Hodgepodge

Linking up with Joyce  for the Hodgepodge

1. Spring has officially sprung (in the northern hemisphere anyway)...did she roll in more like a lion or more like a lamb in your neck of the woods? What needs more of your attention in terms of a good spring clean this year-your house or your garden/yard? 

The first day of spring here was cold and icky weather wise. That's not uncommon and par for the course for weather in the spring where any given day can be beautiful and warm or cold and gray. 

For sure the garden/yard! The patio project messed up the back and side yard. The landscaper for the project has reseeded all of the areas of the yard where the grass was torn asunder by machinery. The landscaper also added mulch beds near the entrance of the patio; Donnie and I have to decide on what plants/shrubs we want the landscapers to plant as well as any plants (probably flowers) that we plant ourselves. 

I also have a new vegetable garden spot as well as my old one.  The reason I have a new spot is because my old one is now too much in the shade (due to a wall that's part of the patio casting shadows on the ground behind the wall). I have been tracking how much sunlight hits the old garden spot and when and where. I want to use the old garden space where I can- none of it is in full sun anymore so I have been reading/researching what vegetable plants can tolerate some shade. 

The wall in this picture (and of course the ceiling as well) did not exist last year at this time. My old garden space is directly behind the wall. When the wall didn't exist, there was nothing to cause a shadow on the space. Now there is! Aww, I miss my OG garden space but I'm happy I have a new one. 

2. What's put a spring in your step lately? 

Knowing that the college school year is almost over is putting a spring in my step. I think that Donnie and I adjusted pretty well to quasi empty nesting (are you truly an empty nester when most things your kids own are still in their childhood bedroom? And you haven't converted their bedroom to a guest bedroom/craft room because your child comes home for regular intervals like breaks from school?) but I am more than ready to trade our fairly predictable but perfectly enjoyable evenings for the hububb of kids. Abby graduates college in May but will likely move back home until she (likely) moves elsewhere when the new academic school year starts. Alyssa will be home this summer for sure. 

3. When you were a kid, what was the best snack to find in your lunchbox? If you didn't do the lunchbox thing, tell us what was your favorite after school snack. 

Free lunch kid here (thankee taxpayers!) so I ate what the lunch ladies served. 

Not every day, but some days, my siblings and I would come home to the smell of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Just the best feeling- schools out and something yummy is in the kitchen.

4. In what area of your life are you planting seeds ? 

I am literally planting seeds (indoors of course since it's too cold to plant outside) this week.

Figuratively, I would say in consistently reminding the kids via text message and when I talk to them on the phone and in person about what is really important in life. It isn't what this world has to offer!  Rather it's faith and a steadfast belief in God and a reliance on him. I need the reminder myself!

5. Why do you live where you do? Would you consider living somewhere else? Why or why not? 

The condensed version is that here is where we both found jobs after law school. We'd seriously considered moving somewhere different/ more interesting (ie not the midwest- we were thinking South Carolina) but we had a hard time finding jobs when we didn't live there and we found jobs here... so we stayed here. Donnie is from the area (we met at the University of Dayton law school) and he has family here so it made sense to stay here, especially when job offers came in. And heaven knows student loan payments started very soon after graduation and so we didn't have the luxury to tarry with regard to finding a job.

I would definitely consider living somewhere else. Somewhere closer to the ocean, somewhere with a more moderate temperature, somewhere closer to the kids if they all move away, etc. I like where we live- it's good for now and I'm not pining to leave. However, I'm also not beholden to it for the long haul. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The blogosphere for the win- specifically with regard to yesterday's dinner. Amy mentioned fish tacos in a recent post along with a link to a fish taco recipe. I decided to try the recipe. I don't cook seafood much at all. Neither Donnie nor I grew up in households that ate a lot of seafood. When we began coming up with our dinner repertoire in the early days of our marriage, it isn't too surprising that fish didn't make the cut. 

But Alyssa started ordering fish tacos when we'd  be on vacation near the ocean and she loved them so it's been on my mind to try them. Yesterday seemed like as good a day as any to try them so I did! Of course I had to go to the store to get the fish. I got tilapia and it was the first time I'd ever ordered seafood from the fish counter at Kroger! The recipe also called for a mango salsa and wouldn't you know that when I walked into Kroger, there was  a display of mangoes and avocados and both were on sale (the salsa calls for an avocado as well as a mango- I don't like avocados so I just left them out of mine). It seemed almost serendipitous (to the extent serendipity can ever be applied to a subject as banal as salsa...)! The tilapia was on sale, too! Fish tacos were definitely meant to be and the best news is that Donnie and I both really liked them!

I sent pictures of our tacos to Alyssa. She was getting initiated into her sorority that evening so she had bigger fish to fry (I couldn't resist that pun!) than being concerned with what we had for dinner. But she still humored me because she is a good sport.

The recipe can be found here.