In The Middle of a Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of 

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. August 12th is National Middle Child Day...are you a middle child? If not, where in your family do you fall in terms of birth order? Do you hold true to the typical characteristics of oldest-middle-youngest-only child? (a quick list can be found here) Elaborate.

I am the oldest of three girls and yes, my birth order characteristics are pretty much spot on.

For the most part, we are diligent and want to excel at everything we do. As the leader of our sibling pack, firstborns often tend to be:

• Reliable
• Conscientious
• Structured
• Cautious
• Controlling
• Achievers
• Judgmental

2. Tell us about a time you felt like (or you actually were) in the middle of nowhere.

Several years ago, we took a bus tour to Denver, and to get there we had to travel through the western edge of Kansas.  That is definitely in the middle of no where.

3. What's something you're smack in the middle of currently?

I have converted most of our old slides and now am in the middle of trying to get them sorted and organized so I can do jump drives for both the children with their baby and early childhood pictures.  Back in the day, we thought slide projectors would be around forever, and slides were a whole lot cheaper to make than having rolls of film printed.

4. What's a food you love to eat that has something delicious in the middle?

Since I just finished one, I will have to go with Natchitoches Meat Pie.  I imagine this is new to most of you who don't live in Louisiana.  It is a crispy crust filled with deliciously flavored ground meat and deep fried.  You can see more about this local favorite and a recipe HERE.

5. Share a memory from your middle school days, or junior high if that's what your school dubbed kids somewhere between grades 6-8.

My family moved to a different location mid year of my 8th grade.  My dad was a pastor and was called to a new church field.  This was a pretty traumatic experience for this self-conscious pre-teen until I stepped into the new church where they were having a community-wide Christmas music rehearsal.   I immediately noticed several really cute boys in the bass section, and it was amazing how quickly I adapted to the move. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I hadn't realized it is National Middle Child Day, so let me celebrate our middle sister.  Gingie, short for Virginia, has characteristics pretty typical for the middle child.  She is strong, but has never chosen the limelight.  She was an excellent athlete, very popular and outgoing.  She has a very tender heart, and is a natural caregiver, but don't cross her too many times.  Gin is very much a people person and delights in having strong, loyal friendships.

My sister is a four-time cancer survivor, the mother of two grown sons and grandmother to three brilliant grandsons.  She is our glue and Sarah and I don't know what we would do without her.

Thank you for bringing so much joy, happiness and stability to our family.

Happy National Middle Child Day, Gin.