Hodgepodge Mayhem

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge on this merry day in May! Add your link (Hodgepodge answers only please!) to the end of my post, and then go spread some Hodgepodge cheer to your neighbors.  Here we go-

1. It's still May, right? When were you last in the middle of something that might be described as mayhem?

April 26th, Newark Airport. How's that for specific? Terminal A is where most of the regional flights arrive and depart, and it quite often feels like chaos. The gate section of the terminal is circular in design, so there are always a lot of people everywhere. On this particular date, nearly every outbound afternoon flight was delayed and not just a little bit. Mayhem.  

2. When did you last feel dismayed?

Pretty much any time I listen to the news. The media...politicians...the combination of the two...fallout from the aforementioned shenanigans on social media and the nastiness that sometimes ensues. Dismayed feels like exactly the right word.

3. What's a food combination you like, but other people may find strange?

I don't think I have strange food combinations, but as a child I liked ketchup on my rice. Shudder!

4. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Do you think that's true? Why or why not?

In general, yes I think it's true. Not in absolutely all things (childbirth for instance), but in most things.  If there's something you've always wanted to do or be, then absolutely- go do and be. 

I will add here, that I think its easier to give that advice to some other person than to follow it yourself.  

Dear self-see #4. 

5. US News and World Report listed the best historic destinations in the US as follows-Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, Williamsburg VA, Charleston SC, Boston MA, Richmond VA, Savannah GA, Santa Fe NM, Yellowstone, San Antonio TX, San Francisco CA, New Orleans LA, and Charlottesville VA. 

Of those listed how many have you seen in person? Which two sites on the list would you most like to see in person?

How many have I seen in person? Quite a lot actually. I grew up on the NJ side of Philadelphia so that city is home to me. We spent nine years living on the Maryland side of DC so that also feels like home to me. When we were newlyweds hubs and I moved to Richmond Virginia so that city was also home for a time. 

Home is a complicated thing when you're me. How about the historic destinations on that list I haven't seen in person?

Yellowstone, San Antonio, San Francisco, and New Orleans.  Of the four I most want to see Yellowstone and San Francisco in person. 

6. May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. If you had to participate in a single fitness activity for the next half hour, which activity would you choose?

I am loving boot camp, so I'd probably choose that. If you'd told me a year ago that would be my answer I would have laughed.  Hey-it's never too late to be what you might have been! 

7. What did you like best about the city, town, or neighborhood where you grew up?

My mom and I were talking about this over the weekend, since I was in the neighborhood for Mother's Day. We both agreed it was a wonderful place to raise a family, a sweet place to grow into adulthood.  I started to list the reasons why, but remembered I wrote a post on this back in my early days of blogging.  If you're interested click the link-  My Very Own Wonder Years

Of course you're interested!  

8. Insert your own random thought here.

My girls spoiled me with sweet gifts this Mother's Day. They bought me a really cute new beach bag and two new beach towels. I'm still using towels that say American Girl so am more than a little bit overdo for new beach towels. 

The bag features my signature color which apparently is orange. I didn't know for sure I had a signature color until recently, but I do, and it's orange. My girls are laughing. They would say I've always had a signature color, I was just the last to know. 

The bag is insulated on one side, so you can put drinks or snacks or aloe in there to stay cool. I love it! 

They also got me this water pitcher which I absolutely love. It's shaped like a fish, and is called a gurgle pitcher because when you pour from it, the pitcher gurgles. Like a fish. Too cute! And you can never go wrong with pretty pottery.

That being said, the best gifts I received came in the form of words. I like words. Words are my love language, and my daughters know this. I like reading them and writing them. I like cards and notes and letters. Pretty stationery, post it notes, hearts spilled onto a page and shared. 

This year both my girls wrote such sweet posts on their blogs. They knew this would be a gift I'd treasure, and I do. Their words made my heart happy in a way a wrapped gift cannot. 

Even if that wrapped gift is pottery or something in my signature color. 

Hodgepodge Questions Volume 174

Here we are again. Wow Tuesdays roll around fast, don't they? Almost as fast as Wednesdays when we have to post answers! See you back here tomorrow for the linky party!

1. It's still May, right? When were you last in the middle of something that might be described as mayhem?

2. When did you last feel dismayed?

3. What's a food combination you like, but other people may find strange?

4. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Do you think that's true? Why or why not?

5. US News and World Report listed the best historic destinations in the US as follows-Washington D.C, Philadelphia PA, Williamsburg VA, Charleston SC, Boston MA, Richmnd VA, Savannah, GA, Santa Fe NM, Yellowstone, San Antonio TX, San Francisco CA, New Orleans LA, and Charlottesville VA.

Of those listed how many have you seen in person? Which two sites on the list would you most like to see in person?

6. May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. If you had to participate in a single fitness activity for the next half hour, which activity would you choose?

7. What did you like best about the city, town, or neighborhood where you grew up?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Mothers Do

Good Monday morning! Mine has started off at full throttle, but I'm taking a few minutes to recap the weekend, because why have a weekend if you can't talk about it? 

Hubs and I spent the weekend at my moms house. Daughter1 met us there, only she arrived bearing a pretty pink box.  Sometimes it pays to have a daughter working in D.C.  

Georgetown Cupcakes and we didn't even have to queue. If you're not familiar with the famous bakery you should know people stand in a ridunkulously long line to get their mitts on one of these.

Coconut, chocolate-chocolate, raspberry-white chocolate, and then the lovely green tea with lavender icing. They are sooooo rich, a quarter piece was enough. 

For me anyway...hubs might not agree. 

On Saturday we spent the day doing a fun project-cleaning out my mom's basement. Isn't that the way every Mother's Day should be celebrated? Ha! My brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in law, nephew, husband, and daughter1 all pitched in and hauled bins and boxes and all sorts of goodies up and down the stairs. Initially my mom tried to stand watch, but at some point she gave up and sat in the family room where she couldn't see what was going out the front door.  It was better that way.  

Remember when every kitchen in America had a giant fork and spoon on the wall? 

How can anyone not love the 70s'? 

The weather was gorgeous all weekend long. We declared Sunday a day of rest and spent most of it sitting on my mom's patio admiring her azaleas. Why did I get her stubborn streak instead of her green thumb? 

She can look at a plant and make it grow and bloom.  

I didn't take a single picture of me with my mom. Or me with my brother, sister, and mom. Bother. I did get one of my sister and her son. The terminator was there too which my mom would probably say is exactly how she felt.  

It's not always an easy thing to let go of stuff, even stuff you don't need or use. We develop an attachment to things based on who gave them to us, how much they cost, or the season of life we lived through when they were relevant.

Hubs and I move like we're in the army (plus he cannot abide clutter), so not a lot accumulates around here. My mom has been in her house almost 50 years, and after 50 years you end up with some stuff.

She did great at the letting go.
Pretty great anyway. Like most hard things in life, its a process.

My nephew was a trooper all day long, and was happy to challenge his cousin to a game of indoor soccer. It's good to be almost 8 and filled with boundless energy.  Some of us are more than 8 and were wiped out from the great basement clean out.

Sunday we had a late lunch/early dinner at my brother and sister-in-law's house. They have a lovely deck overlooking the woods and the river and the temperature could not have been more perfect. Afterwards hubs and I dropped Daughter1 at the train station in Philly and then turned the car north to head home. We rode the whole way back with the sunroof open and the windows rolled down which doesn't happen very often around here.

Mother's Day is pitched as a chance for moms to have a break. To sit and relax and let someone else do the waiting and the cooking and the cleaning. It seems in recent years mine have been spent 'working'. We've moved our daughters from one dorm, apartment,  or storage unit to another the past several Mays, and this year was definitely a big, busy, tote that barge-lift that bale kind of weekend.

I'm okay with that. In fact, I think in some ways that sort of day stamps me as a mother more than a lazy Sunday ever could.

Mothers do.
That's who we are, so what better way to acknowledge that than by doing?

Doing, followed by a Georgetown cupcake and a nap in the sun of course.

Five Minutes of Grateful

Linking up with Five Minute Friday today, and here's the deal-

Tell your inner critic to hush, then write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word. Then hop over to the party hosted by Lisa Jo Baker, and add your link to the list. Be sure and leave a comment for the writer who linked before you, because that's the neighborly thing to do.

Today's prompt-grateful

I was thinking this morning about the mothers in my family. About how grateful I am for knowing them.  How each one brings something into my life that makes me want to be a better woman-mother-sister-daughter-friend. 

My mom. The person who has always been right there. In the kitchen. Sitting on the side of my bed. At the other end of the phone. In my head. There is something to be said about a mother who is always there. The sureness of her seeps into my soul and cements itself there. I feel safe.  

My mother-in-law. She'll send me a card this week telling me I'm wonderful, because that's how she rolls. She encourages me. Makes me believe I'm the person she says I am. A mom who appreciates the way I've mothered my daughters, and who says so. I feel invincible.

My big sister. A heart as wide as two arms can stretch. Then stretch a little wider. Open and loving. Funny. Easy. The one I can tell what's in the deepest part of my heart and know she won't judge. With her I'm me. I feel real.

My little sister. Juggling approximately 100 balls. Smart. Accomplished. My partner in crime when I was small, a tiny treasure that remains permanently lodged in my heart. She came to motherhood late in life, and helps me remember all the crazy joy that fills the growing years. I feel wonder.

Hubs sister. My sister in law. Calm and thoughtful. Funny. We are both thinkers, readers, writers in our own way. She's intentional, deliberate in the raising of her sons. I feel kinship.

Hubs brother's wife. My sister in law. A mother who has walked through the fire. Who with grace and quiet strength, faced what no parent dares allow even a momentary stay in the furthest reaches of their consciousness. A mother whose faith has been tested in the deep, yet who remains afloat. Who in spite of, sometimes even because of, that fire can still say God is good. I feel peace. 

"No language can express the power, beauty, heroism, and majesty of a mother's love." Edwin Chapin

Happy Mother's Day to the women who have added so much to my life. 

And to all mothers everywhere. 

Mansions In May

Yesterday was beautiful. Spring. Sunshine and a light breeze. 

The perfect day to tour a country home. 

Blairsden House is open to the public this year, for the very first time. This spectacular home is the centerpiece of a fundraiser dubbed 'Mansions in May', organized and run by a nearby hospital's women's association.

The house was built at the turn of the 20th century and was originally the country home of NY financier C. Ledyard Blair. It is a gorgeous piece of property and architecture.

More than 50 well known designers from the NY-NJ area had a hand in making the home show-worthy, both inside and out.

Wouldn't that little alcove be the perfect spot for a nap?

Or really anywhere on this magnificent patio?

The original owner (Mr. Blair) lived in the house from 1903 until he died in 1949.  I'm glad he was able to enjoy his vision because it seems so often these big homes were built and then the owners lived in them about three minutes.

Originally the estate was 500 acres, but it was sold and broken up after his death. In 2002 the property went back into private ownership, and it was sold again more recently with the new owner planning to live there and restore it.

Indoor herb garden anyone?

I love big old houses. I love the glimpse into a different time and another way of life. I like to imagine how they manage heating bills and house cleaning.

Mostly though I love imagining what in the world I'd do with all that property and space.

I'm sure I could think of something.

Mother May I Answer the Hodgepodge?

Welcome to the Wednesday Hodgepodge! It feels good to be responsible for just one post today, as opposed to the two I was writing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the April A-Z Blog Challenge.  Add your link (Hodgepodge posts only please!) at the end of my post, and then hop over and visit some of the other participants.   

Here we go-

1. Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother.

I appreciated, and still appreciate, the way my mom listens to my worries and finds a way to make me feel better about whatever is on my mind. She never tells me I'm being ridiculous. 

2. A quote most commonly ascribed to Plato reads-"Necessity is the mother of invention." When did this last play out in your own experience?

Hmmm...I'm not clever in the way this quote implies one should be clever. I can't repair a flat with duct tape or jimmy rig some device to work when it won't. I did manage to blog all 26 days of the A-Z last month, and that required a little creativity on my part. I had company, was traveling, was reduced to my Ipad and even Internet-less a portion of that time, and when I ran out of hours in my week I combined the Hodgepodge and my letter of the day into a single post. That felt necessary and a bit inventive. 

Weak answer I know, but like I said, I'm no McGuyver. 
Some of you don't even know what that means, do you? 

3. Share one of the earliest memories you have from childhood.

Maybe not the earliest, but one clearly etched in my brain. I was probably 5 or 6 years old, and family friends had come to visit. I don't remember now who they were, but they had children about the same age as my sister and I.  We were all up in our bedroom listening to records and I accidentally broke a record in half. We'd had these records a long time, and I knew to be extra careful with them, so cracking one in half was distressing to my 5 year old self.

As it happened I had a lifesaver in my mouth, and I gasped when I broke the record causing the lifesaver to lodge in my throat. So I did what any kid would do-went and hid in the closet. Thankfully the lifesaver went down and I did not choke to death in there. I don't know why I panicked? I suppose I thought I'd be in trouble for breaking the record, but I'm sure that was just a child's skewed point of view.  

4. When did you last 'hit the mother lode'? What was it?

Well I'm gaining a pretty great son in law sometime in the next year-does that count? 

photo by: Angelina Photography, Alexandria VA

My daughter's happiness is contagious so yes, I think it counts. 

5. What is/was your favorite dish mom made? Do you make that dish for your family/friends now that you're all grown up?

My mom is a wonderful cook, so it's hard to pick just one favorite, but I'm going to say her enchiladas.  I make them very rarely for my own family, as they are a whole lot of work. My mom doesn't make them too often anymore, but if hubs and I visit around his birthday, she'll make them especially for him. He definitely appreciates it and definitely eats too many! She makes her own hot sauce, which is pretty much his love language. 

6. Mother May I? was at one time a popular children's game. It required no equipment or parts to play. What was your favorite childhood game to play where you could just turn up and play-no gear needed?

We loved freeze tag, TV tag, and statues, none of which required anything in the way of equipment or protective gear. Do kids still play statues?  

7. Which TV mom (past or present) is your favorite, and why?

I don't think you could be a kid in the 1970's and not love Mrs. Brady. More recently I'm a fan of Tami Taylor on Friday Night Lights. Pretty sure we'd be friends in real life. 

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Jack is back. Who's watching? 

Bridging to the Hodgepodge

I realize that in nearly every post I've written in the past month
or four,  I've mentioned the fact that I'm dealing with a very full calendar, and not enough hours in the day. But y'all...it's true. And I'll probably keep talking about it because I cannot believe we're already a week into May. Our weather didn't get the memo, and yes of course I'm also still yammering on about the weather because y'all! It's just barely spring here! And it's May!

Okay, enough shouting...how about a short weekend recap before I post this week's Hodgepodge questions? You can scroll on down to the questions if you must, but why would you?

I was supposed to fly home from South Carolina last Wednesday which would have given me a couple of days to get ready for weekend company, except my flight was cancelled due to-you guessed it-the weather. It was raining buckets here so my brother in law was the lucky duck who got to get up at 4:30 AM on Thursday to take me to the airport. I was home by 10 am, but essentially useless the rest of the day.  Not quite, but almost.

Friends we met in the UK who now live in TX were in the city last week, so on Friday afternoon they trekked out to the NJ countryside to see why the Garden State is called the Garden State.  They still don't know because spring has forgotten us.

We had a wonderful visit anyway. I took them to lunch at our local pub (rather they took me) and hubs ducked out of the office early, so he got to the house about the same time we did. Our friends had been to Eataly the day before so they came bearing Italian deliciousness including cheese, olives, prosciutto, and good bread. Everyone needs friends like these.

Saturday we drove them back into the city, and it was a beautiful day. We stopped at the apartment they were staying in, which coincidentally belongs to another couple we knew in the UK, so that was a fun quick catch up. The other couple had plans with family so they couldn't join us for the afternoon, but the rest of us decided to take advantage of the sunny skies and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

We rode the subway over to the bridge, which isn't as bad as non-New Yorkers imagine, and proceeded across the bridge with a whole lot of other people who had also experienced a little too much winter and not enough Vitamin D.

There is a lot going on as you traverse the bridge. The walking portion of the bridge is above the roadway so you're not dodging traffic, and the bridge itself is a pretty piece of architecture. About midway across you're treated to a nice view of the Statue of Liberty.

There are literally hundreds of locks attached to the bridge, the kind you put on a school locker back in the day. Attaching a lock to the structure is a tradition started on a bridge in Rome, and has now spread to other sites around the globe.

Visitors to the bridge "lock up their heart, and throw away the key'.
Literally into the East River.

Romantic, no?

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge is on my list of 101 in 1001 (see link in sidebar), and along with that I said I wanted to eat pizza at Grimaldi's, which is under the bridge on the Brooklyn side. Apparently I am not the only one with a list because have mercy! the queue to get in was ridunkulous. We scooted on down the sidewalk to another Italian place, and had a lovely meal there instead.

Since we couldn't eat at Grimaldi's we decided to make up for it by visiting another well known spot-The Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. Everyone should have an ice cream cone eaten under the Brooklyn Bridge on a sunshiny blue sky New York afternoon. The best part is you have to walk back so in essence you've earned it, right?

Okay, for those of you who made it through my 'short' weekend recap, here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. See you back here tomorrow to share answers!

1. Share something you appreciate (or something you appreciated as you were growing up) about your mother.

2.  A quote most commonly ascribed to Plato reads "Necessity is the mother of invention." When did this last play out in your own experience?

3. Share one of the earliest memories you have from childhood.

4. When did you last 'hit the mother lode'? What was it?

5. What is/was your favorite dish mom made? Do you make that dish for your family/friends now that you're all grown up?

6. Mother May I? was at one time a popular children's game. It required no equipment or parts to play. What was your favorite childhood game where you could just turn up and play-no gear needed?

7. Which TV mom (past or present) is your favorite, and why?

8.  Insert your own random thought here.