Time keeps on slippin' into the future

Backing up to last Saturday. I know. I'm all over the place lately and I'm pretty sure I said I was going to get my writing act together this year.

One can still hope.

Today's photo challenge prompt is 'shoes' but since I'm making my own rules these days (have I mentioned that?) I'm posting one of the prompts I missed. Day 17-'time'.

If you'll recall we were in Tennessee last weekend. Once daughter2 made it over the mountaintop on Saturday, we piled back into the car and headed over to Cades Cove. For those of you who've never been I highly recommend.

Cades Cove is a wide valley surrounded on all sides by gorgeous mountains. Are there any other kind? Its the most visited spot in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and a great place to hike, bike, think, and dream.

An 11 mile loop wraps around the cove and cars meander along this road keeping a close watch out for wildlife. We've been coming to the Smokies, and in particular Cades Cove, for a long, long time.

When the girls were little we liked to count the deer as we drove thru the park...

Still do.

Sometimes you get lucky and will see a bear.

No bear this trip but we did see lots of daffodils in bloom.

In the middle of February.

Not sure I've ever seen that here before.

In addition to all the wildlife there are churches, cabins, and a gristmill dating back to the 1800's.

Even with all its many visitors Cades Cove remains a place of serene beauty.

And for us, this picturesque little corner of the world is a place where some of our most treasured memories were born. A place where little girls learned to love and appreciate God's creativity...

and the beauty that is found in spending time outdoors with the people you love most.

It still is.

Proud to Answer the Wednesday Hodgepodge Vol 67

Welcome to this week's edition of the Wednesday Hodgepodge...so glad you're playing along today. Add your link to the bottom of my post and then go check out what everyone else had to say. Here's my .02-

1. February 22nd is National Be Humble Day...what makes you proud? What keeps you humble?

What makes me proud-my children.

What keeps me humble-also my children.

Kids are so honest.

I don't mean that in a bad way.

2. Where is the catch-all (aka dumping ground) in your house?

My hubs is a bit of a neatnik and is not a fan of the catch-all. That being said, he does empty his pockets on the kitchen counter by the garage door but he doesn't leave it there indefinitely. I leave mail on the counter and once he looks thru it I move it to the desk in the office, the shredder, or the trash. I keep my purse at the kitchen desk but always take it upstairs with me at night along with my phone. I also no longer have toddlers or school aged children at home which drastically cuts down on the need for a catch all.

3. Do you make it a point to visit State/National Parks when you travel or even in your own hometown? What's your favorite?

Yes. Wherever we've lived we've always checked out the nearby parks. Weather permitting we spend some time most every weekend hiking in nearby State or National Parks.

My favorite? Yikes! I don't think I can choose. To make it easier I'm going to stay within the geographical confines of the USA. If I let myself cross the Atlantic this post will never end. I think Acadia National Park in Maine might be one of the most beautiful places on earth....

but my heart belongs to the Smokies and East Tennessee which I wrote about yesterday...

4. How would you define honor?

To me honor and integrity go hand in hand. A person with a high degree of integrity is honorable. Having honor means telling the truth, keeping your promises, and doing the right thing even when no one is looking.

5. Angel's food or Devil's food-which cake do you prefer?

Hmmm...cake or cake? I prefer cake. Okay, if I have to choose I will say Angel Food. I'm a huge fan of anything chocolate but I love the lightness of angel food cake. Top it with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries and its a heavenly dessert. Appropriately named too.

6. What's the most recent road trip you've taken? Where did you go and how many hours did you spend in the car? Do you like to zoom to your destination without stopping or leisurely wind your way there with stops along the way? What is your car snack of choice?

We took a road trip this past long weekend. I wrote about it here so I will refrain from re-writing. We went from Northern NJ to East Tennessee, a whopping 11 1/2 hours in the car each way.

We mostly zoom to our destinations but we do stop for lunch and/or breakfast. We had our pup with us this time so we had to make a stop or two for her benefit. Ours too if you want to get all technical. When we're traveling south we like to leave before the crack of dawn to avoid a lovely phenomenon in these parts known as rush hour traffic. Or gridlock. Take your pick.

Anyway, this time we left at o'dark thirty and drove for about three hours then stopped for breakfast. Sometime mid afternoon I mentioned that I was kind of hungry. Hubs looked at me and said, 'You're kind of high maintenance this trip.' It was funny but maybe you had to be there.

You know how I said my hubs is a bit of a neatnik? Well that extends to the car too. My snack of choice would be pretzels but they make crumbs so no can do. I settle for twizzlers and clementines.

7. Recent headlines told how a preschool child in NC had their packed lunch from home taken away and a school lunch substituted by a school inspector who deemed the homemade lunch unhealthy. Reportedly the parent was then billed for the school lunch (chicken nugget meal) although an update to the story says the parent was not billed. The inspector was conducting a routine inspection of the classroom-he/she was not there solely to peek in the lunchboxes.

The packed lunch contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple juice box, a bag of chips, and a banana. You can read the story here. Your thoughts?

The details to this story have changed several times since it first broke so I'm not entirely sure what really happened but I have a few thoughts anyway-

• I thought the packed lunch sounded pretty healthy. It was missing a vegetable but there was no dessert so not too bad and very much like something I might have sent with my own children.

• Some kids do not eat vegetables unless mama is standing there watching. I rarely packed veggies in my kids lunchboxes...they both ate lots of vegetables but we had salad almost every night and always at least one vegetable for dinner so I never worried about it at lunchtime.

• I taught school many moons ago and have seen a rambunctious child open their packed lunchbox to find a koolaid drink, a gogurt, chips, and a cookie. This does not a happy kindergarten teacher make.

• If a parent wants to pack the lunch I just described I might not like it but I do believe it is their right as the parent to pack it.

• If schools are serving lunches then yes, I do believe they need to be healthy.

• Are chicken nuggets healthy? I always viewed them as a fast food option.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Today's photo prompt is 'where you work'. I don't have a job outside my home and while I could post a picture of my office I think it would be more fun to tell you where I'm going later this spring-

Shanghai-Taipei-Hong Kong.

The beans are officially spilled.

Smoky Mountain Majesty

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge Questions you'll find them here.

Hubs took a couple of vacation days at the end of last week and we spent the holiday weekend in one of our favorite spots-the Smoky Mountains. We hadn't seen his parents in several months and his brother kindly let us use their cabin with the spectacular views so we loaded up the car and drove down on Thursday. In the pouring rain. Surrounded by trucks on all sides. Ugh. The left lane is for passing, not loitering!

Oh let's not get sidetracked with a rant...moving on...

It's a long drive, almost twelve hours, but its worth it. About the time we crossed the Tennessee state line the skies cleared. We had dinner 'in town' near the folks then wound our way up to the tip top mountaintop and settled in to the cabin for the weekend.

We had our pup with us too and let me tell you, she was in her glory. She's a mountain girl at heart-

Friday was absolutely gorgeous with temps in the mid 50's. We ate lunch on the deck and didn't need to wear a coat. In the middle of February. High on a mountain. Ca-razy! But oh so nice. The sky was that gorgeous color I love too which is just icing on the cake when you're in a setting so lovely.

Friday afternoon we drove a little further into the park to a place known as the Y-

Not sure if that's the official name but that is what everyone calls this picturesque little spot...it's a good place for skipping rocks-

Or sitting on one...

Someone may have taken a dip...

We spent a fair amount of time this weekend sittin' and rockin'...

because that's what you do when you have scenery like this staring back at you-

We chatted with the parents, cooked dinner, and played Dominoes.

We exhaled.

Saturday dawned bright and beautiful and was once again mild. The day managed to get a whole lot brighter when, just before lunch, Daughter2 arrived. She drove over the mountain from uni to spend the long weekend with us...what a treat to see this sweet face in the middle of February.

She's grading papers.

If you knew her at age ten you would understand how much fun it is to write that sentence.

We took advantage of the weather and spent the afternoon in Cades Cove. I'm going to save that bit for a separate post on Thursday because I may have some pictures and this post is already long. ahem. I will post a photo here in my efforts to catch up on the February Photo Challenge prompts I missed-

I'm counting this as Day 21 with the prompt-a favorite photo of you. For me, photos are more about the memory than the composition. Perhaps that's why I just snap away and don't pay enough attention to light and detail. My father in law took this one. For the record this is not THE favorite photo of me but it is A photo of me with my favorite boy so I think that counts. Plus, you really cannot have a bad picture when the Smokies are your backdrop.

We made a big pot of spaghetti Saturday evening, played more Dominoes (Hubs won. He'd want me to say that) and talked on into the night.

It poured rain all the livelong day on Sunday. We headed down the mountain to church and then to a fun lunch where we met up with a few peeps. Mary (Life in a Small Town) and her hubs joined us and it was fun to catch up with her in person.

We have real life connections-she went to high school with my hubs and college with both of us, although hubs and I are 'older'.

Monday dawned too soon, too fast. There was just the lightest dusting of snow on the mountain and then no snow to speak of the whole way home. I rode with daughter2 for the first hour until the place where the road splits and she heads south and we head north. My heart splits a little there too. Sigh.

We didn't get home until after 10 last night and we were pooped. Hubs drove the whole way but still, being the passenger wears a person out too. Course he got up and went to work this morning and I got up and am still in my pjs drinking coffee.

I'm going to wrap this up with a picture for the Day 19 photo challenge prompt-'something you hate to do'-

...leave this view behind.

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Volume 67

I've been away all weekend and have lots of catching up to do on my blog. For now, here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge...come back tomorrow to link answers and see what the neighbors are saying-

1. February 22nd is National Be Humble Day...what makes you proud? What keeps you humble?

2. Where is the catch-all (aka dumping ground) in your house?

3. Do you make it a point to visit State/National Parks when you travel or even in your own hometown? What's your favorite?

4. How would you define honor?

5. Angel's food or Devil's food-which cake do you prefer?

6. What's the most recent road trip you've taken? Where did you go and how many hours did you spend in the car? Do you like to zoom to your destination without stopping or leisurely wind your way there with stops along the way? What is your car snack of choice?

7. Recent headlines told how a preschool child in NC had their packed lunch from home taken away and a school lunch substituted by a school inspector who deemed the homemade lunch unhealthy. Reportedly the parent was then billed for the school lunch (chicken nugget meal) although an update to the story says the parent was not billed. The inspector was conducting a routine inspection of the classroom-he/she was not there solely to peek in the lunchboxes. The packed lunch contained a turkey and cheese sandwich, an apple juice box, a bag of chips, and a banana. You can read the story here. Your thoughts?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Houskeeping

I hosted a luncheon yesterday for my gourmet group. Each person prepared a dish and the theme was French food. Ooh-la-la everything was tres delicieux. There should be some accent marks in there somewhere but that particular task remains outside my current skill set. Ha-doesn't that sound so much better than saying I haven't got a clue?

Anyway lovely luncheon, lovely day.

Which reminds me...I need a trip to France.

Immediatement!

There is a lot going on around here lately. I need to stop and smell the roses this weekend so while I will take some pictures for the photo challenge it's likely I won't post them until next week.

This is not breaking the rules.

And yes, Thursday is too the weekend.

Also, I have some things I want to write about and the words are not fitting with photo prompts like phone and button and drink. I'm going to step back, put words into sentences, and get a grip on all my swirly thoughts these next few days.

Before I do that though, I will post a picture for Day 16 of the February Photo Challenge. The prompt is-'something new'.

I had to get a new passport last fall. So sad. My previous passport was wonderfully worn and extra thick...a trip to the embassy in London to have extra pages added ensured I wouldn't have to replace it before its expiration date. It was chock a block full of visas, stamps, and memories. Flipping the pages in my passport makes me happy.

Life goes on.

My new passport arrived in the mail just before Thanksgiving and until last week it was blank. Who wants a blank passport?? Although I have yet to take a trip with this one I did have 'something new' added to it so that's a start.

Some countries require visas for entry.

My new passport now holds a visa to one such country.

I realize I'm doling out details bit by bit but there's still a few hoops to jump through before our trip happens. Rest assured I will be spilling out more words than you can handle once I get started.

It is not France.

Or England.

But there will be passport stamp(s) involved.

And I will be showing that visa to someone somewhere.

A Presidential Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 66

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! Add your link at the end of my post and then go see what the neighbors are saying. Here are my answers to this week's questions-

1. George Washington-Abraham Lincoln-Thomas Jefferson...who would you most like to meet and why?

I think any of the three would be fascinating but I'm going with Jefferson. He authored our Declaration of Independence and I'd love to hear what he has to say about America in the 21st century.

2. What's your favorite chain restaurant?

In general we prefer to eat somewhere besides the chain restaurants. We only have a couple in our town anyway-Burger King and Paneras. I don't do Burger King but I do like Paneras. I guess if I have to pick a chain I'd say Chilis. I wish we had one of those here.

3. I spied this question on the Bears at Home last week and she gave me permission to steal borrow it.

When you look back on your life do you imagine you'll think about the goals you failed to meet with regret? Or will you look at what you accomplished and say it was good?

I don't have a lot of regrets. I think there is always more to do but when I look at what I consider my most important job-raising children-I will say it was good.

4. Grapefruit-take 'em or leave 'em? Given the choice between an orange and a grapefruit which would you choose? Would you prefer it served as is or squeezed into juice?

I love grapefruit. I also love oranges. Isn't this my usual response to any question involving food? I prefer the actual fruit as opposed to the juice but I like that too so either way is good.

5. When was the last time you cleaned out a closet? Is there a closet in your home that currently needs cleaning? What are you waiting for?

I cleaned out my bedroom closet sometime after Christmas so that's quite recent. My closets are in pretty good shape but let's not talk about the boxes in the basement, k?

6. You get to have lunch with three famous people...who would you like to see round your table?

This one's hard because I feel like the three would need to mesh in some way...Nigella Lawson, Princess Kate, Bono.

7. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your ability to parallel park?

I lived in England.

I give myself a 10.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I'm using the random space today to post my picture for Day 15 of the February Photo Challenge. The prompt today is -'phone'.

Huh?

I just could not get my head round this one so I went with an older favorite photo....

My girls, then ages 13 and 15 and my precious niece at the age of 9 in the requisite picture of a London phone booth.

2003.

Feels like a lifetime ago.

Feels like yesterday.

I haven't mentioned my niece in recent posts but I know many of you have been keeping her in your prayers as she battles leukemia. She continues to need your prayers and please know they are very much appreciated.

I heart the Hodgepodge Questions-Vol 66

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope your day is filled with love and chocolate. Before I post this week's Hodgepodge questions I'm going to subject you to my picture for the February Photo Challenge. Today's prompt is-'heart'.

This has been on my kitchen island for the past two weeks-

Honestly, it's a good thing Valentine's Day isn't at the end of the month. The fact that there is a candle plunked down in the center of these conversation hearts does not deter me in the least. Perhaps I should keep it lit?

Now on to something else I love...the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer the questions on your own blog and then hop back over here tomorrow to share your answers.

1. George Washington-Abraham Lincoln-Thomas Jefferson...who would you most like to meet and why?

2. What's your favorite chain restaurant?

3. I spied this question on the Bears at Home blog last week and she gave me permission to steal borrow it-

When you look back on your life, do you imagine you'll think about the goals you failed to meet with regret? Or will you look at what you accomplished and say: it was good?

4. Grapefruit-take 'em or leave 'em? Given the choice between an orange and a grapefruit which would you choose? Would you prefer it served as is or squeezed into juice?

5. When was the last time you cleaned out a closet? Is there a closet in your home that currently needs cleaning? What are you waiting for?

6. You get to have lunch with three famous people...who would you like to see round your table?

7. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your ability to parallel park?

8. Insert your own random thought here.