HodgePodge Wednesday

Thank you Joyce for another week of Hodgepodge!

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL? The NFL is back in action along with all the college teams. Are you a fan? Who do you root for? If you're not a fan what do you do while the rest of America watches Saturday, Sunday, Monday night, and now Thursday night games?

We are sort of football fans here. We really like watching high school and college games, where the player play for the love of the game. However, we are a house divided when it comes to the Pro games. Sarge roots for the Giants while I root for the 49ers. Bear roots for the Lions unless the Rams are playing then they are his team. Boo really doesn't care for football. Do I have to have a game tunes in on the weekends, no. But if the guys are home, we watch.

2. What's something I'll always find in your closet?

My husbands clothes. No really. Our walk in closet in our room is Sarge's. His uniforms and coats hang on one side and his dress clothes and shirts on the other. My clothes are in the closet in the spare room. To be fair, I am mush more of a jeans and tee person, so that is why I have two dressers instead. I do have shoes on the shoe rack in the closet, but other than that its all Sarge.

3. Share one of your earliest memories.
When I was little, my friend Elizabeth and I would go pick black berries out by a crick in our back yard. I remember the feel of the brambles, the soft mossy earth under my feet and the smell of northern California in the early fall. We would have our buckets and were told not to eat the berries until they had been washed. Yeah...One for the bucket, one for me.

4. What circus act best describes your week so far?

The Elephant Parade. Slogging along with the view never changing except for the few tricks on each circle of the ring.

5. What's a food you disliked as a child but you love now?

Chocolate. As a kid my mom thought I was allergic to it like she was so I got Carob instead. Now, I am a chocolateholic. Which is not a good thing.

6. Describe your summer in three words.

Travel. Friends. Lonely.

7. Where were you on September 11, 2001? Will you do anything special to mark the day this year?

I was at home. I had just returned home from a trip to California  to set up stuff for my dad the day before. I was on the couch when my MIL called to tell me the trade center was on fire. I woke Sarge up (he was working 3rd shift) and had just given him his coffee when we saw the second tower get hit. We watched the rest of the day in stunned numbness.
This year, I gave a moment of silence to those who lost their lives. After that, I treated it like it was a normal day here. 9/11 has changed our lives and is still a presence in our daily lives with Sarge being deployed. I am not changing what I do for this day so, I spent the day cleaning and knitting like I normally do.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

400 days (estimated) seems like a short time. It is just 35 days longer than a year. However, 400 days without your best friend, curling up in a cold bed at night and only having a letter, a computer or a telephone to keep you close can take forever. You learn not to got to out side, to the other room or even the bathroom without having the phone with you, just in case that call comes in.  I refuse to become a depend-a-saurus, where I wait for his phone calls and live for the skypes, but doing everything alone gets to me. Sometimes I just want to not have to do stuff because really...why should I if I am the only one doing it. But, I know I can't pause life while he is gone, so I go and do what we normally do together, alone.