Once Upon A Time There Was A Hodgepodge

Welcome to the last Hodgepodge in February. Has the month moved fast or at more of a snail's pace for you? I thought the first half of the month flew, but these last couple of weeks have slowed way down. March is always a tough month in terms of the weather because we're ready for spring, but winter likes to make an appearance now and then too. It's a good month for a get away which is not in the plans here, but probably should be. 

It's time to share answers in our weekly link up. If you've answered today's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then go say hey to your neighbor there. Here we go-

1.February 26th is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day...have you read a fairy tale lately? What's your favorite fairy tale? Do you believe in 'happily ever after'? 

I have read a couple of fairy tales recently since we have littles in the house with us currently. Most recently I read Three Billy Goats Gruff. The boys love when I make different voices for the three goats. My personal favorite is Cinderella. 

Do I believe in happily ever after? 

Perhaps not in the traditional sense of a fairy tale, but I believe I'll meet Jesus in heaven one day, so yes. 

2. Complete one of the following sentences with a thought relating to your life currently-

• Once upon a time___________
• A long time ago________________
• In a place far far away__________

Once upon a time the world didn't come to us with the click of a button and we were all less exhausted by society in general. The end. 

3. Which of the following 'fairy tale foods' is your favorite? Which have you made/eaten most recently? 

porridge/oatmeal (Goldilocks and The Three Bears), an apple (Snow White), a gingerbread cookie (The Gingerbread Man), pumpkin soup/pie/bread (Cinderella), peas (The Princess and the Pea), beans (Jack and The Beanstalk) or a cup of tea (Alice in Wonderland) 

I have a busy week so I'm actually writing some of my answers on Saturday, the same day I wrote the questions. I made oatmeal for breakfast Saturday so that's the most recent. I drink a cup of tea every day and had a gingerbread cookie on Thursday. My favorite of the items listed would be tea. Life wouldn't be nearly as nice without it. 

4. What's your idea of fun? 

A day on the lake, and make it a weekday when boat traffic is at a minimum

A float party with friends
A road trip somewhere new, maybe a drive into the mountains, or to visit family or friends. 
Dining al fresco

An evening of cards with friends
Porch time with my people
A hike in the woods, especially if it's a trail we've not been on before. 
A trip someplace I've never been

5. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in March. Is that right? I guess so.  Give us one noun, one verb, and one adjective that tell us something about your February. To make you think a little harder, you cannot use the words cold or snowy. 

noun-conversation hearts...I've eaten a ridiculous amount of these little goodies this month

verb-doing...there hasn't been a lot of sitting this month, no naps on the couch, no leisurely cups of afternoon tea or morning coffee, just lots of doing (laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, picking up, planning, driving, etc)

adjective-shivery...without using the word I said we couldn't use I want to say it has been the very opposite of warm here 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have been scarce on the blog recently but we are living life here and I'll eventually get back into my regular posting routine. Whatever my regular posting routine was? 

In the meantime here's a couple of pictures from the air b & b we've been sharing with friends for a couple of days-

"Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience." Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 591

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here on Wednesday (Feb 26th) to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. February 26th is National Tell A Fairy Tale Day...have you read a fairy tale lately? What's your favorite fairy tale? Do you believe in 'happily ever after'? 

2. Complete one of the following sentences with a thought relating to your life currently-

• Once upon a time___________
• A long time ago________________
• In a place far far away__________

3. Which of the following 'fairy tale foods' is your favorite? Which have you made/eaten most recently? 

porridge/oatmeal (Goldilocks and The Three Bears), an apple (Snow White), a gingerbread cookie (The Gingerbread Man), pumpkin soup/pie/bread (Cinderella), peas (The Princess and the Pea), beans (Jack and The Beanstalk) or a cup of tea (Alice in Wonderland) 

4. What's your idea of fun? 

5. Next week's Hodgepodge lands in March. Is that right? I guess so.  Give us one noun, one verb, and one adjective that tell us something about your February. To make you think a little harder, you cannot use the words cold or snowy. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Bibbidi Bobbidi Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! I've been traveling, so I'm scrambling a bit to get this one posted. If you've answered the questions, add your link at the end of my post, then go see what your neighbors had to say.  Here we go-

1. Did you watch The Oscars? How many of the Best Picture nominees have you seen? (American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, Selma, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, The Theory of Everything, and Whiplash)

Do you think actors should use their acceptance speeches as an opportunity to promote their political and/or social agenda? Does that sort of speech make you more or less inclined to change the channel?

I did watch The Oscars. All four+ ridiculous hours, plus some red carpet coverage beforehand.  We were at my sister's house and about halfway through debated calling it a night, but figured we'd lasted this long, might as well see it through. 

I thought the show was particularly bad this year. Bad as in NOT entertaining, and isn't that why we watch? Can't anything be purely entertainment anymore? Must everything have something weighty attached to it ? Yes this is America and everyone has a right to express themselves, but I do think there's a time and place, and The Oscars are neither. It matters not whether I agree or disagree with whatever cause or issue is being touted by the celeb, that's not what I want to see and hear when I tune in to a show called The Oscars. 

Kind of like you not dropping in here hoping to read a rant about Hollywood.   

An-y-way...I saw three of the nominated best picture pictures-American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Imitation Game. I think I'd like to see Whiplash and will probably watch for it on DVD. 

2.Speaking of the movies...are you comfortable going to a movie alone? How about dinner in a restaurant (not fast foo, but an actual restaurant)? The second half of this question was posed by Carrie who blogs over at It's Not Easy Being Queen. Thanks Carrie!

I don't have a problem going to a movie alone, although I can't say I actually do that too often. If I'm spending money on a movie, it's usually an outing with the hubs. I wouldn't go to a restaurant in town and dine alone, but if we're traveling and hubs has an evening work event I'd have no problem dining alone in a restaurant.  I'd also have no problem staying in my jammies and ordering room service-ha!

3.What's the last home repair or home improvement project you had to pay someone to complete? In hindsight was this a project you could have done yourself?

Just today (Tuesday) we had a carpet guy here to re-stretch our bedroom carpet.  He was punctual, neat, reasonably priced, and we're very happy with the end result. It's not a job I'd try on my own. 

Most home improvement projects are not things I'd try on my own.  I'm not what you'd call handy. 

4. Have you ever had Indian food? Like it or no? If you're a fan, what's your favorite dish? Have you ever prepared this yourself at home? Is there an Indian restaurant in your current hometown?

I love Indian food, one of my favorite cuisines. I love spicy food and normally order chicken tikka masala and bhindi bhaji (an okra dish). I've tried lots of dishes though, and as long as they're not Vindaloo kind of heat I'm happy.  Hubs loves the heat and asks for diced chilies on the side. 

When we lived in the UK we ate in our local Indian restaurant at least once a week. The staff gave us big hugs when we moved, and everyone got a bit teary eyed. No Indian restaurant in tinytown, but there is a place we like several towns over. 

5. A song that reminds you of your parents?

Anything by The Bill Gaither Trio. Every now and then I'll see them on TV and I have to stop and listen.  

6. The 26th of February is National Tell a Fairy Tale Day. What's your favorite, or one of your favorite, fairy tales? Do you have any childhood memories associated with a particular fairy tale?

When I was little my sister and I had a record (the kind you played on a phonograph) of songs from Hans Christian Anderson stories. We played that thing to death, and in fact just typing this I find myself humming the tune to Thumbelina.  

My mother spent hours reading to my sister and I all throughout our childhood, so hearing a fairy tale now awakens some very tender memories for me. It would be hard for me to choose a favorite, but I've always loved Cinderella. 

And while nothing beats a book in my opinion, I did love the movie version of this one too.  Lesley Ann Warren played the title character and when the fairy godmother turned her rags into a gown it was pure magic. There's a new version coming out in March, with Lady Rose Lily James in the lead role. I'm looking forward to seeing that too. 

7. What's a problem you solved yesterday?

Hmmm...yesterday (Monday) hubs and I spent a leisurely afternoon in Greenville South Carolina, so nothing  immediately comes to mind. Maybe where to have lunch? 

Tupelo Honey! Problem solved! 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

A little too much going on round here today to give this a lot of thought. Nobody minds if I just share another wedding picture do they? 

Good because I love these...

I love that my son-in-law recognizes handing over a daughter means handing over a little piece of a father's heart too. 

Expecting A Fairy Tale

Before every wedding there comes a rehearsal. This was ours-

Practicing to get married.

I remember that blue silk dress bought especially for the occasion. The dinner afterwards with bridesmaids and groomsmen, family and ministers. I would love to know what we're discussing here.

We're definitely discussing something, but these pictures are a little dark so you'll have to take my word for it. And they're Polaroids!

It was possible to view your pictures immediately back in 1984. You couldn't delete, photoshop, or crop, but you could see a photo come to life as it rolled out of the camera. Then if you were the impatient sort, you could hold your photo carefully at the corner and shake it good and hard to make the lines and color appear faster. It was super exciting to watch your picture develop. I'm not kidding.

I was thinking about our rehearsal and the dinner afterwards. Remembering the butterflies in my stomach, the realization that tomorrow I would actually be saying I do. I have to admit the night before the big day it all felt just a little bit scary. Exciting yes, but also scary. In a way it felt like we were pulling something off on the adult world. Like we were children about to be left unsupervised. My hubs says he never thought that, but I know I did. We're in charge of ourselves? Do we know what we're doing?

Guess so. Marriage is more or less a learn as you go proposition, but going in we all have this little thing called expectation.

E is for Expectation

Looking back after 30 years together I feel like mine were mostly met. I suppose it's also possible that my expectations have simply expanded or shrunk depending on the year and circumstance, because sometimes we're better than great, and sometimes we just do the best we can. I don't think it's a bad thing to evaluate and adjust expectations in marriage from time to time.

I know going in I expected my husband would be the primary bread winner and I would be a traditional wife and mother. I had a college degree and was working in my chosen profession, but in my heart I always aspired to be a full-time, stay-at-home mother. I expected to have a home and family, that we'd take vacations and attend church. That I would cook meals and run the vacuum, enjoy my children, and have long talks with the hubs over hot cups of coffee.

Coffee was kind of a grown up thing back in 1984. Kids didn't frequent Starbucks and the like, mostly because they didn't exist. I looked forward to being a grown up and having coffee with my husband. And in terms of married life my hubs had similar expectations, although maybe not so much about the coffee.

We met with the pastor who married us a few times before the big day, and he asked us a lot of questions about all sorts of things that didn't seem like a big deal to my 23 year old self. Things like how would we handle money, holidays, traditions, matters of faith, raising children, leisure time, household chores, and more.  You know, all that stuff that comes up as you go along, things you approach in the way you were raised and he approaches in the way he was raised, and sometimes that's the same thing, and sometimes it's not?

Hubs and I had dated for quite a while, so we'd talked about many of those issues that are going to arise when you become man and wife, but as I said up top, marriage is a bit of a learn as you go. So we've learned as we've gone. As husband and wife we've compromised, given a little or given a lot, clung tightly and stood firm sometimes, and let go of the things we could live without.

I do think it's important going in to marriage to have realistic expectations about what I call 'the deal breakers'. Everybody has theirs, and it's important to lay them out there for your future mate to weigh in on.  I wouldn't have married someone who didn't want children. That would have been a deal breaker for me. And I wanted my children to be raised in a home where they would grow up knowing Jesus. Also something I wouldn't budge from.  Other people may feel strongly about a wife working or not working, how they save and spend, who takes care of household chores, whatever.  I don't think we need a checklist a mile long for a potential spouse to meet every single thing, but I do think we need a shortlist of the things we are not willing to compromise on, and to know our future mate is on the same page there.

We're told not to expect a fairy tale when we get married, but what is a fairy tale ? Doesn't a fairy tale usually begin with a once upon a time? Don't they happen in a far off place and time? Don't they feature a boy and girl (a prince and his princess), who experience adventure, and encounter characters and situations both good and evil along the way? Don't they end with a 'happily ever after'?

That girl up there, the one getting married the next day?
She was expecting a fairy tale.

And you know she kind of got one.