The dog ate my homework

How do you handle awards on your blog? Do you acknowledge? Respond? Follow the bestow-er? Tag others to play along? Smile, think 'that's nice' and move along? I'm wondering because in the past couple of weeks I've been tagged by several bloggers and I've kind of just left them all out there hanging. Something about that doesn't feel nice so I'm going to attempt to respond and acknowledge all of them in one big post...think of it like the Oscars and I win in all categories. I'm not going to tag anyone because I know some people don't like to play and others might wish they were asked plus all that linking is more than my its-almost-summer-brain can handle on a Friday. Thanks to all of the bloggers who mentioned my blog...I do appreciate it!

Beverly at The Beverly Buzz and Donna at The House on the Corner both gave me The Pay it Forward Award...for this one I'm supposed to mention the bloggers (check), link to their blogs (check) and tag five bloggers to do the same (two out of three is good, right?)

I was also given an award over at Rainbow's Daily Life -The Versatile Blogger Award...I need to thank the person who gave the award (Thanks Rainbow!), tell seven things about myself (more on that in a minute) and tag fifteen recently discovered blogs. FIFTEEN!? Yikes. I'm going to go all rebel on you and skip this step.

Way back at the end of May (sorry Empty Nest...it felt like it was yesterday!) I was also tagged in a game of blog tag ...I need to answer some questions and then tag eight blog friends to answer the questions and carry on with the tagging. I'm going to answer the questions and count that as my seven things about myself that I need for The Versatile Blogger award mentioned above. Hey, what do ya know? I am versatile!

Here we go-

1. Do you think you're hot?

Oh brother. Are we talking temperature because if we're talking temperature then yeah baby, I'm definitely hot!

2. Upload a picture or wallpaper that you are using at the moment.

I took this picture recently in the outdoor shop called Cabelas. We stopped at their Pennsylvania store on our way home from D.C. a couple of weekends ago and I thought this item was interesting. Did you know they made dusters specifically for dusting game? Cabelas is an absolutely amazing shop...everything you might need for outdoor fun plus incredible displays of stuffed game like this one-

I guess if you have a display like this one in your house you would certainly need a game duster. And a very understanding wife.

3. When was the last time you ate chicken?

A barbecue at my sister's house last Monday...it was delish!

4. The song/songs you listened to recently-

I listen to a lot of music in the course of a day so I'll go with the last three songs played while writing this post:

Hey There Delilah by Plain White T's, Free by Zac Brown Band, and Spit in the Rain by Del Amitri...told you I was versatile.

5. What were you thinking while doing this?

I used to be hott and not just hot.

6. Do you have any nicknames? What are they?

Really only one and family members are the only people who use it-Jo

7. Tag eight blogger friends

And this is where I drop the ball.

Finally, just yesterday Scoot's1Mom tagged me 'For Bee-ing a Blessing' in a very sweet post on her blog My Hands, His Glory-thanks Scoots1Mom!

Whew...I feel like I just finished an overdue book report. Have a great weekend everyone!

"He smiled at me and then the music started playing..."

Lately I feel like my blog has become a series of lists and/or how I spent my summer vacation type posts. I haven't actually had a summer vacation and in fact it isn't even technically summer yet but you know what I mean. Lists and recaps. Which is fine but I like to have a little bit of substance on occasion here too. Now, if you're thinking I've said all of this as a way of introducing a post of substance think again. I've been out of town and we all know how that goes. I need to regroup today... laundry, groceries and I may even have a date with my vacuum although it's possible I'll stand him up.

Do you find that sometimes you need to just dive in to a post and start writing to get some of the randomness off the top of your head so you can really think? That's how I'm feeling today so whoohoo! Lucky you!

First things first-happy anniversary to us! Today we are celebrating 27 years of marital bliss. And by celebrating I mean hubs will be spending all day and all night on a flight home from India and I will be at home in NJ doing all the fun things I mentioned above...laundry, grocery shopping, vacuuming. We know how to live it up, don't we?

Hubs posted this picture on my facebook page this morning. Yes we are reduced to communicating via facebook sometimes but its fun and allows for a certain amount of creativity don't you think? Sorry for the poor quality but if you knew how long it took me to get that picture off of facebook and on to my computer you would be surprised there is a picture here at all. I don't know if you can tell but there are literally thousands of flowers in that vase. All for me. Well, technically the picture is for me and the flowers are for whoever but the wishes hubs and friends are sending are just for me.

I suppose I could have written a post of substance regarding married life. I think I'll just say that sometimes its hard and sometimes its wonderful and sometimes its just eh. I mean that in the nicest way of course. Year one, year twelve, year twenty seven....whatever the number they are each one filled with ups and downs, highs and lows, happy and sad, hurt and forgiveness, joy and contentment. They are also filled with the mundane. The day to day living that involves bills and kids and car repairs and did you call the plumber and what do you want to do about Christmas and you have a dental appointment on Friday and love you, good luck in your meeting today and on and on it goes....Do you want to know what the secret to a long marriage is?

Staying married. Really, sometimes it is as simple as that...plowing ahead and thru instead of backing out. If you are divorced please don't take offense. I know everyone has their own circumstances and situations to deal with but in our case this is what has worked. Shortly before I got married my mother gave me some advice. She probably gave me a lot of advice but this particular bit I chose to follow. She said this-there will be days when you will wake up and look over at your husband and feel like you are the luckiest girl in the world. Remember that feeling because some days you will wake up and look over at your husband and wonder how in the world you ended up married to him. Just carry on, because eventually that other feeling will come back around again, maybe in an hour, maybe in a week, maybe longer, but it will come back around if you keep calm and carry on. Thanks mom!

Marriage is fluid...it grows and changes and bends to the point of almost breaking sometimes. The secret is to go with the flow and not get bogged down on the shore somewhere. Does that last line sound like something you'd hear on The Bachelorette? They love their metaphors don't they? Is anyone watching? I have one word for this season-pitiful. Here's another piece of advice regarding marriage-it is highly unlikely you are going to meet your mate on a reality television show.

Well I guess it turns out I did have something semi-substantive to say today. Who knew? And I haven't even recapped my weekend away. Oh well, tomorrow is another day in the blogosphere, right?

And what's an anniversary without music?

Traveling into the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 31

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. It's fun so why not join the party? Answer the questions on your own blog and then add your link here.

1. What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don't have one let's pretend you do.

I don't have an official bucket list but there is definitely a pretty lengthy one in my head. One thing? Hmmm...swim with the dolphins.

2. What makes a good dad?

A man who loves unconditionally, who treats his wife with love and respect, who encourages, laughs with, and listens to his children. A man who pays attention to the little things and is 'there'.

3. Are you afraid of insects? Which ones?

The big crunchy ones. The poisonous ones. Most spiders. shudder.

4. We're barbecuing...what's on the grill at your house?

My favorite thing to grill is a marinated pork tenderloin but we do lots of chicken on the grill too. And we love grilled veggies, especially corn on the cob.

5. Do you believe playing is more important than winning?

This question made me think. I do believe playing is important. Trying hard matters but its not the only thing that matters in every circumstance. This may be an unpopular sentiment but I think sometimes winning does matter. Maybe not more than playing but the pendulum seems to have swung the other way and so often now we are sending the message that as long as you play that's all that counts. No one is allowed to be thought of as better than anyone else and if we recognize Johnny as a better soccer player/speller/singer than Suzy it's a bad thing.

Drive and a desire to win, to be the absolute best at something, are qualities inventors, physicians, explorers, and all sorts of other highly successful people posess and I think the world needs people who are driven to win.

6. Do you tan? Use self tanners? Visit tanning salons? See your dermatologist at least once a year?

I used to be what you might affectionately call a 'sun worshipper'. I definitely look better with a little color on my skin plus I love being in the sun and water. I still do love it but sadly it does not love me. Up until I hit my 40's (Shocking, isn't it? ) I could spend all day at the pool or beach and end up looking golden. Now I need to put on sunscreen just to walk to the car. Plus, if you're my age you know you're now paying for all the sun you soaked up in your youth. I have never been to a tanning salon and that has never appealed to me. I sometimes use the lotions designed to make you look sun kissed and I see my dermotologist every year like a good former tanner should.

7. Five years ago I would never imagine that today I would...

...be talking to complete strangers about the tanning habits of my teenage years and all sorts of other minutiae on something called a blog.

*-I saw this question on Marla's facebook page and I thought it was perfect for the Hodgepodge. Everyone go say hi to Marla...she has an E-book launching this week which you might like to read.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Raise your hand if you love summer. I've been away for a few days because sometimes blogging requires life. I am actually traveling home today so hope to catch up with you all over the next couple of days.

Busy, busy....but never too busy for the Hodgepodge

I have a bit of a schedule this week so will make this short and sweet...here are the questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Be sure to come back tomorrow to link answers with the whole wide world. Well, our little corner of it anyway...

1. What is one thing on your bucket list? If you don't have a bucket list let's pretend you do.

2. What makes a good dad?

3. Are you afraid of insects? Which ones?

4. We're barbecuing...what's on the grill at your house?

5. Do you believe that playing is more important than winning?

6. Do you tan? Use self tanners? Visit tanning salons? See your dermatologist at least once a year?

7. Five years ago I would never imagine that today I would_______________.

I saw this question on Marla's facebook page and I thought it was perfect for the Hodgepodge. Everyone go say hi to Marla...she has an E-book launching this week.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Sunshine and Summerspring time

Its hot.

I'm not really complaining because I happen to like warm and sunny although I'm pretty sure the temperatures here might be considered more than 'warm'.

Know what else I like?

Air conditioning.

We didn't have air conditioning in my childhood home until I was in about the 4th grade. Somehow I survived but I wonder if I complained? Hmmm....anyway, if you read here you know how I felt about the winter that just wouldn't quit so I don't suppose I'm allowed to complain about summer weather in summer.

Except technically its still spring.

Ahem.

Spring skipped us this year.

Oh well, that's the thing about the seasons...they always come around again. And since it feels like summer outside today I thought I'd link up with Thursday Thirteen and my list of thirteen things I'm looking forward to once summer becomes 'official'~

Visiting daughter2, my sister, brother in law, and niece in South Carolina

Seeing U2 in concert

Wonder what it would take for Bono to pull me up on stage to sing with him?

I know all the words.

Seeing Kenny Chesney in concert

I think Kenny only pulls the under 25s up on stage at his shows but I definitely know all the words to his songs plus we went to the same university.

Its possible I'm just a teensy bit older than he is but age is all in the mind, right?

Wrong.

Sadly, once you hit about 45 that's not at all true.

Age is also in the body, but I digress...back to my list...

Catching up with old friends at a wedding in July

In Houston

Do you think it will be hot?

A reunion of summer camp staff on Maryland's Eastern shore

A reunion with sorority sisters in the mountains of NC

Ice cold watermelon

Sitting around the fire pit

A weekend on my sister's boat

My mom, brother, and sister in law here for a weekend in July

Daughter1 and the boyfriend here for a weekend sometime

Jersey corn and tomatoes

Sunny skies, warm weather and my freshly polished toes in the sand somewhere

So how about you...what are you looking forward to this summer?

Wednesday Hodgepodgety Podgety Vol 30

Can you believe its week 30? Time flies when you're having fun! Here are my answers to this week's questions...link your own Hodgepodge post below, after you've read mine of course.

1. Do you and your family enjoy camping? What do you enjoy the most/like the least about family camping? When was the last time you camped?

We do like to camp but it has been a few years since our last family camping trip. I have camped with scouts in the meantime but that isn't the same. What do I like the most?

Technology free family togetherness, being outdoors, sitting around a campfire, hubby's amazing cobbler cooked in a Dutch oven over the coals, my whole family, including the pup, all snuggled together in sleeping bags, and a starry starry night. What do I like the least? The cleanup once we're home. I think the last time we camped was a weekend trip to Rocky Gap Park in Cumberland Maryland..it was autumn and gorgeous.

2. Did you attend a summer camp as a kid? Is that a happy or not so happy memory?

I did go to summer camp in Northeast Maryland. I then spent several years working as a camp counselor at that same camp. Is it a happy memory? Some of the happiest memories of my childhood are tied to summer camp...I wrote about them here.

3. Over the course of your life, what have you probably spent more time pondering than anything else?

What is it I'm supposed to be doing...what is my purpose?

4. Which of the seven natural wonders of the world would you most like to see? There are many lists of wonders but this is the standard natural wonder list-Mount Everest, The Great Barrier Reef, The Grand Canyon, Victoria Falls, The Harbor of Rio de Janerio, Paricutan Volcano and The Northern Lights.

I've never been to the Grand Canyon so that's my first choice. Really though I'd be happy to see any/all of the natural wonders of the world. Perhaps that needs to go on my bucket list.

5. What was your first real job?

Babysitting. I guess some people wouldn't call that a real job but my first regular job was babysitting. I sat for the same little girl for a couple of hours every afternoon after school while her parents were at work. My next real job was in the dining room/kitchen of a nursing home. If we're talking post college profession I worked as a speech pathologist in collegetown. I feel fortunate to say I've never had a job I didn't like.

6. Lemonade or sweet tea...which do you prefer on a hot summer day?

Sweet tea with a lot of lemon. Lately we've been making a drink called The Arnold Palmer which is my new favorite-half tea, half lemonade and super delicious.

7. What is something that always brings a smile to your face?

Seeing my girls faces as they step into the arrival terminal here (NJ) or as I exit the arrival terminal there (SC).

8. Insert your own random thought here-

I love the lyrics to this song and I think it goes along with my answer to #3...

"...you are more than the choices that you've made,

you are more than the sum of your past mistakes,

you are more than the problems you create,

you've been remade..."

Still sugar and spice and everything nice....

If you are looking for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge questions you'll find them here.

Daughter1 turns a year older today and I thought it would be fun to turn a collection of her birthday photos into a Smilebox. My girls love for me to impress them with my awesome technical skills on their special day and the first step in the process is scanning photos. When they were little digital photography was non-existent and I noticed a few things as I was adding these 'old fashioned' pics to our computer-

1. We've taken a lot of pictures in our lifetime.

2. Correction. A lot of bad pictures.

3. Oh the subject matter is adorable but why didn't we ever pay any attention to what was in the background? You can see my upright vacuum in every single picture taken of Daughter2 during the first week of her life. Was I that set on vacuuming? After giving birth? I am pretty sure I was not.

4. My girls were so cute.

5. Super cute.

6. And sweet.

7. They have had a lot of love in their lives.

8. So many aunts and uncles and grandparents who think they hung the moon and although not a single one lived in our little town (s) while they were growing up there was always a full house around to celebrate special days.

9. Daughter1 has consumed a lot of angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream on her birthdays thru the years and I have the photos to prove it.

10. I love being a mother and thank God every day for the gift of daughters.

Happy Birthday to my sweet first born...hoping all your wishes come true today and everyday...

This free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox