Friday Already?

Friday rolled around faster than normal this week, thanks to the Monday holiday. I guess technically time still passed as normal, but these short weeks kinda mess with your head.  It's not just me is it? Since I've already started down the road to random, how about some fragments?

For starters, I have a daughter in the house, and there are very few things that make me happier than having a daughter in the house. Unless it's two daughters in the house, but hey I take what I can get.

She loves walking in the door and having her picture taken. In my defense, she looked so adorable and teacher-y in her navy blue dress with the cute necklace and shoes I couldn't help myself.

Speaking of teachers...if you haven't read this post (Worst End of School Year Mom Ever) by Jen Hatmaker, and you're a parent or a teacher hanging on by your fingernails just waiting for the school year to end, you should.  It made me smile, and then my daughter came home telling me how her fifth grade students turned their classroom into a wax museum today, with all the kids in costume. Made me laugh, although she said the students all absolutely loved it and were really into their roles.  Not a slacker parent in the bunch.

Daughter2 is only home home for a week before she has to head back to uni and finish her final term in grad school. Not a long visit, but we'll make the most of it. Time flies when you're having fun, right daughter2?  She might not find that funny with a summer full of classes looming large, but I am super proud of how this girl always puts her nose to the grindstone and gets things done.

Hubs collected her from the airport last night (flight delayed, of course), and then I met them at the diner for dinner because that's what we do on airport pickup days. Not a lot of options for dinner at 9 PM in tiny town unless of course I were to cook.  Right. Who wants to cook at that time of night?  9 PM on a Thursday night is practically Friday, and I think it's been well established here I don't cook dinner on Fridays.

This morning daughter2 will have to rise and shine at the crack of dawn. Or rather, at what she considers the crack of dawn, but which in fact is not even close to the actual crack of dawn. She's going with me to help make and serve lunch at a nearby soup kitchen today, and lunch must be prepared at the 'crack of dawn'.

Next week we'll do some shopping, and some lunching, plus I've recruited her to help me bake desserts for my gourmet group, so we'll keep busy. We wanted to pick strawberries, and normally this would be the right week, but the weather has been so cool they're not expected to be ready. We'll see...it's pretty hot and humid here now.

We have some fun weekend plans involving a nephew turning seven. Daughter2 has never been in town on his actual birthday ever, so this one will be extra special.

And finally, today my sweet niece celebrates her birthday. FYI-we like to bunch our birthdays up around here. Daughter1's birthday is only a week away, and when they were little the two girls often had joint family parties.

I found this snapshot from way back when, my niece's 4th birthday and Daughter1's 3rd birthday party held in our backyard. This one had a little Mermaid theme and they both got Cabbage Patch Dolls and hot pink jellies. The 90's were fun, weren't they?  

My niece is turning something more than four this year, but is still cute as a button-

 Smart and funny too...Happy Birthday Miss K!  

For more Friday Fragments, or to add your own, visit Half Past Kissin' Time.  

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I know it's Thursday (it is Thursday, right?) and a new weekend is just around the corner, but I still need to talk about last weekend because I missed the blog window on Monday. Then there was the Hodgepodge to deal with, so here it is Thursday and I'm talking about last Friday. If you think about it you'll see it all makes perfect sense.  

Hubs took the day off on Friday (whoohoo!), and we made our way down to Maryland to spend the weekend with his sister (sil), brother-in-law (bil), and their two boys. Hubs always enjoys a weekend with the boys-

Gotta love a fun uncle!

Anyway back to Friday...we stopped at Cabela's en route because there's not one in our tinytown, and holy moly was it ever busy in there! The store was absolutely mobbed and many of the shelves were wiped clean. In fact there were so many people shopping that if you were there to purchase a firearm you had to take a number, kinda like you do at the deli counter. 

A snapshot of America in 2013.  

I love Cabelas for the gear and for the people watching. They have a little bit of everything, and I told hubs we should consider this-

We do have more than a few varmints in these parts, but maybe what's out there in the dark of night needs to stay out there in the dark of night.  

We got to Maryland around dinner time, and my sil grilled chicken while we caught up on life. Hubs needed to refresh his trumpeting skills while we were in town, and my nephew critiqued the performance.  

Now, about the weather...it was cold. I mean actually cold.When we got out of the car at Cabelas we nearly blew away, and the thermometer read 44 degrees. Huh? Memorial Day weekend, right?  It remained chilly and a little breezy on Saturday, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out and about.  The boys wanted to take us to a nearby nature center where they volunteer so we did that Saturday morning.

Come to find out nature center is code for 'place where snakes live', which made hubs supremely happy.

Me, not so much.

I recovered though, mostly by swiftly handing off the slimy slithering creepy crawly to someone who actually enjoys handling snakes. A lot of anti bacterial soap, followed by lunch at Chipoltle made everything all right again.

Crawfish-

Now that's my kind of critter, especially seasoned, boiled, and ready for picking.  

My sil and bil had friends hosting a crawfish boil on Saturday night and we were invited to join the party. So delicious! Yes, I'm wearing jeans and a fleece. It was still cool and breezy, but lots of fun.

Sunday the sun shone and the wind died down and the air warmed up enough for this-

Pretty much how we spent the entire day.

Hubs took a break from sitting to play some keep away, and catch, and 'let's see who can throw the ball highest' kind of activity, but mostly we soaked up the sun and gabbed. It was a good day.

We went downtown Sunday evening and had a fun family dinner at a restaurant called Family Meal.  The restaurant is owned by Bryan Voltaggio, the runner up in Top Chef back in 2009. He came in second to his brother Michael, and wouldn't a holiday dinner at their house be fun?  Anyway, it's family meal kind of food, and really good. We had chicken pot pie fritters as a starter, and I need to figure out how to recreate that dish because they were scrumptious.

It seems like most of the time we spend with our extended family centers around an event or a holiday occasion, so it was really nice to have a weekend to sit in the backyard, catch up, and see the world through the eyes of boys.  

Boys who, by the way, are somehow not so little anymore.

Coming up Roses in the Hodgepodge

Here we are again, smack dab in the middle of the week, although it feels more like Tuesday don't you think?  Monday holidays always throw off my internal calendar. You should know it doesn't matter if you answer on Tuesday or Wednesday or some day later, just answer. And link! Don't forget to add your link!

Here are my answers to this week's questions~

1. What question do you often ask yourself?

Why did I come in here? Ha. Okay, seriously...

What's next?  

But that first question is one I ask myself pretty often too. 

2. Do you grow roses?  What's your favorite color of rose?  Ever been given a dozen roses?  Where was the prettiest rose or rose garden you remember seeing?

We don't have any rose bushes in our yard, but I'd really like to plant one or some. You need more than one I think. I was at my sister in laws this past weekend and she had beautiful yellow roses climbing up her deck.

I had rose envy.

My favorite color rose is either yellow or the peachy pink. The yellow typically don't have the scent some of the others have, but I do love their color. I love being on the receiving end of a dozen roses and have been many times throughout my married life. Hubs knows how I feel about fresh flowers.   

I think roses are beautiful no matter where they grow, but I especially love the Queen Mary Rose Garden in Regent's Park, London. The rose garden at Blenheim Palace isn't too shabby either.
  

Oh, and the roses growing at Hever Castle are also spectacular~

Suffice it to say there's no shortage of beautiful roses in gardens all around the UK.  

3. Do you read the freshness dates on grocery store products?  Will you use eggs past their 'use by' date? Take medication that's expired?  Buy a dented can?

I definitely read the dates on grocery store products and never buy dented cans.  It annoys me if I get home and discover I bought one by mistake.  Eggs typically don't last beyond their 'use by' date around here, so that's never been an issue for me.  As far as expired medications go, sometimes I'll go ahead and use them. Nothing with a long ago expiry date as I assume its effectiveness is reduced, but something close to expiry I'll most likely use.

4.  Should athletes be role models?

I think in the eyes of children they always have been, and likely always will be, and that's what matters. For better or worse.   

Why is it so often 'worse'? 

Kids look up to athletes and as such I'd love to see athletes rise to the occasion.  Some do...just recently Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma Thunder donated a million dollars to tornado relief efforts in that state.  I'm a fan of Tim Tebow too...his charity does wonderful things for sick and abandoned children and I like to see athletes (and celebs) using their fame for good.  

There are many athletes out there doing all sorts of things for charities close to their heart. I wish we heard as much about their 'escapades' as we do the ones that involve breaking the law, talking smack, and in general displaying bad manners for all the world to see.   

5.  Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first explorers to reach the top of Mt. Everest on this date (May 29th) back in 1953.  What's something you hope to achieve in your lifetime?

My name on something in print.  

6.  What would you do if you had twenty acres of land and the money to develop it any way you choose?

Build the family compound my hubs is always talking about. He's only half kidding and I'm on board. We'd have a cottage for my mom, and one for my in-laws, plus a house for me and the hubs. Then a couple of houses for my girls and their eventual families, and maybe a guest house with a ginormous kitchen/dining space for big dinners with friends and holiday gatherings. 

Oh, and I'll be needing my 20 acres near the water please.  

7. If I invite you to a party with a 7 PM start time, what time will I actually see you there?

I'll be there close to 7PM. Definitely not before 7, but I won't stroll in an hour after either. It goes against my grain to be late, even fashionably so. I don't like to be the first one to a party though, so probably ten or fifteen minutes after the start time. Unless of course it's something requiring 7PM prompt.  Then I'll be prompt! 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I was thinking about some of the pretty rose gardens I've visited, and remembered another favorite and familiar spot I should have mentioned-my girl's university. There is an absolutely gorgeous rose garden in the middle of campus...a perfect spot for taking graduation pictures which we've done on two separate occasions now.

Daughter1 in 2010- 

...and Daughter2 in 2012-

We'll be snapping a few more pics when we're back on campus in August. Daughter2 will be receiving her Master's Degree, and I'll once again be sniffling my way through Pomp and Circumstance.

You'll find beauty every which way you turn on this gorgeous campus...

I'm going to miss this place.  

Hodgepodge Questions Vol 127

I'm a little late posting this week's questions, but I was out of town over the long weekend and didn't have the mental energy required for publishing last night.

Here ya go-

1. What question do you often ask yourself?

2. Do you grow roses? What's your favorite color of rose?  Ever been given a dozen roses?  Where was the prettiest rose or rose garden you remember seeing?

3. Do you read the freshness dates on grocery store products?  Will you use eggs past their 'use by' date?  Take medication that's expired? Buy a dented can?

4. Should athletes be role models?

5. Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal became the first explorers to reach the top of Mt. Everest on this date (May 29) back in 1953. What's something you hope to achieve in your lifetime?

6. What would you do if you had twenty acres of land and the money to develop it any way you choose?

7. If I invite you to a party with a 7 PM start time, what time will I actually see you there?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Friday Frags

It's Friday, which means there must be some fragments lying around here somewhere. I'm linking up with Half Past Kissin' Time today...hop over there to read more frags or share your own.

My calendar is typically feast or famine, and this week it was feast.  I belong to two book clubs and this month they both met during the same week, one of which I hosted, so lots of reading and talking about reading.

We read The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova in one group, and Burned Alive by Souad, in the other.  Burned Alive is a hard read.  It's presented as a memoir, but after I finished the book I wanted to know more, and I discovered there is much debate about the truth of her account. Now I'm not sure how I feel about it...has anyone read this one? If so, I'd love to know what you thought.

We have a ginormous Viburnum hedge along the rock wall in our back yard.  It's in full bloom right now and is positively spectacular this year.

It was supposed to be trimmed way back earlier in the spring, but the person who was going to do the job never made it here, and I'm secretly glad.  Shhh...don't tell my hubs because the wild abandon with which these grow contradict his need for order in the great outdoors.

 I say, look what we would have missed this year.

In other exciting news I bought cherries this week.  Not just any cherries either-

...golden cherries.  I've always heard them called Mt. Rainier cherries, but our market labeled these as golden.  I'm pretty sure they're one in the same, and they are so sweet!

I'm looking forward to a long weekend with the hubs. He's taken today off as well and we have lots of fun things planned including time with family, a crawfish boil, and plenty of back porch sittin'.  

As we welcome the added day to our weekend, let's not forget the why.  May God bless the families of those who've given all in service to their country.   

Pedaling Through the Wednesday Hodgepodge

Welcome to another edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge...add your link to the bottom of my post and then go see what the neighbors are saying.  Here are my answers~

1.  It's National Bike Week...do you own a bicycle?  When did you last ride a bike?

I do have a bicycle. It's hanging on the garage wall and would definitely need a tune up if I wanted to ride.  Which I don't, because seriously it's steep here. Even walking in my neighborhood is tough on the knees. 

When did I last ride a bike? It's been a while, unless you count the stationary bike at the gym I pedal for miles every week. My last ride on a 'real bike' was probably the first summer we were back in the states ('09). We spent a weekend at a friend's lakehouse, and she had one of those cute bikes you see people riding in beach communities...I loved it.   

2. What's something you learned in school that wasn't part of the curriculum?

Looking back I'm not sure I can separate what was learned strictly in school from what was learned elsewhere. I think most of my life lessons came from the combined experience and interaction with all the people who lived and grew beside me, not just in school, but also those in my own family, my church family, and my neighborhood.  

I do think my sense of empathy for the underdog was forged a bit in school. 

3. What's a food you've never tried, but would like to try?  What's a food you've tried, and will never try again?

I think it's been well established we're adventure eaters here, so I'm struggling to come up with something I want to try but haven't. I know there are millions of ethnic foods eaten regularly in kitchens around the world that I don't even know about so I'm certain the list would be long. If I'm traveling and you offer me something local I'll generally give it a try.  

As far as something I've tried and will never try again?  Liver and onions. I haven't had this dish since I was a kid, but the smell of it cooking is indelibly etched in my brain. It's possible this is one of those foods I disliked as a kid, and would now love as an adult, but I cannot get past the childhood memory.  Maybe if it were served in a restaurant and I didn't know what I was eating?  

4. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less?  Why?  Do you think that's a good trend?

I'd say more. I've been really serious about exercising regularly in recent weeks, plus I'm working on meeting some personal goals that require more self discipline than I typically posses. I'm pushing myself a little more than normal and that's good. For the time being, anyway.  

5. Who is your favorite book, movie, or TV show villain?

Hmmm...in other words, who do I love to hate?

I did love Larry Hagman as JR Ewing back in the day, but I think I'll say The Wicked Witch of the West. That green face and terrifyingly creepy little laugh still kinda gives me goosebumps.  

6. How concerned are you about identity theft?

It doesn't keep me up at night, but it's definitely on my radar. Sadly in this day and age everyone needs to be vigilant in reviewing bank and credit card statements and in safeguarding passwords and pin numbers.  I think bank and card companies are working hard to get to the fraud before it impacts the customer, but that's not always possible.  

7. I saw this last question on Dawn's blog and asked if I could share.  Everybody hop over and say hi, but first answer this...would you rather have an ordinary home in an extraordinary place or an extraordinary home in an ordinary place?

Definitely an ordinary home in an extraordinary place. I'm all about a great location!

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Thinking of all those whose lives have been turned upside down this week.  Joining my prayers with the prayers of many...  

Hodgepodge Questions-Vol 126

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party.

1. It's National Bike Week...do you own a bicycle? When did you last ride a bike?

2. What's something you learned in school that wasn't part of the curriculum?

3. What's a food you've never tried, but want to try? What's a food you've tried and will never try again?

4. Have you been more demanding on yourself lately or less? Why? Do you think that's a good trend?

5. Who is your favorite book, movie, or TV show villain?

6. How concerned are you about identity theft?

7. I saw this last question on Dawn's blog a couple of week's ago and asked if I could share. Everybody hop over and say hi, but first answer this...would you rather have an ordinary home in an extraordinary place or an extraordinary home in an ordinary place?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.