Wednesday Hodgepodge

Time for another Wednesday Hodgepodge.  We have a few questions about summer.  I hate summer.  But then, where I live, on the surface of the sun...summer's not so fun.  But I'll play along...here goes...


1. Summer officially rolls in with the Hodgepodge this week, for those of us in the Northern hemisphere anyway. What song says summer 2012 to you?

I don't listen to enough radio to be up on what's new this summer.  What I can say is that anytime I hear the Beach Boys it makes me think the kind of summer I wish I had.  The theme song to my Arizona summer would have to be...Walking On The Sun by Smash Mouth.

2. What's your favorite quintessential summer food?

Ice cream.  I love it at any time of the year...but so much more satisfying on a hot summer day.

3. I've spent a lot of time traipsing up and down the NJ Turnpike in recent weeks. Did you know the rest areas on the turnpike are named after people who lived or worked in NJ? Clara Barton, Walt Whitman, James Fenimore Cooper, Molly Pitcher, Joyce Kilmer, Thomas Edison, and Gover Clevland just to name a few. Of those I listed, who would you most like to have known and why?

Molly Pitcher, hands down.  I am quite obsessed with the American Revolution.  In my younger days I used to fantasize about living in that time.  Now that I'm older, I realize that I would not survive a day in the 1770's.  I would crumble and cry like a baby for my mommy.  I am too used to plumbing, running water, air conditioning, mousse and a blow dryer and tampons...ok, that last one was probably a bit too much, but you know you've all thought about that.  Yes, you have.  But, if I could talk to Molly Pitcher she would tell me what it was like to be there and live through those scary, awesome times.  I admire a woman who will go to war for what she believes in, whether on a real battlefield or a figurative one.

4. At what age did you move out of your parent's house and what prompted the move?

I was 18 and I had to get out of the small town I was living in and back to the big city...you can read why here.

5. What's more satisfying to you-saving time or saving money?

Neither.  I don't have anyone to answer to but myself (well, my husband thinks I answer to him, but, what he doesn't know won't hurt him ;) so time is really not an issue for me.  I quit trying to save money a long time ago.  Every time I'd get some saved up, something would happen and I'd have to spend it...so I just quit trying.

6. Name something you think brings out the good in people.

A smile.  Don't you feel better when someone smiles at you?  I do.  It's such a small gesture but it makes a big impact.  It's hard for people to be grumpy when you're smiling at them.

7. Will you be taking a vacation or a staycation this summer? If so where will you go? If a staycation is on the calendar have you made any special plans to fill the time?

I think mine is a vacation, but I'm not leaving the state, just going to another city...so maybe it's a staycation...but the city is 200 miles away soooo...I don't know.  My husband and I are going to my favorite place in Arizona...Flagstaff!  We are going in August...is it August yet?  I'm so excited to get away for a week.  We are planning on taking a trip on the Grand Canyon Railway...something I've never done despite living here my entire life.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am not a fan of summer.  I do not like the heat.  If you've read my blog for any length of time you know this already...but I think it bears repeating.  I hate the heat.  People wonder why I'm not used to it after living here my whole life.  I don't know why...I hated it when I was a kid, and I continue to hate it well into my 50's.  The only reason I suffer through the summers here (which by the way, last from early April to mid October) is that I don't have to deal with any of the other weather related atrocities such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes...and snow.  I mean, I think I would like snow...until I had to shovel it or drive in it.  Then, not so much.  Winter here makes living with the heat somewhat bearable.  I rarely wear a sweater or coat of any kind in the winter...I just want to soak in that wonderful weather for as long as it lasts.  I cherish every day from November through March.  And during the summer...I just go from one air conditioned space to another as fast as I can!

Thanks Joyce, for all the great questions.  Please go visit her blog to get the links for all those participating in the summer fun...and join in!