Wednesday Hodgepodge - Volume 307

1.  Share a favorite memory of your mother or share a favorite something from your own life as a mother.  If you're a mother (or stepmom), tell us how your experience as a mom differs from your own mother's experience.

My Mum was a firm believer that a pot of tea would make just about anything better.  Whether I was happy or sad, had a good day or bad, or just because, she would always say "Hello, darling, let me put the kettle on."  Whenever I have a cup of tea, I think of my Mum and how much I miss her.

My experience as a mother doesn't differ that much from my own mother's experience - she was an Army wife, often raising her children (I have a younger sister) on her own as my father worked long hours, was on a mission, or deployed.  I am a Navy wife and have raised Sophia largely on my own as Vic works the same type of schedule.  I had a very happy childhood, Mum was always there when we came home from school and her life revolved around us and my life has pretty much followed the same pattern.

2.  In May we celebrate teachers (May 9) and nurses (May 6) both.  Most every family has at least one in their midst, so tell us something (of a few things) you appreciate about the teacher or nurse in your family tree.

I'm not sure we have any teachers in our immediate family tree although Vic has been an instructor twice at Navy schools.  He was a mentor to many young sailors, sailors who still remember him to this day (it's been 14 years since his first instructor duty and 7 years since the second one) when he runs into them at the various duty stations we have lived at since that time.  He's remembered fondly, as being dedicated to his field and always willing to share his experience to help others succeed.

My Dad's half-sister is a hospice nurse.  We are not particularly close but I know that she sees much sadness and heartbreak in her work and I cannot imagine how she handles it.  She's always been a bit gruff, perhaps that's the outer shield to protect herself from all of the emotions she must feel every day.

3.  Chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad...which would you go for if all three were on the menu?  On bread or a bed of lettuce?  If you answered bread, what kind of bread would make it the perfect sandwich?

All of the above, not together of course, but on three separate sandwiches.  White bread, preferably English like Mother's Pride.

4.  Do you have a desk?  Is it organized?  If so, share your secret to keeping it that way.  If you don't have a desk, where in your home do you take care of family paperwork and business?  Where do you normally sit to blog?

I have a desk and it's where I take care of the family paperwork, business, and blog.  It's very organized - I file or shred papers as they come in, and it has lots of little containers for bits and pieces - tubs for pens, a set of egg cups on a tray for pins, paperclips, and clamps.  If my desk is not clear, I am not happy.

5.  When I was nine years old...

We lived in Mons, Belgium where my Dad was stationed with the U.S. Army at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.  We lived on the third floor of an apartment building, across the hallway from a British Navy family, the Lees.  On the second floor was my best friend, Michelle Cross, and her father sold cuckoo clocks out of their garage.  I think he got into trouble, something to do with running a business from his garage or not paying the proper export fees.  I was in the second half of my third grade year, in Mrs. Stone's class and then I moved up to Mrs. Sunderland's fourth grade class.  We spent every weekend, April to October, at our caravan on the Belgian coast.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

Last week, one of the Hodgepodge questions was about things we just didn't get.  When Vic and I went out to breakfast on Saturday, and I was looking through the menu, I found another one - chicken and waffles.  This concept I do not get at all.  Do you put syrup over the chicken and the waffles?  Where did this craze come from?  Have you ever tried it?  It certainly doesn't appeal to me.