Totally Tubular Hodgepodge Vol 78

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is invited to play along. Answer the questions on your own blog and then add your link at the bottom of my post. Here are my answers-

1. What's something you miss about the 80's? If you're too young to miss the 80's how about the 90's?

I am definitely not to young to remember the 80's. Ha.

What do I miss? The ability to eat anything I wanted anytime I wanted, college friends, summers as a camp counselor, my hometown church and the people there, scratch n' sniff stickers (hey, I used a lot of them when I worked in public schools), the early John Hughes films that captured the sweet-funny angst of teenage life, videos on MTV, the blissful naivete of life as a newlywed, my first taste of motherhood and an infant in the house, better manners, less political correctness, M*A*S*H, Ronald Reagan, the absence of cell phones in restaurants and everywhere you go, and most especially my dad.

2. Do you have a library card? If so, how often do you visit?

I do have a library card...I've always had a library card I think. I still love libraries but don't visit as often as I did pre-kindle. I read quite a few books electronically now, but I still need to hold a real book in my hand on a regular basis. I'm probably in the library once or twice a month.

3. What's the secret to success?

Philippians 4:11-13 "...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances....I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength."

4. This is National Backyard Games week...what's your favorite backyard game?

Croquet.

We played quite a bit when we lived in England because our backyard was kinda perfect for the game.

It was kinda perfect for lots of things. We have a nice flat side yard here, but those girls went and grew up and got their own apartments.

The Hodgepodge has been quite the stroll down memory lane for me today.

5. If I dropped by today what would I find on your coffee table?

A short stack of four coffee table books from guess where, a couple of magazines, and of course-fingerprints. Who thought glass was a good idea?

6. Do you own a bicycle? When was the last time you rode a bicycle? Is that something you enjoy?

We have bikes here somewhere. Actually I know where they are but I haven't ridden mine since we moved back to NJ. Just getting out of my neighborhood would be a feat...it's hard enough to do it on foot. Gently rolling hills are okay but it's steep here and there aren't shoulders. I love to ride but I'm not hardcore.

7. What's your favorite cheese?

I've yet to meet a cheese I don't love but if I have to pick a favorite I'm going with a nice soft Brie. Preferably bought and eaten here-

... en France. Avec des amis. This little fondue restaurant in Strasbourg supposedly has the biggest cheese board in the world.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Monday morning at my house-

Always an adventure getting the rubbish bin to the curb here in the wilds of NJ.

It was 1980 something...

1985 to be exact

I was a mere quarter century old

a newlywed

without children

living in an apartment in Knoxville Tennessee

I was also bright eyed, tan, and oh so very thin

but that's not really the point of this little post

Hubs was working

I was working

Opportunity knocked

Hubs leapt

its what he does

He prepared

researched

interviewed

and got the new job

a sales rep

hubs is a natural born salesman

as the saying goes, he could sell ice to an Eskimo

This new job was not in Knoxville Tennessee

It was in Richmond Virginia

We moved from our apartment to a townhouse in Richmond

And were suddenly completely on our own

not that we weren't living on our own in Knoxville

but hubs family was just down the road

available

it was in 1985 that travel entered our work vocabulary

and our life

hubs worked and traveled

and worked and traveled

I worked too but with a whole lot less pressure to climb

On Friday night hubs joined a club

the 25 year club

his company hosts a very nice event for the honorees

25 years, 30 years, 40 years, two gentlemen were celebrating 45 years

with the same company

this used to be common

not so much anymore

we may have gone to said event in style...

I'm the one in the black dress...

many years have passed since hubs signed on as a brand new sales rep

we have had six work related moves

he hasn't been a sales rep since 1989

hubs loves a challenge

and has had no less than 10 roles in the past 25 years

all with the same company

go hubs!

we've made some wonderful friends thru his job

we've seen babies born and babies married

we enjoy these friendships with co-workers spread far and wide

an unexpected blessing in a job

I'm thankful every day for hubs job

and most especially for how hard he has worked all our married life

I do not ever take that for granted

I pray my daughters find husbands with a work ethic like hubs

I pray my daughters have a work ethic like hubs

He has been a good role model and example to his girls

ambitious

determined

flexible

creative

kind

full of integrity

self-discipline

and humor

Something we used to hear quite often when we moved overseas was that Americans live to work and Europeans work to live. Finding the right balance between work and life is a tricky thing sometimes. I think my hubs has done it well.

It was like totally awesome

My daughters are going to an event this weekend called 80's Prom. I think it's really just an excuse to dress in all the timeless fashion trends of that decade.

This picture is from last year's party. Daughter1 is wearing jellies. And I'm pretty sure I had a dress just like the one she's modeling. That's daughter2 rockin' the 80s hair and the blue eyeshadow. Maybelline ruled the 80's makeup aisle.

When they returned to uni after Christmas daughter2 took one of my old bridesmaid dresses home with her to possibly alter and wear this year. Let me just tell ya...I wore a whole lotta bridesmaid dresses in the 1980s. In 1984 alone my husband and I were in 10 weddings. Pretty much everyone we knew got married that year, including us. That was an expensive summer but we didn't worry too much about something as silly as money back then. We didn't give a lot of thought to a future filled with exorbitant college tuition fees for children yet to be born, mortgages, retirement, or any of those other pesky things the financial planner blabbed on and on about...that was for the far off future and we were blissfully in the present.

I've been looking through my umpteen piles of photographs in my attempt to organize here and I came across a few pictures from that decade. Not too many because for one thing hello, no digital cameras and for also, I think I mentioned I have a box or fifty to look through.

A few things stand out in my mind from those years...

I was young.

I was in college.

I was incredibly thin.

And incredibly tan.

(Girls-do not do this to your skin. Your 40 year old selves will thank me.)

I had alot of hair.

Not a single strand was gray.

I loved a boy.

I still do.

I graduated.

I got my first real world job.

I got married.

I loved my dress.

Totally.

Hubs had a mustache.

And a grin.

He still has the grin.

I moved.

Had to live where hubs job took him.

Keep that thought handy.

I got a new job.

Loved that one too.

Apartment life.

The tv sat on a wooden crate.

We had a washer and dryer.

Which made me very happy.

There was no internet.

Anywhere.

We moved. Again.

Are you seeing a pattern?

I got another new job.

Yep I loved it.

I wore a lot of scrunchies.

And jeans belted at the waist.

Which was tiny by the way.

And was the style of the day.

High waisted jeans. Ewww.

We bought a house.

I felt grown up.

We made a home.

I wore blouses with shoulder pads.

seriously?

And bows at the neckline.

Hello teacher.

My hair was still its God given color.

We moved.

Yes again.

While seven months pregnant.

I gained 17 pounds. Total.

My doctor told me to have a milkshake every night.

I miss some things about the 80's.

I had a baby.

My hair promptly turned a darker shade of brown.

But dark brown is not gray.

A six pound blue eyed blonde stole my heart.

Forever.

Sweetness and light.

My job is this.

God is good.

The 90's were looming.

So were my 30's.

We moved again.

To New Jersey.

Like now except it was before.

Never say never.

Where we love is home.

A good lesson to learn.

One I'll remember.

Definitely a grown up now.