P.S. and Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 61

Before I dive into the questions for this week's Hodgepodge I want to add a little p.s. to the post I wrote on Sunday. I so appreciated all the comments and emails that were sent. Women are complicated and interesting and want to make a difference in the world or at least in their own little corner of planet Earth.

Motherhood is a never ending but ever evolving role. When our kids are little we can pretty much predict when they'll need us because they always need us and we recognize its a 24/7 proposition. Adult children need us too, but their need isn't 24/7, nor is it something we can plan around or schedule...therein lies the challenge. You suddenly find yourself with lots of time on your hands. Except when you don't. You could throw 100% of your energy and focus into a new pursuit or an old dream, but that little voice in the back of your head and deep in your heart says you better keep a chunk in reserve. How do you use your time and talent and energy outside the arena of wife and mother and still remain, as one of my friends said, 'interruptible'. Mothers everywhere are nodding their heads in understanding at the weight of that word.

My husband is my biggest cheerleader and would say I should pursue whatever in this world I want to pursue. He means it too and encourages me to do exactly that on a regular basis. I'm here to tell you that's easier said than done. The words 'mom' and 'available' are tangled up with one another long before that baby takes her first breath and will remain so until the end of time.

I could go on and on and oops, I have, but I think some of you are just here for the questions to this week's Hodgepodge so I'll move along. Be sure to come back tomorrow and link answers with all the other internets out there. Here ya go-

1. Lake Superior University has once again published a list of words/phrases they think should be banished from the Queen's English in 2012-

amazing, baby bump, shared sacrifice, occupy, blowback, man cave, the new normal, pet parent, win the future, trickeration, ginormous, and thank you in advance.

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Go here to read more about how the words are chosen.

2. Are you easily embarrassed?

3. What is your go-to snack?

4. Have you ever been to Washington D.C.? If not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most want to see in that city? If you have been, what's your favorite site/attraction?

5. sit ups-planks-lunges-squats...which do you hate the least?

6. What's a small act of kindness you were shown that you've never forgotten?

7. Have you ever been a blood donor?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Unwritten

I dropped Daughter2 at the airport today. Okay, I didn't drop her, but rather I escorted her to the check in counter where we discovered they'd changed the terminal for her flight. I then insisted on accompanying her on the tram all the way around the airport to the correct terminal where I stood and watched and waved and smiled as she inched her way thru security all the way up until she was out of sight. Oh I am too much for my girls sometimes.

Sometimes I'm even too much for me.

My kids grew up navigating airports without a parent in sight in countries where they didn't speak a word of the language. Obviously my 21 year old is quite capable of handling all this on her own and even though she
would prefer it wouldn't mind if I dropped her off at the curb she humors me and allows me to walk her
as far as the law allows to security.

Tonite my two children are in their own apartments in two different states, my husband's in a country halfway around the world (all the way? around the world) and I'm here at home. Welcome to mid-life. I don't know what I imagined life would be like when I got to be the age that I am, but I do know this isn't it. I guess I never thought much past 30 but here I am, way past 30 and still with a lot of stuff to figure out.

My husband says I think too much. He's partly right but some of who I am has been there since birth and isn't going to change now. I'm a thinker and I always have been. Hubs can set a goal, figure out steps 1-10 needed to reach that goal and BAM, done. I quite often can't get past setting the goal. I want that end product but something gets lost in the all important middle. I start thinking and then I think some more and then I set ridiculous parameters and say things to myself like -after x is over I'll do y... tomorrow...next week...this summer...soon. Before I know it its 2012 and what in the world did I actually do in the past year towards making my heart's desires a reality?

Am I lazy? A procrastinator? Afraid? Incapable? Not sure what the right answer is but I do know I want to follow the advice I give my own children and not let life sail by without having some say so in how the boat is sailed.

Last year was hard. It was too busy and we were on the go non-stop, and of course we were all dealing with my niece's very serious health crisis, but even on top of all that it was hard. For the first time in my life I felt unproductive. There's no doubt that plenty happened around here in 2011, but I couldn't shake the feeling I was swimming beside the boat just trying to get a hand on the stern so I could climb aboard. In 2011 life pushed me along in a very swift current as opposed to me setting the pace.

Maybe we don't get to choose the pace.

And maybe there are too many metaphors in this post but I think you know what I mean. At least some of you do. Some of you reading here are at a stage in life where your days are ordered by the needs and demands of the under ten set and your only option is full steam ahead. But some of you are like me, in the middle of your life but not sure what to do now that you're here.

I'm going to write more.

Maybe not more on my blog but definitely more the old fashioned way.

On paper.

With a pen.

The way I used to write.

Back when the words spilled out of me and I couldn't catch them fast enough.

I'm still going to blog because I love it but I'd like to try my hand at other kinds of writing too. I told my husband I'd like to try writing 1000 words a day and he said get busy. See what I mean? He hears a goal and he's already on step one. His first thought is DO. I'm still thinking about it. He also said if I'd started writing 1000 words a day back when I first said I wanted to write more I'd have ten books written by now. That is a sad but possibly true statement.

I've never had an anthem before but I'm embracing this one in 2012-

How about you? Are your arms wide open this new year?

Empire State of Mind

I know I said something about writing posts with more substance and less 'here's where I was yesterday' sort of content but here's where I was yesterday-

In my defense Daughter2 doesn't go back to uni until this weekend so we're still ringing in the New Year.

We trekked into the city late yesterday afternoon to meet up with a co-worker of my hubs. We got there a little bit early because I was determined to see the tree before it comes down on Saturday. We parked near the restaurant then took a cab over to Rockefeller Plaza. In warmer weather we would have walked it but whoa!

Can you tell it was just a little bit chilly? And breezy? Still fun though...we hung out in the Plaza for a bit and then ducked into a restaurant for a glass of wine and a warm up. It was 20 degrees in the city yesterday so we kinda needed it.

Before heading over to meet our friends we made a quick stop in Bryant Park. A beautiful tree and an outdoor skating rink were set up there too and this is such a pretty little spot very close to the NYC Public Library.

We were only eight blocks from the restaurant but we jumped back into a cab because did I mention it was 20 degrees?

One of the things I love best about my hubs is his ability to make friends wherever he goes. It makes for a very rich life. This particular friend/co worker lives in Brazil but he and his wife have been on holiday in The Big Apple so we were excited to meet them for dinner. Another one of hubs work peeps and her hubs and daughter also joined the party and since they know lots of great spots to dine in the city we asked them to choose the restaurant. They did not disappoint.

Korean BBQ. The restaurant was situted in 'Koreatown' which is a whole street (maybe more?) filled with Korean restaurants and shops. You always hear about the Chinatown and Little Italy sections of NY, but there are streets tucked all around the city that are dedicated to different cultures and ethnicities...it's a big part of what makes NY such a fun and interesting (and let's not forget tasty!) place to explore.

Back to the BBQ...it was a dining 'experience'. There are BBQ restaurants all up and down this particular street but we ate in one called Wonjo. Our reservation was for 7 PM on a Wednesday evening and you could barely get in the door. It was absolutely packed and they're open 24 hours a day! You know a place is good when it's full of the local folks eating there too.

The room was a little warm since essentially you have a BBQ happening at each table...our friends informed us its best to eat here in the winter. There's a hole in the center of your table topped with what looks like a grill grate.

Once you've made your entree selection your server removes the grate and then someone suddenly appears out of nowhere with two enormous baskets of smoking hot coals. I did take note of the emergency exits upon being seated because I'm a mom and that's how I roll.

Your server grills your meat in front of you and while you're waiting for it to cook you taste all the wonderful little side dishes they've placed before you. I wouldn't want to be a dishwasher here. We were a table of eight and there must have been about twenty little bowls to sample.

So interesting and delicious, there wasn't anything I didn't like. Big surprise there, right? My favorites were the eggplant and the pickled daikon which is a type of radish that tasted a lot like cucumber. There was also a little dish of salted oil to dip your cooked entree in and I could have put a straw in that it was so good.

A couple of people at the table opted to try something besides the BBQ and they chose Bibimbap. This is a signature Korean dish and its kind of like a rice bowl topped with meat, vegetables and a fried egg. Also delicious!

I love this city. There is something about being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle that is so energizing. It's hard to put in to words but I do kind of see why New Yorkers sometimes feel like they can rule the world. Even in 20 degree temps!

New Year New Hodgepodge-Vol 60

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the fun in this brand new year. Be sure to add your link at the end of my post and then hop around and see what everyone else is saying. Here are my answers-

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

hard

swift

full

Hmmm. I don't think I'll expound right at the moment but I'm thinking there's a blog post brewing in there somewhere.

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

I love shrimp and am not particular about how its prepared...my favorite is probably steamed in Old Bay seasoning with spicy cocktail sauce for dipping. Peel and eat shrimp eaten at a picnic table beside the water on a sunny summer day is pretty close to perfection in my book.

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so, when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

It's getting there. Daughter2 and I hit The Container Store yesterday for help with some re-organizing. I outgrew my holiday storage bins about two Christmases ago and have been stashing decorations here, there and everywhere...it was past time for more boxes. Plus, who doesn't love The Container Store? Something about that place makes me ridiculously happy and daughter2 would say the same.

Hubs took the outdoor lights and wreaths down on Sunday and we got the indoor garlands and bows down on Monday. The trees will be undecorated and back in the basement by Friday. I really enjoy my trees in the week between Christmas and New Years Day when life is quieter and there's plenty of time for being still.

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

Not anything that falls into the horror category but I do love a good mystery. I have an extremely vivid imagination and don't really need anything to add fuel to the fire.

5. ice skating~sledding~ skiing~snowboarding...of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

Definitely not snowboarding. I lack whatever form of coordination is required for that sport. I'm going with skiing...I love the mountains, fresh air, and ski towns...

...especially those nestled into the Alps with their honest to goodness fairy tale charm.

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

Not a hideout per se but my younger sister and I spent a lot of time setting up Barbies under the great big tree in the corner of our backyard. Actually I think the tree was on our neighbors property but this was back in the day before everyone seemed to have fences so it was sort of a communal corner. The tree branches were high and leafy and made a perfect canopy for playing house, dolls, or dress ups.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

The water...I do my best thinking there.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We tried a new salad last night and I have to say it might be the best salad I've ever eaten. I found the recipe on a blog called Just Cook Already. Apparently this recipe is an adapted version of the original served in an Arizona restaurant called Chelsea's Kitchen.

The 'leaves' are brussel sprouts that have been peeled so you don't use the hard bitter core. Before you haters turn up your noses you really should give it a try. The leaves are combined with dried cranberries, dried blueberries, crumbled bacon, almonds, and shaved Parmesan and then topped with a light citrusy mustard vinaigrette. The only bit that's a little time consuming is peeling the sprouts.

It helps to have a daughter in the kitchen acting as sous chef.

This salad is so fresh and pretty and positively scrumptious. I served this as a side to roast chicken but will definitely fix it as a main for a light meal some evening. Click here to get the recipe.

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 60

Volume 60. That's a lot of random, isn't it? I still enjoy writing and answering the Hodgepodge and as long as I can say that I'll keep it going.

Here are this week's questions, the first in a new year. Answer on your own blog and then come back tomorrow to link your post and see what the neighbors are saying.

1. What are three words you would use to describe your 2011?

2. Do you like shrimp? What's your favorite way to have it prepared?

3. Is your house de-Christmased? If so when did you tackle that job? If not, when will the decorations come down?

4. Do you like to watch scary movies?

5. ice skating~sledding~skiing~snowboarding~of the four listed which wintertime activity do you most enjoy?

6. Did you have a childhood hideout? Describe it.

7. What's a place or space that motivates you?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Easing into a New Year

First things first...I haven't been on my blog since sometime last week so happy new year! I feel like I should say something deep and profound in this first post of 2012, but to be honest I just don't have it in me today. I'll get back in the blog groove soon but for now I want to linger in the post Christmas haze. Or laze if you want to get all technical.

We've had a week of walks in the woods and naps on the couch. We rang in the new year with homemade fondue and movies at home. Hubs and I were both awake at midnight much to daughter2's surprise and delight. Well, surprise for sure, but I like to think she was also delighted.

We've watched football and cooking shows and spent an afternoon browsing the shelves of Barnes and Noble. Fifty degree weather on the first day of January was all the motivation hubs needed to get the outdoor lights down. He rewarded himself with a spin in the little red car which most years doesn't see the light of day in January.

Daughter2 is home for another week and we've made a few plans which include fun things like dinner in 'The Big Apple', more shopping, trying some new recipes in the kitchen, and finishing a jigsaw puzzle we started after Christmas. It also includes not so fun things like a trip to the Social Security office for a replacement card and taking down the tree decorations.

Hubs has crazy travel coming up this month and he especially needed the down time we always seem to find at the end of a year. We both needed time to lay low and enjoy the gift of very un-December like weather.

I've taken lots of pictures in an attempt to figure out my new camera. We've trekked thru the woods to the top of our backyard hill and watched the hawk fly and the wild turkeys scatter. The forest is what our bird dog likes to call her happy place.

We've stood beside the quiet calm of our little town's lake and gained a new appreciation for the phrase, 'busy as a beaver'.

I should be this industrious in the new year.

In the month leading up to Christmas my blog was a little heavy on the 'how I spent my weekend' type of postings and a little light on substance. That's okay because life was busy and I'm going to be kind to myself and let me off the hook.

There is something about a new year that fills me with hope. Hope that I'll be better disciplined and less wasteful of the gift of a single hour. Hope that I'll make fewer excuses and log more hours in the gym/pool/countryside. Hope that I'll serve more and want less. More kindness, less irritation. Hope that I'll pray more and worry less. Hope that I'll seize the moment and be more intentional about how I spend my time and live my life.

Hope is good, essential actually, but if we want the things we hope for to become the things we have, then action is required. I don't know about you but I'm hoping this new year is action-packed.

"Start by doing what is necessary; next do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." St. Francis of Assisi

A traditionally traditional Christmas recap

Posting my Christmas recap feels a little bit like asking people to come over to see my vacation photos, but what's a blog for if not to talk about yourself? Actually having Christmas pictures on my blog from the last two years came in handy when we were trying to remember how the garland wraps around the banisters and where we'd moved the green chair in order to accommodate the tree and where we needed to hang the outdoor wreaths.

Everybody gets in on the fun around here~

We have a tradition of spending every other Christmas with my family and every other Christmas with hubs family. In all the years we've been married this is how it's been with the exception of just two Christmases we decided to stay in England. We trekked to the states from the UK four Christmases in a row and decided that airport crowds and hassle and then shuffling from pillar to post once we got here made it hard to remember the meaning of the season.

And I'm sure one year in the not too distant future we'll create new traditions as my girls marry and start families of their own. But we won't talk about that today because this year both girlies were exactly where they should be-tucked sweetly in to their own beds upstairs. Well, tucked sweetly onto an air mattress on the floor upstairs because we had us a houseful.

Daughter1 has a grown up job now so she didn't get home until Friday evening. If you have kids living away from home you know exactly how wonderful it feels to have all your little chicks in the nest. There is nothing better. We all got busy Christmas Eve day with last minute meal preparations, wrapping, and tidying. My big sister, brother in law, and niece drove up with my mom later in the afternoon. I tried to keep dinner low key in the work department and had a roasted turkey breast and rolls, broccoli salad, and lots of snack type sides.

We made something called Grinch punch which was delicious and very Grinch-like in color. I have punch cups that match my bowl but at Christmas time we always drink punch out of the cups Daughter2 and I collected on our many trips to various German Christmas markets thru the years.

We went to a 9 PM candlelight church service and afterwards the girls opened one gift as tradition dictates and that gift is always pjs. I'm going to see how many times I can use the word 'tradition' in a post.

Here's another one...the picture on the steps. Seemingly patient on the outside but inside it's a whole 'nother story.

I think we may have started a brand new tradition. ahem.

Christmas morning we had stockings and our traditional sausage and egg casserole for breakfast before my brother and sister in law arrived to join the party. They were followed by my little sister, brother in law and five year old nephew.

He may have been a little bit excited.

Apparently Mrs. Claus was a very good girl this year because Santa surprised her with a brand new camera. Course I don't know how to use it but no worries...he also arranged for a lesson with a local photographer and soon I'll be tossing out words like aperture and shutter speed with the best of them. I'm going to try not to annoy my family too much with all my picture taking but I'm not making any promises.

We always do snacks and punch on Christmas afternoon and this year we added an outdoor fire to the festivities. I think when we host that will be a new tradition.

These girls got all crafty and made some fun Santa hors d'oeuvres. A little labor intensive but super cute and tasty. Dinner was ham with all the trimmings and literally dozens of cookies for dessert.

It was a good day.

There were stolen kisses-

a few surprises...

a little Christmas cracker silliness...

and a whole lot of smiles...

My favorite thing?

That's easy...

"It comes every year and will go on forever. And along with Christmas belong the keepsakes and the customs. The humble, everyday things a mother clings to, and ponders, like Mary in the secret spaces of her heart." ~ Marjorie Holmes, American writer