Wednesday, August 13, 2025

I told myself I wouldn’t mention anyone’s birthday on the blog because I wouldn’t want to leave anyone from my IRL out and have them be mad at me, but it’s my baby sister’s birthday! I still remember the day she came home from the hospital. I was so excited! She is next to me in this photo so you can see our age difference of 7 years. I’m in the Snoopy bathing suit. We were always buddies. She fought with the middle sister but I don’t think she and I ever fought. We had a little dance routine we did together where I would hold her and swing her around.

I sent her a gift and I hope she will be surprised and really like it!

1. August is National Golf month…do you play? Do you enjoy following golf? Have you ever been to a professional tournament? 

I do not. I do not. I have been to Valhalla once here in Louisville for some significant tournament with Tom.

Can I talk about Top Golf? We went there for a work event and it is terrifying. We were on the third floor and I could have so easily tripped and fallen into the net and then plummeted to the ground.

2. Astronaut Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 fame passed away this past Thursday. Are you interested in outer space and what’s happening today in terms of space exploration? If space travel became common in your lifetime would you go? How do you personally relate to the idea of exploring something vast and mysterious…does the idea excite you, intimidate you, or something else? 

I am not really. I don’t understand how planes work let alone how a space ship works. I did take a bit of interest in the rich and famous people that flew to the edge of space recently for a crazy sum of money. No thank you. I was also very invested in the poor astronauts who only prepared to be in space for a week at the space station but then had to stay for months. The poor female astronaut went gray in space and people talked about how much she aged. Come on now! That’s just mean! She only planned to be in space for a week. I told my students they thought they had a bad day; think about those two.

3. Describe your communication style in three words. 

Honest, blunt, direct

I used to say I could express my feelings better in writing but I have gotten better with my verbal abilities. I hope that I express my feelings with kindness and understanding but if you ask for my opinion you are going to get it. I also realize the older that I get that I may not have the answer. When you are younger you feel that you have it all figured out. I know now that I do not.

4. Do you have a favorite cookbook? A favorite celebrity chef? Do you watch any cooking shows on TV? 

I used to have a small tv in the corner of my kitchen counter and I loved watching cooking shows while I cooked. Pioneer Woman was always my favorite but I wouldn’t say it was healthy cooking so I moved away from her recipes. Damaris Phillips is a local celebrity chef who is on Food Network.

My favorite cookbooks are the church cookbooks or cookbooks where people submit their best recipes. They are seriously the best!

5. As a child did you have any back to school traditions? If so, did you carry on those same traditions with your own children? Do you have any back to school traditions you’ve started on your own? 

I don’t remember having any traditions other than buying a new lunch box – the metal kind with a character on it. We had LLBean backpacks before they were trendy and those lasted us for years. I guess we went to Kmart to get school supplies. It just didn’t seem to be as big of a production back then. I was always excited, though! I loved school!

I always took my kids back to school shopping at Target and sometimes we also had to hit Office Max or Depot. They came to my classroom with me to “help” me, too. We always got new tennis shoes for them and Tom was usually involved in that.

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I chatted at a coffee shop with Madeleine for two hours on Monday! She is my former student that was an assistant teacher in Madrid last year. She is doing it again this year from September through June at the same school. We had so much to talk about that the two hours just flew by.

As we were finishing up, we noticed two big tables of ladies playing cards. It was around 2:30 at this point. I thought it was so lovely to see this!

What would you say about any of the Hodgepodge topics today?

Amy

30 thoughts on “Wednesday Hodgepodge”

  1. I’ve never golfed or watched it either and I definitively wouldn’t want to go to a top golf now! That does sound terrifying.

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    1. I accidentally posted Fashion Files and then when I fixed it it won’t let me comment on your comment. So, remember that comment for tomorrow! Lol!
      Don’t play Top Golf on an upper floor! It’s terrifying!

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  2. Church cook books are really good. I only have one right now (my mom had a couple that she used when I was growing up) and I’ve made several good recipes from it. I didn’t mind Top Golf though I’m almost positive I was on the ground level. I was terrible at it which made it slightly less enjoyable than it could have been!

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    1. I have even bought one or two at a garage sale! I have a lot of my mom’s old cookbooks. She gave me many when she was alive but my sisters said I should have more. I have a really old Joy of Cooking!

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  3. Three words to describe my communication style? See My Face – hahahahahahaha!!! I am blunt and direct too which some people cannot appreciate. This I cannot help.

    I love that you and your little sister didn’t really fight and it sounds like she really looked up to you! How sweet and I hope she has a great birthday!

    xo,

    Kellyann

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    1. Yeah, me too. My face does not hide my emotions. My students loved my facial expressions and asked to take photos. They also liked my “student voices” when I would talk about what a student might say and why that would not be a good choice.

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  4. You and your sisters look so much alike in this pic! Such great memories 🙂 Yes! We had the metal lunchboxes with the characters too 🙂

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  5. I’ve never been to Top Golf, but that does legit sound terrifying. I haven’t ever thought about it until you said that! Happy Birthday, Molly! (Molly?) I love that picture of all of you. I love that you and Madeline had coffee and caught up! What a fun thing to do at any age; it’s amazing that she is doing that. I want to play cards at a coffee shop when I’m old!

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    1. I just didn’t enjoy swinging more than like once, you know? Yes, Molly! I left the Madeleine meet up just feeling so happy but my sister asked if it made me miss teaching and I said no because I have all of these long lasting relationships already. I got the sweetest messages from two boys recently, too. One was in Barcelona and thanked me and the other I thought hated me! I might share one on Friday.
      I want to play cards now!

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  6. My older sister and I are seven years apart and there’s never been a cross word between us. My mom says she thought of me as her baby and I have adored her since the day I was born. My younger sister and I are just one year apart so we had the love but also the conflict that comes with the nearness in age. We shared a room too, which we alternately loved and hated. We’re good friends today so we survived lol. The back to school thing is a thing! There seems to be a lot of pressure on parents today to make everything an event, an occasion, a special something. Not saying it’s all bad, but it does feel like a lot. I’ve been to Top Golf, but it’s been a few years so I don’t remember if I had that sensation of possibly falling. I’m clumsy so am always aware of edges : )

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    1. I think it’s that age difference. The older one is the caretaker. I’m sure my mom depended on me a lot but she never talked about it. I shared a room with the middle sister until I was in 5th grade I think and we added on a bedroom. So, we all got our own.
      The pressure of back to school and every single little thing today is crazy. I’m glad I missed most of the social media stuff!

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  8. Enjoyed your answers!!!

    Love that you reconnected with a former student (What do you teach? i’m a retired special education PreK teacher where the bulk of my students were speech/language delayed with emotional abuse as their basic need along with sexual and physical abuse so I’d be thrilled to hear that one of them did well and became a TA!!).

    I with you regarding golf. Never heard of Top Golf. Will have to google that.

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    1. I just retired after 31 years of teaching high school Spanish!
      That sounds like it would have been so challenging.
      It’s pretty popular in big cities. It’s quite expensive.

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  9. My husband and I both say we have no desire to go to outer space!! The thought of that scares the heck out of me!! Several months ago, I bought a Pottery Barn quilt from a woman in the town next to ours. When I went to pick it up, I learned from her that her dad was astronaut Alan Bean. I believe he was the 4th person to walk on the moon? 🤔 Then I found out she knows my husband’s cousin who lives in Boston 😳 What a small world!!

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  10. I would never want to go to outer space. Can you imagine me in one of those Star Trek get ups? But, the night Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon was so special because it was just my dad and me watching. I don’t golf. It seems like a strange game. Hit a ball, chase the ball, continue. There’s a Top Golf in Fishers that is always busy.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com

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    1. Same! Ha! That’s a cool memory. Right? It doesn’t appeal to me. Driving the golf cart sounds fun and even better if I can have a cocktail when I am the passenger.

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  11. My dad was an aeronautical engineer so we spent lots of time talking about and learning about the space program in our home! I, too, love church cookbooks! I always think about the traditions and meals shared that the recipes represent. They are quite fun to read through! (That photo of ou and your sister is precious – Happy Birthday to her!)

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    1. Cool! My dad was an Air Force and then a commercial pilot so we did talk a lot of flying, but not space. So true! I even love to see the splatters on an old cookbook. Thank you!

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  12. Madeleine’s assignment sounds like a lot of fun. Well done for inspiring her to this extent in Spanish class. 😃

    It’s wonderful to see kids spending time in foreign countries. It fosters cross-cultural understanding- much needed in this era.

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  13. I would not go into space, and wouldn’t really want to play Top Golf either. I think I have been once. It is really popular here, and all I can think about is how hot it would be in the summer! I agree that “back to school” is a much bigger deal now. Even when our kids were little, it was just a picture on the first day and maybe a fun breakfast or dinner.

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