Three Cheers For The Hodgepodge

Welcome to July and to our weekly 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. What do you love most about your country? 

Her resilience, her optimism, her beauty, and maybe most of all her hard fought freedoms. 

2. Your favorite patriotic song? 

America The Beautiful

3. Red, white, or blue? Stars or stripes? Something you own besides a US flag with some combination of those colors or decorations as part of its design? 

I like red, white, and blue alone, two of them together in some combination, or all three together. My favorite I guess is blue, but it depends what we're talking about. I like striped tops, striped fabric, striped umbrellas, candy canes, and the Clemson tigers : ) I like stars in the night sky. 

Something besides a flag with those colors or decorations? I have a patio pillow that fits the description-

4. What's one thing you want more of this summer: fun, rest, adventure, connection, quiet, or confidence? Elaborate. 

While they all appeal to some degree, I'm going to choose connection. I want to be intentional about reaching out. I want quality time with the people I care about. I want deep conversations, shared meals and conversations, and memories made with friends and family. 

5. What was your ultimate, go-to summer activity when you were a kid? Do you still do any version of that today? If you answered yes, does participating in this activity as an adult make you feel like a kid?  

Definitely swimming, and yes I still swim and I still love it. In some ways it can make me feel like a kid. Diving into deep water and swimming across a pool without coming up for air definitely takes me back to my childhood. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Have a safe and happy 4th everyone! 

Sum-Sum-Summertime Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Grab your shades and your pool noodle and jump on in! Be sure to add your link at the end of my post, and don't forget to leave a comment for your neighbors there. Here we go-

1. Summer's here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? 

What do I love most about summer? 

Evening daylight that stretches past 8 PM, then turns a golden hue which somehow makes you feel like anything is possible. 

My biggest pet peeve? 

I dislike being hit in the face with 100% humidity when I open the door at 6 AM. I like cooler (or at least reasonable) temps in the morning and want the day to warm up gradually. That doesn't usually happen in in the summers here.  

2. What song always reminds you of summer? 

I have a whole summer playlist of favorites but beach music tops the list. If I hear beach music I think summer and one of my favorites is Summertime's Calling Me by The Catalinas. We all love that song in our house. 

There's a lot of country music on my summer playlist. Kenny Chesney's Anything But Mine is probably my favorite song of his and definitely a summer favorite. 

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. 

There were all the simple pleasures of childhood like riding our bikes to the swim club, big games of neighborhood hide and seek, chasing fireflies in our backyard, homemade ice cream, family picnics with family friends, Barbies with my sister under the big tree out back, etc. 

Mostly though, when I think of childhood summers, I remember less the specific moments and more the feeling of freedom that surrounded them. The idea that there was nowhere I needed to be, and the way time felt so spacious and carefree. That carefree feeling is linked to childhood in my mind, and somehow I think we as children sensed it and so we savored it all the more. 

That's me in the yellow top and the blue keds with my two best friends coloring on our porch on a sunny summer day. I can feel the freedom from here. 

Do kids get to enjoy summer the way I did as a child? 

I think so, if parents help make it so. I see my grandchildren enjoying a carefree summer in much the same way I did. They spend their days outside, swimming, playing games in their backyard, riding bikes, staying up a little later than normal and enjoying family time and time with their friends. They're not carrying adult sized problems and worrying about much more than being a kid. 

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. 

My sisters and I were always told we favored my dad in looks, while my brother looked more like our mom.  I think we're all four a combination of both parents. 

If I had to describe my dad in a single word it would be solid.  He was a hard worker, a man of deep faith, someone who lived with integrity. While he wasn't a big talker we all knew we were loved and we could count on him. 

I think I wanted that same quality in a husband and I have it. My hubs is solid. And so are my sons-in-law. They're all excellent providers, strong in the ways that count, faithful, and they love their families well. 

My hubs is not a man of few words though lol. I'm glad. 

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

• flip flops or sandals~sandals
• beach or pool~beach
• watermelon or peaches~watermelon
• shorts or sundress~shorts
• iced coffee or ice cold lemonade~lemonade
• amusement park or water park~water park for sure...this is the only question I didn't want to answer with 'both' 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

This post is a lot of words and almost no pictures. Grands are in the house this week and I'm enjoying having our tiny cousin crew all together.  

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 643

Here are the questions to the first Hodgepodge in the merry month of March. 

Actually I think it's May that's merry and March is something else, but it's always merry in the Hodgepodge, right? Answer this week's questions on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (March 4th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1.  As the saying goes, 'March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.' Did your March come in roaring or like some other animal? Every month carries with it certain feelings, which is why some people love and anticipate December and others dread it. How do you feel about the month of March? 

2. Where in your life are you a lion? Where are you a lamb? 

3. The Hodgepodge lands on National Pound Cake day. Do you like pound cake? If so do you have a favorite flavor? Let's play this or that-

• pound cake or layer cake?
• pound cake or cheesecake?
• pound cake or angel food cake?
• pound cake or brownie?
• pound cake or pie?

4. What makes you feel childlike wonder right now? 

5. What's one thing you need to add to your wardrobe to get ready for spring? If you're in the southern hemisphere, then answer for fall? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

An Icy 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, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. 

A quick word about comments-

I leave the link up for the week and if you have a chance, it's nice to visit some of the bloggers who come late to the party. Comments keep the hop hopping : ) 

1. I live in the south so we're pretty much only talking about the weather right now. Give us a weather report from where you live. Does the kind of weather you're having today affect your mood in some way?

We woke up to ice ice baby on Sunday morning. A mess, but perhaps not quite as big a mess as predicted because we also woke up to power-yay! The ice continued the whole ding dong day, yet our power held on until sometime around 1 AM when out she went. No power all day Monday, but thankfully all was restored around dinnertime.  

Does this sort of weather affect my mood? Eh, not so long as it doesn't last until May (north Jersey I'm looking at you). A fluffy snowfall actually puts me in a good mood. A driveway that looks like a skating rink not so much. We had nowhere to be this weekend or Monday for that matter, and hubs and I agreed it was kind of nice to have a quiet cozy day at home. I read two books, we kept the fireplace running off and on, I'd cooked ahead so we reheated food, plus I had a really nice nap on Monday afternoon. 

Sometimes I think the weather is God's way of saying slow down lady. 

2.  Avocados, kale, cauliflower and cottage cheese have all had their time to shine. 2026 brings us the year of the cabbage. Is this a vegetable you like? If so, what are some of your favorite dishes that call for cabbage?  

I do like cabbage, but it's one of those vegetables I don't always think about buying. I love cole slaw, roasted cabbage, and cabbage as an ingredient in soup.  I like slaw of some sort on a fish taco and I like to make cabbage with smoked sausage.  I'm sure I'd like a cabbage roll too, but haven't had one in a long time. 

3. Was a Cabbage Patch Doll a part of your childhood? Or maybe your children's childhood? What's a toy trend from your childhood you remember wanting for your own? 

Cabbage Patch Dolls were big in my girl's growing up years and they each had a doll. Eldora Charmaine and Judith Eloise. They came with names and birth certificates. I still have them and will give them to my granddaughters maybe even this year. 

One of our favorite old home movies to watch is from the birthday where daughter2 was given her Cabbage Patch doll named Judith. This gift sent daughter1 into a complete tailspin and she attempted to negotiate with her little sister like a boss because she wanted to get her hands on that doll so so badly. Daughter2 basically carried the doll around in a football hold and this made her older sister panicky.  It's so precious to remember. I'm sure they are smiling as they read this. 

I don't remember people going crazy when I was a kid, as in lining up at midnight to get the latest thing. That was my generation of parents, although it was never me. I suppose online shopping has mostly put a stop to that insanity. 

I do remember when I was six years old wanting a budding beauty vanity and getting that very thing one Christmas. Made me so happy, but I don't think it was a trend. Just something I saw, probably in a catalog.  It had a little stool and a mirror and I think it might have come with some play makeup.  

4. Something you've spent a lot of time doing lately? 

Playing Mah Jong. I'm the contact person for our neighborhood group and we wanted to recruit some new players to grow our pool so to speak. I put an announcement on our neighborhood facebook page, and turns out everyone in the neighborhood wants to learn to play lol. 

Myself, plus a couple of other women, have been teaching a few times a week, and it's been a lot of fun. It will be really fun when everyone gets up to speed and can play without help.

5. Somehow it's the last week of January...sum up your month in just three sentences. 

Bye January.

I feel like you just got here. 

You provided a gentle start to the new year which is how I like it. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

A neighbor gifted me an Amaryllis in December and she's a beauty...

Have a nice week everyone~

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 638

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then skate back here on Wednesday (January 28th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. I live in the south so we're pretty much only talking about the weather right now. Give us a weather report from where you live. Does the kind of weather you're having today affect your mood in some way? 

2.  Avocados, kale, cauliflower and cottage cheese have all had their time to shine. 2026 brings us the year of the cabbage. Is this a vegetable you like? If so, what are some of your favorite dishes that call for cabbage?  

3. Was a Cabbage Patch Doll a part of your childhood? Or maybe your children's childhood? What's a toy trend from your childhood you remember wanting for your own? 

4. Something you've spent a lot of time doing lately? 

5. Somehow it's the last week of January...sum up your month in just three sentences. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Monthly Musings-December

Hello friends and happy Thursday. Joining Holly (Pink Lady) and Patty (Good Better Best)  for their Monthly Musings link up today, and mixing in some of our holiday home decor just because. Here are the prompts-

1. What holidays do you celebrate? 

In December-Advent, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. I'm not sure Advent counts as a holiday, but it is an important part of the season for me.

2. Scale of 1-10, how into the holidays are you this year? Be honest. 

I'm an eight. I'm excited to have my girls and their families all together this weekend. It's the 'in-law' year so we're having a little family Christmas here on Saturday. When your kids are grown and married and have children of their own, and those in-law children are also close to their families, well...some flexing and adjustment of your expectations as to how Christmas looks absolutely needs to happen. 

Not gonna lie-it may not happen year one, but we're ten years in now and it's all good. Different can still be wonderful. 

Firstly, I love that my girls have in-laws who love them and their children. That is no small thing. Plus hubs and I have spent our entire married life alternating Christmas between our two families due to geography, so we know the drill. I've told my girls if we can manage a get together sometime in December on the 'off' years then we'll make that happen. Personally I don't want to celebrate in January. My mindset shifts to quiet, low-key, and hey let's not eat cookies every night in January, so if we're going to celebrate Christmas together it needs to be December. 

3. Favorite things to make/bake during the holidays? 

I love to bake cookies, but haven't done very many this year. Both my girls bake and will bring their creations here so we'll have plenty. I always make cranberry bread too, and chex mix both the sweet and savory.  

4. Favorite holiday movies? 

I'm not big on the Hallmark movies, but I like most of what we think of as the traditional holiday films. White Christmas, The Holiday, Elf,  Love Actually, and The Christmas Story are all watched here. 

5. Most random holiday tradition?

A picture on the steps first thing Christmas morning, before coming in to the room where stockings have been filled and more presents added under the tree. It was torture when I was a kid, and I think my girls will say the same. Now their children have a picture taken on the stairs so yay for tradition! 

6. Are you hosting for the holidays? New Year's Eve or New Year's Day? 

We're hosting our kids and grandkids this weekend, and then will be with my extended family on Christmas Day which I'm also looking forward to. We haven't thought about the New Year celebration at all. We may have friends in impromptu, or it might just be us? We're okay with low key on the last day of the year. 

7. Favorite way to ring in the New Year? 

I'm not a night owl, but I do try to be awake when the clock strikes twelve to mark the start of a new year. #goals lol. 

Is just being awake considered ringing in the new year? 

Some years we're with friends, some years friends are here, some years it's just me and the hubs and I'm good with any of those. I don't like to be on the road on New Year's Eve. 

8. Any new year's resolutions or word of the year? 

There will be some goals set and many years I do have a word. This year mine was anchor and I'll write more about how that looks in hindsight after Christmas. I haven't given a lot of thought to the new year/new word yet and honestly I typically don't get it in gear in this department until about January 7th so stay tuned. 

9. Favorite holiday songs? 

The traditional hymns and carols from my childhood are still my favorite...

                '...a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices...' 

                '...God is not dead nor doth he sleep...'

                '...the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonite...' 

10. Favorite holiday memory? 

I could never choose just one. What I treasure most from my own childhood is the warmth and love I felt from my family and for my family on Christmas day. Those feelings bubble up every year and I feel so much gratitude for the people who grew me up. My momma made it all pure magic. 

A Holiday Hodgepodge

Welcome to December and to the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a merry comment for your neighbor there. Here we go...

1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)

I think it's related to the sense of excitement and anticipation we feel this time of year. It's wanting to go the extra mile in terms of generosity and kindness. It's purposely slowing down to count my blessings in the midst of all the hustle and bustle. 

Some years that holiday spirit is hard to find, but this year I'm going to say mine is at a 7. There's so much to love and look forward to, but there's also a lot to do. 

2. What's your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why. 

Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch has always been a favorite. Hubs and I watched Home Alone the other night, and how can you not love Kevin McAllister? 

I love Linus from A Charlie Brown Christmas, the friend who finds the good in the scrappy tree and who when Charlie asks 'Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?' replies by reciting Jesus birth as recounted in the book of Luke. 

Linus, who carries his security blanket everywhere, drops it when he gets to the part that reads 'Fear not; for behold I bring you tidings of great joy". This little cartoon that first aired sixty years ago is still so powerful, so sweet, so loved. 

3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? 

I do like gingerbread. I don't think it was a favorite growing up, but I love it now. 

We have done gingerbread houses from time to time. That activity isn't on the calendar this year. 

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?

sprinkles-lightning bugs-soda-sneakers-subs unless what I'm eating is an actual hoagie (iykyk)-highway- icing-sauce if we're talking pasta, but gravy if we're talking meat and potatoes 

5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. 

The season didn't start until December and I think it was definitely simpler. Most people had just one tree, and we'd go to the local nursery to choose ours. It didn't go up until closer to Christmas and we all helped with the decorating. 

There was a lot of cookie baking done beside my mom in the month of December. 

The feeling of anticipation on Christmas morning. My sister and I (we shared a room) waking up super early and the excitement we felt as we lay in our beds talking while waiting for the street lights to go off so we could wake up my parents. That was the rule-no getting up while the street lights were still on. 

Then sitting on the steps with my brother and sisters as we waited some more for my dad to start the fire in the fireplace, make the coffee, and take our picture. Finally walking in to the living room and seeing all the beautifully wrapped gifts and my stocking in 'my chair'. So many surprises...I rarely knew what I'd be getting. 

I had a doll I loved and every year my mom would take her from my room after I'd gone to sleep on Christmas Eve, and dress her in a new outfit. She'd be sitting beside my stocking when I came down on Christmas morning.

My mama made Christmas morning so magical. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.  

It wouldn't officially be the Christmas season without me posting this song on my blog. This carol wasn't a particular favorite of mine as a child, but it has become a favorite in my adult years. The lyrics are so meaningful, so very relevant to the world in which we live...

'and in despair I bowed my head, There is no peace on earth I said, For hate is strong and mocks the song, Of peace on earth, good will to men...'

The story behind this particular song is a good one (you can read it here), and this Casting Crowns version is absolutely beautiful-

'Then rang the bells, more loud and deep, God is not dead nor doth He sleep, The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men...'

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 631

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (December 3rd) to share answers. See you there!

1. What does it mean to have the 'holiday spirit'? On a scale of 1-10 how is yours this year? (10=off the charts, 1=still looking for it)

2. What's your favorite character from a (December) holiday-themed movie, book, or TV special? Tell us why. 

3. Do you like gingerbread? Are gingerbread houses part of your holiday tradition? 

4. Much of our vocabulary is determined by where we live or where we grew up. What say you-

sprinkles or jimmies? lightning bugs or fireflies? soda or pop? sneakers, trainers, or tennis shoes? sub, hoagie, grinder, or hero? freeway, highway, or motorway? frosting or icing? sauce or gravy?

5. Share a favorite holiday memory from your childhood. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.  

Monthly Musings-November

'Twas the week before Thanksgiving... 

Time for November's monthly musings hosted by Holly (Pink Lady) and Patty (Good Better Best Life). They're asking this month's questions a week earlier than normal because next week we'll be giving thanks around the table for all our many blessings. 

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It feels like it can be enjoyed for what it is as opposed to what we'd like it to be, which sometimes happens with Christmas. Family, food, and gratitude rule the day, and I for one am thankful for the pause this day brings before December bells start ringing. I'm going to throw in a few Thanksgiving throwbacks here too just because I can. 

How many times can I post this picture on my blog? 

Many it seems, but I love it. 

1. Favorite Thanksgiving dishes? 

In my opinion Thanksgiving is one of those meals that should not be messed with or changed too much from year to year in any big way. It's comforting familiarity is one of the things that makes it special and I want the same tastes and aromas that have filled this day for as long as I can remember. 

My favorite dishes are all of them, but dressing is tops, there must be cranberry sauce, homemade or canned either one, or better yet both, and my momma's fruit salad with homemade whipped cream on the dessert table. 

2. Stuffing or dressing? 

I sometimes call it stuffing, but I don't actually stuff the turkey. My mom used to stuff the turkey and have a separate dish of dressing on the side so we used the terms interchangeably. We have cornbread stuffing made with cornbread baked the night before so it dries out a little, a bag of Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix added to it along with turkey stock and lots of onion, celery, and seasonings. 

3. Are you hosting any of the holidays this year? Please share any tips. 

I'm not hosting this year, although we will have an early Christmas here with our girls and their families the weekend prior to Christmas. My tips for hosting are pretty simple-

• make ahead what you can make ahead
• people want your presence more than a perfect meal, home, or place setting. 
• take time to look around the table, whether there are two or twenty seated there, and count your blessings 

4. Turkey trot or football game? 

I'm going with football game and by that I mean watching, not playing. I enjoy spending the whole morning in the kitchen as we tend to eat late afternoon, so a turkey trot messes with my meal prep.

Also, I don't like to run and I don't like to be cold so there's that. 

5. If you decorate for Christmas do you decorate before or after Thanksgiving? 

Team after all the way. 

6. Are your holidays sit down meals or more casual affairs? 

Ours are sit down. I like to use my china on Thanksgiving and my Christmas dishes in December and fancy napkins and pretty glasses and the gravy boat and big platter that only come out for holidays.

If I'm invited to your house for a meal you do you. I actually like a casual get together if we're talking parties, but for the dinners themselves, both Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, at my house I want sit down. 

7. Pumpkin or apple pie? Or another dessert? 

My daughter is making an apple pie this year and I like it better than pumpkin so am good with that. Growing up we always had a simple fruit salad as a dessert option too, topped with whipped cream. Lots of years I'd skip the pie and just have fruit. 

The meal is filling and sometimes a bowl of fruit is just the right thing. The salad is made with chopped apples, chopped oranges, and halved and pitted purple grapes, all topped with a can of crushed pineapple. It doesn't sound like much, but it's refreshing and delicious. 

8. Are you traveling for Thanksgiving or staying closer to home?

Staying closer to home this year. 

9. Do you Black Friday shop? 

In person? No never. Online? Maybe. I mean Black Friday has turned into a whole month now hasn't it, and most places offer deals for more than just a day. I'm not mad about it. 

10. Thing you are most looking forward to this holiday season? 

Time spent with family, both my family of origin and the one I birthed. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 

A Caramel Colored 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. We've had some new bloggers participating in recent weeks, so be sure you visit your neighbor on the list and leave a comment. That's what keeps the blog world spinnin'! Here we go-

1. 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' How does this saying ring true in your own family, either the one you grew up in or the one you made? 

The saying rings pretty true both directions here. I'm a lot like my momma, and I see myself in my girls too. They're each uniquely their own person of course, but we're also alike in many ways. 

We've always said Daughter2 is my mini because she looks so much like me, but it's more than that. I wrote a post (linked here-And The Seasons They Go Round and Round) on her 30th birthday about some of the other ways we're similar. 

I wrote about my own momma too (linked here-One Of These Things Is A Lot Like The Other). 

Hmmm...I guess daughter1 never got a post of her own in this department, so I'm going to think about that and write one soon. I've always said she's a lot like me only better...softer, gentler, wiser, and definitely more coordinated-ha! 

2. Something you're nuts about these days? How about something that's driving you nuts? 

I'll reverse the questions and say what bugs first. I could write a long list of things relating to our current political climate, but let's go with people texting, face timing, or in general driving distracted.  

Something I'm nuts about these days? The weather for one. 

October skies might be my favorite and the temperature has been just right too. I love nature's gem tones and this is their season to shine. 

3. What does abundance mean to you? 

As a christian this term makes me think of the goodness of God. I love the lyrics to the song Reckless Love by Cory Asbury. '....Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99, I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still..You give yourself away... Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God...'

Here's a link to the whole song if you'd like to listen-Reckless Love 

4. Caramel apple-caramel cake-caramel corn-caramel sundae-caramel macchiatto...what's your caramel treat of choice? 

I prefer an apple dipped in caramel rather than an apple on a stick. I feel like I might lose a filling with that one. I like a bite of a caramel cake, but the icing is usually a little too sweet for me so I don't need a whole piece. I don't like flavored coffee drinks and while a sundae would be good I'm going with caramel corn. I love the mix you can buy that has half caramel corn and half cheese popcorn. The salty sweet combo is so good! 

5. What's a childhood memory that always comes to mind as the leaves start to fall? 

I'm not sure there's one single memory, but more of a feeling I have when the leaves begin to turn. I think you'd call it nostalgia. When fall rolls around I think of back to school days, my dad raking piles of leaves in the yard, trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, and my favorite holiday-Thanksgiving. 

6. Insert. your own random thought here. 

Our camellia is loaded with blooms and so pretty...

Happy Wednesday everyone! 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 623

Here are the questions to the mid-week Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here Wednesday (October 8th) to add your link to the party. See you there!  

1. 'The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.' How does this saying ring true in your own family, either the one you grew up in or the one you made? 

2. Something you're nuts about these days? How about something that's driving you nuts? 

3. What does abundance mean to you? 

4. Caramel apple-caramel cake-caramel corn-caramel sundae-caramel macchiatto...what's your caramel treat of choice? 

5. What's a childhood memory that always comes to mind as the leaves start to fall? 

6. Insert. your own random thought here. 

The Carousel of Time

It's a birthday palooza round here in September, and tomorrow is my Daughter2's special day. Years ago she told me reading my blog on her birthday was one of her favorite parts of the day, so I keep on keeping on. 

Because I host the Hodgepodge on Wednesdays I'm posting a day early this year.  I feel all the feels this whole week anyway, so the day before is definitely allowed. 

Sixteen years of blogging for her birthday means one has to get a little bit creative, so here we go. 

Hey moms still in the trenches...

I want you to know that one of the quiet joys of later life is discovering the unexpected gifts grown daughters bring. These once-tiny beauties who held my hand have become women of real wisdom.

Like so much in parenting, the shift happens gradually—so naturally you don’t notice it, until one day you do. The ones you once nurtured, taught and guided begin offering guidance in return. They grow into thoughtful companions, and surprise you with insights that catch you off guard. Suddenly, you're seeking their opinion.

They see the world through a different lens—not just because they're of another generation, but also because they've built a perspective in life that's all their own. It's remarkable how much of yourself you recognize in them still… and even more remarkable how far beyond you they've grown. Still their mother’s daughter, yet wholly their own. 

There's a quote I read (author unknown) that says this-

'Raising them was the work of my heart...knowing them now is the reward.' 

Happy birthday Daughter2! One day I hope you read these words as you write your own birthday message to your now tiny beauty who will have grown into a woman you adore and learn from too.

I love my front row seat to the extraordinary woman you've become, and pray you're blessed beyond measure in the year ahead, and all the ones after too. 

xoxo Momma 

Linking today with Joanne and her Talking About It Tuesday blog hop. 

September Hodgepodging

Welcome to September and 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. Next Sunday is Grandparent's Day. Share a favorite memory, photo, recipe, or something you learned from a grandparent. 

We've had a busy August so I'm trying to catch up now on some of the business of life that gets set aside when you have houseguests coming and going. Let's just go with one of my favorite pictures here for now-

My precious grandmother, known as GiGi to her grandgirls (it stands for great-grandma), but she was Grandma to me. Here she is with my daughter2 and the sweetness of this photo can make me cry.

We lived with her when I was a year old and my dad was overseas and my mama had an 8 year old, a 6-year old, me, and my baby sister who got off to a rocky start in life. I spent a lot of time with my grandma and loved her so much. 

I'm so thankful my girls got to know her and I had her in my life well into my adult years. I'm thankful for her wisdom, her prayers, her made from scratch dinner rolls, and her love. 

2. What's a quote from a book (besides The Bible) that has stayed with you? 

I could write a book with quotes I love from books I've read, and how do you choose an answer here? Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors so I'm going with one of his-

"I could bear the memory, but I could not bear the music that made the memory such a killing thing." Pat Conroy in Beach Music

3. What's your number one food pet peeve? 

Someone talking with food in their mouth. 

4. What's one thing about you that is still the same as it was when you were young? 

I still love books, walking barefoot, sweet treats, and a full table with family and friends gathered round. I'm still an optimist, and it takes a lot to make me angry. 

5. September is National Preparedness Month...does your family have an emergency plan? Do you have some sort of preparedness kit you keep on hand? If so, tell us one thing that's kept there. 

We do not currently have an official emergency plan, but we are also not totally unprepared for an emergency. We've had plans in the past, mostly when the girls were single and we were all living in different parts of the country, but circumstances change and we don't have a firm plan in place in this house. 

It's become something we all laugh about (except me because I'm serious about this sort of thing), but my girls will tell you I give them some sort of emergency preparedness gift every Christmas. Everything from weather radios and fire starters to an earthquake evacuation kit for Daughter1 when she lived in Washington State. She was living there as a newlywed when the scary New Yorker article about the risk of earthquakes along the Cascadia Fault came out. The article was called The Big One and the title alone was enough to make me hit purchase.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

My basil has absolutely exploded this year. I think it's loved all the summer rain we've had and it has thrived. My grands love it right off the stem and they snatch a leaf to snack on every time they walk past. 

I harvested a big bowl full over the weekend and made pesto with it. I used this recipe  and it is delicious. 

For dinner Sunday evening I sauteéd some tomatoes from our tomato 'tree' (seriously, it's a tree, not a plant) and a little bit of onion and garlic, and then boiled some pasta. I stirred the tomatoes and pesto into the noodles, topped it with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and it was molto delizioso!

It's also good topped with some shrimp or grilled chicken, but we'd had a big late breakfast after church and wanted a lighter dinner.