Wednesday Hodgepodge-Volume Fab 40

Welcome to the fabulous fortieth volume of the Wednesday Hodgepodge. You know the drill and if you don't just click the link on my sidebar for instructions. Easy peasy. Now, here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. Using what's in your frig right now, what sort of meal would you be able to make for guests who are standing on your front porch this very minute?

Conveniently I asked this question with a semi stocked freezer. At the moment I have fabulous ahi tuna steaks along with special ordered NY strip steaks just waiting to be thrown on the bbq so that is likely what you'd get. If that were not your cup of tea I suppose I could whip you up some scrambled eggs. It's usually feast or famine here.

2. What is something about yourself that you hope will change but that you know probably never will?

I like to put off til tomorrow what I should do right now. I say I work best under pressure but how would I know that when I've rarely tried the reverse?

3. What is something about yourself you hope never changes?

My optimistic view on life.

4. Do you usually send serious or funny greeting cards? Why?

Depends on the occasion but for birthdays, funny. If the cards are going to my girls they might get a fun card with a sloppy sentimental message handwritten by moi on the bottom but I generally go with funny or sweet, as opposed to the super serious. Anniversaries and Valentines Day also get funny.

5. Bird watching, shell gathering, star gazing-your choice for whiling away the hours?

So hard to choose...I love all three. Ideally I'd like to shell gather early morning, relax and watch the birds with a glass of wine in hand late afternoon and star gaze once the sky goes dark. I guess if I can only pick one I'd go with shell gathering. That would mean I'm near the water which is my favorite place to be.

6. Do you double or triple check things? If so, what?

I should double and triple check things but instead of double and triple checking I make the hubs crazy. We are usually a few miles down the road when I will think to ask, "Did you shut the garage?" "Are you sure?" "Unplug the iron?" "Lock the back door?" "Turn off the coffeepot?" I know in my head all these things have been done but there is something in my DNA that causes me to ask anyway. Then we have a 'discussion' as to why I like to wait until we are five miles down the road to ask and I say, "Well, if I'd remembered before we left the house I wouldn't be asking five miles down the road." Sometimes I add, "Just be glad we were only five and not five hundred." Married life can be a challenge sometimes.

7. What's your favorite place for people watching?

One of my very favorite pastimes...airports and restaurants are the best!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts and especially your ongoing prayers for my niece. If you missed my post on Sunday you can catch up here.

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Little bit of Chicken Fried...

If you're looking for questions to this week's Weds. Hodgepodge you'll find them here.

Saturday afternoon we heard us some country music. Yes I do realize that statement is grammatically incorrect but somehow it just feels right. We had tickets to see Kenny Chesney along with the Zac Brown Band and Billy Currington and Uncle Kracker. I'm not a huge Uncle Kracker fan so we spent his time slot tailgating with friends in the Giants stadium parking lot. We munched on appetizers and discussed, among other things, the idea that we might possibly be sitting atop Jimmy Hoffa. The rumor mill says he was buried under the old stadium which is now the parking lot. How's that for a little slice of trivia on this rainy Tuesday morning?

Hubs and I have a few things in common with Kenny, namely the fact that the three of us attended the same university. He's a little bit younger than we are but still, we claim him as a hometown boy. Kenny got his start playing for tips on Tues and Thurs nights at an out of the way Mexican restaurant on the river near collegetown. Its fun to be sitting in Giants Stadium (yeah yeah I know-its technically The New Meadowlands Stadium) and to hear a shout out to your little ole Alma Mater. More than a shout out actually. He references East Tennessee often in his speech and music. Its a place that gets deep into your heart and soul.

The country, the river, the mountains, the people. Trips to the Carolina shore and football games in small high school bleachers or the third largest college stadium in the country. He sings about standing on the Lambda Chi porch and we've stood on that Lambda Chi porch. He sings about the river and we know that river. He inserts the familiar into his music and listening takes us back to hubs hometown, to the place we met, to the roads we used to travel and to the mountains and countryside we will always love. His music is painted with the brush of East Tennessee and when we listen we are there.

Now, onto some observations about the evening-

The skies were threatening but you are not permitted to bring umbrellas into the stadium. I am not sure if its because you'll block your neighbors view or there is the concern that you might poke annoying and unruly fans with said umbrella. Or there could be the fear that you'll be one of the annoying unruly fans and they don't want you 'armed'. It didn't start raining until later in the evening and we were in the company box so not a problem for us. I believe I've stated here before that this is my preferred method of viewing all concerts and sporting events.

Speaking of weapons, security also confiscates water bottles upon entry. Apparently they can be used as weapons too but secretly I think they just want you to buy their water. I had a conversation with a girl in the rest room about the fact that they did not confiscate her hair spray. She and I agreed we could do a lot more damage with hairspray than a water bottle.

Where did all these cowboy boots come from? I spent most of my growing up years in this state, lived here for another five years early in our marriage, and have been back for two years this time round. I never see people in the Garden State walking around in Western Wear but the concert was full of cowboy hats and boots.

I love a fiddle.

Zac Brown has one of the most beautiful clear voices out there today. He and his band sang America the Beautiful and knocked it out of the park. Some Navy folks in uniform were in the audience and the camera zoomed in on them and the crowd went crazy.

My favorite Zac Brown song is Free because it makes me feel happy and sad all at the same time. Lots of country music songs make me feel this way.

How fun would this be?

Kenny Chesney came into the stadium on some sort of suspended seat with a harness and sang his way across the crowd and onto the stage.

My husband's whistle is completely obnoxious. Oh my aching ears.

We were in the company box along with about 15 other people. See the gentleman on the left-

He is the out of town guest of someone else in the box. Guess where he's from? He lives in the very same teeny tiny village we lived in across the pond. He knew our neighborhood and the street we lived on and we talked about our favorite Indian restaurant and the changes in the village since we left and oh my goodness, it was all just too much.

At the end of the show KC hugged everyone in the band and the Jets coach and a Yankee player who were part of the crowd.

I explained to one of the girls with us that this is how we know KC is a Tennessee boy. He's a hugger.

This post would not be complete without a little music. Here's one of our favorites...the words are poetry. Tennessee poetry.

Forty is fabulous if we're talking Hodgepodge

Here are the questions for this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge which just so happens to be Volume 40.

Volume 40?

Wow! 40 is a lot!

Unless we're talking years and then its a little. ahem.

Answer the questions on your own blog or fb page and then come back tomorrow to link answers with all your friends and neighbors.

1. Using what's in your frig right now what sort of meal would you be able to make for guests who are knocking at the front door this very minute?

2. What is something about yourself that you hope will change but that probably never will?

3. What's something about yourself that you hope will never change?

4. Do you usually send serious or funny greeting cards? Why?

5. Bird watching, shell gathering, or star gazing- your choice for whiling away the hours?

6. Do you double or triple check things? If so, what?

7. What's your favorite place for people watching?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Swinging at the Curve Ball

I know a girl.

She makes us laugh.

She has always made us laugh.

I hope this next picture makes her laugh-

One of the comedians is her dad, the other happen to be two of her favorite uncles.

Cousins are special people.

Our girl cousin has spunk. Determination. A heart of gold.

She loves my girls.

They are just a little bit older than she is and they love her back.

She's grown up around us...

and among us

even far far away from us, but then...

in a funny turn of events...

near us.

Closer than ever in fact, in a country not our own.

Now, a dilemma. My blog is a mostly light hearted happy place. A gentle and positive look at mid life, and for the most part, that's me. I'm a person content in spirit and hopeful in all things.

So what to do when a curve ball is thrown? Do you continue blogging as if nothing is wrong? Do you carry on talking about the trivial and the ordinary when life is suddenly anything but? At first that would seem an impossible task. How do you write about life's everyday nonsense when things take a turn towards the heavy? As I've thought about this some I've realized that as much as it feels like everything should come to a screeching halt when the wild pitch is thrown, it does not. Life carries on. It finds a way. There is still beauty around us, even when ugliness rears its unwelcome head. Peace may seem more elusive but its never completely out of reach. Laughter and love and family are the things that bubble to the surface and demand tending and cherishing and holding tight. We question God but rest in the knowledge that He loves us immeasurably more than we can understand or imagine. He who tells the ocean how far to crawl, who has numbered the stars in the heavens, still gently holds each one of us in the palm of His hand.

We heard some unexpected news this week about the girl we love who is so precious to us. AML Leukemia are words that feel a little bit like an iron fisted stomach punch. I know many of you who read here are people who pray. I am a believer in the power of prayer, particularly the power of a praying many. Today I am asking you to pray for a sweet sixteen year old girl with a joyous spirit and a generous and tender heart who has a road to walk that will be hard. We have no doubt she'll walk it with grace and will inspire us along the way with her strength and humor, but this road is not one any of us would choose. Prayer has the power to lessen a burden, to ease pain, to change lives and circumstances and hearts and bodies. Prayer is not the least we can do for someone in times of great challenge. In reality its the biggest and the best.

"Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may find mercy and grace in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

She sells seashells in the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 39

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...a happy way to celebrate mid-week. Add a link to back here in your own post and then add your blog link at the bottom of the page. Be sure to hop around too...that's part of the fun! Here are my answers to this week's questions~

1. If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why?

The Library of Congress or The United States Botanic Garden. In all my many trips to D.C. I have never seen or heard of The US Botanic Garden. Hmmm...something to add to my list of must sees. I love libraries and I love beautiful gardens and in making my selection I have to think these choices would be two of the less annoying government agencies in which to work.

2. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

When a hurt is fresh its a little bit hard not to want and expect an apology. I think its natural when we've been wronged to want an apology. As I've gotten older I've learned to recognize though, that 'no apology' is the offenders issue, not mine, and I am more easily able to let it go.

3. What is your favorite meatless supper?

Eggplant parm-yum!

4. Wednesday, August 10th is National Lazy Day...will you be celebrating? If so tell us how so we can be lazy too.

Do we really need a day to recognize this? Celebrating bad habits? Sigh. I admire hard work carried out as part of living a balanced life. I don't think a person who works hard most days but who occasionally takes a day to read a book or hang out in their kitchen baking cookies, or sit curled up in a chair knitting, or plopped in a lounge chair in front of the ocean is lazy. In my mind laziness means having the ability to complete a task as well as the need to complete the task but not being particularly inclined to actually then do the task. Everyone needs a lazy day now and then. Nobody needs to make a habit of being lazy.

5. As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they? If you're a parent have you continued those traditions with your own children?

I was reminded of something as my daughter2 and I walked thru Target over the weekend. We passed the little girl dresses and my daughter said, 'Oh this would make such a cute first day of school dress for a little girl.' When I was little my mom always bought something new for me to wear on the first day of school, typically a dress and usually new shoes to go with. I continued that tradition with my own daughters too. And we always took a picture on the first day of school, sometimes on our porch and sometimes at the bus stop.

This picture was taken on the first day of grades 6 and 4. I know this because Daughter1 is no longer clutching a cute lunchbox. We've graduated to the brown paper bag for middle school.

6. Write a summer tongue twister.

Summers state of incalescence sizzles still, slipping slowly towards a soft September sky.

7. Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse pulls out the needle?

I was able to observe a myringotomy back in grad school-a child having tubes put into their ears. Ick. More blood than I would have imagined. I am not especially squeamish but I guess I tend to turn my head when the nurse actually sticks the needle in my arm. Hubs is in a medical related business and always asks for a report as to brand and type when I get home so I do try to take note of these things before the actual stick.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Words I want to remember today- "Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time." Oswald Chambers

This song goes hand in hand with that thought.

Your weekly dose of HP-Volume 39

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge...come back tomorrow to link answers and see what the neighbors are saying~

1. If you could work for any one government agency which would you choose and why? (if you're in the US here's a helpful list)

2. How difficult is it for you to forgive someone who refuses to apologize?

3. What is your favorite meatless supper?

4. Wednesday August 10th is National Lazy Day...will you be celebrating? If so, tell us how so we can be lazy too.

5. As a child did you have any special back to school traditions and if so, what were they? If you're a parent did you carry on those traditions with your own children?

6. Write a summer tongue twister.

7. Would you be interested in observing a surgery or do you turn away when the nurse brings out the needle?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

If I Only had a Brain...

I wouldn't have left hubs at home for the big move this weekend. At some point on Friday Daughter2 and I had a conversation that concluded with this thought-'If I were rich I'd never move anything again. I'd just leave it all in the old place and buy new'. This may have been said as I was wringing out my shirt after we attempted to jointly lug bin number 50 down the stairs. Or possibly it was muttered after we'd been forced to rearrange the furniture for the third time. I blame the heat for the fact that we neglected to note the location of the cable and computer outlet before we wrestled the ginormous dresser containing the TV onto the wall on the opposite side of the room from said outlets. The idea of chucking everything you own and buying new may sound ridiculous but when you are carrying bins, heavy bins I might add, bins full of books and shoes and boots and 227 hair products, and its approximately 1000 degrees and there are steps (of course) and the heat index is 1010 and the humidity is 1000% well, you'd think the same. What was I thinking leaving hubs at home?

At one point I texted him to say I thought I might actually be melting. Remember what happened to the Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy threw water on her? Like that. Hubs texted me back to say he'd just had a nap. Grrrr. In his defense he had been in Brazil all week but still, we could have used his muscles and his head for geometry. Had he been there I'm pretty sure we would have gotten the furniture right on the first try. Plus, he would have been the one doing the schlepping.

Daughter2 is settled into her new apartment and her bedroom is organized, tidy, and cozy. fyi-pretty much all university housing is 'cozy'. She wraps up her summer job tomorrow and on Wednesday will be introduced to her assigned teacher at the school where she'll student teach this year. She can't wait to get started. And hey, we're done with the moving so whoohoo! Well til May anyway, but right now May is waiting happily somewhere over the rainbow.