Reelin' In The Hodgepodge Years

Welcome to another 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. Here we go-

1. Do you know much about (or understand) Artificial Intelligence (AI)? Does it worry or excite you? 

I don't know a lot, but I've read about some of the many ethical concerns raised by those who are in the know. I think it's an area where science and technology are once again moving faster than our grasp of what it all means in terms of morality. 

Supposedly AI will reduce human error, and in some fields that could be a good thing. There are definitely red flags in a lot of areas too though, so I think I lean more to the side of caution as opposed to excitement. In general I don't get too excited about anything tech.  AI is probably one of those things I'll be forced to understand when it's thrust upon us. 

2. What was the last song you listened to? Your favorite movie soundtrack? What song always puts you in a good mood?  

Oh My Soul by Casting Crowns was playing on the radio when I got out of the car a few minutes ago. 

As far as movies soundtracks go it would be hard to choose a favorite. A few favorites would be The Big Chill, Saturday Night Fever, A Star is Born and Almost Famous. 

A song that always puts me in a good mood? Dancing Queen by Abba. Don't judge. 

3. What were you doing ten years ago? 

May 30, 2013

This is when a blog is helpful. I scrolled back through my end of May/early June posts from that year, and it seems life was rather ordinary. I wrote about my blooming Viburnam hedge, celebrating my nephew's 7th birthday, a teacher daughter home for a visit, hubs traveling hither and yon, enjoying the outdoor fire pit, dinner with friends, and taking a spin in the little red car. 

Hubs and I were living in North Jersey, Daughter1 was in D.C., Daughter2 in South Carolina, and both girls were single and working. Hubs was working too, and Daughter2 finished her Master's degree that summer. Life was good and for the record none of us live in those same places ten years later. 

An awful lot of change happens in a decade, doesn't it? 

4. Your favorite no-bake summer dessert?

Blueberry pie. I do cook the filling on the stove, but the pie isn't baked. 

5. Something you're looking forward to in June? 

Sweet Baby J turns one in June, and I'm looking forward to celebrating this boy who has brought so much sunshine into my life this year. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

You never know what's going to pop up when you peel back the years. This picture was on my blog May 6, 2013. She never did catch one of the chipmunks or groundhogs who lived in our rock wall, but she sure loved to try. Sweetest dog ever. 

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Autumn Leaves And Pumpkins Please

Let's start on a high happy note...the weather. It has been absolutely spectacular here these past few days and we've been soaking up the sunshine, low humidity, and still warm waters of the lake. Yes we are swimming in late September and early October looks promising too. 

I am not going to host a Wednesday Hodgepodge this week (Sept 29) because I plan to be busy entertaining the cutest little punkins in the world while their parents have a mini-holiday and attend a wedding in Charleston. They arrive tomorrow and we are planning all manner of fun while they're in the house. The Hodgepodge will be back to it's regular programming the week after (October 6). 

Can you believe it's October???

Well, almost October???

I bought a couple of small pumpkins today that I will let the boys paint and I've pulled out a few of my fall decorations too. I bought a couple of mums for my front porch but need to make another trip to the nursery so I can replace dead summer plant pots with the colors of fall. My favorite. 

I looked back through my photos to see how we've been filling the time, and I guess you might say we've spent it enjoying the little things.  

Cool mornings with a blanket on my lap, coffee cup in hand while the fire dances and the sun rises. Lots of in person time with friends and neighbors... college football watched and some hand wringing too, good books read, identifying planets in the night sky while the moon shines like a spotlight on the lake.  

Did I already tell you fall is my favorite? 

We have also pretty much devoted ourselves full time to keeping our pup in one of the top ten positions in the Garden and Gun Magazine dog photo contest. He has moved from no place, to ninth place, to currently 5th place out of a few thousand dogs, and he's still going strong. It has been a lot of fun and if you're one of the many who have voted we thank you. 

Also, keep voting because our competition never sleeps-ha! The link is here- Garden and Gun Good Dog Photo Contest link . If you haven't voted it's not too late...it's easy, free, and we've got to keep this momentum up until the 8th which means I'll probably mention it again (and again).  

I think this is the only magazine we still subscribe to because the aesthetic is lovely and every issue is full of delicious recipes, interesting places to go-see-do, and usually dogs, particularly the sporting breeds. If you love the south, southern food especially, the outdoor life, travel, music, and the sporting culture you would most likely enjoy it too. 

In other news, my niece is getting married in a couple of weeks and I am super excited not only for her big happy day, but also to have both girls and both of my sons-in-law on the same terra firma. Fun fact-my sons-in-law have never met one another in person because the stupid you-know-what prevented the South Korean contingent from attending Daughter2's wedding back in January. 

Another fun fact-my son-in-law (the recent groom) has never met Daughter1 in person (thank goodness for Facetime), or the cutest little men on the planet, aka his nephews, so we are all so excited... for the wedding, for family togetherness, for the beauty of fall, and for love all around. 

Happy fall y'all...may the beauty of the earth this time of year remind you that you're known and loved by the Maker and Creator of it all. 

Monday Dusting

Happy Summer everyone! It's official! It definitely feels like summer here and we are back to busy. So much so that I didn't post a single entry on my blog last week. I plan to make up for that today though, with an extra long post. 

As opposed to my normal long posts I mean. 

So let's talk about last week and life in general. Remember the adorable newlyweds? 

They were finally able to take their honeymoon trip and spent last week celebrating married life in a beautiful tropical locale. Only four different Covid tests were needed to get there and back but one does what one must when the sea is calling. I think Daughter2 plans to blog about their getaway on her own blog, which you'll find here (It's Elementary). 

While the kids were away we kept their sweet pup who is so sick and the dearest best dog we've ever known. Dogs y'all...

They fill up your heart but they wrench it real good too. 

Meanwhile on the other side of the world...daughter1 and her family also spent a week vacationing in a beautiful tropical locale. Jeju Island which is sometimes called the 'Hawaii of Korea'. 

If you follow Daughter1 on Facebook she's posted a bunch of pictures, and hopefully will share the fabulous vlogs she made on her own blog soon. (Sincerely Shannon)

We have their sweet pup too, but I think I've told you he's technically our dog now. Saturday morning we took him for his first official boat ride of the season and he was, as per usual, living his best life. 

Everyday is your best life when you're him. 

Always helping the Captain-

Retrieving til the cows come home. 

He would swim after this rubber duck all the ding dong day if we'd let him. 

The lake was quiet Saturday morning so hubs and I had breakfast and iced coffee while the little brown dog wore himself out. 

fyi-he never wears out. 

In other last week news, hubs and I celebrated an anniversary...37 years so whoohoo! Go us! A random number to be sure, but I say every year is a milestone and should be marked. We had a lovely dinner at a restaurant we enjoy and talked about how both of our girls were vacationing somewhere fabulous while we're at home with the dogs. Not mad about it at all though, because happily married children are a true gift. 

Early in the week hubs brother and sister-in-law drove over from their lake in Tennessee to our lake in South Carolina. We did some boating and some grilling and lots of porch sitting which was fun. The men went skeet shooting one day while we girls shopped and lunched and we look so forward to more family fun with them soon. 

I'm all over the map here so this post might feel like more than a week's worth of recap, but I promise it's really only a week. 

I had plans to make hubs his favorite breakfast on Father's Day but just before church the power went out and was out all morning. Blueberry waffles for lunch are okay too. It rained all day so we watched movies and then he opened gifts and facetimed with his girls and I capped things off with his favorite dinner- meatloaf. 

The skies cleared so we met up with neighbors for an evening kayak to a nearby island. 

Gray days can surprise you with their beautiful endings. 

Hot Diggety Dog!

We've had a busy fun few days which means I haven't spent a lot of time planning my A-Z blog challenge posts. I asked my daughter what I should write about for today's letter, something that would tie in with my theme, and she said I couldn't write about grandparenting, grandchildren, or grand things without talking about the 'grand' dogs. 

D is for Dogs

And we do think ours are pretty grand. I love dogs but am not someone who refers to them as people. Although, quite often they do act so much like humans you can forget they're not. 

If you read here regularly you know we currently have custody of our daughter1's dog while she and her family are living in South Korea. Does she know we're not giving him back? I guess she does now-ha! The dog hubs absolutely positively did not want is now his best friend and closest companion. 

A magnet stuck to his side from sun up to sun down. Where hubs goes he goes including the daily bluebird feeding, the dock, the boat, the mailbox, the front yard, the back yard, the patio, the porch, Lowes (his favorite) and waiting not so patiently just outside the shower door, the screened porch door, the garage door, any door where hubs is on the other side. 

The little brown dog is obedient, well-behaved (unless you're popping popcorn then all bets are off), always ready to go where you're going, and needs an excessive and steady stream of belly rubs-exercise-and attention. Hubs obliges because he is a man who should always have a dog even when he says he will never have another dog because you love them too much and lose them too soon. 

This is one of the lessons dogs teach us. 

There is a cost to loving with your whole heart, but the reward is worth the cost. 

We spent the Easter weekend with our other 'granddogs'. One being the sweetest dog we've ever known and the other, her new best friend even though she might not admit it...

The little guy who will keep her young, who thinks he's boss, and who jumps like the very best player in the NBA, who was abandoned by someone but loved and cared for by my son-in-law. 

Dogs are a lot of work. They need feeding and walking, and owning a dog means you can't just jump in the car and road trip spur of the moment because you need to consider the dog. Who will care for the dog and will they care the way you care?

We think the joys of owning a dog far outweigh the aggravations. Dogs love without reservation. They throw a party every time you walk through the door even if they saw you five minutes ago. They teach you patience, but they also know instinctively when you need them to snuggle up beside you because you've had a bad day or you're having a bad moment. 

Dogs fill empty spaces in your home and heart you didn't even know were there. 

And while life would likely be less trouble, it would also be far less grand without our little brown dog and his 'cousins'. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 383

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. I think you know the drill, but in case anyone is new I'll go ahead and re-state the 'how-to's. Answer the questions on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party.  See you there!

1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Dog Day this year (August 26th). Do you own a dog? Did you have a dog when you were growing up, or maybe some other kind of pet? Would you say you're more of a dog person or a cat person? Neither is okay too : )

2. Last time you felt 'dog tired'?

3. It's said you can't teach an old dog new tricks. When did you last prove this idiom true or prove it wrong?

4. A favorite book, television show, or movie featuring a dog. Why did you love it?

5. Last time you had reason to (literally or figuratively) exclaim 'hot diggity dog'?

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

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

Adventuring Into The Hodgepodge

Welcome to our end of September Hodgepodge. So glad you've landed here today! If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post. And before you run off say hi to your neighbor on the linky list because being neighborly is what it's all about.

  

1. What pets did you have while growing up? Tell us a little something about them.

We had a wire haired terrier for most of my growing up years. I think she was about six years old when we got her from a friend's neighbor. The woman had remarried and her husband said he was allergic to dogs. I remember going to their house to pick up the pup and her son was sobbing as we drove off with their dog. Still not sure the new husband was actually allergic to dogs. ahem. 

Misty was already very well trained by the time we got her, and while all dogs have one bad habit or another overall she was a wonderful pet. One of my favorite memories of her was the time we came home from church and she came slinking down the stairs, playing it all cool and nonchalant. She was a terrier so had a 'beard' and stuck to the side of her beard was one of those gigantic lollipops my sister had gotten at a fair. The whole thing was stuck to the side of her face, stick and all. 

She loved to play Frisbee, ride with her head out the car window, and 'try' to drink from the hose. She lived to the ripe old age of 16 and was loved to the end.  

2. What is one thing you absolutely must accomplish today?

Groceries! And I need to finish booking hotels for an upcoming trip, change the sheets in the guest room, reschedule a doctor's appointment, and answer the Hodgepodge questions of course.  

3. Where were you ten years ago? What were you doing there?

Ten years ago hubs and I were living in a little village outside of London. Daughter1 was here in SC beginning her sophomore year of university, and Daughter2 was home in England with us just starting her senior year of high school. High school! Whaaaat???

Italy, Summer 2007

I spent my days volunteering with the American Women's Club, the PTA, and Young Life. Also traveling, lunching with friends, hiking in the pastoral English countryside, drinking proper tea, popping into London at least once a week, and pinching myself that this was my life. 

4. September 26th is National Dumpling Day. Did you celebrate? Apple dumpling, xiaolongbao (steamed Chinese dumpling), chicken and dumplings, pirogi, matzoh balls, or gnocchi...which dumpling on this list would be your dumpling of choice? Have you ever made homemade dumplings of any kind?

I didn't celebrate, but am not opposed to it either. I'm a fan of everything on the list but xiaolongbao is my favorite.  I think I had an order every day we were in Shanghai.  

I've made apple dumplings and homemade gnocchi but it's been a long while since I've made either. 

5. 'There are two kinds of adventurers: those who go truly hoping to find an adventure and those who go secretly hoping they don't.' William Trogdon

So which kind are you?

I think we know which kind I am-ha! Actually here's my answer-I'm an adventurer who goes secretly hoping they find adventure, just not too much of it. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

The new TV season has begun...what are you watching? We typically don't watch a lot of TV here, and as a result I'm often out of the popular culture loop. I'm okay with that by the way. 

We watched the season premier of  The Good Doctor and hubs and I both really liked it. We'll keep watching. I'm also recording Navy Seals and thought the first episode was just okay, but we'll stick with it for now. 

Daughter2 and her boyfriend like Survivor and she's convinced me to give that a try this year too. Hubs and I watched for several seasons way back when, but haven't seen it in years. The teams this season do look interesting-heroes, healers, and hustlers-so maybe I'll give it another chance. 

My secret guilty TV pleasure is The Making of the DCC. My girls and I all watch it and we love it. I may give up on the NFL, but I do like to see the intense competition that goes on in trying to become  one of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. It's nearly over for this year, but I'm sure it's available somewhere. 




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What A Difference A Day Makes

Let's look back shall we? Because today hubs and I celebrate 32 years of married life and a lot happens in a day year. 

This time last year we were mid-move. 

Papers were signed and we were packed and loaded, nearly everything we owned headed to storage. We lived with my mom for six weeks between here and there. There and here?   

We house sat for my sister and brother-in-law and took advantage of our weekend in the city of brotherly love. It was hot. 

We fed our sweet pup her favorite ice cream not knowing then she'd only be with us for one more short month. 

Oh yeah, and hubs was retired.

To recap, since our anniversary last year we have changed cities (twice), moved from a house to my mom's to an apartment while managing a home build in still another city, we said goodbye to the dog we'd loved for thirteen years, the sweetest dog we've ever known, hubs un-retired and went to work in another city, and we're still married. Did I mention we're building a house? 

Happy anniversary hubs! You make me strong, you make me brave, you make me laugh and only sometimes make me a little bit crazy. You're still the mischevious, fun-loving, hard-working, hilarious, big-hearted boy I married. 

32 years ago today I peeked around the door at the back of a warm sanctuary to catch a glimpse of you at the altar. 

You still make my heart go pitter-patter. xo

Monday. Let's Do This.

Good Monday morning everyone. First things first...temps are supposed to be in the 70's all week, or at least the high 60's. You know when I say first things first I'm going to talk weather. We need one whole entire completely dry week here and it looks like we might-maybe-could get that.

As you know hubs is a working man these days, and spends a chunk of his week in another city. Consequently he's hovering at the building site a lot less, which causes him no end of frustration.  I think it's actually better because when you're not observing the progress nail by nail and board by board it feels like there's more of it.

Not enough because still no roof, but we do have framing and stairs and almost a roof. They're getting ready to add the roof. I think? Sometime.

That's pretty much what I
want to knowknow when it comes to our home build schedule.

We went out to the lot over the weekend and checked progress. Here we are standing in front of a window in our master bedroom. That view y'all...

I might never leave this room.

Also, we still haven't mastered the art of the selfie.

On Saturday the Southern Home and Garden show was at the Convention Center in town, so hubs and I spent a few hours checking out the vendors there.  Vendors which included the Greyhound Adoption group, because every home needs a greyhound?

When we pass people walking their dogs hubs will look at me and say something like, 'Now those people, they have a full life'. Ha! He's trying to wear me down, but I'm just not ready to add a dog to our family. I know if I said so much as a maybe there would be a dog at the end of our bed tonight.

I have not said so much as a maybe.

Besides dogs, guess what else there's a lot of in a southern home and garden show? Information overload! We spoke to various people at the Home Show about the pros and cons of wood-fiberglass-steel-garage doors, the endless color choices and the detailed process employed in finishing off a garage floor, ceiling options for beneath the deck but above the patio, the pluses and minuses of natural hardwood flooring versus an engineered product, lighting, landscape features, life on Mars, and more.

At some point I just need to have lunch and think happy thoughts.

Like Downton Abbey, which is really a happy kind of sad. Sniff, sniff. I thought the show's ending was truly satisfying. My favorite storyline was Barrow, which is funny since I wanted him off the show at the end of Season 1. Hubs and I both recognize that Downton Abbey fed our need to have a little piece of England in our week, and we're wondering how we'll get that now that it's over???

I'm pretty sure a trip across the pond is the only answer. To steal a line from Dickie Merton...

'How perfectly marvelous' that sounds to me!