Accomplishing The Hodgepodge

Somehow we've landed in the last week of May. Does anyone else feel like it was just Christmas? June is one of my favorites so no complaints here. The Hodgepodge is rolling right along too...answer on your own blog then hop back there tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. What makes you feel accomplished? Explain.

It's the little things. Hosting a dinner party. Completing a tough hike. Keeping a plant alive for an extended period of time. Successfully preparing a complicated recipe. Building a house. Writing. 

2. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Tell us why.

Princess Catherine because I adore her, Tim Tebow because I so admire how he has used his fame for good, and the President because he's the President. 

3. Do you have a great burger recipe? What's in it? What do you like on a hamburger and where is your favorite spot to order one out?

I don't really have a recipe, just good ground beef, lots of salt and pepper, and one of our favorite steak seasonings, either Sauers or Chicago. I need lettuce, tomato, mayo on my burger with a side of dill pickle. I don't do the fast food thing so much, but there are a couple of local spots here that make a good burger. I do like Red Robin's burgers too. 

4. What's the biggest anxiety producing thing you do on a regular basis?

It's a toss up between flying and docking the boat. Now technically I'm doing neither, but!...I am flying that plane from my seat, and while hubs is normally doing the actual boat docking, the first mate role makes me sweat.  

5. This is the last Hodgepodge of May. Tell us about your summer plans.

Well, first and foremost I'M HAVING A GRANDBABY! Other than that it's all about the lake. Lots of company coming and going, so lots of boating, corn hole, and porch sitting. I'm also going to a little reunion with friends from the church I grew up in, and I'm really looking forward to that. A fun, busy summer. 

Is there any other kind on this side of the pond? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A neighborhood friend invited me to lunch last Friday, along with two other women. Three of us lived in the UK at roughly the same time, but didn't know one another there. We went to a gorgeous spot out in the country, a small farm with an interesting menu and a spectacular view.

The weather was picture perfect, and it was a completely lovely afternoon.




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Five Minutes of Visit

If you're looking for this week's Hodgepodge questions, keep on scrollin'. 

Linking with Five Minute Friday on a Tuesday because I didn't have five minutes on Friday. We had a full house this weekend, which makes for the perfect segue into this week's prompt...

Friday's word prompt-visit

The idea of house guests sends some people running for the hills, but around here we make up beds, gas up the boat, fluff the porch cushions, and say come on over. Sidebar-I'm a bit of a control freak and it used to be when company was coming I'd exhaust myself trying to make every little thing just so.

Over the years I've learned that visitors don't care about just so. In fact sometimes just so stresses them out. They care about you, their host. They want to sit on the porch in their yoga pants and hear what's new with you. They want to play dominoes and listen to soft rain on the roof.

They want you to hand them a stack of plates and let them set the table.

They want to bring snacks for the boat or chicken salad for lunch or homemade Italian sausage for the grill.

They want to come upstairs in their pj's sans makeup and done hair and see you in your pj's sans makeup with undone hair too.

They might even do your hair if you ask nicely.

They don't judge unless you're so busy running around doing that you miss the point of a visit with friends, and then they might sigh and say they wish you'd just sit a spell.

I haven't completely let go of my need to make things comfortable but I do cook ahead, put on my glasses and my sweatpants with the coffee, and watch the sunrise over the lake with my guests. I'll wear a swim suit and breathe in the scent of sunscreen and the water right along with the view.

I will float in my pink flamingo.

And I will make time to visit. Time to remember the years roll by...

That moments make a memory and these are the times of our lives.
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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 309

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then fly back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. What makes you feel accomplished? Explain.

2. If you had your own talk show, who would your first three guests be? Tell us why.

3. Do you have a great burger recipe? What's in it? What do you like on a hamburger and where is your favorite spot to order one out?

4. What's the biggest anxiety producing thing you do on a regular basis?

5. This is the last Hodgepodge of May. Tell us about your summer plans.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Stereotyping The Hodgepodge

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! It's been raining buckets here, but I guess we need it. I'm hoping this means we'll have a pretty long weekend. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post. Be sure to leave a comment for the blogger linking before you because comments make the world go round. Here we go-

1. What color is prominent in your home? Are you glad about that or wishing you could cover it up or remove it?

I'm in a new house, so not thinking about any re-painting or changes in appliance, trim, flooring colors just yet. My house is filled with a lot of neutrals (creams, browns, tans) and splashes of color (blues, dark red, orange). I am really happy with all of that. 

2. What's something you'll NEVER do again?

Well never say never, BUT...building another house from the ground up is highly unlikely. 

3. Tell us a couple of ways you fit the stereotypes associated with your gender, and a couple of ways you don't.

I guess the ways I fit would be those associated with being a wife and mother. That was something I always wanted, and they're roles I very much enjoy. They satisfy on a level that is beyond anything I received from my career.  I know not all women want to have children, or even marry, but I think the stereotype assumes we all do. I also enjoy cooking, crafts, and homemaking in general which all fall under the heading of female stereotype. 

I enjoy watching sports which I think goes against type. I'm also not helpless and am pretty independent. 

4. May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Have you ever owned a motorcycle? Ever ridden a motorcycle? If the opportunity presented itself would you hop on a motorcycle and go for a ride?

Does a short ride around the block on my cousin's motorcycle 40+ years ago count? I've never owned a motorcycle, and would prefer hubs not own one either. He doesn't. I can definitely see the appeal, but the dangers associated with riding outweigh the thrill for me. Nobody's surprised are they? Maybe if we lived out west where there are lots of wide open spaces, but otherwise I'll pass.  

5. If someone wanted to understand you, what should they read, watch, and listen to?

Read-My Utmost for His Highest and Anne of Green Gables-what I aspire to be and a lot of who I am

Watch-HGTV -I'm all about home and hearth these days.

Listen To-70's music is my jam. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

So we've joined a cult. Ha! Not really, but sort of. It's the Big Green Egg cult and if you own one you know what I mean. When you purchase the grill a whole world of accessories opens up to you, and I've been told each and every one is essential to creating the perfect BBQ. ahem. If you get the special pan you need the special rack. If you get the special rack you need the special spatula. And on it goes...

Tell me, who here owns a Big Green Egg? What's your favorite thing is to prepare on the grill? What's your #1 must-have Green Egg accessory? Any grilling secrets we should know? 




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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 308

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. What color is prominent in your home? Are you glad about that or wishing you could cover it up or remove it?

2. What's something you'll NEVER do again?

3. Tell us a couple of ways you fit the stereotypes associated with your gender, and a couple of ways you don't.

4. May is Motorcycle Awareness Month. Have you ever owned a motorcycle? Ever ridden a motorcycle? If the opportunity presented itself would you hop on a motorcycle and go for a ride?

5. If someone wanted to understand you, what should they read, watch, and listen to?

6.  Insert your own random thought here.
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A Wrinkle In Time

Recently I was face timing my daughter and the whole time we were talking I was extremely distracted by the lines in my neck. Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.

You're not 20 are you?

You're probably not even 40 because I know at 40 my neck was still smooth as silk. I'm something more than a decade beyond 40, but I know these lines weren't there last year. It's like you go to sleep one night, wake up in the morning, and aaagh! What happened?

Face time is all about seeing the person you're speaking to, but you're also looking in a mirror as you talk. I'm not one of those women who fight getting older to a ridiculous degree, and I think I'm pretty good at celebrating the age I am...still that doesn't mean mean I love everything about it.

I might have made a list and those lines on my neck are at the top, but there's more.

I don't like my picture taken without warning. It's all about angles and holding the chin up, lipstick applied, not standing sideways, does my hair look reasonable...

Speaking of hair, I can't just throw my hair up in a ponytail and go anywhere other than for a workout. Even then it's gotta be brushed and smoothed and neat. Messy hair on my daughters somehow still looks adorable. Messy hair on moi just looks messy. Also a little crazy.

I can't see without my glasses. This is one of the more distressing parts of aging and nothing makes me feel old quite like my eyes. I know I'm not old, but declining eyesight is a constant reminder that I'm not young either.

I don't leap out of bed in the morning. I kind of slink which sounds ooh la la, but trust me it's not. Getting out of bed in the morning never used to require a brain. These days I need to take inventory. Unfold one leg at a time, put one foot on the floor and test the waters, generally make sure everything is working before any forward motion occurs.

I've never worn a lot of makeup but sometime in the last couple of years I realized I need lips and eyelashes so I don't leave home without them. If you saw me ten years ago sans makeup you'd think I was fresh faced.

What's the opposite of fresh faced? Yeah.

If I want to remember something I write it down. Anything-to buy, to do, to quote, to look into further, you name it I write it down. If it doesn't get written down it's like it never existed.

I love a good nap, and I'm going to be a Nana.

Wait wait wait! Those aren't negatives! Come to think of it, what's the big deal about a few lines in your neck when there's a grandbaby in your arms?

God sure knew what He was doing, didn't He?

Hodgepodge Hoarding

Thanks for stopping by today, and welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! If you've answered this week's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the person linking before you. It's the neighborly thing to do here on a Wednesday. Let's dive in-

1. May 17th is National Pack Rat Day. Sidebar-should we be celebrating this? Hmmm...

Are you a pack rat? Even if you're not a full fledged pack rat, most people have one thing or another they struggle to part with. Tell us what's yours.

I'm not a pack rat, but there are things I have trouble parting with. I probably could be more of a rat, but hubs likes everything pared down and clutter free, so he keeps me in check. What do I hang on to? Books, photographs, text messages, cards and notes I've been sent that mean something to me...not a lot really. At the moment hubs would say furniture because our extra garage bay is full of it, but in my defense some of that will be going to my daughter, just not immediately. It's not pack-ratting, it's storage.  

2. What are two things you know you should know how to do, but you don't?

Tie the knot hubs has shown me seventeen times and pull a water skier. I don't know if I really want to learn the latter, but hubs wants me to learn so I can pull him behind the boat. I think I'm better suited to being that person on the boat who frantically shouts when the skier falls and then wears an anxious look on her face until the downed skier is collected. Every boat needs one. 

Also, I'm going to tell you that I probably will learn to confidently drive the boat with a water skiier in tow because hubs will teach me, and encourage me, and challenge me and I will accept the challenge. And in all likliehood I will end up loving it because that's kinda how I roll when it comes to trying something new.  Resist, then embrace. It's my superpower. 

3. Do you crave sugar? Do you add sugar to your coffee and/or tea? Do you use artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes? When dining out is dessert a given? Are you someone who has slain the sugar dragon, and if so tell us how you did it.

Do I crave sugar? I don't think so, my cravings lean more towards the salty side of life. I have not eliminated sugar from my diet, but I don't think I go overboard either. I don't drink soda, and never put sugar in my coffee or hot tea. Occasionally I'll drink a sweet tea, but I don't like it overly sweet and so many of the restaurant varieties are so sweet they make my teeth ache. I don't use artificial sweeteners, but I have been known to check the dessert side of a menu before deciding on an entree when we're dining out. 

I don't snack on sweets at home, and I don't make dessert unless we have company, but I do love a good dessert. If we're in a restaurant that makes a good dessert I'm going to order something to share with hubs. 

4. What's a trend it took a while for you to come round to, but now you can't imagine living without?

Pretty much anything technology related.  I LOVE texting, but I remember being reluctant early on. Did you read my answer to #2? 

5. What's a song that reminds you of a specific incident in your life? Please elaborate.

This is hard, because when I thought about how to answer I felt like songs remind me more of a time in my life as opposed to a specific incident. There's probably many, but I'll go with Little Darlin' by Poco. I listened to that song while I was in labor with my first born, and when I hear it I think of those first few hours and weeks with her. 

I feel certain some of you need educating, and you can listen here. 

I don't really know why that became THE song, but I do know we loved the whole album (Legend) and wore it out. Remember how exciting it was to get an album and love every single song on it? Well this was one of those.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Do you feed the hummingbirds where you live? We've always had a feeder, and love watching these amazing little creatures up close. We put a feeder on the kitchen window and waited a few days, but no birds. I knew we needed something bright to attract them, so on Saturday hubs and I bought a gorgeous bright red mandevilla. 

You can't see the feeder, but you can see the plant.
And my sweet girl. 

Anyway, we set it on the deck near the feeder, and about five minutes later there came the hummingbirds. Talk about something that craves sugar-ha! We make our own sugar water and don't add any red food coloring to it, as we read that wasn't good for the birds. The feeder itself has a red base, so that helps. 

Happy Wednesday Everyone!