The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Welcome to your weekly dose of Hodgepodge. So happy you've joined the fun here today. If you've answered the questions add your link at the end of my post, then run say hi to your neighbors. Here we go...

1. When is your next big deadline? What's it for? 

A date in early June. Closing on our house in the Garden State if all continues to go smoothly. It doesn't always go smoothly in the world of real estate, but so far so good. I intend to blog about the moving and even have something in my draft file, just no time to get to it. Because I'm moving. 

2. May is National Barbecue Month  Do you prefer cooking indoors or out? What's the best thing about a barbecue? What was the last thing you cooked on an outdoor grill?a

If the word 'you' means hubs, then yes I prefer cooking outdoors. Hubs is in charge of outdoor cooking, and I handle the prep indoors. Best thing about a BBQ? The cleanup! I love the taste too, but you can't beat the no messy pans to wash bonus. Last thing cooked outdoors would be BBQ'd chicken on Monday night. 

3. What is one thing on your 'never again' list?

Never is a harsh word, one that sometimes comes back to slap you in the face. I hesitate to use it in a blanket statement, but in this case I'll say ride a roller coaster. If I never ride another roller coaster it's A-OK by me. 

4. What's something that annoys you about people your age? Something you love about your generation?

I'm not sure there's anything specific to my age group that annoys me. My pet peeves cross generational lines-ha! If I have to pick something I guess it would be people my age who coddle their adult children. Don't misunderstand... I know there are times we all need a helping hand, and I enjoy treating my grown kids now and then but! I do expect them to be independent, to support themselves, and to take responsibility for their own actions. To be adults. 

I do love and admire the way my generation tries to keep up with the ever changing technology landscape. It seems to come naturally to the 'kids', but is a bit more challenging when you've got a middle aged brain. 

5. Lilac, iris, hyacinth, pansy...your favorite purple flower?

I love purple flowers! Give me a bouquet containing all four please, and I'll be a happy camper. Of the four listed lilacs are probably my #1.  

6. Whats a song that always calms you down?

What a Friend We Have in Jesus. 

7. What's the last thing you donated?

Moving house means purging closets, cabinets and drawers, so clothes were probably the most recent item donated. We support children through World Vision and Compassion, so that donation happens on a monthly basis too. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.   

Brace yourself for cuteness overload...

Meet my daughter and son-in-laws new little love, a precious Boykin Spaniel...

...because after every marriage comes a puppy.

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 220

Here are the questions to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. You know the drill-answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to share answers with friends and random strangers. 

1. When is your next big deadline? What's it for?

2. May is National Barbecue Month. Do you prefer cooking indoors or out? What's the best thing about a barbecue? What's the last thing you cooked on an outdoor grill?

3. What is one thing on your "never again" list?

4. What's something that annoys you about people your own age? Something you love about your generation?

5. Lilac, iris, hyacinth, pansy...your favorite purple flower?

6. Whats a song that always calms you down?

7. What's the last thing you donated?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

The Lake Effect

Hubs and I wound our way south last week, making two stops before finally landing in South Carolina. Day one found us in Richmond for an overnight with hubs brother and sister-in-law. No I did not snap a single picture of the two together. Darn.

I mentioned on my blog a while back that hubs and I lived in Richmond as newlyweds, so the city holds a special place in our hearts. We loved that friends from college were able to join us for dinner too, and we had a good time catching up in person with both family and friends. Before leaving town we buzzed by our very first house which always feels a little surreal. It's been re-sided but was still recognizable.

We continued southward to Tennessee on Sunday and spent two nights with hubs other brother and sister-in-law, plus a quick couple of meals with his folks. When you're us you take what you can get. Hubs and I spent all day Monday hiking in the Smokies which I wrote about here before making our way on to South Carolina on Tuesday morning.

We had appointments with three builders, plus a dock builder, plus the actual closing on our recently purchased lot, plus a rental viewing 'cuz we need to live somewhere between the selling here and the building there, plus a 5K, plus a day in my daughter2's classroom, plus plus plus.

So thankful for my sister and brother-in-law who live in the Upstate and so graciously allow us to use their house as home base. Hubs and I would leave their place by 9 AM or earlier and not return most nights until 8 or 9 PM. It was great to have some home cooked meals too, as all the eating out is not good for the waistline. ahem.

It was a week of serious information overload. While we've owned many houses, we've never built one from the ground up, and there's a steep learning curve. We met with three different builders, all highly capable, and each one with a slightly different process than the one before. I told hubs I feel like I'm dating three guys and can't make up my mind.

For the record, I never dated three guys at the same time. Did that need clarifying?
Also, I think we've made up our mind.

The dock guy was easy peasy and it's a pretty straightforward process. Our dock permit has been approved, and you're given a dock zone within your property lines that you need to stay inside of, but other than that there's not a million decisions like there are with the house. We have good water depth, so will plunk our dock down where it's deepest and then grab our coffee cups and our chairs and watch the house go up from the waterside.

If only it would happen that quickly and easily. Sigh. 

We spent a lot of time in the car last week. My sister lives on one side of town, my daughter on the complete opposite side of town, and the lake is essentially the third point of the triangle, more or less equidistant from them both. Hubs and I like to listen to books on tape while traveling and normally I get something from the library that we'd both enjoy. I didn't have a chance to do that before we left, but my other sister had given me Game of Thrones a while back so we brought that along.

It took a while to get into, but we're liking it now. It's not short. Only 18 more discs to go! And hubs has started calling me m'lady which makes me laugh.

We took care of all the lake business we could Tuesday-Thursday, because I was determined to spend time Friday with my Daughter2. I volunteered in her classroom, and had the best day watching her with her students. She's more than I ever imagined she'd be and I always imagined she'd be awesome.

Friday evening hubs, Daughter2, and one of her teacher friends participated in a 5K. Her friend is a runner, but this was Daughter2's first 5K so that was fun.  I just love that my girls have such sweet friends, especially given how far apart we live.

For now! Soon I'll be close by and all up in her business. Ha! Not really Daughter2! She knows I'm kidding. I am kidding. Promise. But we will have lunches and mani/pedi dates and other fun and I'm excited to have her within arms reach.

Saturday was splendid. There is no better word to describe it. Daughter1's in-laws have a house on the lake and they invited us for a boat ride and lunch at one of the restaurants you can get to via the water. My hubs had a grin the size of South Carolina on his face the entire day.

The Blue Ridge Mountain view from the lake is positively stunning. The photos I took do not do it justice, partly because it's not easy to take a photo from a boat zipping along the water and partly because it's me.

 We're a year out from actually having a completed house to live in, but mentally...

.
...we. are. there. 

Appreciating the Hodgepodge

Welcome back to the Hodgepodge friends..it's nice to be back on the blog. I have so much to catch up on here, both reading and writing. Let's get started. Add your link at the end of my post IF you've answered today's questions. Happy Wednesday!

1. What's a phrase your mother often said to you? If you're a parent, is this something you now say to your own children?

'Be careful.'  Worry is something that must be tamed in a mother's DNA. 

When I say this to my own girls (and I do) they like to reply back with, 'Thanks mom..good thing you reminded us of that because we were planning to be completely reckless.' 

They think they're hilarious. 

2. What is a scent you associate with your mother or your childhood home?

Chocolate sugar-y goodness. I think my mother will be absolutely fine with that answer. She is a wonderful baker, her Christmas cookies are legendary and her homemade brownies and cakes world class, so definitely the scent of something wonderful in the oven. 

3. What's an activity you remember always doing with your mother (or someone who was a mother figure in your life)?

Cooking and baking would be the obvious answer, and I so appreciate my mother's skill there and the fact that she passed her love of home and hearth on to me. The thing that popped into my mind though, was something completely different-paperdolls. Can you still buy paperdolls? My sister and I absolutely loved them, and spent hours playing with ours. That was probably one of my favorite things to do growing up.  

Some of the paperdolls came with the kind of clothes you punched out of the page, but the best kind were the ones you cut out yourself.  They had tabs to hold them in place when you folded them over the doll. My mom didn't actually play paperdolls with us, but she helped us cut out the clothes and we loved that so much. I have such a clear picture in my head of the three of us at the kitchen table chatting as we worked. My mom is very creative with a bit of the artist in her, so she was never sloppy, and she never ever ever cut the tabs off the shoulders, which made them unwearable. I quite often snipped off the tab. 

I feel like so many people reading won't have a clue what I'm talking about, but if you loved paperdolls you'll understand. 

4. Flared jeans, maxi dresses, and jumpsuits are 70's fashion trends back this spring. Are you on board? Which trend would you be most inclined to try? For the men...flared corduroys, wide-collared shirts, and floral prints...what say you?

I will not be wearing any sort of jumpsuit, that much is for certain. I think that might have been a cute look for me back in the 70's, but not in the 00's. ahem. 

While I like the idea of a maxi dress and have tried to make it work, it just doesn't. I do love them on my daughter though. I would probably wear a flared jean, not a super wide crazy flare but a small flare would be okay.  

I'm not keen on any of those man styles. I think then and now, 70's fashion suited women more so than men. 

5. May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Day and also Nurse Appreciation Day. Is there a nurse or teacher you have especially appreciated along the way? Tell us why?

I've been fortunate to have so many wonderful teachers all throughout my schooling, but the teacher I most appreciate right now would be my Daughter2. I got to spend a few hours volunteering in her room last week, and I'm so impressed with her skill in the classroom.

She has such a wonderful way with her students, and strikes precisely the right balance between loving and firm. I know I'm her mother, but seriously the girl's got skilz! 

6. If I came by your house, what would I find on your frig door?

Not a thing. We're selling our house and have to pretend nobody lives here. Even if we weren't selling I wouldn't have much there. I like the minimalist thing when it comes to refrigerators. When my house wasn't for sale the only things on my frig were photos of the three children we support through World Vision and Compassion. Their photos are a reminder for me to write them letters and keep them in my prayers.  

7. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana made her royal entrance on Saturday, May 2nd. On a scale of 1-10, how much attention did you give to all the news coverage? 1=Who's Charlotte? 10=sat glued to the telly, cuppa in hand.

I'm right up there in the 8 or 9 range, and excited to have a girl in the mix. Those cheeks! Completely adorable. I think her name is lovely too.  I had a full day on Saturday, so could not sit around in my pjs watching the telly, but I did check for updates on Twitter. 

Also, let's discuss Kate's hair because it's pretty much perfection. I wish her hair team could do my hair now and then. Remember the old Breck commercials? Kate could totally be a Breck girl.  Am I dating myself here today? Regardless, I think she handles all the attention, scrutiny, and criticism with a lot of grace. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

So here's a fun thing. I posted that picture (above) of my Daughter2 on Facebook earlier this week and her long ago fifth grade teacher left this photo in the comments-

She had a picture of my daughter taken in her fifth grade classroom in almost the same pose! I know! And that face! Pure sweetness with just a hint of mischief in the eyes. I remember that adorable little blouse too with it's dainty embroidered flowers. 

Be still my heart. 

Seriously, I might have to go lie down now because it's all too much.

Also, how amazing is it that her fifth grade teacher could put her hands on this very photo taken fifteen years ago?! Miss S. taught both my girls in the fifth grade and we all adored and appreciated her. 

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day Ms. S! 
This picture made my day, and I'm sure Daughter2's as well. 

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 219

The Hodgepodge is back this week, just barely but it is back. Hubs and I have been trekking across the south for the past nine days, and as you might imagine I've been stockpiling blog content.

I'm going to come back to that because I'm pretty sure all that road tripping needs it's own post or two. In the meantime let's tackle the Hodgepodge. Be sure to hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. What's a phrase your mother often said to you? If you're a parent, is this something you now say to your own children?

2. What is a scent you associate with your mother or your childhood home?

3. What's an activity you remember always doing with your mother (or someone who was a mother figure in your life)?

4. Flared jeans, maxi dresses, and jumpsuits are 70's fashion trends back this spring. Are you on board? Which trend would you be most inclined to try? For the men...flared corduroys, wide-collared shirts, and floral prints...what say you?

5. May 6th is Teacher Appreciation Day and also Nurse Appreciation Day. Is there a nurse or teacher  you have especially appreciated along the way? Tell us why?

6. If I came by your house, what would I find on your frig door?

7. Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana made her royal entrance on Saturday, May 2nd. On a scale of 1-10, how much attention did you give to all the news coverage? 1=Who's Charlotte? 10=sat glued to the telly, cuppa in hand.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Zee End

An unoriginal title, but it's the end of the alphabet and that's the best I can do. We've reached the finish line in this year's A to Z Challenge, which feels great. It was a little tougher to complete this year as I'm not cut out for writing after 11 PM on a regular basis. Still I enjoyed the discipline and the daily letter prompt. 

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird:  It would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

 ~C. S. Lewis 

It's exhausting and scary and a little bit exciting to think about all the changes that have occurred in our lives these past few months. One of the things I love most about blogging is the way it allows me to record something in present day, and then later examine it with the clarity of hindsight. It's there I most often see the benefits of change, and where my heart fills with gratitude for all I've learned as a result. 

"Change may come to you in trinkets and I hope it adorns your life gracefully."~Dodinsky

Young and Young-ish

I won't mention againhow difficult it is to blog this week, k? 

Also this post has nothing to do with change. 

Except I saw my Daughter2 for a quick minute and if you look at her you will know what I looked like 30 years ago. 

She is my mini me. 

Minus the tired eyes of course. 

It's an amazing thing to have a child who is the spitting image of the girl you once were. In my head I'm still that girl, but the mirror begs to differ. I think I'm okay with that though. 

There's a saying, "youth is wasted on the young" but I don't think that's true. It's good to be young. To not know what you don't know. To make mistakes and learn from them. It's also good to grow a little older every year. To recognize that every season of life is built upon the one that came before. 

To look behind and look ahead, but find contentment where you are.