1. The Hodgepodge lands on the last day of March…in ten words or less bid the month adieu. 

March, you were kind to us but gone too soon.

2. March 31st is National Tater Day…your favorite way to have a potato? Given a choice would you opt for sweet, white, or red? How often are potatoes on your menu in one form or another? Ever been to Idaho? If not, is that a state you’d like to visit someday?

I guess mashed. And I mean, who doesn’t like a french fry? But I don’t eat those often. I prefer sweet potatoes but hardly eat or make them. We probably have mashes once a week and the kids get fries now and then because the air fryer is so damned handy. No, I have not been to Idaho but met a very nice family from there and was surprised to hear how cold it is.

3. Last time someone or something ‘rained on your parade’? Explain. 

Hmm, I am trying to think of the last time I was disappointed in that sort of unexpected “rain” way. I guess when we couldn’t (really, we chose not to) go on our anniversary trip to Asheville. It was supposed to be last October and though some stuff was open, not all was and we reasoned that the trip wouldn’t be as fun if we had to navigate dumb Covid regulations. The original plan had been to book a very close air bnb and then walk all over Asheville going to the breweries. But if we had to mask up and some places were closed, the whole purpose would be ruined.

4. Put all your eggs in one basket, get cracking, nest egg, bad egg, good egg, egg on, have egg on your face, or walk on eggshells…choose a phrase from the list that applies to something in your life currently and tell us how or why.

To be safe, I think I’m going with “get cracking”. I’ve said it in many of my recent posts but we are BUSY. Dakota’s baseball games start on April 7th (2 a week) and then boys have twice weekly soccer practices with games beginning on Saturdays on the 10th. Plus, we are planning a quick getaway to the beach with friends in May and Ash’s dad is coming to visit soon and wow, I need to get cracking on cleaning and being organized!

5. If I visited your home would I find a lot of baskets there? Something you like to keep in a basket? 

Not really. During certain holidays I break out a basket for decor, like Halloween or Thanksgiving but not in general. Now bins or buckets? A few of those for beach towels.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Ugh, I have to have a conversation with my sister that I do not want to have. We are going to a concert together in August and my parents are coming here to stay with the kids. But her dog cannot come with. I know how awful this sounds but, our home is not exactly dog-friendly. Our floors scratch easily and once our dogs had all passed, we got new leather couches. And her dog is spoiled as heck and always lays on couches. So here’s the issue: she does not take her dog to the vet, well, ever so she is not up to date on shots and therefore, she is going to flip when I ask if she can board the thing. I’m sorry but I can’t just let her dog run rampant because she “can’t afford” to take care of her dog. (Those are my mom’s words. Which is insanity because I mean, if you can’t afford a dog, don’t buy one.) I want to talk to her sooner rather than later because maybe she can ask a work friend or something. The thing that really fires me up is my mom defending her, saying I should suck it up. I recall a time when we had 3 dogs and 2 small children and my parents’ dogs didn’t get along with ours and it upset my dad so much that we, as young and not well-off parents, were asked – basically forced – to board all 3 of our animals.

ETA: after lunch, I got a text from my sister asking if we’d looked at hotels yet (I had not, actually) but so that led to me telling her about the dog. It actually went well because I was honest with her. She said she respected that it is my house and my rules. So her plan is to bring the dog but she will get a dog-friendly hotel room. That’s fair, I guess. I mean, it would be easier not to have to bring the thing at all but she said she doesn’t trust anyone with her. However, talking about it now, four months prior, could maybe get her going on alternate plans. All I know is: I won’t have a crazy dog running around my home!