Wednesday, September 9, 2026

It’s Hodgepodge with Joyce day!

1. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?  On a scale of 1-10 how much of a fan are you? (10 is never miss a game and 1 is I’m just here for the snacks). Who’s your team? If you’re playing along today, but live outside the US feel free to sub your feelings about futbol for the more American sport of football. 

I am probably a “1”. I was a cheerleader but never really understood football. As a senior I had a junior football player boyfriend, though, so that made the games more fun! I also had a crush on a college football player at my college and went to all the home and away games! My friends and I were groupies.

I just want everyone to have fun. Sports aren’t that serious. I like sports snacks. I like the social aspect. I hate people screaming at the tv or screaming in person in an angry way. I’m ok with “Let’s go!” but not with crazy red-faced people acting like their life depends on an 18-year-old kid and what they do with some pigskin.

2. What’s something you currently have a game plan for managing? 

Not much! Ha! I know everyone is excited about the ‘ber months but they also mean holidays are coming and when you’ve lost a parent or parents, that is hard. I feel a responsibility to keep my family of four close (that is hard with adult children with work schedules and distance) and I feel a responsibility to keep my side of the family close. It will be a year in November that we have no home base in our hometown as that is when we sold my mom’s house. I booked the same Airbnb for the holidays this year as I did last year. I had an interesting conversation with my niece Mia about traditions. She was totally on board for continuing to go to that town and was vocal about what we should do as far as traditions. It really warmed my heart.

Sorry if you aren’t ready to talk about holidays yet!

3. Do you like chicken wings? Hot, mild, or some other flavor? What’s a must have food for you on a tailgate menu? I know tailgating isn’t as big of a thing outside the US of A as it is inside the US of A, but you can also answer the question this way-what’s a must have food for you at a sporting event viewing party? 

There’s no feminine way to eat a wing! I prefer boneless with knife and fork. I prefer mild but I love the combo of the blue cheese, buffalo sauce and celery. I can’t believe when I go to a wing place and they have no celery. I love a dip. I love any dip with tortilla chips. I like queso, guac, salsa, Mexican layer dip, chili cheese dip, spinach and artichoke dip, all the dips. I don’t have a must-have food but I enjoy a tailgate spread. By the way, the tailgate is the best part of the experience.

I will “fake” the flavor with rotisserie chicken sometimes for a lunch:

4. Teams typically have strict playbooks they follow. What is one unwritten rule or piece of advice in your ‘life playbook’ you think everyone should know?

I think basic etiquette. If you go somewhere, take a gift, ask what you can bring, thank the host, treat the host if they have spoiled you. Don’t complain. Be appreciative and grateful. That kind of thing.

5. This is the week we remember and mourn all that was lost and changed on September 11, 2001. I always include a spot for bloggers to share anything they’d like to share about 9/11. Share as much or as little as you like. 

September 11th is my Dad’s birthday so it was an important day to me long before 2001. My Dad was a pilot and was flying private on that day, by the way. I was teaching and I will never forget my principal coming on the intercom and telling us to turn on the tiny tvs in our classrooms. We actually saw the second tower hit live on tv. The principal’s daughter lived in NYC and worked in the World Trade Center but was home on maternity leave so it was really personal to our principal.

The kids were beside themselves and starting to open up their flip phones and call home. We didn’t do anything that day but kids that were still at school moved from class to class like zombies. I went home and watched news the rest of the day. I had been married for a year and didn’t have kids yet.

6.Insert your own random thought here. 

These days we don’t go to many football games in person, but I can hear the high school games from the school where I retired from my patio. I don’t mind having a game on in the background while I’m reading or doing things. I’m hoping to use the outdoor tv and solo stove some this fall with Tom.

Amy

25 thoughts on “Hodgepodge”

  1. I was working for a large company in 2001 that had a large NYC presence. We were sent home for the day. It would have been hard to be teaching students that day and not being able to leave- to teach even though everyone was stunned at the events that had just transpired. I think it’s great your family is starting new traditions! The holidays are tough without the family “anchors.” My parents have been gone for so long that sadly I’m used to not having them near me but it’s still hard. My mom sold the house I grew up in when I was in law school. Going “home” has been metaphorical only for me for a long time!

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    1. As you should have been sent home. I think we had the majority of the kids picked up but we were being paid so we had to stay. I remember that we didn’t know if other major cities would be hit later that day.
      Yes – the family anchors. I like that term. I think you and your brother and sister have done a great job of seeing each other frequently. Are they in your hometown in Indiana together now or is it a different town?

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  2. I’d say I’m a zero when it comes to sports; I don’t even show up for the snacks. In fact I’ve never tailgated in any fashion and while I vaguely remember getting dragged to a super bowl party here and there growing up I don’t remember the last time I’ve been anything sports related that didn’t have one of my kids playing (and since they didn’t play many sports I rarely attended anything). Our holidays changed so much when my mom & step-father and sisters moved. It makes it nice and easy for planning though as the holidays are a breeze now.

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  3. Our holidays have changed so much over the years. My parents have been dead for many years and my sister that I am close to lives in Texas. Mark’s dad died many years ago but his mother worked hard to keep us all together for as many holidays as possible but one family lived out of state and another had parents still alive in another city. Our kids are now grown and have their own children and want to celebrate in their own homes (Christmas morning) so now it is just the two of us. The first year was the weirdest.

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    1. That is hard. I guess you adapt to whatever you need to adapt to. Covid changed some traditions with my hub’s side of the family and we haven’t ever gotten back to what we did before. Isn’t that sad?

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  4. I loved all of your answers. I also think football can be confusing, but I do have a decent understanding of what’s going on. I can see being crazy for football over a guy you liked, though! I did that kind of thing too. Ha! I liked your rules for living. Those are all great things to remember…I’m not always great at this. I wish I was!

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    1. Thank you! I never took the time to learn it. I had such a good senior year. I loved seeing my man on the field. He was good, too. We started “talking” in July and were dating by August. Perfect timing! And, I adored my college crush, too.
      I’m constantly learning and trying to be better.

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  5. hahaha! My fella gets very passionate about football over here. He is the one screaming at the TV and going red in the face. lol I love the sound of all the dips you mentioned in question 3. My daughters due date was the first anniversary of 9/11 and I am quite glad she was born a day early. I imagine it was so hard being in school the day it happened.

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  6. I can get invested in a game where I don’t know the teams : ) I won’t scream at the tv though. Traditions require a bit of work and forethought to keep them going. My sons-in-law both have jobs where they are on call at various times, so that presents a challenge in terms of being physically together. I have learned (am still learning really) not to hold too tightly and adjust expectations because of this. It’s not my favorite thing, honestly. I’m not ready to talk Christmas, but I am ready for fall. It’s still summer weather here, but fall is in the air. My hubs boss owned a construction business with his offices in the WTC. He was out that day thankfully. So many similar stories too of people who were there who normally weren’t, and people who should have been there but were away for some reason. Hope you have a good day.

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    1. You have some interesting stories of that horrible day.
      I look to you and others for examples of how to handle the holidays. I think we have to be flexible from year to year.

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  7. I told Jen the other day I am going to miss my firepit this fall here at the apartment. Thankfully, I still am happy here so the trade off is okay. I love that you guys are getting the Air BNB again. I have begun to think about holidays because it is hard with divorce too with adult children. Those etiquette rules are important I think too. Have a good day!

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    1. Oh yes, that is a tradeoff but think of all the great things you do get/have! Maybe you will be invited to someone’s pit!
      Yes, that is another big thing that changes holidays. I hope you have a good plan in place.

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  8. I love college football but am not a big fan of NFL football. I am probably a 6 on the football fan scale. We live close to the university that my husband and I went to so we are big supporters of our school. We usually like watching the game from our house but our team plays in the Alamodome so that is really nice when it’s 100 degrees out! I love chicken wings but I never eat them in public! 🤣 I will eat boneless ones in public. Much less messy! 😅

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  9. Oh I would so love to live close enough to our high school to hear the games on the field- I am glad I am still going to them regularly but I know I will miss them for awhile/until Eva gets up there and I have another excuse to go! 🙂

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  11. I’ve never understood football, and the injuries those guys get really kind of put me off it. I love that you’re creating these new traditions. We are still, after more than ten years, trying to lock some in. We do go see Winterlights at the museum as a group. Since we downsized, our daughter has taken over hosting as she has a very large house that is perfect for hosting our immediate family. I miss getting together with my siblings, though. I need to be better about that. We did really well at upholding our traditions until we moved. Mike was on a jet, flying past the WTC when the first tower had been hit. It was on fire, and the second hadn’t been hit yet. I was hysterical once I heard a plane had crashed in PA as I knew he flew through Pittsburgh. We finally connected around 11:30. My students were so good about comforting me even though none of us understood what was happening. I’ll never forget the eerie silence in the skies that week. It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years.

    We are going to need new patio furniture next year as ours is cracking and breaking. I Hope we spend more time there next summer.

    https://marshainthemiddle.com

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