Hodgepodge 130

The Hodgepodge is back!  Here are the questions and my answers. If you would like to participate, click on the picture below and you'll go to From this Side of the Pond (the blog of our beautiful hostess, Joyce).

1. Summertime is a season of reunions, weddings, and other family celebrations and gatherings...are any of the above on your calendar in the next two months?

 Unfortunately, no, since my family lives on the other side of the ocean. But there are plenty of Feste in Germany during the summer months, and we'll be enjoying grill parties/picnics with friends. This weekend I went to a rubber duck race. That's not a joke. Three thousand rubber ducks were floating down the river.

2. June is National Iced Tea Month...are you an iced tea drinker? If so, how do you like yours (sweet, flavored, etc)? 

Oh, yes. I like iced tea. My mother grew mint tea in our garden. We'd brew it and add a tiny touch of orange juice to it. Though I enjoy several different kinds of iced tea, homemade orange mint is still my favorite.

 

3. When were you last nervous?  Looking back, was the 'event' actually nerve-worthy?

The last time I was nervous? That was just last week when I had a mammogram, and then later in the week when I had other (unrelated) tests done. Routines/yearly tests don't normally bother me, but when they are doing medical tests specifically to check something, I can't help be a bit uncomfortable with the situation.

4. The bristle toothbrush was invented in China on June 26, 1498...not sure how that date was pinned down so precisely but, on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being sick to your stomach and 1 being not at all, how nervous do you feel when you're headed to the dentist?  Do you see your dentist twice a year?

I see my dentist faithfully twice a year for cleaning, once a year for a check-up. I'd never been nervous going to the dentist until I had a bad tooth and the treatment did not go well. After that my nervousness scale jumped from a 1 to a 10. Now, I am at a 3 because I have one sensitive tooth that makes cleaning a bit uncomfortable.

5. What's making news in your town this week?

Not much going on in this little village. But if something comes up, the news will certainly spread like wildfire. ;-)

6. Curtains, drapes, blinds...your window treatment of choice? Are there any bare windows in your house? Is that by choice or because you haven't gotten around to covering them? 

Some of the smaller ones just have lace curtains, the others have lace or silk curtains and drapes. Most have shutters and/or Rolladen (rolling blinds).
  

7. Summertime is officially here (in the Northern hemisphere anyway)...what one song is a must-have on your summer playlist?

One song? One? Are you nuts? No music lover can pick just one song. 

I think when I was younger my answer might have been Alice Cooper's School's Out or Bryan Adam's Summer of '69. And let's not forget perhaps Born to be Wild and Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. I remember my oldest brother listening them as well as to Lynyrd Skynyrd, Three Dog Night, Led Zeppelin. One summer I remember one of my other brothers making me dial the radio station's telephone number over and over during request hour so he could ask them to play Jukebox Hero by Foreigner. So, maybe it's not a very summery tune but I associate it with summer.

What songs might I pick now for my summer playlist? There are many. One song would be Brighter than the Sun by Colbie Caillat. Another might be Sheryl Crow's All I Wanna Do (is have some fun). Also any song from Sugar Ray's CD Music for Cougars. And, of course, it doesn't matter what time of year it is...I can always listen to anything by P!nk.

Here's the song Dance Like No One's Watchin' by Sugar Ray, featuring Donavon Frankenreiter.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Summer. All my American friends are posting about school being out, about sunny summer weather, grilling, swimming, mosquitoes. (insert big sigh here) Oh, I wish I could say the same. The German school system is more like year-round schooling. My daughter only has a scant 6 weeks compared to the 8 or 9 in the states. However, she has two weeks free for Easter, after Christmas she never goes back to school before January 6th (also a holiday here) and has two weeks Spring break and one week in Autumn. We appreciate all those breaks, but it also means that she must attend school later in the summer months. Last year she had to go until July 29 but this year she gets out on July 24. By the time she begins, your summer vacation might be half over. On the bright side though, it stay light longer here in summer, we have less humidity, and (at least in my neck of the woods) we have fewer mosquitoes. Those blood-sucking pests used to eat me alive in Pennsylvania. I don't miss them at all.