Catching Up With the Hodgepodge

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.

 

The summer of 1994 I was pregnant with our second son. I don't remember any specifics about what we were doing that summer, though we were probably taking it easy for the most part since it was a slightly higher risk pregnancy. I don't know that we paid any attention to the low speed car chase, but I remember it was on the news. 

 

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

I like chicken salad, and I make it with almonds and dried cranberries, and with no celery. I don't like the texture of celery. I also started making a caprese salad platter and that's so good! I include some kind of fresh fruit on the caprese salad, like berries or peach slices, so I like that, though in general I prefer my greens and my fresh fruit to not be tossed together! 

 

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be?

 I don't think it is, though in many ways it seems to be declining. I didn't look up a definition but to me chivalry is courtesy and good manners levelled up, and especially when it comes to gentlemen looking after the ladies around them. Good manners aren't uncommon but I would say that not all younger people are taught good manners in a way that makes it second nature to them.

4.  Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

 I would rather spend a week in Alaska, since I've long wanted to go there. I certainly wouldn't mind visiting Hawaii but it's never been high on my priority list. I haven't been to either state yet, but yes, I really want to go to Alaska. The combination cruise and train trip through Alaska has been on my vacation wishlist for my entire adult life. I love Hawaiian pizza and have no problem with pineapple on any pizza. It's usually my pizza order when I can order a personal pizza, because nobody else in my family likes it. I don't think I've ever had Baked Alaska, but I'd like to try it. What's not to like?

5.  World Cup play is happening now . . . are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches -

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey) and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.

 Really not interested in World Cup or in soccer overall. Which isn't to say we haven't paid attention or watched matches. We spent a couple days with my sister-in-law and her husband and he is really into soccer so we watched games with him and he explained rules to us. I never played soccer myself and neither did my kids. My kids didn't like when they had the soccer units when they were in gym class. They actively disliked it, in fact. If I was offered free tickets to any of the matches, I think I'd choose Vancouver. I haven't been to Vancouver in decades and I think I'd enjoy going back and seeing a little of the city before and after the game. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It's been a bit of a computer odyssey for me the past couple weeks. We did not have "plug and play" internet at the new house like we'd hoped, so we finally got Spectrum out to hook it up last Tuesday. So I could use our wifi instead of setting up a hotspot with my phone. But it took until Thursday before we tried setting up our desktop computer . . . and gave up on it because there is something wrong with the connection of the actual power switch. We'd previously managed a workaround of taking out the battery and putting it back in but that didn't work. Okay, at least we had my chromebook and wifi, and given that we were about to go on vacation, we planned to take the computer to be repaired at some point after we got back. Limiting, but okay. Well, second day on vacation and my chromebook would not power on. It was fully charged, hadn't been dropped or had anything spilled on it etc, just wouldn't power on. Since we didn't have a working desktop to go home to, I definitely needed to replace it. Hadn't really planned on making that purchase but I did buy it in Canada so the exchange rate was in my favor!

Needless to say, it's put me behind on blogging and for sure on commenting! So my apologies for being even later than usual in visiting others, and I've missed a lot. Also missing out because I'm on vacation and then next week I'll have family visiting.  

What are you getting caught up on this week? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - The Art of Teaching. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

WQ - The Art of Teaching

When I was growing up, I wanted most to be a teacher. I learned to read early, and I loved it, and I loved learning too. To nine-year-old me, the lady standing confidently in front of the classroom instructing us in spelling or math or history was someone I admired and wanted to be like. As I got older, I realized that not all teachers in the school systems are great, or well-suited to the profession, but I had enough great teachers that I still wanted to be an educator myself. 

As it turned out, I didn't finish my degree, so I didn't become a teacher. Not a public school teacher anyway. However, I became a home educator and dedicated myself to teaching my own children. I loved teaching in co-op classes and found that I was pretty good at it, and for quite a few years I taught high school writing, literature, and some history at a tutorial school. 

So over those years, I developed a firm belief that the best teachers are also mentors. Good teaching is so much more than standing at the front of a classroom and lecturing or explaining concepts well. The best teaching usually comes from someone who connects with students and develops relationship with them, someone who learns alongside students, someone who inspires and encourages and models what they teach. 

The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. ~Mark Van Doren

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations. ~Patricia Neal

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. ~William Arthur Ward

The art of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. ~Robert M. Hutchins

Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction. ~John Crawford Crosby

What you want in a mentor is someone who truly cares for you and who will look after your interests and not just their own. When you do come across the right person to mentor you, start by showing them that the time they spend with you is worthwhile. ~Vivek Wadwha

"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord', and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." ~Jesus Christ

~John 13:13-15~

*********************

Wednesday Quotes is a bi-weekly opportunity for bloggers to share their writing, poetry, photos, or stories inspired by our theme. We've chosen the themes as a starting point for your creativity, and the only requirement is that your post include at least one related quote. Feel free to combine or "double-dip" with other writing or photo challenges as well. Of course, we'd appreciate a link back to us, if you'd be so kind. Add your link and please visit others and leave a comment! The link is open for two weeks.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Thanks to Marsha at Always Write for introducing us to the Wednesday Quotes challenge, and for passing the hosting duties along so we can continue sharing great quotes! Wednesday Quotes is co-hosted by Kym at A Fresh Cup of Coffee and Sadje at Keep It Alive. 

Quoting reminds me there are other people in the world besides only me. 

And other thoughts besides mine, and other ways of thinking. 

~Gregory Maguire~

Wednesday Quotes 2026 Themes

January 7 - Resolutions

January 21 - Motivation

February 4 - Eating Out/Restaurants

February 18 - Being Responsible

March 4 - Libraries

March 18 - Perseverance

April 1 - Simplicity

April 15 - Conquering Fear

April 29 - Making a Difference

May 13 - Family Ties

May 27 - Courage

June 10 - Teachers/Mentors

June 24 - Connecting with Nature

July 8 - Milestones

July 22 - Sunrise

August 5 - Patience

August 19 - Taking a Break/Rest

September 2 - Learning from Mistakes

September 16 - Best Friends

September 30 - Elegance

October 14 - Reaching Goals

October 28 - Dreams/Nightmares

November 11 - Integrity

November 25 - Generosity

December 9 - Beauty in Nature

December 23 - True Love

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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. 

Monthly Musings - A Quick Summer Preview

Patty at Good Better Best hosts this monthly sharing of tips, tricks, and conversation starters. I don't manage to participate every month, but I try! This month we are looking ahead to our summer plans and preferences.

1. Tell us about your Memorial Day weekend.

This year we didn't travel to Maryland for the long weekend, partly because we'll see the kids in a few weeks anyway, and partly because we thought we could get some packing done for the upcoming move. Turned out my husband wasn't feeling well, so our plans to go have dinner with friends on Saturday was postponed to Sunday and we stayed home home and didn't do a whole lot. Sunday we went to church and then to our friends' place for dinner, so again, not much packing got done! And then on Monday we were invited to another cookout, so that cut into our packing schedule as well. Of course I started feeling a little under the weather by Monday night, so overall it was a relatively low-key weekend, but I'm glad we did get to spend time with some friends.

2. What were your summer jobs when you were younger?

I don't remember having jobs for the summer only, but I did work/volunteer at our church camps in the summer a couple years. And I did start my part-time jobs during the summer, when I had more hours available, then continued but with fewer hours once school started. First part-time job was at Wendy's, and the second one was at the city's cable company.

3. Ice cream or popsicles? Favorite flavors?

I definitely choose ice cream, though I have to be careful how much I have unless I'm prepared to have an upset stomach. I like almost all ice cream flavors, but my favorites are black raspberry or cookies and cream.

4. What do you like on your burgers and hot dogs?

I usually keep it pretty basic with my burgers and dogs. Burgers should have cheese and maybe bacon, and condiments are mayo, ketchup, and mustard. Sometimes I forgo those condiments and just put Thousand Island dressing on my burger. I usually put just ketchup and mustard on my hot dogs.

5. Beach, lake, or mountains?

Mountains, or ideally a mountain lake, I guess. I like the beach okay, but I don't feel like there's much for me to do there, because I don't like to swim in the ocean. I feel like there are more options for things I like to do in the mountains, and the cabin setting is more appealing to me than a beach house setting too.

Last summer's family vacation house was in the
Deep Creek area of Maryland - mountains!

6. Share any travel for summer 2026.

We only have one trip planned at this point, though I'm sure we'll go to Maryland at some point. Or maybe just for Labor Day. Anyway, in the middle of June, we are meeting all our kids and their families at an Airbnb vacation house in the Niagara Falls area. My parents will be joining us for the week there as well. We will do some touristy things there, like the boat tour at the base of the falls, and spend a day over on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. But we also want to make sure we have plenty of time at the vacation house with the whole family together.

7. Do you visit amusement parks in the summer? Tell us your favorites.

We used to visit amusement parks quite a bit but haven't done so in quite a few years. The one we visited most often was probably Darien Lakes Theme Park (formerly Six Flags Darien Lakes) in upstate New York. We've been to Cedar Point a couple times and I'd say that one is our favorite for rides. Others we've visited are Kings Dominion, Six Flags in Maryland, and HersheyPark. And of course the Disney World parks, but that was usually in the fall. Disney World is the absolute favorite for overall experience.

8. Do you enjoy dining outside in the summer?

Well, yes and no. I do like eating outside, especially at restaurants, assuming the weather is right for it, and there aren't bugs annoying me! For the past couple years at our apartment, our patio was not very nice for sitting out, so we haven't been in the habit of outside dining at home. However, the new house has a very nice deck, so as soon as we have some outdoor furniture I'll be glad to make dining outside a regular thing during good weather!

9. Favorite summer beverage?

My go-to is always water, but my summery favorites are sweet tea, margaritas, white wine, or hard lemonade.

10. Favorite side dish for summer parties? Please feel free to share recipes.

 I just started making this caprese salad platter this spring, but it's become my new favorite for dinner parties or potlucks. It's basically salad served sort of like charcuterie. I like it because with it spread out on a platter instead of heaped in a bowl, the add-ins don't all sink to the bottom, and it's easier for everyone to kind of grab the elements they like and avoid any they don't. 

I hadn't added the balsamic glaze yet

Not really a recipe, but here's what's in it: I start by spreading 50/50 mixed greens on a large platter. Top with rolled or sliced prosciutto, cherry or other small tomatoes, berries or sliced peaches, and marinated mozzarella balls, and maybe olives. I love burrata cheese and add that if it's a smaller group - so there's one burrata or a half burrata per person. Sprinkle on marcona almonds and slivered fresh basil, then drizzle with a little olive oil and some balsamic glaze. 

 What are some your summer plans or summer favorites? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm linking up with Monthly Musings hosted by Patty at Good Better Best.

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 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - Name Game

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  Do you like your name? Are you named after someone (grandparent, etc)? If you have children how did you choose their names?

 

I do like my name! I didn't always like it as much as I do now, but I don't think I ever disliked it. I'm not named after a person, and I'm not sure exactly how my parents chose the name, but as far as I know, the town of Kimberley, BC played a part, and it's how they chose to spell my name. 

We have four children. Our oldest son is kind of named after my husband and his father. They both have the name Henry, but I said I was NOT going to have Henry III or VIII. My husband really liked the name Harrison and his dad had always gone by Harry, so Harrison it was. His middle name is the name of my husband's best friend. Our second son got the name Spencer just because we liked it, but his middle name is after my husband's uncle. Our third son is Landon - again, just because we liked it, and his middle name Joseph is a name I liked - both the sound and the meaning. (It wasn't until he was about a week old that I noticed the city park next to the hospital that I drove by all the time was named after Landon someone-or-other who I supposed had been a mayor or founder or something. So maybe driving by so often had put that name into my subconscious?) Our daughter has perhaps the strangest name origin story. She is named Kennady Anne, after my husband's favorite hockey team, the Montreal Canadiens. Really!

Why am I slouching? We visited Kimberley, BC
in 2013 so the kids could see the town their mum
was named for. Purportedly.

 

2. A piece of red velvet cake, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, or a slice of blueberry pie? You can only have one . . . which will you choose? If you could pick any red, white, or blue dessert other than those listed here, what would you choose?

Red velvet cake. I love ice cream, but my tummy doesn't any more so plain vanilla isn't worth it for me. And blueberries aren't my favorite berries. I like them a lot better when they are mixed with other berries. An alternative red, white, or blue dessert that I'd choose . . . cherry pie, or raspberry sorbet.

3. What's a job you'd like to try for just one day?

 Assuming I'd somehow magically have the necessary knowledge or qualifications to actually do the job on my one day, I might like to try being a museum docent, or do something in the editing or publishing field.

4.  Any patriotic decor in your home currently or coming up this summer?

 Not much, since I'm trying to get things packed up. I had a little garden flag out front, and there are a couple flags displayed indoors. There's some red, white, and blue patriotic decor on my dining room table that hasn't been packed up just yet. We plan on purchasing a new USA flag to fly in front of our new house as soon as we move in.

5.  It's the end of May, so let's exercise our brains. Sum up your month with an acrostic using the word MAY. We can do it!!

Moving preparations

All kinds of checklists!

Yawning and running out of energy

6. Insert your own random thought here.

A number of years ago, when I was still doing reviews of homeschool products we got a really fun review of name meaning gifts from the family business CrossTimber. Of course I remembered it when I answered the first of this week's Hodgepodge questions, and I've bought more gifts from the company since, so I thought you might like to see the original items we got and a link to the review, just for fun: Name Meaning Gifts from CrossTimber

 

Do you have a fun story about how your name or a family member's name was chosen? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - Courage. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Home For the Hodgepodge

A hodgepodge is a jumble or assortment of things that might not appear to belong together. Joyce at From This Side of the Pond hosts a weekly link-up called Wednesday Hodgepodge that is a little collection of questions for bloggers to answer just for fun and to get to know each other. I always look forward to chatting with friends over coffee, so pour a cup of your favorite and let's visit for a few minutes!

Here are this week's questions - and my answers - for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  What's one piece of advice you would give a recent or soon-to-be graduate?

 

Choose your college or career path based on what you feel called to spend your life doing, and don't feel pressured to go to college just because that's what's expected of you. And don't feel rushed into making those decisions if you're not sure yet. Now is the time to really "guard your heart" as you're starting to strike out on your own, and that doesn't just mean to be careful who you're dating! It's about guarding your mind and thought patterns and influences, because that's what will shape your life choices. 

 

2. May 15th marks the birth date of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain.

I could use some courage to fortify me for the task of packing up and preparing for a move. It's not that it's scaring me, but it seems overwhelming. And I'd always be up for a trip back home, but at the moment, I'm just over a month away from being together with all my kids and my parents, and the move happens first, so courage it is.

3. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement?

 Probably on our last trip "back home" to Maryland. It's so good to be there in the house where we raised our family, and where our son is now raising his family. So good to be with the family that we love so much and wish we lived closer to. But it is also good to come back home to where we live now, which is also home. It brings to mind another oft repeated line: "Home is where the heart is" and is a reminder that home is more than just a place, and can be more than just one place too.

This is home . . .

and so is this, for now . . .

4.  May is National BBQ Month . . . do you own a grill? Who does the grilling at your house? What's your favorite thing to throw on the grill? What's the last thing you grilled?

We sure do own a grill, and generally we use it quite a bit during the warmer parts of the year. My hubby is the grill master, but we tag team on a lot of the grilled meals. I prep the food, marinate or rub the meat and then hand it off to hubby to actually throw on the grill and tend while I do any meal prep that needs to be done in the kitchen. Ours is a pellet grill that is also a smoker, so we very often smoke meat as well. My favorite thing to do on the grill is burgers, because they're quick and foolproof, and I think I could eat cheeseburgers every other night and be perfectly happy. Don't get me wrong, I love steak, and kebabs (especially lamb kebabs) and brats or dogs; and I love smoked meats, but you just can't go wrong with a simple cheeseburger. I'm pretty sure burgers were the most recent thing we did on the grill, actually. We haven't had a whole lot of nice days for grilling so far this season.

5.  What's a memory you replay in your head when you need a little joy?

 I don't know that I have one specific memory I keep going back to, but happy memories like having the whole family together for a special occasion or at a vacation house doing something fun. In keeping with the theme this Hodgepodge has, the potential bittersweet of savoring those happy memories is that it might also make me a little homesick for my people.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

This past weekend the family here let me choose our Saturday adventure in honor of Mother's Day. We went to Glen Helen Nature Preserve in Yellow Springs and wound up on a slightly more challenging hike than we'd anticipated, but it was a lot of fun, and I think there was a sense of accomplishment that we did all that climbing and stream-fording. We wished there would have been a spectacular view at the apex of the trail, but that wasn't the kind of route we were on. Dinner was at Ye Olde Trail Tavern, which I'm told is the oldest restaurant in Ohio. 

What does "Home" mean to you? Leave a comment and let me know!

I'm sharing in this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.

I host the Wednesday Quotes link-up every other Wednesday. Stop by and share a few thoughts and quotes on the current topic here: WQ - Family Ties. I host the Everyday Images photo link-up every other Thursday. And find the Scripture and a Snapshot link-up here every Sunday.

 Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to A Fresh Cup of Coffee by email. 

 ©2006-2026 HS Coffee Break/Just A Second/A Fresh Cup of Coffee. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. This post was written by a human. https://morecoffeebreaks.blogspot.com/ 

 This post may contain affiliate links - using affiliate links from A Fresh Cup of Coffee helps continue the coffee breaks and conversation. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.