Hodgepodge-In-Law

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you've answered this week's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then go say hi to your neighbor. March on!

1. March is National Women's History Month. In that vein, who are three women who've been influential in your life? How so?

Well my sweet mama is the obvious number one female influence in my life. How so? A million trillion ways beginning with how I mother my own children, the role faith plays in my everyday being, my love of books, the way I cook, the value, importance, and intent I put into home and family. I am my mother in so many ways. 

I feel lucky to have grown up beside a very dear neighbor, a woman who influenced me probably far more than she realized. I was a teenager and she was a young mom, and she was so special to me. When someone mentions Proverbs 31 she is the person who comes to mind. She was a woman of deep faith, gentle, warm, intelligent. 

She'd had a career prior to having children, but when I knew her she was in a season of parenting young children, completely devoted to her husband and girls. She found great joy and personal contentment in being a wife and mom, and this was a message my longing heart needed to hear. She had more patience than anyone I've ever known, and the way she lived her life inspired me to be my best self. 

Finally, I'm going to say my daughters. They amaze me on a regular basis and make me want to be everything they think I am.  

2. In what ways do you think women have it easier than men?

Killing spiders and dealing with rodents falls under hubs domain, so there's that.  I'm not sure easier is the word I'd choose. I think we have it 'differently' than men, not neccesarily easier or harder. When I think about how our marriage works I struggle to articulate what it is I find so freeing about the fact that we are different. Every man-woman relationship stands on it's own, so I'm not generalizing here, but...

When the world threatens to overwhelm, when it all feels too fragile for my heart to hold, I know I can hand it off to my hubs and he knows what to do with it. Mend it, save it, fix it, change it, take charge of it. I think men feel the weight of that sort of 'hand-off' in ways women don't. 

Will an illustration help? How about this-if we're standing on the edge of a cliff and one of us has to jump, he'll be the one to jump. He'll do it without me asking, prompting, or pushing because of that weight I just mentioned. 

3. What do you need most right now: faith, love, hope, or peace?

Thankfully we don't ever really have to choose, but if I'm picking one for today it's hope.  I cannot imagine living a single day without hope. 

4. Do you have a collection? If so, what do you collect and why?

Well I might collect beautiful pottery. Not on purpose really, but I have a hard time passing by a pretty dish, platter, or pitcher without picking it up, looking closer, and quite often buying.

I don't make a point of collecting, or adding to what I already have, or telling people I collect it. I just really enjoy looking at beautiful pottery all around the world and buying a piece now and then. Adding it to my 'collection'. 

5. Plaids, checks, polka dots, stripes...your favorite?

It depends on what we're striping, plaiding, checking or dotting. I like a tartan plaid throw on a couch by the fire. I like checks and stripes in decorating, but again it depends on many other factors. I have a couple of plaid shirts, and several with stripes (vertical only please). There's something really happy about polka dots, and I do have a sweater that's polka dotted, but mostly I like them on bags, gift wrap, that sort of thing. 

This question is too hard. I can't choose a favorite. 

6.  In what ways are you the same as your childhood self?

I still wear my rose colored glasses. They're a bit scuffed and scratched in 2016, but I continue to see the world from a glass half full point of view. 

7. You're a contestant on the TV game show Jeopardy. What category will you ace?

I always enjoy the word-related categories. Shocking I know, but words are my jam. I like idioms and proverbs, phrase origins, quotes, separated by a common language, homonyms, rhyming words, grammar and language and other similar topics.  The word ace might be over-estimating my ability, but I don't think I'd hang my head in shame with these categories either.  

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Speaking of influential women...can we just discuss this picture for a moment? 

Look who's rockin' the plaid shorts-ha! Maybe I'll take back my answer to #5 and go with plaid after all. That's my mother-in-law wearing the striped top. 

We are so very young. 

It's the first thing that hits me when I look at this photograph. I have no idea what year it was taken, but I'm going with 1986. There's nothing in the background to give me a frame of reference, but those shorts definitely say 1986. 

As do my super skinny arms and my unadulterated brunette hair. 

Thirty years ago we sat in lounge chairs on a sunny summer day.
Relaxed. Chatting. Familiar. 

It's how I always picture us in my head. How I like to picture us still.  

My mother-in-law celebrates a big birthday this week, and I look forward to celebrating and spoiling her just a little. 

I got the best one y'all. 

The CIA. Not that one. The other one.

Yesterday I went on a little field trip with my gourmet group. We went to the CIA...that would be The Culinary Institute of America. It's located in Hyde Park, NY, about a two hour drive from here and if it weren't so far away I might be tempted to enroll. Then I remembered our tour guide telling us that some courses require you to eat 20-30 cookies every night (you have to write a couple of paragraphs on each one) and I realized that while I could have done that at age 20 without gaining a single ounce that would not be the case now so, no. I guess I'll have to settle for a day trip.

We arrived at CIA (that's fun to say) just in time for our lunch reservation. The campus is beautiful and overlooks the Hudson River.

There are five award winning restaurants on campus which make up what they call Restaurant Row and you need to book ahead if you're going. The students cook, serve, and learn to manage the restaurant as part of their coursework and I definitely would like to go back and try all of them the French, Escoffier.

We dined in their Italian restaurant called Caterina de Medici which is housed in what looks like an Italian villa. The chandeliers came from Murano and a lot of beautiful pottery is used in the decor. We had a set menu since we were a group of 20 and the meal was fab-u-lous.

We started with a Tuscan white bean soup with escarole and tubettini, and for the main were served a braised beef with polenta, glazed cipollini and baby carrots.

The beef had been slow cooked and it was like butter...so perfectly tender it just fell apart when you touched it with your fork. Sorry. Forgot to take a picture before I took a bite.

Dessert was a warm chocolate lava cake with caramel sauce and gelato.

So rich but so so delicious.

Yes, I needed two pictures.

How else would you know there was 'lava'?

After lunch we were given a guided tour. These are available even if you are not with a group but call ahead to book if you're thinking of going. Our guide was a student and she was adorable. She said she had no desire to be on television but she so totally could be on television.

The main building which houses the classroom kitchens was originally St. Andrews on the Hudson, a Jesuit monastery. The student dining room was the original chapel and when they inquired about removing the stained glass they learned the windows were the creation of Tiffany's apprentice before Mr. Tiffany was Mr. 5th Avenue. They are extremely valuable so they stayed. The main hallway is lined with Tiffany lamps..it is an absolutely beautiful building.

We weren't permitted to take photographs inside as the students were in class. The rooms are surrounded by windows into the hallway so you can observe without interrupting. The curriculum is designed so that each student takes one class for 7 or 8 hours each day for three weeks and then moves to another. Wouldn't you love to take a class called chocolates? We looked in on one classroom where the instructor was demonstrating cream fillings...he is a very well known German chef and is credited with bringing Creme Brulee to the Americas. I wanted to blow him a kiss thru the glass but I refrained.

We passed the cake decorating and the bread baking and the aroma...oh my. Nope. I could for sure not go to school here. Our guide did point out what she called one of the most important buildings on campus and that is the gym. I'm pretty sure however, that no amount of working out would offset eating 20-30 cookies a night at my age. Which, btw, is not 20.

We of course made a stop in the gift shop and some in the group made purchases in the bakery. The program is intense and the students are on their feet for long days. And if you are in the baking track you might have to report for class at midnight. Yes. That would be another reason I could not go to school at the CIA.

The campus is beautiful, the food is wonderful, and the program is impressive. A really enjoyable day out...lots of fun without any espionage whatsoever.

Silly Old Bear

Do you know what is on this corner?

This amazing building ...The New York Public Library

I joined some new friends today for a tour of the library followed by a delicious lunch in Bryant Park. As an aside, let me just say once again how much I love New York...this city is just so alive and you feel that the minute you arrive. I only took a few photos mainly because these women don't know me very well yet so I thought it was best not to overwhelm them with my camera obnoxiousness right off the bat. I held back y'all...I promise.

Anyway, there are two enormous lions outside the entrance to the library and they are known by the nicknames Patience and Fortitude. They were given these names originally by Mayor LaGuardia in the 30's because he said these were qualities he felt New Yorkers would need to survive the economic depression. I'm pretty sure the names still work.

Anyway, the building is absolutely beautiful...it is neoclassical in style with lots of gorgeous marble and carved wood ceilings. And of course there are all those books...miles and miles of books and periodicals and maps and more...over 75 miles worth, much of it housed under Bryant Park. And let me just tell you that if you think catalogs and magazines pile up at your house you haven't seen anything...imagine receiving over 10,000 periodicals per week!

Now, if all those books and all those magazines and all that architectural beauty aren't enough guess what else they have right here in their very own collection?

They have the real live, honest to goodness Winnie the Pooh. Well, not real live but you know what I mean. And all his friends are here too... all except Roo that is. Not sure what happened to Roo but our tour guide pointed out that it appears the Milnes owned dogs so I do have a theory. Anyway, they are absolutely too cute for words and look very well loved. The toys were given to Christopher Robin Milne between 1920 and 1922. Pooh came from Harrods Dept. Store in London and these are the toys that inspired the stories.

Course if Winnie the Pooh isn't your thing you can also walk down this staircase which is indeed the staircase from 'the movie where Carrie Bradshaw gets her prince'...they filmed the wedding scene from that movie here.

Or maybe you recognize this view which was used in The Day After Tomorrow...

Or you may not recognize it because in the movie some snowwaterhailtornadotidalwave thing was rolling straight down 42nd Street and headed right for the lobby.

Which, incidentally, is magnificent. After our tour we walked around the corner to Bryant Park which is a pretty little patch of green surrounding the library.

Here sits a statue of William Cullen Bryant for whom the park is named...he's all dressed up for Christmas. We had a lovely lunch in this little spot right in the park, hence it's name Bryant Park Grill. There is a bit of fall and a bit of Christmas happening but it's all good....I love the vines growing around the building and the food was excellent.

There just happened to be a little Christmas Market going on right here so we managed to squeeze in a teensy bit of shopping before heading home... such a nice day.

And I know what you're thinking...you're thinking that if this isn't overwhelming people with pictures than what in the world is?

The Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania

Unless you're from this area I'm guessing you had no idea there were waterfalls known as the Niagara Falls of Pennsylvania. And if you've been to the real deal and then you visit these you might be scratching your head a little. Nevertheless these falls are beautiful too. I don't know if it's just me and the fact that I haven't experienced a fall in the Northeastern part of the US in several years or if this year truly is more spectacular than most when it comes to color but honestly, the changing leaves this year leave me almost speechless. Almost.

Hubs and I loaded up the dog Saturday morning and drove to Bushkill Falls which is located just under an hour from here in the Pocono Mountains. There are eight falls and you reach them by doing a whole lot of climbing up and down steps built into the mountainside...kinda like nature's stairmaster. Seriously...

a whole lotta steps.

Hubs had a slight advantage because he held the dog's lead and she basically hoists you up the steps without you having to expend too much of your own energy. Course she will also hoist you down the steps which is why he holds the lead instead of me, aka Miss Grace. Besides the main falls there are great trails thru the woods that you can explore which lead to some of the smaller falls. We saw them all and so did our pup. Dixie never wants to miss a thing.

And, as is always the case, any outdoor adventure with my husband means I will have a knot in my stomach at some point. We see rushing water behind a fence...I think 'oooh pretty'.

Husband thinks...'oooh...fence...must climb over it and stand on the very slippery moss covered rocks and yes, the dog needs to come too so I'm slightly more precariously balanced over the waterfall that plummets just below my feet'.

He is no sooner back on dry land than we see more water...I think, 'great' (because I know him)......he thinks 'must hop from slick mossy rock to slick mossy rock to stand in the middle of the stream and must take the dog too just to keep it interesting'.

We loved the top trails because a. there weren't any water hazards and b. there weren't many people up there so Dixie could run free thru the woods for a bit. The views from the top trails were especially lovely...the Delaware Valley all dressed for fall.

We hated to leave...

Of course the day wouldn't be complete without an ice cream treat...

even our supermodel says so.

Just Coasting

Otherwise known as vacation, part 2. We left PEI Wednesday morning and drove about 4 hours into New Brunswick. We were not too excited about getting back in the car but the drive was positively lovely. My husband says taking a car trip with me is like riding in King Tut's tomb. I must have all my 'stuff' around me. I need it all y'all. It's the books that tell me what we're seeing (or missing as Mr. Leadfoot zips by the little brown signs), my phone of course because as sure as I don't have it right next to me daughter1 and/or 2 will call and I'll annoy hubs trying to dig it out of my purse (or the black hole as he likes to call it). Then of course there are the twizzlers (which need no explanation, duh), maps, as in my twenty pages of google maps just in case the sat nav leads us astray. And the Atlas that is approximately 3 feet tall because I have midlife eyesight these days and because the google maps and the sat nav might both be wrong. And sat nav is gps in case you're not up on what the Brits call it.

Anyway....as we meandered along the coast we saw not one but two bald eagles overhead. My husband really wanted to see a moose on this trip and we saw alot of signs telling us to watch out! because apparently they are way bigger than our car but...sigh...not a moose in sight.

Enroute to the adorable village of St. Andrews by the Sea we stopped in a town called St. John to see what is known as The Reversing Falls. These are caused by the enormous rise and fall of the tides in the Bay of Fundy, which are the highest in the world. Basically the low tide leaving the bay runs into the new high tide coming into the bay and this combination makes a higher wave coming in so it is like a reverse fall. And it is crazy. And you can take a wild boat ride right through the middle of it all.

After we peeled ourselves away we headed on to the very quaint little village of St. Andrews by the Sea. Even the name is cute. We stayed in a pretty little inn and oh yeah, we had another lobster roll lunch sitting next to the sea. Ho hum.

I did sort of wonder how I would ever go back to a sandwich lunch??? Blech.

Thursday morning we were up and on the road again, headed to Bar Harbor Maine. Before arriving in Bar Harbor we made a short stop to see the island of St. Croix which is located in the middle of the St. Croix river and is viewed from the park across the water.

The island forms part of the international boundary between Canada and Maine. A French settlement was established here with Champlain playing a part in that and it was one of the first efforts by France at establishing a year round colony in the territory known as Acadie. You didn't know this was going to be fun and educational did you?

Still coasting....Let me just say that I always wondered about people who talked endlessly about vacationing in Maine every summer. I mean the water never really gets warm and the air doesn't really get HOT but, after two days in Bar Harbor I totally get it. It is just so utterly beautiful. The Acadia National Park is situated around Bar Harbor and there are breathtaking views and stunning scenery everywhere you look. Oh, and seafood. I don't think I mentioned the lob-stah. Fab-u-lous! We walked out on Sandy Beach in Acadia and there was indeed a real live person swimming. And yes indeed the water temperature was 54 degrees. I was in a fleece.

On this trip I was reminded once again of why I don't like visiting places filled with steep rocky ledges with my husband. Or 'the mountain goat' as he is sometimes called. He just loves to get as close to the very edge of nothing-ness as he possibly can.

And sometimes in response to my hyperventilating he'll say something reassuring like,' Don't worry....there's a big rock ledge just below." Super. So you won't plummet directly into the churning sea....your fall will be broken by a rocky ledge. Thank you. I feel much better now. Friends who know him well visited the Grand Canyon and the first thing they told us when they returned home was they were glad he wasn't with them. Not that they don't love him but they didn't think their hearts could stand the drama. It's not just me y'all.

Will this post ever end? Yes. Shortly. Bar Harbor...you should go there.

And hike the park.

And watch the birds.

And eat the seafood.

And stand above the water.

And relax.

Believe it or not I've got more. I think I will save the last day for its very own post because we may have semi-stalked a former President and our efforts did not go un-rewarded. In fact I suspect the Secret Service is reading this post as I type. I will post that on Thursday because tomorrow I'm going to participate in Linda's random meme...she posted the questions for it on her blog today so go here if you feel the need to blog your own randomness tomorrow. And if you check back here on Thursday you might just read a little something about a certain #41.

There was Plenty of Scope for the Imagination

Growing up my younger sister and I walked back and forth to elementary school. We lived about seven blocks away so we also walked home for the hour long lunch break each day. My mother would read aloud to us while we sat and ate our lunch and we shared many wonderful books this way. We all have sweet memories of those days spent sitting at our kitchen table but my favorite by far was the year I met Anne of Green Gables. My mother read the entire series to us at lunchtime when I was in the 5th and 6th grade and I fell in love with Lucy Maud Montgomery's character Anne Shirley and especially with her words. The books are filled to overflowing with wonderful words and phrases. So guess what? Last week I was here-

Yes that is me standing at the signpost entrance to Green Gables on Prince Edward Island, Canada. Honestly, when we got out of the car I wanted to burst into tears. I felt like my 10 year old self standing there.

My husband and I went on vacation last week. I know some of you who read here are thinking, 'Do these people ever stay home?' It does seem like we've been on the road pretty much every weekend since we arrived back in the states and I guess it seems that way because it's true. However, I don't really consider riding 17 hours in a rental truck only to move furniture upon reaching our destination to be an 'actual vacation'. Nor do I consider moving from one country to another to be anything remotely like an 'actual vacation' so last week we took an honest to goodness vacation. As an aside here...I think you'll be relieved to know that I'm going to write two posts about our holiday because, like Anne Shirley, I too love words.

We drove from our home in NJ alllllll the way to Prince Edward Island Canada. It felt a little bit like driving to the end of the earth but it was so worth it. We spent three full days on PEI visiting friends from the UK. They relocated back to the island a couple of years ago and it was so much fun to see their home and catch up in person. Here is the very lovely view from the very lovely deck of their very lovely home.

We arrived around dinnertime and were greeted with this-

We knew right away we'd come to the right place for a holiday. We spent our first full day on the island seeing the sights around PEI with our friends kindly acting as tour guides. We visited some cute little villages including this one known as Rustico...so charming.

We walked on Brackley Beach which is absolutely beautiful. The wind was blowing in case that's not completely apparent but it was such a nice day.

Oh, and speaking of the weather? Di-vine! My husband spoke to people in his office once or twice and the weather at home was dreadful. Yes he was on vacation and he really did do a great job at keeping the Blackberry mostly turned off. The sea is the one place he can truly relax so this was an ideal vacation spot.

We stopped around lunchtime for what would be the first of many wonderful seafood meals. PEI is known for its seafood and in particular for the mussels and oysters grown there. If you eat mussels in the US chances are good that they were grown in PEI. Coincidentally my friend L is involved in the Aquaculture industry on the island and more about that in a minute. The white buoys=mussel fields.

After lunch we headed over to Green Gables. I can't believe I actually get to write that. Lucy Maud never lived in the house but did spend alot of time there and especially loved exploring what she called The Haunted Woods and Lovers Lane. The house itself belonged to cousins of her grandfather.

Our second night in PEI my friend and I went to see the musical version of the story and it was terrific. I've imagined the characters for so long now that I was a little bit worried about the casting but the show is so well done.

If I'd done nothing but visit Green Gables I would have left PEI a happy girl but our hosts had so many great things organized for us. On our last day in PEI they arranged for us to see inside a Mussel plant which was located just at the base of the bridge leading onto the island.

It's still a very hands on process and much less automated than I would have imagined. After the mussels came the oysters. What fun this was! We went out with a fisherman on a little dory and got to try our hand at tonging the oysters. This is way harder than it looks! (Especially with a leather backpack on).

The riding in the boat part is simple but the actual tonging part...it's tricky! These tongs are seven feet long and they are heavy.

Not only did we get to try tonging the oysters but our very nice fisherman cracked them open right there on the boat and we ate them straight out of the sea. And they were delicious! And I believe the technical term is 'shucked' not cracked.

Yes, my husband did get close enough for you to see every pore in my skin -sorry 'bout that.

We celebrated our last night on the island with...you guessed it...a seafood feast. We had fresh shucked oysters, steamed mussels, fresh scallops, and corn cooked on the grill.

I could go on and on and oops, I have. I'm going to write about the rest of our trip in another post because all of the above happened and it was only Tuesday night. When it comes to my blog I think Anne said it best, "I know I chatter on far too much ...but if you only knew how many things I want to say and don't."