Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along...just answer the questions on your own blog and then come back here tomorrow to link answers with the rest of the world.
1. A new Miss America was crowned on Saturday night-did you watch? If you were a contestant what would your talent be?
2. Do you have houseplants? Real or fake?
3. When you were in school did you speak up or were you more of the hide your face, avoid eye contact, and pray the teacher didn't call on you type of student?
4. Next Monday marks the Chinese New Year...what do you order when someone suggests Chinese food?
5. How would you define a miracle? What would it take for you to consider something a miracle?
6. What's your favorite Disney song? If you're stuck you'll find a list here.
That would be the DC-Maryland-Virginia region of the country, not the Dept of Motor Vehicles in case anyone is confused. I've been on a fun little mini holiday this past week, hanging out with my daughter in Washington D.C. Inside shopping malls in Washington D.C. might be more accurate, but it's all been fun. We like to shop and spent most of Saturday doing just that. In fact, I think I may have accidentally treated her to a new winter work wardrobe. I'd only planned to get her a couple pair of nice trousers for work but when you are this adorable every single thing you try on is adorable too. She has a job that requires a certain level of dress and since this is her first winter in the big city she truly did need to update her closet and it was fun to help.
Every good shopper knows you need a break to rest your feet now and then so we sat down on a bench in the mall to have a cup of tea and watch the world go by. As we sat there talking we noticed three men in suits walking closely behind two teenage girls. I don't mean that in a creepy way. The message they were sending was more like 'come too close and you'll regret it'. The 'suits' were wearing lapel pins and ear pieces and we knew right away they were Secret Service. Really, who wouldn't notice three men walking around the mall in suits in the middle of a Saturday afternoon?
Daughter1 said maybe it was one of the Obama girls so really subtle like, ahem, she followed them into Brookstone. She had her trusty phone camera at the ready and I texted her not to get arrested. She's used to my paranoia so she just laughed and was back a minute later saying it definitely was not a member of the first family. We could see the 'suits' placed in and around the store entrance and we knew it was somebody. Naturally we felt an urgent need to look at pillows in Brookstone. Come on now, you know you'd have done the same. Once I got a look at the face of the 'dad' with the girls I knew it was Eric Holder (US Attorney General). I imagine the Secret Service has to spend a lot of time doing stuff like this, traipsing around a mall in a suit on a Saturday afternoon. I imagine too, if you're in that line of work, a boring day is also a very good day.
After our little escapade we went to see a movie-Beauty and the Beast. Don't judge-we weren't the only people over the age of 8 in the theatre. That movie was a favorite in our house back in the day and it's every bit as good 20 years later. We picked up on a few of the little details we didn't notice way back when and decided even a cartoon set in a small French village makes us long for the provincial life. I love the message in this tale as old as time. Belle loves books and she knows that what's on the inside of a person matters most. We might have sung the songs all the way home....
'I want adventure in the great wide somewhere...I want it more than I can say...'.
Sigh.
Daughter1 and I agreed we have a whole lot in common with Belle.
I'm spending a few days with Daughter1 who happens to live in our nation's capital. You didn't think I just pulled the Hodgepodge questions out of thin air did you? When daughter1 was a little girl her Christmas list was full of pinks and purples and baby dolls and 'spinning' dresses. This year she asked for a new mattress and an external hard drive. Who is this child?
Because she has a full time job and I don't we decided I'd come down and be available for the mattress delivery and then we'd have some fun girl time too. Earlier in the day I'd taken the Metro into downtown so we could meet for lunch. I got to see Daughter1's work space and meet her boss and a couple of her co-workers. I looked at her desk, so organized and professional...I watched her swipe her ID badge to open doors and I listened as she gave me directions for walking around this huge city. I looked at my daughter and registered the white blouse tucked into dressy trousers and the four inch heels on her teeny tiny toes. For a minute I flashed back to her clomping around the house in my old highheels and her favorite dress up item which was a slip that belonged to my mom. Sometimes practice does make perfect.
I had my camera with me and after lunch I was hoping to play tourist but the weather did not cooperate. Instead I wandered into the most fabulous little bookstore in Dupont Circle that daughter1 had recommended. It's called Kramers and I could easily have pulled a mattress in there and spent the night. I love little bookshops. I bought a travel book or three and, as a little gift for my daughter, a collection of short stories written in French. Because when you live and work in a city you need to make sure you still have beauty in your life.
We rode the train home together and went out for a lovely grown up dinner where we solved most of the world's problems. We came home and put on our pjs and laid on her brand new plush mattress and watched all the Miss America contestant videos. We laughed ourselves silly.
She's in there still, my little girl with the golden blonde curls and the gentle spirit. The girl who makes the breeze feel warmer and the sun shine brighter even on a gray wet January day.
Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you joined the fun today. Be sure to add your link to the bottom of my post and then go visiting. Here are my answers-
1. Lake Superior University has once again banished 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, ginormous, trickeration 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 were chosen.
Well, I love to use the word ginormous so not that one. I'm going with occupy because I'm beyond sick of it.
2. Are you easily embarrassed?
I think I used to be but I've learned to laugh at myself more easily as I've gotten older.
3. what is your go-to snack?
This time of year it's a clementine. I think its one of natures most perfect foods. If I don't have fruit in the house (which is extremely rare) then I'll opt for pretzels. Not very exciting I know but a handful of pretzels takes the edge off of hunger pangs and is just enough to keep me from going for the M&M's.
4. Have you ever been to Washington DC? if not do you have any desire to go? What site/attraction would you most like to see in that city? If you have been what's your favorite site?
I've been to DC more times than I can count. Growing up I had an aunt and uncle who lived in the Virginia suburbs and I know I was there a time or two as a kid. When hubs and I were newlyweds we spent our one year anniversary in the city. We were living in Richmond at the time so an easy trip. Before moving to England we lived in Annapolis for 9 years and popped in to DC often. Currently my Daughter 1 is gainfully employed in DC so yes I've been to our nations Capital.
My favorite site is The Vietnam Memorial but I also love the monuments at night.
5. sit ups-planks-lunges-squats-which one do you hate the least?
I'll pick lunges but I think it's safe to say I hate them all.
6. What's a small act of kindness someone did for you that you've never forgotten?
I remember a lovely woman in my bible study group back when my kids were small who was always so encouraging to me in my parenting. I had car trouble one week and she went way out of her way to come and get me. Small kindnesses mean a lot.
7. Have you ever been a blood donor?
No. I haven't really had an opportunity in recent years and when I was younger I never weighed enough to be a donor. Now that we've lived in England we're ineligible I think.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
I am loving this beautiful rendition of the song Hallelujah...the singers are Norwegian and I don't think I'm misusing the word when I tell you they're 'amazing'.
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?
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?
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!
