I heart the Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 13

Welcome to the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge...if you're lurking why not join the party?

Be sure to add your link to the bottom of this post and then add the Hodgepodge button or a link to my blog in your post so people know where to find the fun.

That would be here.

In the Hodgepodge.

Every Wednesday.

Enjoy!

1. What is more important to you-doing what you love or loving what you do?

Sometimes I stump my very own self with these questions. What seems like a simple question on the surface is actually somewhat complicated underneath. I am going to say loving what you do. I think its wonderful to be able to do whatever it is you love to do in life but oftentimes we're not that fortunate. I think it's important for me to learn to love what I am doing, otherwise I will go thru life feeling restless and unhappy. Contentment is huge in my book.

2. Do you like bleu cheese?

Yes. Sadly I don't think I've ever met a cheese I didn't like.

3. What is the most difficult emotion for you to handle?

Fear....as in nervousness. I carry on a running conversation with God and also with myself when it comes to anxiety and worry. I've made great strides but its still probably the emotion I find hardest to handle.

4. Fresh flowers or chocolate?

Fresh flowers. Don't get me wrong...I love chocolate and its part of the food pyramid in my house, but there is nothing like fresh flowers to brighten a dreary winter day. Have I mentioned I'm a teensy bit tired of winter?

5. What's a song you love that has the word 'love' in the title? It doesn't have to be a 'love song'.

I could put 100 answers in this space.

Really.

How He Loves by The David Crowder band is maybe my favorite song ever but I'm not going with that one. Instead I'm going with the very first song that popped into my head and that's Love Train by The O'Jays. How can you not love this song? Doesn't it make you want to sing along?

In our house we smile at the words to the very first verse "...the next stop- that we make- will be England..." ...when Daughter1 was in grade 9 we lived in Maryland and she was in her high school's rock and roll revue. In one number she sang and danced to this song. She had no idea that just five short months later her next stop really would be England. Its a happy song. Plus I'm pretty sure you know how I feel about music of the 1970's.

6. Are you the person you wanted to be when you grew up?

No. Well, sort of but not completely, no. I don't think I'll elaborate.

7. Any special Valentine's Day plans?

I'm somewhat pleased with myself this year as I managed to order a treat for my girls to be delivered to their mailboxes on time. On time is key. Plus, I put packages into the mail for them that will also arrive on time...special gifts the hubs bought for his girls in China. I even managed to order a little something for the hubs which will also arrive on time. I'm patting myself on the back for doing these things far enough in advance that special delivery wasn't necessary.

Hubs and I will probably have a nice dinner someplace, maybe even at home because we like to cook together. And it will most likely be this weekend since I'm pretty sure my Valentine is traveling on the actual day.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

'The King's Speech' is the best movie I've seen in a long time. You don't even need to love all things British or enjoy history or to have at one time been employed as a Speech Therapist to enjoy this film. It is fabulous!

Who loves the Hodgepodge?

Extremely trying day yesterday dealing with airports, canceled flights, weird unexplained power outages in the Newark terminals, overworked crew, blah blah blah. My daughter1, who was supposed to arrive home at 11:15 am yesterday morning, finally made it to the Garden State a little after 9 PM last night. Has this been a winter or what? Not that this had anything to do with winter but winter is wearing me out. It is so much easier to cope with life's little aggravations when the sun is shining, don't you think?

Between fretting and checking the flight updates and watching the weather and fretting some more and re-checking the flight updates I managed to write questions for this week's Hodgepodge. Everyone is welcome to play along~answer the questions on your own blog (or facebook page if you don't have a blog) then hop back here tomorrow (Wednesday) to link up your answers with all the other internets. See you there...

1. What is more important-doing what you love or loving what you do?

2. Do you like bleu cheese?

3. What is the most difficult emotion for you to handle?

4. Fresh flowers or a box of chocolate?

5. What's a song you love that has the word 'love' in its title? It doesn't have to be a 'love song'.

6. Are you the person you wanted to be when you grew up?

7. Any special Valentines Day plans?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Chili Anyone?

We were supposed to get an additional three to six inches of snow on Saturday but thankfully the forecasters were wrong. We ended up with a little icy rain in the morning that quickly turned to plain old rain for the rest of the day. Temperatures rose to almost 50 degrees and we listened to the sound of icicles crashing to the ground most of the day. That sound was followed closely by the sound of feet running to carefully inspect the walls in the basement and the bedrooms for any sign of water damage. So far so good. Oh there is still a ton of snow out there and my yard and deck still look like a skating rink, but at least the gutters are beginning to thaw.

What? You thought I was going to talk about the Super Bowl and not the weather? The fact that we didn't get more snow meant our party could go on as planned. Saturday we set the Sirrus radio to 70's music and we dusted and mopped and vacuumed and cooked and decorated all the live long day. Hubs also went outside every hour on the hour to move ice and snow and water away from the house. It was very Pioneer-like. Except for the 70's music I mean.

I had fun decorating my dining room table for the party. This is what it looked like before it was covered with food-

Tres festive! I made a chocolate cake and attempted to decorate it like a field and it was delish...

We haven't eaten the goal posts yet. They are pretzels dipped in melted white chocolate. Yum!

Speaking of food, there was a lot. Everyone brought a dish and there were so many wonderful dips and wings and shrimp oh my. I made two huge pots of chili and two trays of cheddar jalapeno cornbread and thankfully both freeze well because my word there was a lot of left over food.

In other Superbowl fun, hubs got creative and made a game board which everyone played at $1 a square. We were not paying out on the quarter, just at the half and then again at the end of the game. Guess what? Nobody won which was a little anti-climatic. Of course nobody lost either and hey, if you're not a loser you're a winner, right? I can't tell you what my favorite commercial was because I seem to have missed most of the commercials. I may have been talking. Possibly I was talking. It's likely I was talking.

Eventually everyone headed home and hubs and I washed dishes and put away food and as we worked we chatted and had our own little post party recap. I love that part of a party...the after-party, if you will. Does anyone else wonder why they don't play the Super Bowl game on a Saturday night? Oh I'm sure its got something to do with money and advertising and sponsors because pretty much everything does when you're talking about professional sports...and I know back in the old days football was strictly a Sunday afternoon thing so maybe that's how the tradition began but come on...they now televise games on Mondays and Thursdays and Saturdays and Sundays so can't we move the Super Bowl game to a Saturday too? I need my beauty sleep on Sunday nights.

Do you want to know the best part of my Super Bowl day? Daughter1 phoned and said she has some vaca this week so she wondered if she might be able to come home for a few days. I hopped on line and booked her a flight and am off to the airport to collect her in just a couple of hours. Since June I have spent less than 20 days with her in person. That is not enough. Not by a long shot. And its times like these that I'm happy hubs travels and racks up miles with the airlines. Free ticket + daughter home + someone to share in the left over chili means there actually was a winner here yesterday....and that winner was me.

Words With Kids

I am in serious need of a change of topic (and scenery) but when you can't leave the house for days on end there is only so much material at the ready for the ole blog.

I don't suppose you want to hear about how I was supposed to go to my regular doctor yesterday but he cancelled due to the crazy ice here and that today I have an appt. at the eye doctor and he hasn't cancelled so I'm feeling hopeful.

That is fascinating stuff isn't it??

Since not a lot is happening in the present lets take a short stroll down memory lane.

I read something on Missy's blog recently that got me thinking.

If you don't know Missy go say hi because she's funny and she lives where it is all kinds of Canadian cold so I'm sure she'd enjoy blog visitors.

She recently wrote something about kids mixing up words which got me thinking about some of the crazy word mix ups that occurred when my girlies were tiny tots and how many of those expressions have stuck.

Stuck so hard in fact, that they will forevermore be a part of our everyday family talk.

I thought I'd put my top 5 favorites here so they will be saved for time immemorial.

And also because there isn't a lot to blog about mid winter.

If you have little ones you need to write down all the things they say that you want to remember because while you think you'll remember them, one day you will be 50 and your memory will not cooperate like it did when you were 30.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites....

Daughter1 apparently developed a love of cucumbers at a time in my life when I was into clipping coupons because as soon as she could ask for a piece of cucumber she pronounced it couponder.

Even my father in law still uses that word.

We are persuasive in our speech here.

Tomatoes in our house also go by their toddler name which is 'mimis'.

I cannot say exactly how this one came to be but when Daughter 1 was just a year old we moved to NJ for the first time and we had a little tomato patch...it was loaded with cherry tomatoes and ripe or not she loved to get out there and harvest those tomatoes.

We referred to her as the tomato rancher back then and she preferred farming first thing in the morning while still in her pjs.

Gosh she was cute.

This is my mom checking out the harvest.

As I scanned this photo I realized that when this was taken my mom was only a few years older than I am now.

Is that right?

That doesn't seem right.

It's right.

It's also a little bit freaky.

Another thing I realized as I was scanning photos was that we had mega snowstorms the last time we lived in this state too.

Snow days were more fun with little ones in the house.

Just sayin'

Moving on...tan sun lotion-we all still use this one.

It is what it sounds like-sun tan lotion.

I cannot tell you how completely precious it is to hear those words uttered by a little girl child.

Or a 20-something 'child'.

The same goes for pol nailish (nail polish)...this one is also what it sounds like and we still use both of those expressions to this day.

Lastly, the stadium-this is our word for a condo and is one of my favorites.

One year we spent a week in a condo in Florida and daughter2 asked every day as we were leaving the beach if it was time to go back to 'the stadium'.

To my knowledge she had never been in a stadium and I have no idea where she got that word at age 2 but but she was a smart cookie from the get go so there's no telling.

How about in your house?

Are there words or expressions you use regularly that you've adopted as a result of something your children said?

When you hear those words in everyday family speak do you flashback to life with blue eyed blonde headed chatterboxes who made you laugh and filled your heart to overflowing?

Or is that just me?

Wednesday Hodgepodge-Vol 12 Beating the Winter Doldrums

Let's take a little survey in the comments today, shall we?

Yes, of course if you are reading you should comment.

You should always comment.

Here's the survey question-

Is it snowing where you live?

Come on now...

what would a day on my blog be like without a mention of the white stuff?

And fyi-that last question is not part of the survey.

It is strictly rhetorical.

Now on to the Hodgepodge-be sure to link your post at the bottom so friends can find you.

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did your duty or forged your own path?

I think the two are linked...forging my own path is doing my duty. I don't believe in shirking responsibility but I think each one of us is set upon our own path and are called to different things in life. Even in the role of mother, which is something many are called to, no two moms walk an identical path.

2. This week's Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog's Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why? If you haven't seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that's okay...you can answer anyway.

Thursday.

Why Thursday?

See question #7

3. Hot cocoa...yay or nay on the marshmallows?

Definitely yay...I like a little hot chocolate with my marshmallows.

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?

I don't wear a lot of makeup but I do wear it every day. Here's the thing...when you are over 40 you can no longer get away with 'popping out to the market/library/post office' without giving it a second thought.

Just the other day I was behind a 30ish something mom and her little girl in a queue at the post office. Mom wasn't wearing makeup, her jeans were sort of half in and half out of her boots and her hair was in a messy ponytail bun thingy. And she was completely adorable. Now, if I attempted the same thing 'completely adorable' is not likely the phrase you would use to describe my look.

Two must haves would be moisturizer and eyeliner. Oh wait, blush, lipgloss and mascara are also must haves. As is the cooling under eye serum. For the record-if you need something called under eye serum you fall into a category of people who cannot possibly only choose two 'must have' makeup products.

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?

Oh sigh...I have a lot going on in my head and feel hugely frustrated when I'm not understood. But men are from Mars and women are not so it's only logical that sometimes hubs will not get me. I guess the fact that he loves me in spite of not always understanding me is the most important thing. The reverse of that would be miserable...understood but unloved? No thanks.

6. Parsley, sage, rosemary, or thyme...your favorite?

I am not a big fan of sage but I love both rosemary and thyme. I am neutral on parsley but I do use a lot of it and think Italian food especially would not be the same without it.

I cannot say parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme without thinking of the hauntingly beautiful song 'Scarborough Fair' by Simon and Garfunkel. I feel it is my duty to educate the masses and I am quite certain some of you reading here have not a clue who they might be. You may know Paul Simon but before he was Paul Simon he was Simon of Simon and Garfunkel...an amazing songwriting team whose lyrics were like poetry and whose harmony was sheer perfection.

7. What do you do when you feel angry?

Hmmm...probably cry. I'm not really proud of that although I guess its no worse than any other anger behavior such as yelling, swearing, or throwing things. Actually, on the ladder of anger behaviors, crying is probably a rung or two higher than throwing things but still, crying followed by a sulk is not all that attractive. Did I mention I sometimes sulk? I am slow to anger and I think when I do get angry it is usually all tied up in having my feelings hurt, hence the sulking.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Why do the batteries on smoke detectors and CO2 detectors only die in the middle of the night? Why do these things never beep annoyingly every 60 seconds at 2 in the afternoon instead of 2 in the morning? We have seven smoke detectors and three CO2 detectors on the second floor alone. We have this number as required by law which I believe is based on the number of bedrooms but whatever, there are many.

This means we are forced to stand half asleep in the middle of the hall and attempt to guess which of these 10 devices might be emitting the sound and once we've narrowed down the room it takes another minute or five to figure out if its the smoke detector or the CO2 detector. Then it takes a good 10 minutes to establish that there are no spare 9v batteries in the house. Why are there never any 9v batteries in the house?

Lest any of you think us irresponsible, we do change the batteries every fall as is recommended by our fire department but evidently 9v battery life isn't what it used to be.

And I'd go stock up on 9volts if it would ever quit snowing.

Beat the winter blues and join the Hodgepodge this week

It's February and you know what that means?

It means it's still winter.

Sigh.

Fortunately we have the weekly Wednesday Hodgepodge to lift us out of the winter doldrums. Here are this week's questions...see you back here tomorrow to link answers.

1. Would you rather be seen as a person who did their duty or forged their own path?

2. This week's Wednesday Hodgepodge happens to fall on Groundhog's Day. In keeping with that theme, if you could have a do-over of any one day out of the last seven, which day would it be and why. If you haven't seen the movie Groundhog Day this question will make absolutely no sense but that's okay....you can answer anyway.

You thought my question was going to be weather related didn't you?

3. Hot cocoa...yay or nay on the marshmallows?

4. Do you wear makeup every day? What are the top two must haves in your daily makeup routine?

5. Is it more important to you in a relationship to be loved or understood?

6. Parsley sage rosemary or thyme... your favorite?

7. What do you do when you feel angry?

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Caution: Hard Hat Area

Let's see...it's Monday...what shall we talk about?

How 'bout we shift gears and discuss something besides all the snow?

How 'bout we discuss all the ice?

Does this look like a problem to you?

Did you know ice is frozen water?

Just call me Mr. Wizard.

Someday it will warm up enough to melt all of this ice.

And we really need that someday to arrive gradually.

If ice in a gutter melts too quickly it may very well decide to run right down the inside walls of a house.

We need to avoid the rapid melt.

We are hoping for a gradual melt.

The weather forecast is calling for snow on Tuesday and ice pellets on Wednesday.

I don't think we're in danger of a rapid melt.

Hubs took the painting pole that extends and swatted some of these bad boys down this weekend.

It required a great deal of finesse not to be speared by the falling ice.

Which is why I watched from inside the safety of the house.

In other fun this weekend the steps re-iced and this required chipping and salting and shoveling and hauling and perhaps a teensy bit of swearing.

Is anyone else just a little bit tired of the very exhausting 2011 winter weather?

She's not.

She loves to run and prance and stick her face in the deep snow.

And trust me...it's deep.

You know, sometimes you have to work to find the joy in winter.

I think I may have found a little here.