Summertime Hodgepodge

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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?

Keith Urban's, "Long Hot Summer".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dtfBxUTXRY&feature=share&list=PLD91B0EB85CD13E2C

Why did I choose that song? Well...it is only June 20th, and it was 95 degrees outside today. I have a feeling this is going to be a long, HOT summer! I am so very thankful that I live in an air conditioned house.

I also like this part of the song:

It's gonna be a long, hot summer, we should be together
With your feet up on the dashboard now
Singing along with the radio, it's such a beautiful sound

I will often put my feet up on the dashboard while Hubs is driving, and I am always singing along to the radio. I like to think it's such a beautiful sound, but I may be a little partial.

2. What's your favorite quintessential summer food?

Definitely watermelon! The only problem I have with it is, it is so hard to tell whether or not it is a good one, before you buy it. I recently bought one, and waited just a few days to cut it. I was really looking forward to tasting it's juicy goodness, but when I cut it open, it was extremely mushy and very unappetizing.

Does anyone out there have any tips on how to pick the best watermelon?  

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?

I will choose Clara Barton, only because I did a report on her in the 5th grade. I remember that we made a sandwich board, and wore it around to some of the other classes and gave our presentations.

She was a teacher during a time when most teachers were men. She was a nurse in the Civil War, and she started the Red Cross. She was quite an inspiration for young women today! I would love to talk to her, and ask her what it was like for her back then, being a woman in a man's world. 

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

I was 18 years old, and I was going off to college.

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

Saving money. I LOVE getting a good deal!

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

Christmas. It is a time where people will dig deep in their pockets to help out charities, buy gifts for children who otherwise would not receive any, or even buy food for local food pantries.

People also seem kinder and gentler at Christmas time. It's like the miracle of Christmas gets a hold of you, and you just can't help but be a little nicer to everyone you meet.

7. This last question comes to you courtesy of Kathy over at Reflections...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?

We will be going to visit Hubs' family in Maine at the end of the summer. We are all looking forward to seeing them, but also, this year, we will be going to Bar Harbor. We have never taken the girls there, and they are eager to go. Hubs' brother lives there, and he has told the girls about all of the celebrities that vacation on the island, and eat at his restaurant. The oldest is also looking forward to all of the beautiful pictures she will be able to take while we are there.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

We currently have our house on the market, and we have a showing tomorrow. I am busy cleaning like a mad woman, trying to get rid of that "lived in" look. I am throwing things away right and left, and organizing drawers, cupboards, and closets. I know that when I look at houses, I always look in those places!

So tell me....do you?