Wednesday Hodgepodge #658

It's been awhile since I've blogged so I'm jumping back in with a Hodgepodge post. The Hodgepodge is hosted by Joyce at From This Side Of the Pond. Find Joyce here.

1. June 17th, 1994 was the day of the infamous O.J. Simpson car chase. What were you doing in 1994? I'm guessing somebody is going to tell me they weren't born yet but that's part of the fun of the Hodgepodge. Lots of generations are represented here.

In 1994 I had just graduated from university with my Bachelor of Arts, with a major in English. I was working in the kitchen at my university residence and living in a house which is about four blocks away from where I live now. I was preparing to leave in August to live in Europe for a year. I participated in a cultural work exchange program in The Netherlands from August 1994 to August 1995. I don't remember most of the OJ Simpson trial because I was in Europe.

Me in the Netherlands in 1994. 

2. What's your favorite summer salad that isn't the traditional tossed green lettuce kind of salad? Do you like fresh fruit in a salad (other than in a fruit salad of course)?

 

My favourite summer salad is a chickpea salad. I've raved about this salad on the blog a number of times. It's soooo good. I've shared the recipe with a lot of people as it seems to be a crowd pleaser. I don't mind fruit in a salad like strawberries in a spinach salad or oranges or blueberries with a kale salad. In general, though, I'd rather eat my fruit plain.

3. Is chivalry dead? Should it be?

 

I don't know if chivalry is dead but I think general kindness and politeness should never go out of fashion. I feel like being considerate of other people, no matter what, is always a good idea.

4. Would you rather spend a week of your summer vacation in Hawaii or Alaska? Have you ever been to either? Are they two places you really would like to see? How do you feel about 'Hawaiian pizza' aka pineapple on a pizza? Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

I would rather spend a week of my summer vacation in Hawaii because I've never been. We were going to go last winter with my parents but then had to cancel our trip three weeks out as my mom was having some health issues. So Hawaii is still on my bucket list.

We went to Skagway and Haines, Alaska on our big road trip in the summer of 2019. We loved our time there and now an Alaskan cruise is on my and Rachel's bucket lists!

 

When I ate meat, I loved Hawaiian pizza but I never eat it now. I don't think I've ever had a Baked Alaska. 

5. World Cup play is happening now...are you interested? Watching any matches? Did you or your children play soccer/futbol? There are eleven US cities hosting matches-

-Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York with the stadium in NJ, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle

along with  three cities in Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey)

and two in Canada (Toronto and Vancouver)-

You get free tickets to one of these matches. Which city do you choose? Tell us why.

We bought a subscription solely to be able watch the World Cup. Sam is especially interested and I was really hoping to get tickets for him and I to go since Toronto is close to us. However, the cheapest tickets I could find were $2,500 each and we can't do that. I did find tickets for around $500 but they were for the night of Rachel's birthday so that was also a no. However, I do keep looking, just in case.

Sam has played a lot of soccer and I think I played a bit. We've definitely gotten more into soccer since Sam loves it so  much. I want to go watch one of the matches in the square by our downtown farmer's market but, so far, I haven't been able to convince my family that would be fun!

If I could go to any of the host cities for a game it would either be Dallas or Houston so I could meet a couple of my Texas friends, Los Angeles so I could see Dave's relatives, or Seattle because I've never been there before and I'd love to go.

Now I'm going to go down a little bit of soccer adjacent memory lane, if that's okay :) 

 

Left: Sam and I did a soccer themed escape room on our mother-son trip in 2023; right: watching the entire Ted Lasso series with Sam one week in August 2024 

Left: touring Chelsea FC's stadium; right: attending a pre-season friendly match in England (both August 2025)

Sam and I attended a Canada-Iceland pre-World Cup match in March. It was barley above freezing and it snowed on us at one point, but the tickets were only $26!!! Hahaha!!!

6. Insert your own random thought here.

If I had gotten this posted in a timely fashion yesterday, it was Rachel's 15th birthday! However, due to it being Rachel's 15th birthday yesterday, I didn't get this posted in a timely fashion. But HOW is this little nugget 15?!?!?!?! We're going to get through the last day of school, the days of exams, and then we're going to celebrate her big time!!!

I hope everyone has a great Thursday and I look forward to reading the other posts in the link up on the weekend, probably while watching a soccer match! :)