Happy Wednesday Hodgepodge

Here we are, another Wednesday, and time for another Hodgepodge.  Time just goes so fast these days, but not fast enough to get rid of this dang hot weather. 

Joyce always gives us great questions and this week is no exception.  She actually made me think this week...not sure if I really like that or not ;)  Please hop on over to Joyce's blog, From This Side of the Pond, and read all about Wednesday Hodgepodge, visit some new blogs and play along if you like!  It really is fun...honest!  Ok, here goes....

1. The Wednesday Hodgepodge this week falls on John Chapman's birth date. He's more famously known as Johnny Appleseed...what's your favorite variety of apple?

I'm not a big apple person.  I have animosity towards the apple that dates back to Eve.  The apple is directly responsible for my menstrual cramps, the horrendous labor pains I had with all three of my children AND menopause...totally the apples fault.  Ok, not really...I just don't really care for them.  Cooked maybe with a little sugar and cinnamon...but raw, not so much.

2. When did you last say 'ick'?

When I read the words "printed pants" in question #6....

3. Do you think there's a generation gap? Explain.

I think there is always a generation gap.  Times change.  Every generation grows up with a different environment and usually they think the way they grew up was best and that today's generation is ruining the world.  I remember very clearly my father being incensed by the Vietnam war protests and the riots at the colleges.  He HATED rock and roll.  He thought the world was going to hell in a hand basket.  But we all survived and we are here today...repeating the same things our parents did.  I HATE rap...and I will reserve my thoughts on whether or not were going to hell in a hand basket until after November 7th.  Having said all that...I think you should drop on over to my daughter's blog and read her response to this question.  She hit the nail on the head for her generation.

4. What's on your computer screen saver? Do you leave it alone or change it often?

I can't even tell you what my screen saver is so I'll tell you about my desktop background.  At home I have some random nature shots that came with the computer.  It's new (hence why I have no idea what the screen saver is) and I haven't downloaded a lot of my pictures to it yet.  But usually I change for the seasons with random pictures of my kids or my Christmas trees.  Once, I left my Christmas trees on a whole year because it made me happy to look at Christmas in the middle of July.  On my work computer I have this beautiful pic I took of the Indian ruins north of Flagstaff.  I wrote about it here.  I always feel calm when I'm there so I was hoping it would give me a sense of calm at work.




Wupatki Pueblo Indian Ruins: photo credit: me :)


5. If you had the attention of the entire world for two minutes, what would you say?

Get over yourself.  Everyone has problems and all problems are relative.  We need to learn to get along and live on this big blue marble together.  Be nicer to each other...try to walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you judge.  Lastly, smile...it costs you nothing and you never know when your smile will make someones day.  There is an acute shortage of smiling in this world.

That's it.  Simplistic I know, but I feel like if we took a simplistic approach the world would be a much nicer place.

6. Four fashion trends to try this fall are-brocade/jacquard (fancy printed fabrics), peplum, lace, and printed pants...which of these four would you be most likely to wear?

HaHa...this makes me laugh.  Only because, I wouldn't know fashion if it hit me in the face.  I'm sure I am Stacy and Clinton's #1 nightmare.  Honestly, I would wear none of those...especially printed pants...ick ;)

7. What can make your bad day better?

Being with my family, talking to my kids, listening to my youngest daughters laugh...it's infectious.  Oh, and chocolate...always chocolate!

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Three months from today Christmas will be over.  That is all.


Ok, kids, that's it!  Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing.  Enjoy the rest of your week and meet me back here on Friday for Arizona Almanac...we'll both be surprised, because I have no idea what I'm going to write about!

Wednesday Hodgepodge: Fall Edition

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  I'm back to doing Hodgepodge.  Joyce has provided us with some great questions this week.  If you want to play along or just read some really fun blogs, hop on over to Joyce's blog and visit all the Hodgepodge posters! 

1. What's the best and worst thing thing about growing older?


The best part of growing older is knowing that there are some things you will never, ever have to deal with again.  Like going to high school...blech.  Puberty...eewww.  Toilet training toddlers...exhausting.  Raising teenagers...blech and ewww and exhausting plus frustrating!  I think the worst part of growing older is all the changes in your body.  In my head I'm still 30 and I can't figure out how my children got older while I stayed the same age.  But the body is the rude awakening.  It just doesn't move the way it used to and no amount of cajoling works.  Old age is stubborn...that's for sure.

2. Autumn arrives this week in the Northern Hemisphere...what one thing do you love most about the fall season?

Well, I could say cooler weather but in Arizona it doesn't get cool until December so that won't work.  I love Thanksgiving and I feel like it often gets lost in the hubbub of Christmas...since Christmas starts popping up in July now.  I also love fall colors.  Oranges, reds, yellows....they all make me happy.


3. Speaking of fall...pumpkin seems to be flavoring everything these days-are you a fan? What's your favorite pumpkin flavored food or beverage?

At the cost of being banned from Thanksgiving forever, I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the flavor.  I don't hate it but one piece of pie at Thanksgiving and I'm good for the year.  I do however love the smell of pumpkin.  Candles, cooking...I love the scent.

4. Since we're on the subject of fall...what's the worst fall you've ever taken?

In October of 2006 I was at the softball field watching my youngest play.  They had a double header in which the two games were played on different fields.  I was walking from one field to the other, stepped in a hole, fell and broke BOTH my ankles.  So, I fell in the fall...nice huh?  I was out of work for 11 weeks...it was not fun, or pretty.  Let's just say you really find out how much someone loves you when you cannot get yourself on and off the toilet.  My husband is a saint!


5. If you could own a prop from any film what would you choose?

I have to pick two because I can't choose between them.  First, I would want William Wallace's (Mel Gibson) kilt from Braveheart.  Second, I really want Benjamin Franklin's colored spectacles from the first National Treasure.  Yes, I AM a history nerd...and proud of it :)

6. What's the most interesting word you've read or learned in the past week?

I love words!  My favorite this week is: conundrum. There are a few definitions in Websters but the one I like the best is: An intricate and difficult problem.  Sometimes, writing my blog is such a conundrum! :)  I just love the way it sounds and the way it rolls off your tongue.  Ok, I'm just a nerd...period.

7. When was the last time you locked yourself out of your house, car, or office? Was it a big deal?
I honestly can't remember the last time.  But I remember the most awful time.  I locked my two toddlers in the car in the middle of the Arizona summer.  I could not convince my daughter to unlock the car after having taught her that touching the locks on the car door was a very bad thing.  This was way before everyone had cell phones and I was stuck in the middle of the grocery store parking lot with no help.  Thankfully, a very nice man happened by with a hanger and got the door unlocked.  It was very scary.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

The fact that there are only 96 days until Christmas completely freaks me out.  Not because I'm behind for Christmas, but because I cannot for the life of me figure out where this year has gone.  I still have vivid memories of taking down the Christmas tree last year so it cannot possibly be almost time to put it up again.

Ok, that's it for another edition of the Hodgepodge.  Thanks for the questions Joyce, they were fun!  Meet me back here Friday for Arizona Almanac.  I've got a bridge I want to tell you about.

Quotation Tuesday: Motherhood Melancholy

Motherhood is the only thing in my life that I've really known for sure is something I wanted to do.

~Cynthia Nixon~

A few of the people that write blogs I am fond of have recently either adopted a child or birthed a child. It's made me kind of melancholy. The quote really says it all for me. Nothing I ever wanted to do or ever have done was better than being a mom. I love being a mom. But once your kids are adults and you haven't stepped into the grandparent role yet...the role is undefined and kind of blurry. You are still their mom, but with conditions. More about that later. So, I am melancholy. It might be the blogs or it could be the hormones. Another lovely gift from Eve that I could have done without. I've never been able to figure out why she ate that dang apple. As far as I'm concerned apples aren't even that good. Now, if it had been chocolate...I would totally have her back. Anyway, here I sit, before my blog and I am melancholy for motherhood. So I'm going to write about it. Because it's such a conundrum, motherhood.


Motherhood is the most heartbreaking, frustrating, taxing, tiring, wonderfully exquisite thing I've ever done. Here is the first conundrum of motherhood (or parenthood...I'm under no delusions that I did this by myself...I had lots of help from the best father in the world...but for the purposes of this post...we'll use motherhood): You love and care for your children and protect them at all costs. You would lay down your life for your child. You do everything in your power to raise kind, compassionate, independent, productive citizens of the world. You're whole focus is making sure that they can exist in the world without you. So the very thing that you raise them to be, ultimately breaks your heart into a million pieces. It is also the source of the most joy you could ever feel. Being a mother is all at once heartbreaking and joyous. I've never figured out how to balance those emotions, and maybe I'm not supposed to.


Conundrum two: After you release your children to the world...you are basically left standing on the sidelines to watch. You are not allowed to, nor should you, tell your children how to live their lives. Even if you don't approve, even if you know they will be hurt, even if you know it's THE most wrong thing they've ever done. They are adults in charge of their own lives. Your opinion no longer matters, unless they want it to matter. I always vowed I would NEVER be a busy body mom to my adult children. Hopefully, I do an ok job in that department.


Conundrum three: Will I ever be able to let go of the guilt? I think most mothers would say that motherhood comes with a fair amount of guilt. I take feeling guilty to a whole new level...I'm the master of motherhood guilt. Even now that they are raised and no amount of parenting voodoo can undo anything I might have screwed up...I still feel guilt. I'm lucky that I have three wonderful kids who fit the above bill pretty well. Do I think I got them there...I'm not sure. Sometimes I think it was all a big crap shoot and I'm just lucky they turned out ok. Sometimes I'm sure that I must have done something right...sometimes I just don't know. People have complimented me on my kids and on my parenting style. I smile and say thank you all the while wondering in the back of my mind if they would still feel that way if they knew that I once locked my children, all under the age of 6, outside on a hot Arizona summer day because they were driving. me. crazy! I wonder what they'd think of my parenting skills if they knew that when my daughter threatened to run away from home for the millionth time, I helped her pack her suitcase, walked her out the front door and locked the door behind her. She was four. Funny thing about that one though...she never threatened to run away again. I guess it worked...but I still feel guilty. I feel guilty about the numerous times I lost my temper and my patience. But, I did the best I could in each circumstance, so why I still carry the guilt, who knows? I guess it's in my DNA.


Last conundrum: Around the time my youngest daughter turned 7 or so, I decided I was done having children. It took me several years to really be ok with the decision. So why is it that the feelings of wanting a baby never go away? My logical brain knows it's not possible and I really have no desire to go through the teenage years ever again. So why am I envious when I see or read about people having babies? I am envious of 3am feedings, diaper changes and baby baths (oh how I love to give a baby a bath...nothing better in this world). I'm envious of bedtime stories, lullabies and rocking chairs. My logical mind knows it's over for me, but my heart doesn't know that. It still hurts sometimes...to know that I will never again feel a child in my womb, never again feel labor and the wonderful, beautiful feeling of the first time you lay eyes on your child (that feeling alone makes up for every transgression, traffic ticket, broken curfew or little white lie along the way).


So, here I sit, feeling melancholy. I'm not sure this post accomplished what I was hoping for, but it sure felt good to write it down and get it out. One thing is for certain...I love my kids more than life itself, and that will never change...no matter how old they get.

Friday Randomness

A little post filled with randomness (and a few rants) to kick start me back into blogging. Let’s get started:


1. I have been spending most of my time crocheting, which is why I haven’t really been blogging. That and I’ve been lazy. There. It’s out in the open. I’m a lazy blogger. Oh well. The next generation continues to procreate so I’m doing my best to keep up with the baby afghans. Unfortunately, one of the little ones is now too big for a baby afghan so he is getting a bigger one…ooops. I am currently working on this for a special little someone:

2. Tiger has adjusted pretty well considering what a huge change it was to go from a one person apartment to a 4 person, 4 bedroom house. She is very chatty and lets you know when she wants something. For some reason that is unfathomable to most mankind, she has chosen me as her “person”. I don’t really even like cats that much. My husband thinks she can sense that I had the final word on whether or not she would come to live with us and that because I said yes, I saved her from certain doom. I’m not so sure about that…I think it has more to do with the fact that I’m the one who feeds her. I’m going with that.

3. I am beyond upset about this stupid hockey lockout. I think both sides are babies who make too much money. I want my hockey. I also want to be able to co-exist in relative peace with my hockey crazy daughter. I don’t think that’s going to happen until they sign an agreement. And to make matters worse our ownership saga continues…just let me publicly say that I think the City of Glendale sucks. Ok, got that out of my system.

4. I am way over the heat at this point. Every year, sometime in August, I start to just mentally give up on trying to cope with it. At least it’s not as hot in the mornings anymore, which gives one hope that it will cool down eventually. Every year though, I fear that it will never fall below 100 degrees again. Summer is the bane of my existence.


5. I wonder when in this country we stopped teaching basic grammar. I read a lot of blogs and some of the things I read just make me cringe. But my biggest pet peeve is the misuse of the words “then” and “than”. It. Absolutely. Drives. Me. Crazy. Sentences like this: “I had to go to the store and than to the gas station.” "Than" is ONLY used as a comparison word. As in: I like this dress better than that one. But I have seen people use "then" in that circumstance also. Why does this drive me crazy and why do I care? Because the nuns said so…that’s why. And what the nuns say goes…every good Catholic school child know this. Some things are just hard to let go of…even after 40 years.



6. I’m going to end this little post on a bit of sad note. Nothing sad in my life, but just something that I have been thinking about since reading this blog post. If you don’t want to read the blog, basically it’s a post about an awesome family that adopted a little girl from China. They shared their adoption journey through this blog and even took us along to the orphanage where their daughter was living. I have to tell you that nothing in a very long time has broken my heart like this did. Seeing the crib that this little girl and all those other babies have to live their lives in. Just a metal crib with a board at the bottom. No mattress. No sheets. Nothing. What’s worse than that though…no one to love them. They are starving for human attention. No one picks them up to comfort them. They get no lullabies, no stories before bedtime, no one tucks them in and kisses them goodnight. They have no mother to say to them, “No matter what happens, your mother always loves you.” I said this to my children, a lot. I wanted them to know that there will always be someone in this world that has their back. Someone who loves them unconditionally and without reserve. These little ones have no one like that. I am heart broken over it. I wanted to get on the next plane to China and bring them all home with me. (and yes, I know there are lots of children in this country that are neglected and need love too...but I didn't see a blog post about them, I saw this one and it made me sad) Obviously I knew this existed and I’ve even seen pictures of orphanages like this in the past. But for some reason it really hit me just now. It might be that I am essentially an empty nester which is really hard for someone like me who thrives on being needed by children. Or it could just be the pre-menopausal hormones…which is probably the better answer. If I had the means I would probably adopt one…or two. But sadly I do not and so I have just been praying for them. Praying that they find an awesome family who will love them forever. If you are the praying type, please pray for these little ones, and all the little ones everywhere who deserve to be loved but aren't.

Ok, that’s it for now. Hopefully next week will see me back on track with this blog. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Computer Love

I hope you enjoyed Tiger's view of life in the Clem Castle. She is adjusting nicely. She is, however, the weirdest cat we have ever had...and we've had many. She is very skittish and afraid of EVERY THING. She doesn't really play with cat toys but prefers yarn and her tail....she chases her tail...like a dog. It's quite amusing. Dan is really hurt by the fact that she doesn't seem to care for him in the least. This surprises all of us as Dan is an animal charmer. I believe this may be the first animal in the history of our family that didn't immediately fall under his spell. She has attached herself to me, which is quite hilarious because I really don't like cats all that much, and if we never had another one, it wouldn't faze me in the least. Told you she was weird. But we love her anyway. Her weirdness just means she fits right in here at the 'ole Clem Castle.

My New Best Friend!

 On to the point of this post. I am writing this on my brand new, super lightening fast, computer. I am in love. It's right up there with the refrigerator in the amount of love I feel for it. I have been absent from the blogosphere because I just couldn't handle how slow and annoying my ancient computer had become. If I wanted to include pictures and links it literally took hours to write one post. So, needless to say, I am very happy to be back among the blogging world once again. I have a few ideas for posts to come, and the Arizona Almanac will be returning to Fridays.  All this will have to wait one more week though, as I am going on vacation to my happy place....Flagstaff.   Dan and I will be spending a week up north in the cool country. I CANNOT wait to get there. I'll be taking pictures and you can bet there will be a post about it when I get back.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

The Kitty Says...

Hi! Tiger here, checking in because my mom finds it impossible to blog right now. 

This is one of my favorite spots...on the arm of my mom's chair.

Things are going ok in this new house.  I love my special place under Dad's sink.  I go there when I don't want to be bothered and thankfully my family gets it and they leave me alone.  The other night I noticed these twirling blades on the ceiling and they scared me to death.  I don't know why I didn't notice them before...they are in EVERY room in this house!  Some of them twirl and some of them just stay still.  No matter how hard I try I just can't figure that out.  I thought they might come down from the ceiling and get me, but they seem to be staying in place for now, so I'm kind of getting used to them, but every now and then they freak me out.  For some reason my family finds this hilarious...I don't think that's very nice, do you? 

I really like my mom,  I love to sit on her lap and make her pet me.  I don't think she likes it as much as I do.  Probably because I make her nose itch and her eyes water.  Oh well, she'll just have to get used to it.  I think it kind of irritates my dad that I like her more than him, but he tries to hold me and I don't like that.  I am a very independent feline!  I also tricked her into giving me some yarn to play with, even after she told everyone she wasn't going to do that.  I love my yarn!  I am now plotting ways to get into the big yarn stash next to my mom's chair.  She keeps a pretty close eye on it though so I'm gonna have to be sneaky.

I have tricked the family into giving me lots of treats.  Except for that girl that brought me here.  She keeps telling everyone that I am going to get fat and spoiled.  She's probably right, but I think she should just mind her own business.

So, I heard my mom say she ordered a new computer.  She seemed really excited about it.  I'm excited too because I really don't like the noises my parents make when they try to use the computer they have now.  I'm a cat and even I can tell that thing is an antique!  I heard it's supposed to arrive in the next week or two and then mom can start blogging again.  She also said something about finally being able to get on Pinterest...I have no idea what that is, but it sounds addicting so I think she should watch out for that.  She also said she has a big family reunion to plan, pictures to organize and something about a Christmas letter.  Sounds like she will be spending lots of time on that new computer.  It better not cut into my petting time or I just might have to find a way to sabotage that thing!

Ok, time for me to crawl back under the sink and take a nap.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Quote for the Week:

Cats have it all - admiration, an endless sleep, and company only when they want it.

~Rod McKuen~




 

The Kitty Says...

New buddies: Stephen and Tiger

Hi!  My name is Tiger, I'm six years old, and I'm the newest member of the Clem Clan.  I've decided to take over my new mom's blog today so you can get to know me a little better.  Because I'm a cat, and it's all about me.

Last night I came to live with the Clem Clan.  They are my third family.   My new mom says the Clem Clan is my forever family, but I get the feeling she is only tolerating me.  I don't think she really appreciates the specialness of cats.  The other people in the clan are great!  My new dad is so happy I came to live with him, I can tell.  He smiles at me a lot and loves to pet me.  Same with the boy in the picture.  The other people in the clan call him the Cat Whisperer.  I guess this means he likes to whisper in cats ears.  So far he hasn't whispered at me, but he is really nice and he let me sleep in his bed.  He smiles at me a lot and pets me too.  I know we are going to be very good friends.  The girl who brought me home is nice too.  I've even forgiven her for stuffing me in that tiny cage, putting me in a car and driving me across town.  I did NOT like that trip one bit.  She's nice though and likes to pet me too.

I hope Mom is right and I get to stay here forever because moving to new places is not fun. The last place I lived was a one bedroom condo.  I got here and wow...this place is big!  I didn't even know where to start exploring.  And there are some doors that are closed...I think they are keeping secrets from me.  I want to get into those places so badly...one day, when they let their guard down, I'll figure out how.  For now, I'm happy exploring everything else.  This morning I woke up my new mom at 3:30 am.  I don't think she was too happy about it but I just couldn't resist finding out what was in that cabinet under the sink.  She tried to make me lay on the bed with her and dad...but I was too restless for that.  I needed to see if I could claw my way into the other closed door in the hallway outside their bedroom.  She opened it up so I could see that it's just a closet full of games that I can't play.  I did try to get in there, but she wasn't having any of that.  I can tell she's not gonna be the fun one in this house.

Right now I'm the only animal that lives here.  But I can tell that other cats have lived here before.  I've figured out all the places they liked to hang out and I'm keeping an eye on those spots to make sure they don't come back.  I also overheard them talking about getting dogs.  I'm not very keen on THAT idea.  But even if they do, I'll be sure to let everyone know who's boss.  I am a cat after all....we rule the world!

I'll be back occasionally to let you know how I'm doing.  I think I'm gonna like it here, as long as they let me have my way.  I'm pretty sure I already have three of them in my back pocket...now I just gotta win over the new mom.  I hear she's tough.  We'll see.