The Hodgepodge is never a chore-Vol 42

Welcome to another edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge...add your link at the bottom and join the party. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. Do you think the world became a more dangerous place on September 11, 2001 or are we just more aware of the danger? How has your own life changed as a result of that day?

I think I lost my naivete about the world long before 9/11. It left me in December of 1988 when a Pan Am jet with my dearly loved next door neighbors aboard fell from the sky. The world has been full of evil since long before any of us reading here were born. I think it is only in America that we have felt mostly safe from a particular type of evil but 9/11 pretty much put an end to that.

We moved overseas post 9/11 and that definitely gives you a different perspective, not only on America but on how the rest of the world views America, which fyi is not all sunshine and roses. We still travel a lot, most often by air, and every time I'm in an airport I think about our personal safety. Air travel used to be a little bit exciting but those days are gone, replaced by liquids in a bag and full body scans. Its no longer just airports either, that have amped up security. My bag was thoroughly searched and I was patted down before the football game at Giants stadium on Monday night. I didn't bat an eye.

2. Did you think your parents were too strict when you were growing up? How about in hindsight?

My parents had rules but I don't remember thinking they were too unreasonable. I was a kid who liked rules so I'm pretty sure I didn't complain too much. There are times as a kid when you feel pressure to participate in something you don't really want to be part of and its nice to throw the blame on your parents rules as in "I'd love to go to the party but my super strict parents said no." I would say that while my dad had a gruff exterior he didn't worry the way my mom did and was more inclined to say yes to certain things. My mom liked to tick off the dangers and what ifs. I do not fall far from that tree. Ahem. All that being said, my dad definitely had high expectations and if you were in trouble you went to mom first. I think my own kids do the same so maybe that's a girl thing.

3. Share one random but candid fact about yourself.

Have you ever read my 100 things about me post? Why not? I wrote it a couple of years ago and its chock full of random candid facts about me. I'm struggling to think of something that hasn't already been said. How about this-I started subbing in our local school system last spring. I love kids and I've taught school in the past, plus I liked the flexibility subbing offered. It has been a long time since I've been in the public school system and on Day 1 I suddenly remembered that teaching and subbing are nothing alike. Oh my.

4. Would your nearest and dearest describe you as simple or far too complicated?

My hubs says I'm complicated. That's a compliment, right?

5. What is your favorite stadium or carnival food?

I'm not even sure what qualifies as stadium/carnival food anymore since it seems like you can get almost anything at ball parks and fairgrounds nowadays. I had roast turkey with cranberry sauce at the Jets game Monday night. We were in the company box and there is usually a buffet of typical game day foods-hotdogs, dips, chicken wings, etc. available for snacking. I've really been watching my diet and I wondered what I'd find to eat that wasn't too unhealthy. I was pleasantly surprised to find turkey and it was really delicious. If fat and calories were not an issue I'd go for a hot dog with mustard and sauerkraut.

6. Tornado, hurricane, earthquake...how many of these natural disasters have you experienced? Which do you think would be the scariest?

Supposedly the recent East Coast earthquake was felt in our area but I was oblivious. I've never been in a tornado but I have been in two hurricanes. Irene was mostly a non-event at our house although when you live behind a hillside full of huge trees, strong winds and rain are nerve wracking. We lived in Annapolis during Hurricane Floyd and that was scary. My mom was visiting and hubs was out of town and couldn't get home. It was my birthday weekend and we were without power for days. My girls and I played hours of dominoes with my mom all by the light of our camping lantern. I'm thinking this may be what put them off the game for years to come. Hmmm.....

I think they're all pretty scary but if I have to pick the scariest I'd say earthquakes. At least you can take some precautions if you know a hurricane or tornado watch is in place, and certainly with hurricanes we have a lot of warning and the opportunity to get out of harms way. Earthquakes occur without warning and there's not a whole lot you can do when the ground opens up.

7. Labor day weekend is approaching so a work related question seems appropriate. Growing up, did your parents assign you regular chores? Were you paid for doing those chores. If you're a parent do you assign chores to your own children? Why or why not?

That last question was inspired by a post Mindee wrote on Monday. Everyone go say hi to Mindee. She blogs at Our Front Door and she's funny.

I had chores growing up. My mom always had a list on Saturday mornings for my younger sister and I to have done before the end of the day. We usually argued over some of those chores but I believe bickering with a sibling is a key component of the kid -chore package. And of course arguing and complaining never got us out of the actual doing.

During the week we set the table and did the dishes after supper. Saturdays were for cleaning our room and bathroom, dusting downstairs and our least liked job-vacuuming the steps. My mom would look things over when we finished too. We did not get paid for doing chores. We were part of the household and most likely its primary mess makers so why wouldn't we have to participate in the care and keeping of the house? As a ten year old I may not have seen it in quite those terms, but as a mother you better believe I did, which is why my own girls had chores too.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We saw The Patriot Flag unfurled at the Giants/Jets game on Monday night. The flag is 56 feet wide and 30 feet high and has been touring around the country all year. It's been in all 50 states and will fly at all three 9/11 sites on the 10 year anniversary date in a little over a week. It is an impressive and moving site to see in person.

It's that time again-Vol 42

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Be sure to come back tomorrow and link your answers with the world wide web. Everyone is invited to join the party...

1. Do you think the world became a more dangerous place on September 11, 2001 or did we just become more aware of the danger? How has your own life changed as a result of that day?

2. Did you think your parents were too strict when you were growing up? How about in hindsight?

3. Share one random but candid fact about yourself.

4. Would your nearest and dearest describe you as simple or far too complicated?

5. What is your favorite stadium or carnival food?

6. Tornado, hurricane, earthquake...how many of these natural disasters have you experienced? Which event do you think would be the scariest?

7. Labor Day weekend is approaching so a work related question seems appropriate. Growing up, did your parents assign you regular chores? Were you paid for doing those chores? If you're a parent do you assign chores to your own children? Why or why not?

That last question was inspired by a post Mindee wrote on Monday. Everyone go say hi to Mindee-she blogs at Our Front Door and she's funny.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

'I can see clearly now the rain is gone...'

So what did you do this weekend? Anything fun?

We had some fun if you count staying mostly tucked snugly into the confines of our own house listening to the wind blow and the rain lash while we watched a forest full of huge trees on the hill behind us sway and dance to the music of Irene.

Saturday was gray and drizzly but we ventured out early in the day to do a little shopping because someone has a birthday coming up and birthdays wait for no man. Or in this case, woman. Why are hurricanes women? One of the stops we made was at Best Buy and we were surprised at the crowds in the store. People were buying televisions and appliances and all sorts of electronics as a hurricane zipped up the coast. Something about that seemed strange but maybe they all had daughters with birthdays in the next few weeks too. And daughter2, in case you are reading this, rest assured you are not getting an appliance for your birthday. Nor are you getting a big TV but I think you already knew that.

We stopped for lunch on the way home because Irene was determined to put a damper on the minimalist cooking mantra I adopt on the weekends. We always eat out at least one meal on the weekends and hubs usually grills the rest. Hurricanes and grilling do not mix although I know some people resorted to boiling water for coffee on their grills Sunday morning. We do what we have to, right?

The worst of the storm hit here after midnight on Sunday morning. Hubs was asleep on the couch and the next day pronounced that it wasn't too bad. You do know its only people who sleep thru hurricanes that say things like that, don't you? I was awake throughout because someone needed to worry about the possibility of falling trees and flooded basements. We never did lose power so I was able to distract myself browsing Pinterest.

Sunday was a nasty day weather wise and although the storm had technically passed by early morning the winds and rain continued most of the day. We came thru it without anything more than some tree branches down and leaves scattered across the yard but there is significant flooding in our area and many are still without power. Hubs is working from home this morning since we know his route to work has 'issues' but the sun is shining in a bright blue sky and the air outside feels like fall.

This morning we have a chimney inspection scheduled in preparation for cooler weather and tonite we're going to a football game. Summer is winding down and we're gearing up for autumn, my favorite season of the year. Minus the hurricanes of course.

Like Magic

Last weekend hubs and I took a road trip that passed thru a portion of The Buckeye State. That's Ohio for anyone who doesn't know state nicknames and once upon a time we lived in this state. It was in Ohio, on a long ago day in June, that I celebrated one of the happiest days of my life. It was in this state that I became a mother.

I have never written down my girl's birth stories although they've heard them told over and over again, but as we made our way across Ohio I started thinking that I'd like to put their stories down in writing. I wish I'd done it back in the day but better late than never, right? Daughter2 has a birthday coming up in the very, very near future so I will tell her story then. She was born in The Empire State. Anyone? All mothers have birth stories to tell and I realize they are not really all that interesting to anyone other than the people in them so consider yourself warned.

Hubs and I had been married four years before we welcomed Daughter1 into our family. We were living in Richmond Virginia when I got pregnant and we had no reason to think she would be born somewhere else, certainly not in a large Midwestern city. I had been working as a speech pathologist in the Richmond City Schools for three years and we had a cute house in a planned community in a little suburb called Midlothian. Somewhere around month six hubs was offered a promotion and we were asked to relocate to Columbus Ohio. And so it was that in April of 1988 we bought a brand new house and took our pup and my pregnant self to a city where we knew not a single solitary soul.

Our house was in a brand new subdivision and it had mud for a yard. They were going to lay sod but needed winter to end first. Being seven months pregnant + a big German shepherd pup + mud for a yard= good times. Do you know what else = good times? Moving to a brand new city where the only person you now know is your realtor and less than two weeks after arriving you are diagnosed with toxemia. You are put in the hospital for four days and told every day you might have the baby but she is far too small. You are then sent home to lay on your left side 24/7 for the remainder of your pregnancy. You are allowed up to go to the bathroom, the doctor, and the first few Lamaze classes but eventually even that is deemed too risky so its back to bed and onto your left side.

Let me back up and tell you that to say my hubs was excited about the impending arrival of his first child would quite possibly be the understatement of the century. He told everyone he knew and he literally walked on air for months. He was way beyond excited and although we did not find out the sex of our baby we were certain 'it' was a she. We immediately agreed on a girl's name and more or less on a boy's name although we weren't too concerned about that because we were certain 'it' was a she.

The first week I was confined to bed hubs was a champion. He could not do enough for me, bringing me meals and snacks and fluffing the pillows and walking right beside me when I had to get up. Yeah. That kind of thing wears off after a while. By week three I was reminding him I needed lunch made before he headed out to work. Our realtor was a lovely woman named Irene. She was nothing like the hurricane though...calm and soft spoken and so kind. She checked on me often and said to call in an emergency and she would come. Keep in mind hubs was trying to learn a new role, needed to travel the state, and our house was not completely unpacked from the move.

It was about a month into the bed rest that my mother came to the rescue. Hubs had to take an out of town trip and I couldn't be left alone so my mom came out for a week. She waited on me hand and foot, cooked wonderful meals, and washed and put away all the newborn clothes so the nursery would be ready. I was in desperate need of some mothering myself and she gave me just what I needed.

The weeks passed and every time I'd see my doctor, which was no less than four times a week, he'd say I should be prepared to deliver early. With every visit my blood pressure would sky rocket and I'd see black spots in front of my eyes and they'd make me lay on my left side in the Dr's office to see if it would come down before they'd let me go back home. I was pasty white and extremely thin for a woman who was nine months pregnant. My doctor ordered me to drink a milkshake every night (Can you imagine?!!) and I did, but still I only gained 17 pounds and they were concerned. I spent a lot of hours laying in bed, talking to my soon to be born daughter and also having regular conversations with God. I'm pretty sure there was some bargaining happening too.

Do you know I went all the way up to my due date before going into labor? The Drs. were really happy about that and so on the morning I was due my water broke and off we went to the hospital. I was considered a high risk patient and was immediately hooked up to IVs and monitors and blah blah blah. People were in and out of my room all the live long day. Pregnancy and childbirth reduces your level of modesty into the negative digits doesn't it?

I was given Pitocin (blech!) and spent the rest of the day in labor. I was eventually given an epidural and late in the evening I was taken into an operating room in case an emergency delivery became necessary. Hubs was annoyingly upbeat and beaming from ear to ear. At one point during labor I squeezed his hand so hard that he dared to mention it. I know! The operating room was huge and I remember hubs saying if I pushed a little harder she could still arrive on her due date. I'm sure you can guess how well that went over.

Daughter1 made her entry into this world a few minutes after midnight the day after she was due. She looked perfectly perfect and was breathing but did not make a sound. She stared right at the doctor and he said, "You know, you're supposed to cry" and so she did. Her temperament was captured in that single moment. I remember her being placed on my chest and the way she looked me right in the eye. We studied one another. I was not expecting this tiny little newborn baby to be so alert but with just one look I knew my heart would never ever be the same.

The nurse called out from the other side of the room asking if we had a name. Hubs gave it to her and the nurse said the name aloud. When she did that my baby turned her head and looked at the nurse. The nurse said, "Wow-it's like she already knows her name." It's funny to think about that now because this child has always been so in touch with people and how they are feeling. She senses when you need a smile or a hug or a kind word. I really do think she came into the world that way.

We stayed in the hospital for three days since I continued to have some issues from the toxemia but eventually we took our baby home. My parents came and stayed for a week and then my in laws came to stay and all the many aunts and uncles also made their way to Ohio throughout the summer to ooh and ahh and love on our little girl. Daughter1 ate well, slept well, and almost never ever cried. She was positively the most content child I have ever in my life known. I know I'm her mother so there is a certain bias but honestly, everyone who came in contact with her said the same.

We loved showing our girl off. We took long walks around the neighborhood and made friends with a family around the corner who had a little boy a few months older. We also spent some time with a couple we met thru our Lamaze class who lived nearby and whose son was born a few days after Daughter1.

We played in a nearby park, ate world famous cream puffs at Schmidts Sausage Haus, and spent hours just watching our daughter. Is it bad that I remember the cream puffs?

It was a year of firsts...smiles, words, steps...a year of seeing the world bathed in the softness of a golden pink light. Of inspecting rocks and grass and a little girls' thumb. A year of Beatrix Potter and a blanket forevermore known as lubbie. It was a song. "Good morning, good morning, good morning little one." It was a year of noticing life's smallest moments...a year filled with peace and gratitude and sheer unadulterated joy. It was the year that love spilled over into every corner of my soul.

Almost exactly one year to the day from the date we moved west, hubs was given another promotion and we were asked to relocate to Northern New Jersey. We bought another house and Daughter1 and I moved in with my parents for a month until we could close on the new place. Hubs office was a couple of hours from my folks so he drove back and forth one night a week and every weekend during that month. We decided then and there that we would never again agree to be separated for that amount of time during a move.

We celebrated Daughter1's first birthday at my parent's home and then my brother's wedding just a few days later. Then she grew up and got a job in a big city and her own apartment and life.

Okay okay... I know a lot of stuff happened in between but sometimes it feels like we went from sleeping in a bassinet to riding the DC metro in the blink of an eye. And if you asked me to describe that very first year of motherhood one word comes to mind...that word is magical.

A Perfectly Perfect Hodgepodge- Vol 41

Hello Hodgepodgers...here are my answers to this week's questions. Add your link at the bottom and join the party-

1. What is something that bothers you if its not done perfectly?

Ha-I bet my family would all have a ready answer for this one. The first thing that popped into my head was setting the table. I like the napkins folded (neatly!) and the silverware laid properly. I like towels folded a particular way too. Doesn't everyone? And I'm very particular about anything written. But I'm easy going about most stuff. Really.

This question feels familiar-have I asked this question in the Hodgepodge already? If so that's going to bother me.

2. Do you think a 6th sense exists? Explain.

I'm not sure I'd call it a 6th sense but I do think mothers in particular have instincts about things and its usually wise to follow up on those instincts, particularly if they are related to teenage behavior. I don't think there's anything mystical or new agey about it. I believe God gave that gift to mothers...after all, He knew our children before we did.

3. Do you say your goodbyes slowly, quickly, or not at all?

Depends on the situation but in general ripping off the bandaid is better than picking it off one millimeter at a time. I hate goodbyes. I hope my daughter1 plays along today because I'd like to see how she answers this one. Even as a very little girl her tender heart just couldn't take the heartache of goodbye. She could drag one out like nobody else I've ever known.

4. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being hot hot hot, what level of spice do you like in your food? What is your favorite spicy dish?

I love spicy food, not so spicy that you don't taste the food, but definitely spicy. Maybe an 8? My favorite spicy dish would be Thai Green Curry. Hubs would likely say food can never be too spicy. He always asks for diced jalapenos on the side of his already too hot curries and Mexican meals.

5. What is one of your all time favorite commercial jingles?

I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke. I loved that song and remember singing the 'real' version (I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing) in 6th grade all county chorus. My family is laughing right now. Yes I was so in all county chorus in grade 6. They must have needed warm bodies.

Anyway, I'm not linking to the commercial, I'm linking to the original song by The New Seekers because oh my word, the clothes...1973 was quite a year if we're talking style people.

6. Plane, train, boat or auto...your preferred method of travel?

To get from point a to point b I prefer to fly for the sake of expediency. That being said, I'm a nervous flier so speed is the only reason I prefer flying over driving. I kind of enjoy a car trip. Hubs and I racked up some miles this weekend and I enjoy the uninterrupted car conversations, seeing new places, and the whole family listening to music or books on tape. I do like train trips too, particularly if the European countryside is part of the deal but boating is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I have a lot of rules for boating. The seas must be calm or the boats must be fast. I am not a fan of bobbing aimlessly about on the waves for any reason whatsoever.

7. What is something you take for granted?

Good health. Until it's gone I don't think we realize what a priceless precious gift it is.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Hubs and I traveled from NJ to Illinois this past weekend. We passed thru five states and may I just say that the whole Eastern half of the US of A could use a good paving. Traveling Route 80 west is a little bit like off roading in a sea of 18 wheelers.

Hodgepodgin'

Here are the questions for this weeks Wednesday Hodgepodge. They were written on the go so I'm hoping they make sense. Come back tomorrow to link your answers with the rest of the neighborhood-

1. What is something that bothers you if it's not done perfectly?

2. Do you think a 6th sense exists? Explain.

3. Do you say your goodbyes slowly, quickly, or not at all?

4. On a scale of 1-10, with ten being hot hot hot, what level of spice do you like in your food? What's your favorite 'spicy' dish?

5. What is one of your all time favorite commercial jingles?

6. Plane, train, boat or auto...your preferred method of travel?

7. What is something you take for granted?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Year One

Hubs and I were in Knoxville a few weeks ago and happened to be in the vicinity of the very first apartment we shared as husband and wife. We're in the area every now and then but rarely in this particular part of the city so we decided to drive by and see how it looked. We haven't been by this apartment since we moved away in 1985 and surprisingly it looked pretty much the same.

Sadly, we do not.

Or not so sadly, depending on your point of view. I must talk about this picture for a minute because I am struck by a couple of things. Firstly, look at our BIG SMILES!! Can you tell we're newlyweds? We are unpacking the bedroom of our brand new apartment and I guess parents were there helping us move in because somebody took the picture. What goes around comes around doesn't it?

Let's discuss me for a minute. I'm wearing a t-shirt. As I looked at this picture it occurred to me that I no longer wear t-shirts unless I'm hiking or going to/from the gym. Or maybe vacuuming, but never as an everyday article of clothing. There is an age where that is cute and there is an age where it is not and I am now in the 'not' category. Great hair, sun kissed skin, and a tiny waist on the other hand, look good at any age and I would love to have mine back.

Naturally, being the good blogger that I am, I got out of the car and took a quick picture of the apartment as it looks today-

Of course we didn't have the ginormous satelite dish on the tiny balcony because hello, cable tv was still a baby in 1984. Our tv was also not the size of a room and it sat on an ugly wooden crate as opposed to do it yourself Ikea furniture or some great hand me down armoir from family like so many young marrieds seem to start out with now. We bought our first piece of furniture, an oak table and chairs, when we got married.

That table moved with us all over the country and most recently resided in Daughter1's apartment. I believe when she relocated in April the table went to the fraternity house and its probably best if I don't think too much about that. Or the fact that I am wearing yellow cuorduorys. I know it's hard to believe but they were not out of fashion in 1984.

We didn't have a washer and dryer right away but the complex had a laundry room and I hauled the laundry to and fro every week. I remember how exciting it was to come home from work one day to discover hubs had surprised me with a washer and dryer. Do newlyweds get excited about these sorts of things today? I feel like my kids have had nicer furnishings in their college apartments than we had in the apartment you see here and we both had jobs.

I wish I could remember more of the details of our first year of married life. I know I used to put a juice glass in the freezer every morning when I got up so my hubs could have ice cold orange juice in a frosty glass for breakfast. When did I stop doing that? Pretty sure my mother in law is smiling at this. She thought it was fabulous but somehow she knew it wouldn't last. Why didn't it last though? It was a small thing but a nice thing. I am now mentally making a list of nice things I do around here today. I think my list in 1984 may have been longer.

When we were first married I had a job I loved working in a multiply handicapped preschool setting. Hubs had a job too but there was zero travel in that role. We had some friends in town and that first fall we spent weekends in Neyland Stadium cheering on the Vols. We didn't really travel but we did meet up with our college buds often in the various cities where we'd settled. Nobody was too far away yet. We spent our first married Thanksgiving with hubs family and our first Christmas with mine. Nine months after we were married hubs interviewed for a new job and we moved to Virginia.

I didn't have a blog back then (or internet for that matter) but I did keep journals off and on and they're full of life's little moments. And while I don't remember too many of the details of the apartment year I do remember being happy. And feeling like a grown up. And ready for whatever lay ahead.