in Florida. Things were open when we headed down, but closed by the time we headed home. The shutdown happened almost overnight. We ate lunch at Chick-fil-a coming back and it was only their first or second day of strictly take out. Of course Chick-fil-a is awesome and handled the upheaval like it was no big deal.

I don't know if anyone imagined in March we'd still be slogging through this insanity five months later, yet here we are. Who's over it?

Five years ago...I wrote a post entitled Retirement Day 187. Currently we are in Retirement Day 2000 so I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. By the way, it's going swimmingly.

Except for the pandemic and the unrest across America and the general nastiness online and the no travel-no-houseguests-no making plans, but other than that it's going swimmingly.

Five years ago we took a fun trip up the East Coast to attend a friend's daughter's wedding.

We drove from New Jersey to Prince Edward Island Canada and thoroughly enjoyed eating our weight in lobster rolls, the staggering beauty of Maine and PEI, and in-person time spent with real life friends.

Also, five years ago I apparently still took pictures with a good camera and not just so-so pictures with a phone.

I would so love to jump in the car and take a road trip somewhere new and pretty and not give a thought to hotel cleanliness, gloving up to pump gas, masking up to get out of the car, or doing math to calculate how many gallons of hand sanitizer we'd need for the journey.

Five years ago we sold our house in New Jersey and spent six weeks living with my mama before heading south. I'm sure she was ready for us to take all our stuff and get on with things, but five years later would give anything to have us back in her house for six weeks.

Six days even.
I haven't seen my mom in person since January.

While we were living with my mom our old and beloved dog died. Five years later her name is still mentioned on a fairly regular basis with an ache in our hearts and smiles on our faces.

NJ winters could easily last into summer, but this photo wasn't actually taken in August. I like it though, and it is five years old. This beautiful pup was something else and when she was gone we said we'd never have another. Letting them go is too hard and we travel too much and have too much company and blah blah blah.

About that same time Daughter1 brought a puppy into her Washington State home and now that puppy is a five year old dock diver living his best life on a Carolina lake. Go figure. And his mama is raising our two favorite boys on the other side of the world, which is something else we didn't see coming five years back.

Five years ago we moved from New Jersey to South Carolina. Not to this house, but to a cozy apartment just across the parking lot from Daughter2's cozy apartment. Those were the days!

Well maybe not really 'the days' because it wasn't a huge amount of space, and we were so anxious and excited to get this house built, but also yes it kind of really was 'the days'. Apartment living meant we didn't have to think about home maintenance and repairs, dock maintenance and repairs, boat maintenance and repairs, catching beavers before they destroy the landscaping, and a host of other assorted bits and bobs that go hand in hand with home ownership.

Then again, there were no early morning lake sunrises where the sky turns pink before your very eyes, no magical light dancing on the water, no boating to dinner, no big porches for napping and reading and enduring this weird season that in 2015 we didn't know was coming, and for that I'm grateful.

Five months may have dragged, but five years have flown.
Time is funny like that.

"The best thing about the future is it comes one day at a time." 

attributed to various speakers...true for us all

Check Engine Light

In other words...welcome to your fifties.

Relax, it's not all bad but there are a few things that catch you by surprise when you hit your fifties, and number one on my list would be how things don't work the way they've always worked. How you go to bed feeling perfectly fine and wake up with some inexplicable ache or pain that in our house are dubbed 'sleep injuries'.

I've written posts about my 20's (here), my 30's (here and here) and my 40's (here), and wanted to hit this current decade before the next rolls in. Barrels in? Eases in? Really hoping it eases in, but since this is 2020 it will probably barrel.

Also, lest anyone's confused, my birthday is NOT today. Carry on.

Once you turn 50 your temple is in need of some significant maintenance, starting with your roots that abruptly and quite rudely need tending all the way down to your mysteriously aching feet. The bigger thing though is there's this thought that niggles at the back of your mind, slowly making its way forward and you kind of scratch your head and think, wait, what? I'm not old. Am I? You have to admit you're not exactly young either, and you need to make peace with that.

It's a process and I bucked and kicked a little at the start. It took me a couple or four years to find my rhythm with this new age, new season, new me that's still the old me inside but definitely not the old me in the mirror, at the eye doctor, or the gym, the salon, the dermatologist or a host of other places.

We're always being told you can do anything, be anything, it's never too late....but when you hit your 50s you know that's not quite true. Yes you can, and I think should, step out of your comfort zone at any age, learn something new, be bold and be brave, but also there's your back to think about and how you like going to bed at a decent hour and why can't I remember a person's name when I only met them five minutes ago?

In writing these decade posts it's been interesting to look back and see what all transpired in the course of ten years. I started my 50's with the most fabulous fun surprise weekend in one of my favorite cities on the planet-New York.  I wrote about it here so won't rehash that now, although I wouldn't mind reliving it in person one day.

When everyone calms down I mean.

At the start of my new decade we were living in the wilds of Northern NJ, a hop skip and jump from the Big Apple. One daughter was a very recent college grad embarking on a career path, and one daughter was still a college student. Nothing makes me realize a decade's come and gone in a flash more so than reading back that last sentence.

I loved my girls college years, their friends, having them at home for breaks, long talks in the kitchen as we cooked holiday meals together, maybe not so much the moving them forty gajillion times in ridiculous heat and suffocating humidity, but those years were awfully sweet in terms of watching them become full fledged adults.

While in my 50's our extended family experienced the devastating loss of one we held so dear and it marked these years in a way very few things can. I was reminded over and over during this decade that God truly is near to the broken hearted.

Time has a way of steam rolling ahead. My girls finished school, one added a Master's Degree to her resume and one married, birthed two babies, moved to the other side of the world.

We retired relatively young, and I say we because even though hubs was the one who retired on paper,  we're a team and we both had to figure out what our new everyday would look like. Also, we moved south and built a house which wasn't aggravating or stressful at all. Ha!

I've traveled a lot in my 50's, made lots of new friends, still treasure the old who knew-me-when, and drum roll...I was given the best title in the world-Nana. Be still my heart.

And now it looks like I'll be rolling in to the next decade during a pandemic.
With a side of crazy because people have lost their ever lovin' minds.

As the decade winds down I can say I've grown accustomed to the new old me. Some days there's still a level of frustration at not being able to jump high and fly fast because in my head I can still jump high and fly fast, but mostly I like knowing God isn't finished with me. That He gives me new mercies every single day, more chances to be a better wife-mother-sister-daughter-friend than I was the day before.

I drop that ball a lot, but I keep picking it up, re-planting my feet forward. If there's anything I've acknowledged in my 50's its that time is fleeting and you never get it back.

So I rage against time, not with botox and plastic surgery, but with grace and forgiveness for others yes, but also for myself because that's where true contentment is born.

I wake up every morning and before my aching feet hit the floor I sing to myself an old camp song...'this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it...'  Some days the WILL! has to be capitalized and exclaimation pointed, but in this season I know with a certainty I haven't felt since my 20's, that how you view your life is a choice. I choose joy.

I want to be grateful for the gift of each new day and for the long list of things I love starting with my hubs who has retained his boyish charm, my beautiful daughters who are solid in their faith, their compassion, and their integrity, granchildren who light up every corner of my heart, and the beauty of creation right outside my window.

The proverbial 'they' say 60 is the new 40 and since I absolutely loved my 40's I'm saying cheers to this next new decade looming large in my front window.

Three

Dear Mancub,

Today you are three.

And of all the three year olds in all the world you're my favorite.

I was looking back at my post from one year ago today and my oh my but the world has done some shifting and changing and groaning and grieving. It's a pandemic year, an election year, and a chaotic year in so very many ways yet there you are, spreading all kinds of sunshine and happiness from seven million miles away.

Okay, but it might as well be seven million.

We are grateful every single day for the miracle of technology that allows us to watch you work and play, to hear the sweetness of your voice, and to feel all the feels we hold in our heart bubble right on up and over because you're ours.

And you're remarkable.

Smart and tender.

A little bit o' Momma, a little bit Dad, and the rest all extraordinary you.

Two parts curiosity, one part mischief.

Always happy to see us and now old enough to understand you miss us.

We miss you too darling boy, more than words can say.

You love throwing the football with Daddy and baking with Mommy. Helicopters, trains, kids, the splash pad, Mickey Mouse, new words, big words, vacuuming, and baby brother, not necessarily in that order, but every once in a while in that order. teehee.

This year you became a big brother and speaking as one of four children myself I can tell you that with every candle added to your cake you will become exponentially more grateful for the gift of siblings. Little guy watches you with awe and wonder and you make him laugh from his belly. You are growing a friendship whose roots go deep and will last a lifetime.

You were born into a family of readers and you love your books.

You're a charmer and comedian. A mover and a shaker who loves to throw and catch-run and jump-ride and climb. You eat and sleep like a teenager but still snuggle onto Momma's lap because mothers love us like no other and you were gifted the best of the best.

We love watching you learn and grow and love your people, and know we're the luckiest grandparents in the world to call you ours.

Happy birthday mancub. You are so very precious and your Nana/Didi loves you deep and wide.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He makes straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 

Hodgepodge Sweetness

We are rolling right along through summmer and the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge...if you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then go say howdy to your neighbor. That's what keeps the wheels a-turning.

1. The sweetness of summer...where have you found it recently? If you're in the Southern hemisphere, feel free to find some sweetness in your winter.

Well I've written three posts (so far) about summertime sweetness which you can read here, here, and here. In a nutshell though I'm finding sweetness in the beauty of nature and my adorable grandsons. 

I 'borrowed' these pics from my Daughter1. Sweet! 

2. Take your sweet time, sweet tooth, home sweet home, short but sweet, the sweet smell of success, sweet talk...choose a sweet idiom and tell us how it fits your life currently?

It's 2020, right? Then home sweet home it is. 

3. Sweet as honey, sweet as sugar, or sweet as pie, which phrase do you use when a sweet phrase is called for? What's the last sweet treat you indulged in?

Of the three phrases listed I think I tend to say sweet as pie. As far as sweet treats go, my sister and brother-in-law were here for an outdoor brunch on Saturday and my brother-in-law celebrated a birthday a few days earlier. Daughter2 wanted to bake him something, and since it was breakfast she opted for coffee cake. 

My brother-in-law likes carrot cake so she made a scrumptious carrot coffee cake with a cream cheese glaze. The best part of the cake though, was the topping under the glaze,  a buttery streusel. Yum! Sadly I did not take a picture, but you can find the recipe here. 

4. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word fidget?

Church? I kind of remember my parents whispering down the pew for us to 'stop fidgeting'. I might still fidget a little in a church pew. I mean if we were actually having church in church instead of online, then you might find me fidgeting. Church from my couch not so much. 

5. Share with us one of your favorite childhood travel memories.

I have quite a few, so it's hard to choose just one. We did not travel the way people travel now. Travel was a treat and not a regular occurrence, which is perhaps part of what makes those trips memorable. 

One of my favorites was a road trip from our home in the Garden State all the way to East Tennessee.  We were dropping my sister off at uni and visiting colleges along the way too as my brother was starting his Junior year of high school. 

I guess I must have been almost 11 and my younger sister was almost 10. We didn't book hotels ahead of time, and we kids begged my dad to stop at various lodgings based solely on the look of their pool. I think he mostly obliged. 

It was also my very first trip to the Smokies, Gatlinburg, and a place some seven years later I'd call my home. In fact I'd marry me a Tennessee boy, but of course nobody had any inkling of that back then. Back then we were all about a hotel with a great pool. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

People are so creative...did you see this story of the 14-year old girl from Libertyville IL who has done chalk drawings featuring her 9- year old little brother every day during quarantine. So clever!! You'll find the link here. 

Hodgepodge Secrets

First things first, happy birthday to my mama! I wrote a celebratory post earlier in honor of her big day, which you'll find in the link here. Now for the Hodgepodge...if you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger linking before you. Here we go-

1. The Hodgepodge lands this year on National Secret Keeping Day...on a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being I'm a blabbermouth and 10 being I'm a vault) how good are you at keeping secrets?

I read here nine jobs for people who can keep a secret-cybersecurity worker, executive assistant, housekeeper, lawyer, nuclear plant technician, physician, private investigator, psychologist, security guard  Of the jobs listed, which one most interests you and why?

I think I'm pretty good at keeping a secret, particularly if it's related to something serious in nature. Giving myself a 9 because I'm not sure I've never accidentally spilled something I shouldn't have. 

As for the jobs listed I'm intrigued by the private investigator, but far too chicken to actually try it. I'll say psychologist since I'm a mom and I've also worked as a kindergarten teacher, speech pathologist, and school director, all roles requiring a bit of psychology. 

Plus hubs says I like to analyze him-ha! 

2. What's the secret of life (or one of them anyway)?

I think Solomon summed it up best...'Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your path straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

3. Off the record, best-kept secret, a fly on the wall, top secret, my lips are sealed, secret shopper, as quiet as a mouse, poker face, spill the beans, open secret, bite your tongue...which secret idiom can you best relate to right now? Explain.

When to speak and when to bite your tongue...a real dilemma in the year 2020. 

4. Spill here the secret ingredient in one of your favorite recipes?

Since it's my mama's birthday and she's both a fabulous baker and a serious chocolate lover I'll say her chocolate cake, the one with coca cola in the mix and also cooked into the fudgy icing. So yummy! 

5. Speaking of my mom...she celebrates a birthday today and she reads my blog.  Share a favorite quote, song lyric, saying, or verse of scripture that will add some sunshine to her day (ours too!)

'Mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.' Emily Dickinson 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Was this really just last year? 

Little man says yes indeed. 

And where's the party this year?

The Gift Of A Mother

If you're here for the Hodgepodge you'll find that post by clicking here. 

Today my mother celebrates a milestone birthday. Except because of you know what she's in New Jersey and I'm in South Carolina many many miles away. Boo.

But!! One of the many wonderful things about mothers is they're always close in heart. She'll be well celebrated by my sibs who live nearby, but since she loves to read my blog it seems only right I add something here too.

Without mentioning her actual age (she would not like that at all) here's a list of oh, let's just pick a random number...say 90 things I know-love-appreciate about my mom.

1. she was raised in New Mexico
2. but there's a little bit o' Jersey in her too
3. she's smart
4. still a beauty
5. with a great smile 
6. she loves Jesus
7. taught us to love Him too
8. she took us to church
9. said grace before meals
10. studied her Bible
11. studies it still 
12. knows scripture from memory 
13. loves books
14. especially mysteries
15. and novels set in England
16. she read to us when we were small 
17. and also when we were too big for her lap
18. she's a little bit shy
19. loves words 
20. is an excellent cook
21. taught us all to cook
22. baked Christmas cookies by the hundreds
23. tells a plant to grow and it does 
24. presses a tablecloth to perfection
25. cut out all the paperdoll clothes without snipping off any of the tabs
26. bought a dress for my favorite doll every Christmas
27. bought dresses for my real life daughters every Christmas 
28. brushed out all my tangles
29. listened to all my worries
30. listens to them still
31. prayed for me
32. prays for me still 
33. raised four children
34. is Mema extraordinaire to four grands
35. great-gran to my daughter's darling boys
36. was a caring sister
37. a loving daughter
38. a devoted military wife
39. moved like a boss umpteen times
40. learned to sew
41. do needlework
42. has an artists' eye
43. arranges flowers like a pro
44. started a church library
45. taught Sunday School to young married couples
46. could speak Spanish
47. volunteered in lots of ways
48. kept a super clean house
49. manages a large home still
50. makes the best pan of enchiladas anywhere
51. was a librarian
52. is a good neighbor
53. loves to shop
54. has great style 
55. a perfect complexion
56. she collects angels
57. loves chocolate
58. eating out
59. traveling
60. she set a good example
61. rocked my babies
62. never didn't have time to drop everything and play pretend
63. loved my little girls with all her heart
64. still loves my girls with all her heart 
65. has trouble saying no to my girls
66. really has trouble saying no to my nephew, her only grandson
67. she cried when our dog died
68. solves difficult crossword puzzles
69. is independent
70. determined
71. capable
72. generous
73. loves a cup of tea
74. pretty teapots too
75. ties beautiful bows
76. always did Christmas up big
77. chooses gifts with tender loving care
78. wraps gifts with that same care
79. hung tinsel one single strand at a time
80. sent us to camp
81. loves games
82. hates to lose at games 
83. still plays in her neighborhood bridge club
84. made me feel safe 
85. is always happy to see me
86. talk to me
87. spend time with me
88. is loved beyond measure
89. a part of myself
90. her children call her blessed

...and feel grateful to have grown up and older with a mother like ours.

Happy birthday Mom! We all love you BIG xo