Hodgepodge Questions Vol 113

The questions for this week's Hodgepodge are below.  Newcomers are always welcome...answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow (Wednesday) to add your link.  See you there!

1.  This week marks the beginning of Lent...will you be giving something up or adding anything to your life during this season of the year?

2. The day before Lent is Shrove Tuesday... tradition states you eat pancakes on this day. In some parts of the world Shrove Tuesday is actually known as 'pancake day'. How do you like your pancakes? Or don't you?

3.  I'm sure there are many, but what's one love song you really love?

4.  What are some things you do to let others know you love them?

5.  Roses...red, pink, or do you prefer another color? Can you recall the last time someone gave you flowers? Given your choice would you like to open the door and see a dozen red roses, a dozen purple tulips, or a dozen pink peonies?

6.  President's Day will be celebrated in America next Monday. Does US Presidential history and trivia interest you?  Many Presidential homes are open to the public and offer guided tours...Monticello (Jefferson's home), Mount Vernon (Washington's home), Montpelier (James Madison's home), Hyde Park (FD Roosevelt's home) and The White House (home to the sitting President) to name just a few. Of those listed which would you be most interested in touring?  Why?

7.  Are you good at keeping secrets?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Snow Happens

We had us a little snowstorm here on Friday, although it wasn't quite as devastating as the media built it up to be.

Things rarely are.

It snowed almost all day on Friday and was still snowing hard when we went to bed that night. We ended up with about 10 or 11 inches,  and woke up thankful to be residents of NJ as opposed to Connecticut. They got between 30 and 40 inches of snow there. Yikes.

One thing about living in this part of the country is that counties are equipped to deal with big snow.  I've lived in the south, and two inches of snow in Knoxville Tennessee is more of a problem than 10 inches in Northern NJ. Our driveway was plowed sometime during the night and again on Saturday morning.  The roads were clear and hubs and I trekked to the mall to have lunch and run a few errands.

The best thing about the snow has been watching my dog. She likes cold weather and is so funny in the snow. Hubs was out with the snow blower clearing the sidewalk on Saturday morning, so it was up to me to get her feet in her snow boots. What a workout!

Me, not her.

She resists the boots, which are actually more like booties, and I had a few people asking why we insist she wear them.  Our dog is a Setter and has furry feet. When she walks in the snow it ices up into little balls that stick between the pads on her paws. Once that happens she refuses to put her feet down, hence the boots.

I don't remember where we bought them, but we ordered online a few winters back. You slide her paw into the boot and then it Velcros around her.  Sounds so simple, doesn't it?

First you have to catch her.

Once she's caught, she promptly sits so you can't get to her foot. The next step is to swear a little, but also to remind yourself you squashed a squirmy toddlers foot into snow boots once upon a time, and by golly you will get this dog's foot into the bootie too.

Toddlers only have two feet so 'dressing' a dog is twice the fun. Once the boots are on she walks around very tentatively. She lifts her feet high off the ground which is hilarious, but as soon as she gets used to them she's off.

She absolutely loves to run in the snow and will periodically stop to throw her face in for a snack.

Can we all just agree she's the cutest dog ever?

Sunday afternoon hubs talked me into going for a walk in the woods. I'm still a little draggy, a month after catching whatever respiratory crud I caught, and it was only 26 degrees outside so I balked.  Hubs kept saying it wasn't cold, but even with the sun shining numbers in the 20's are pretty cold.  The sky was a bright beautiful blue, and I was tricked by the gorgeous sunshine into believing him.

I like this particular park.  We walk here often, and for some reason I was thinking the paths would be clear like they normally are when we visit.  

Forgot about that little snowstorm.  I mean I knew there'd be snow, but I guess I was thinking the walking paths would somehow be semi clear.  It was quite the walk through some pretty deep snow.

Gorgeous day though!  I love the sight of a frozen lake-

Well, mostly frozen.

Seems someone felt the need to test it, and fyi-that someone was not my hubs. He is a risk taker, but he's an intelligent risk taker.

It was cold out there yesterday...the lake was frozen and the path was knee-deep kind of snowy, but the sun was bright and the sky was clear blue beautiful.

I never regret a walk in the woods.

Neither does she.

"Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.

~ Henry David Thoreau

F Words

Relax.
I've got field trips, falling snow, and Friday Fragments.

Technically there is no snow falling yet, but the weathermen and news teams and snow crews are having a field day talking about it.  In what year did news stations begin assigning people to 'snow crews'?  I understand the need to let viewers in on the forecast so they can plan ahead, but we've gone overboard again.  Is it really necessary to send teams out into various communities in frigid temperatures, three days ahead of time,  to stand on the side of a busy road while no snow falls just to tell us snow is coming?

Everything is an event now which means nothing is really an event.  At least if it is we won't know it, because we've all learned to block the ticker tape running at the top and bottom of our television screens day and night screaming alert alert alert.  I will resist going into a media rant tangent here. You're welcome.

I did my duty and hit the grocery store yesterday.  I went right after my dental appointment, but before I took the dog to the vet.  It was that sort of day.  Let me ask you this... am I the only one who can't seem to get out of the vet's office for less than $300? God definitely knew what he was doing when He made dogs cute.

While I'm being random...I host a weekly meme (The Wednesday Hodgepodge), which really is a whole lot of fun (if you're not playing along you definitely should), and the past two weeks a couple of bloggers have linked up, but not played along. In fact, they didn't even mention the Hodgepodge in their post or link back to my blog in any way. Isn't that bad bloggy etiquette?  Kinda like free advertising for them on my blog? What would their mothers say?

She'd say delete, that's what.
 
Quick topic change.
Hey, it's Friday...you're here for the fragments, aren't you?
  
I had a lovely day on Wednesday touring a glass factory with twenty friends.  Are you familiar with Peggy Karr glass?

Her fused glass pieces are carried mostly in high end gift shops across the country, and I had no idea it was made not far from here.  The factory is in an industrial area I pass now and then, and I like to know there is something so creative happening behind the brick.  

One of the designers acted as tour guide and it was so interesting to see how the glass is cut, enameled, fired, and of course sold.  

At the end of the tour we met the artist herself, and she was lovely.  I didn't snap her photo because I was standing right in front of her, and it felt awkward.  Even for me. ahem.
 

There's an outlet store on the premises too, featuring seconds and retired designs. I think everyone bought something, and we capped off the trip with lunch at a local Irish pub.  In my book, any day where I get to look at pottery and have a long, leisurely lunch out is a good day.

As I've been collecting my fragments snow has started falling. We're expecting something close to a foot and a half with high winds so it's likely I'll mention it a time or a hundred before the weekend is over.  I'm on Twitter (Daleyjoy) and Instagram (Daleyshots), and I'm pretty sure those sites were made for days like today.

Hubs is working from home today, and he likes to set himself up at the kitchen island. I get it, but it does add some challenges to my day. There cannot be any noise while he's on a conference call. (He has two this morning).  And I can't walk by his computer in my pjs because he's on video chat. I'm also in charge of making sure the dog doesn't bark and the doorbell doesn't ring. Those last two go hand in hand.

On the bright side, I can't vacuum either.
I love that there's always a bright side.

To read more Friday Fragments hop on over to Half Past Kissin' Time.  

How Can You Say No to the Hodgepodge?

Welcome to this week's edition of the Hodgepodge!  I don't know if it was the questions or the winter weather or too much time spent indoors lately, but it seems I had a lot to say this week.  Kudos to anyone who makes it to the end~

1. Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 10th, and 2013 is the year of the snake.  When did you last see a snake?  Are you okay around snakes or do they give you the shivers?

I think it was late summer when I spied a snake slithering from the grass into the rock wall that sits where forest meets yard.  The rocks in our wall are more boulder than pebble, and apparently snakes love rocks. I'd like to think he was on his own, but hubs and I imagine he was meeting friends.  

Hubs found a snakeskin in the yard when I was out of town one weekend.  I know because he saved it to show  me.  Don't ask me why.  

Actually I do know why.

Hubs finds snakes interesting and knows a lot about them. It's possible he has a framed snake skin stashed somewhere in the basement. His dad killed it when he was a boy and they framed it.  Eww. 

He'll be a little disappointed that I don't mention here what type of snake it is (was?), but honestly I can't remember. I think it might be a copperhead which is why its a big deal. Or it might not be a copperhead, but it's something. Periodically he suggests we hang that framed snakeskin upstairs in the pool table room, but I put the kibosh on that faster than you can say Bob's your uncle .  

When it comes to snakes I'm mostly in the shivers column.  

2. The color red in Chinese culture usually means good luck.  Do you believe in luck?

This is a hard question.  

We all know people who walk under a perpetually cloudless sky, whose lives seem to fall into place when they need them to fall into place, and who in general seem to have things go their way.  That being said, we never really know what went on behind the scenes to get that person to the place they are today. What appears to be 'luck' is oftentimes the result of hard work, good decisions, good timing and/or good relationships established at some point prior. 

Is the same true of someone we might label as 'unlucky'? Are their circumstances always the result of 'bad luck'? More often than not, I think 'bad luck' is the result of bad decisions, missed opportunity, and lack of initiative.    

I suppose there are people who would say they're lucky at games of chance.  In that small context I might say yes, some people are 'luckier' than others.  

3. sledding-ice skating-building a snowman...if given a choice, which activity would you choose?Which of the three have you done most recently?

I haven't been sledding since my kids were young, and probably haven't built a snowman since we lived in Maryland.  That was all eons ago, so I'm opting for ice skating. The last time I skated we were living in the UK, so it's been about four years. In the winter months rinks were set up around London and we used to go with the Young Life group to the one in front of Somerset House.  Such a beautiful place to skate! We also went skating as a family at the rink set up in Kew Gardens which is not too shabby either.  

4. Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited as saying, "The years teach much which the days never knew." Where have you seen this quote played out in your own life?

I've attempted to answer this question about four different times.  It kept wanting to be its own blog post, so I think I'll save the long form for another day and just say, in short-motherhood.  

5.  When was the last time you ate a cupcake?

Hubs birthday (September).  I made Texas sheet cake cupcakes and took them down to my sister's boat where we were celebrating. One of the best chocolate somethings I've ever tasted.  

For reals.  

6. What is something you can't say no to?

Quite a few things...some that popped into my head are-

dessert, a phone call from one of my girls, movie theatre popcorn, hubs calling me to 'come here and look at this deer/fox/coyote/bear/footprint' in our yard, a walk on a not-frigid, blue sky kind of day, someone big or little asking me to read aloud, a trip to Italy/England/almost anywhere, and a hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning

7. Are you a doodler?

I used to be, but I don't  find myself sitting with pen in hand very often anymore. 

Sigh...doodling...another victim of the electronic age. 

Don't anybody leave me a comment and tell me there's a doodle app.  As fabulous as I'm sure that is, electronic doodling is no way-no how the same as pen on paper. 

When I was in school I doodled a lot, church too...that's what bulletins are for, right? I had an elaborate thing-a-ma-bob I liked to doodle. It was an intricate swirly shape with a curly cue on the end and I'd connect them until my paper was covered.

Do I need to define any of those words for anyone?  Sometimes I speak in doodles.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I'm taking a little field trip with friends today...if it's interesting I'll tell you about it tomorrow.  

If it's not interesting I'll probably go ahead and tell you about it anyway.  February blogging calls for desperate measures people.  

Questions for the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 112

Winter is plodding along here on the East Coast.  Guess it's a good thing we have the Hodgepodge to keep our brains engaged. 

You use your brain for the Hodgepodge, don't you? 

We've got quite the party going on here every Wednesday, and I do try my best to get around to everyone who participates. Some weeks I don't quite make it, and some weeks it takes me until the weekend to get there, but I do try my best to eventually make it around to everyone. I also realize most people won't hop to 60 or 70 links, but I want to encourage you to visit at least the two or three who post just before/after you. That way everyone has company and feels welcome.  

Hey, the Hodgepodge is nothing if not friendly.  See ya back here tomorrow to share answers-

1.  Chinese New Year will be celebrated on February 10th, and 2013 is the year of the snake. When did you last see a snake?  Are you okay around snakes or do they give you the shivers? 

2. The color red in Chinese culture usually means good luck.  Do you believe in luck? 

3. sledding-ice skating-building a snowman...if given a choice, which activity would you choose?  Which of the three have you done most recently?  

4.  Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited as saying, "The years teach much which the days never knew."  Where have you seen this quote played out in your own life?  

5. When was the last time you ate a cupcake?  

6. What's something you can't say no to?  

7.  Are you a doodler?  

8.  Insert your own random thought here.  

Ho-Hum, Another Weekend

There's an expression you don't hear too often anymore...ho-hum.  I'm pretty sure if you check the dictionary for a definition you'll find the words 'January weekends' written beside it.

Wait, it's February, isn't it?
Why does it still feel like January?

On Saturday we trekked to Home Depot in an attempt to replace three of the approximately seven million CO detectors in our house that were dying slow and painfully annoying deaths.  Seven million may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.  I know the law now requires smoke and CO detectors in all new construction, but I'm not sure if it specifies how many.  We have over a dozen in our house, and the three CO detectors upstairs all died last week.  It says right on the device you need to replace them every seven years so it was time.  When the previous homeowners installed the originals they put big giant nails in the wall to attach them.

Whyyyyyy???

We were hoping to find replacements with the same hole spacing on back as the ones we were replacing, but no such luck.  Do you know how many options there are for smoke and CO2 detectors?  It made my brain hurt.  Ho-hum.

Afterwards we spent an interminable amount of time in GNC while hubs looked at the eight thousand varieties of protein powder of some such nonsense.  I distracted myself by repeatedly taking my blood pressure in the free checker outside the store. Ho-hum.

It was still early afternoon so we decided as long as we were out we'd see a movie-Silver Linings Playbook with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence (or Katniss Everdeen as I like to call her, but I digress). We didn't know anything about it before we went in, but we both really liked it a lot.  The film and both leading actors have been nominated for Oscars this year and I always like to see the nominated pics.  I don't think they'll win, but the movie was good.  Of the nominated films we've seen Life of Pi, Lincoln, Les Mis, Argo and Silver Linings Playbook.  I really liked them all, but my pick is Argo.  Not even a little bit ho-hum.

We had plans to meet friends for dinner on Saturday evening.  They live about a half hour from here, on top of another mountain which normally isn't a big deal, but of course it started to snow about an hour before we needed to leave.  We braved it and went anyway and we were fine.  They salt the roads to excess here (not complaining!) and they also spray something on the roads that leaves white lines and makes them less slick, so most of the time you can get out when it snows.  We went to a little Mexican place and had a wonderful meal and a great time catching up.  It was not ho-hum, although maybe reading about it is. Ha!

Sunday evening was dedicated to football watching. What a crazy game!  Did anyone else find the lights going out after half time a little depressing?  It felt like some sort of metaphor for America in 2013, but I won't go there today.

The game was pretty ho-hum prior to half time, but it definitely got interesting after. Yowza-that was a nail biter! I thought most of the commercials were just ho-hum, but I did love the Bud ad featuring the Clydesdales. They never fail to tug at my heartstrings and make me smile. My favorite ad was the one from Chrysler featuring Paul Harvey in a voice over about America's farmers.

Gosh I miss the quiet wisdom of Paul Harvey. Raise your hand if you think America could use a heaping helping of quiet wisdom right about now. We're more like resounding gongs and clanging cymbals which I find completely exhausting.

Back to the ho-hum...we stayed home to watch the game, sat on our comfy couch, ate fabulous chili we'd simmered all afternoon, and were happy to see the Ravens win, even if they did make us squirm in our seats until the final two minutes of the game.

What did you think of the halftime show? Ho-hum? I can think of a lot of words to describe it, but ho-hum would not be among them. I've been married close to 30 years, and I'm (almost) old enough to be Beyonce's mother, but that doesn't stop me from singing along to Single Ladies.

Also, I'd like a day with her personal trainer.
Just sayin'

So that was the weekend.
Like I said, ho--hum.

We do have  a couple of fun things on our February calendar and I'm glad. I don't know about you, but this time of year I need to have something to look forward to. I feel like I spent the biggest part of January on the couch, which couldn't be helped, but still...I'm not really a sit around kind of girl.

I'm thankful for the lovely ho-hum days of ordinary life.
Thankful too for a sprinkling of extraordinary when ho-hum just won't do.

More Than Just A Game

*I've edited this post to link with Flashback Friday, hosted by Martha at Seaside Simplicitiy.  Hop over to Marth's blog to add your own Friday Flashback.  

So did you hear there's a big game this weekend?  People seem to fall into one of four categories when it comes to the Superbowl...

a. they're die hard fans of any game involving the pigskin and will watch no matter who's playing  

b. they're loyal to a particular team in the final match up so they're excited to watch  

c. they like a party and great appetizers so if you've got dip they're in, and 

d. football? blech! I'll be watching NCIS reruns in the other room

Where do you fall in the fan kingdom?

I guess in our house we land somewhere between a and b. We'll pretty much watch any game up to a point, but we definitely have our loyalties when it comes to particular teams and players. Now that I think about it, our loyalties might lie less with the team and more with the city they represent and the chunk of our lives we associate with that city.

Go Ravens!

When I was growing up the team from Baltimore was known as the Colts. In 1984 their owner moved that team in the dark of night (literally) to Indianapolis, where they remain to this day. Not in the Superbowl, but I digress. Marylanders were not at all happy, but I didn't care so much back in 1984 because I was an Eagles fan and didn't follow the Baltimore teams.

This isn't confusing is it?

I grew up outside of Philly and will always and forever think of the Eagles as 'my hometown team', but...there's a but....when you move as much as I have you discover it is very possible to have more than one hometown team.

Also, I should add that not all Marylanders were unhappy when the Colts left Baltimore, because a big chunk of that small state has always rooted for the Washington Redskins.

I told you.  Football.  Not confusing at all.

We moved to Maryland in 1994.  One day in 1996 we woke up to discover Art Modell had moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, and voila...the Ravens were born. All sorts of legal mumbo jumbo stated that the name Browns, along with the team colors and team history, had to remain in Cleveland, but the players became Ravens.

So not confusing.

Clevelandites were now the unhappy ones, and if there's one thing you should know about pro football its this-someone is always unhappy.  Anyway, most Marylanders were excited to finally have an NFL team in town and a contest was held to choose the name and mascot. In case you didn't know, Edgar Allan Poe spent the early part of his career in Baltimore and is also buried there, so the team name is essentially a shoutout to a hometown boy made good.

Back to us...we spent nine happy years living in Maryland, and my girls went from toddler to teen in this city by the Bay.  Funny how the 49er's are also a city by the Bay, but when I say Bay I'm talking East Coast.  The Chesapeake.

When I think of Baltimore I think of trips to the zoo-

I think of Saturday morning walks around the Inner Harbor, visits to the Aquarium, and Girl Scout overnights spent sleeping uncomfortably on the hard floor of the Science Center-

I think of third grade field trips to a former oyster cannery, a daughter's 12th birthday at The Hard Rock Cafe, and accidental matching shoes on the pavement outside-

I think of Camden Yards and a shortstop named Cal who was making baseball history.

I think of countless runs to BWI and the unscripted welcome home sweetness of fathers and daughters.

I think of boating on the Chesapeake and the Old Bay goodness of crabs picked on a sunshiny day.

I think of purple seats in a downtown stadium.

These days we live in NY Giant country. Or NY Jet country depending where your loyalty lies. And of course these two NY teams play their home games at a stadium in NJ so yeah, football's not at all confusing.

On Sunday there will be no confusion. No conflict as to where our football loyalties lie. We didn't grow up girls in San Francisco. We didn't watch a thousand sunsets on that west coast Bay. We never planted roots, made a house a home, fell in love with bridges and sea air and blue herons in a California  burg.

Why do I love football?  Lots of reasons...I love the competition, the intensity, the skill...I love a game won in the last seconds, a fabulous catch, a ball run into the end zone from 80 yards away.

Mostly though, I love what football stirs up inside my head.  I love the memories invoked.  My dad in his recliner, youth group retreats, fall days, college, Neyland Stadium filled with 90,000 screaming fans dressed in orange, blue skies, family piled together on the couch eating lil' smokies and cheering for the hometown team. Growing up. Me and them.

Go Ravens!