The Hodgepodge-Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Welcome to October and another week in the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along-just answer the questions on your own blog, then come back here to add your link to the party. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. What's one thing you learned in September?

People want to know they matter.  

It's not that I haven't always known this, but I've been reminded of it in a real way this month.  

2. Acorn squash, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, yellow squash, zucchini squash, or blech! hold the squash!...what's your favorite squash?  Your favorite way to prepare your favorite squash?

I love them all, but I think my favorite is the yellow summer squash. If it's just the hubs and I eating, I'll sprinkle the squash with lemon pepper and saute it along with some onion. My favorite recipe though, is Paula Deen's squash casserole. We make it for most holiday gatherings and it's delish.

3. The older I get the ______________________________.

...easier it is to focus on what will matter for eternity.

4. What's your favorite television theme song ever?

Probably The Mary Tyler Moore Show, because that song and the opening credits made me want to be a television news producer living in a cute apartment in Minneapolis. Instead I'm a middle aged mom of two living in the NJ suburbs.  

I need a theme song.

Another song that popped into my head was from a program called Here Come the Brides. Does anybody else remember that show? It was set in Seattle in the late 1800's, and was the story of three brothers who brought brides from Massachusetts to Seattle in an effort to save their mill. My younger sister and I loved that show and its theme song, and especially Bobby Sherman. I found a clip of the song on YouTube and I guess it doesn't really stand the test of time. Definitely dated, but still it reminds me of Friday night television viewing with my little sis which makes me happy.



5. What do you wish you'd spent more time doing five years ago?

Blogging. Really. I started my blog four years ago, about the time we found out we would be leaving the UK. I've written in hindsight about many of our experiences there, but oh how I wish I'd been blogging the years as they were lived.  

6. What item do you most need (or want) to add to your wardrobe this fall?

I need new blue jeans and a super cute pair of ankle boots (brown) to wear under them. Do fashionistas still call them ankle boots? I think they call them booties now, but since I'm not exactly a fashionista I'm going with ankle boots.  

What do I want?  Something in the must have color for fall-cobalt blue. I love it, and it's a good color on me, so a cute coat or a pretty scarf like this one would be fun.

7. On October 2, 1950 the Peanuts cartoon was introduced to the world.  What was your favorite cartoon when you were a kid?

Looney Tunes, especially those featuring Bugs, Wile E. Coyote, or Foghorn Leghorn were my absolute favorite, but I also loved The Jetsons, and Johnny Quest. Back when TV viewing wasn't available 24/7, and most people didn't have multiple televisions, let alone the capability to record programming, Saturday morning cartoons were much anticipated and such a treat.  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm trying a boot camp for the first time today. It starts at 6 AM, but I figure if you're going to be miserable might as well get it out of the way first thing, right? I'm not really a boot camp kind of girl, but this waist isn't going to shrink itself, so I'm diving in and just hoping I don't embarrass myself.

I'll let you know. 

'so they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly...Hills that is...'

Sorry...ever since we began loading the rental truck yesterday I've had the Beverly Hillbillies theme song stuck in my head. Now you will too. You're welcome.

So my weekend is going to be filled with all kinds of fun beginning with a 12+ hour drive in this-

Oh, and if that doesn't make you feel just the teensiest bit envious let me add that this 12+ hour ride will include a stop at the NJ DMV headquarters in the state capitol because we need to jump thru hoop number 372 in the US titling process for the MG. My husband has already been to our local DMV three times and made a trip to Customs in Newark to get paperwork stamped, or maybe I should say re-stamped re-stamped because it was stamped in the UK and it was stamped when the car originally entered the US. Never mind. I was going to say something about government run health care here but I'll hold back.

Anyway, back to my weekend...the 12 hour drive is just the start of all the fun because once we arrive in SC we get to move furniture. Yay! And hang curtains...more yay! If I were listing my husband's least favorite jobs I'm pretty sure hanging curtains would be near the top. We're taking some of our furniture to daughter1's apartment and then moving daughter2 back into her college dorm. The bright side is I will get to have a whole weekend with my girlies which always makes me happy.

And at least my cabana boy is with me on this trip. In fact he'll do all the driving because he hasn't quite recovered from the 'incident of 1995' when I accidentally drove into his office parking lot with our kids bicycles on top of the car. As I was apparently the last to discover the parking lot had one of those height bar thingys across the entry to which I paid no attention because I'm sure I was distracted by kids talkingtalkingtalking and the prospect of the vacation we were about to begin and whether or not I'd turned the iron off before leaving the house. You know...mom thoughts. Anyway, what's really sad is that I didn't even realize I'd dinged the bikes...not even when my then 7 yo daughter said, 'Look mom, there's my bell in the parking lot'. That's nice honey....And it wasn't until I got into my husband's office and casually mentioned how odd it was that daughter1's bell had 'fallen off' her bike as we pulled into the parking lot that my husband shook his head and asked me if maybe I'd driven into the height bar thingy. Oops. Needless to say husband will be driving the truck with the 10 ft. clearance. And my job will be not to distract him with my talkingtalkingtalking...can't have him accidentally stopping at the ATM or making a run thru a McDonalds drive thru now can we?

And by the way, you're all invited back next week to this locality to have a heapin' helpin' of my hospitality...y'all come back now, ya hear?!