10 on the 10th: September 2023-September Things
It’s time for Marsha in the Middle‘s 10 on the 10th series. For this monthly series, Marsha presents us with 10 questions about a common theme and asks us to share our answers in blog post form on the 10th of the month. This series is such a wonderful way to share more information about ourselves and to learn interesting new things about others. Anyone is invited to join and answer the questions. It is a great way to start new conversations, make meaningful connections with new people, and have a good hearty chuckle every now and then.
For the ninth month of the year, Marsha has drafted a series of questions about September holidays, September memories, and things having to do with the number 9. Without further delay, let’s see what Marsha is curious to know!
1. Tell us about your favorite nine letter word.
Not being able to think of a nine letter word off the top of my head except for September, I went to Google for some help. Did you know that there are approximately 41,000 nine letter words in the English language? That is a lot of words to choose a favorite from. Chocolate is a nine letter word which is probably a favorite for many. While I do enjoy consuming chocolate in all of its various forms, the word itself doesn’t seem all that special to me. However, there are two nine letter words that are synonyms for each other that I use frequently because both make me giggle. They are related to chocolate in the fact that we require this thing in order to smell the deliciousness of sweetened cacao. It is the nose, of course, which amplifies our enjoyment of chocolate because aromas do enhance flavors. And what nine letter words are synonymous with the nose of humans (and other mammals)?
Proboscis and Schnozzle.
They are fantastic words! I use schnozzle more frequently, often shortening it to nozzle because nozzle is an equally silly term for the nose. Look at the adorable schnozzles below.
2. Tell us about a song with September in the title.
September Morn by Neil Diamond.
Back in the very early 2000s, I frequented a karaoke bar in New Jersey where Neil Diamond was a favorite. I never sang karaoke because I am not much of a singer, but I did enjoy watching my friends take the microphone and get their song on. I don’t recall this particular Neil Diamond song ever being performed at karaoke night, but I do remember singing along to Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits in the car on a regular basis.
Written by Neil Diamond and Gilbert Bécaud, September Morn was the title track on Diamond’s thirteenth studio album released in 1979. The song was an international chart hit, earning Diamond his 30th Top 40 hit in the United States. It’s sort of a break-up ballad about a couple who has drifted apart and is trying to come back together over memories of September mornings. The song has been ranked as the 90th biggest U.S. charting single of 1980. Go ahead and have a listen!
3. Tell us about a famous celebration that takes place in September.
National Love People Day is on September 30 every year. “The purpose of the day is to show love to everyone – no exceptions. National Love People Day tasks us to display unconditional love, which many have never experienced. But, when we genuinely love our neighbors and express it with kind words and thoughtful deeds, we make the world a better place. It is the true meaning of ‘love your neighbor as yourself’”. (Source)
You can celebrate National Love People Day by accepting the Love People Challenge which is to perform as many random acts of love as you can between September 25th through September 30th. Literally inject love overdoses into the world. It really is needed!
4. Tell us about your favorite pirate for International Talk Like a Pirate Day on September 19.
My favorite pirate is probably the most famous of all of the fictional pirates…Long John Silver, the main antagonist in Robert Louis Stevenson‘s 1883 novel, Treasure Island. First, I love classic literature and have read Treasure Island multiple times. Stevenson created the modern pirate iconography in his colorful character of Long John Silver with his peg leg, his talking parrot, and his furious demands to walk the plank. The second reason LJS is my favorite of all the pirates is the fast food chain of the same name. Long John Silver’s Seafood Shoppes is my absolute favorite of all the fast food chains. In fact, it’s the only fast food restaurant that I will happily go to for food. All other fast food I only eat when necessary during travel. And even then, I try to avoid it if I can. But if there is a Long John Silver’s in my path, you can be sure I am getting some greasy fried seafood for lunch!
And for your listening pleasure, here is the 1972 title song from Jefferson Airplane‘s seventh studio album, Long John Silver.
5. Tell us about a pet peeve having to do with September, Fall, or Spring (for our friends in the Southern Hemisphere).
My biggest pet peeve in September is shopping for school supplies. Why is it so darn difficult?! Sometimes the items are so specific, you can’t find them anywhere. Sometimes they are so generic, you can’t find them anywhere. And most times, by the time I receive the supply list, the shelves at all the local retailers are completely picked over. The whole process is like a really annoying and unfair treasure hunt. Once you have tracked down all the items, your prize is a bill of about $150! I honestly would rather just give the money to the teachers so they can purchase the exact supplies that they want and I don’t have to go treasure hunting. Ugh.
6. Come up with a stupid question for Stupid Question Day on September 28.
I know how much Marsha enjoys a good Would You Rather question so here’s a really stupid one!
Would you rather give up brushing your teeth or wiping your butt?
7. Tell us about a favorite September memory.
I can’t really think of a specific September memory but the first day of school is my favorite day of the year! My kids returned to school this year on Thursday, September 7, one as a 5th grader and the other as a 7th grader. We make memories with the annual tradition of first day of school family photos. So here are this year’s photos…a September memory being made!
8. Tell us about your favorite celebrity whose birthday is in September.
Lily Tomlin is my favorite celebrity born in September (September 1, 1939). Her character in the Netflix show Grace and Frankie is one of my favorite style icons of all time, inspiring my growing collection of “Frankie” necklaces. You can see a few of my “Frankie” necklaces here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Look at all of Frankie’s fabulous Frankie necklaces!
9. Tell us about your favorite memory with your grandparent(s) for National Grandparents Day (which is today).
I love this question! I was just thinking of this memory on Tuesday night when my mother-in-law and I were trying to hike up a steep grassy hill to attend Ralph’s open house night at school. Oh, we were a sight, I’m sure! It reminded me of one of my favorite memories with my maternal grandmother, Grammy. I was about 15 or 16 years old and we went on vacation to some beach on the New Jersey coast. Grammy and I were wading through the surf when an aggressive wave came in and knocked her right on her butt. At first, I got scared that she was hurt and then she started giggling. She reached her hand up for me to pull her up and right as our hands connected, another aggressive wave came in and took me down with her. Each time we attempted to get back on our feet, another wave would get us. Then we dissolved into fits of uncontrollable laughter as the waves kept pummeling us. The kind of laughter where you can’t catch your breath and your abdominal muscles start to ache. We eventually got ourselves out of the surf with no injuries and a memory that still makes me laugh over 30 years later.
I don’t have any beach pictures of Grammy and me, but I do have this photo of us which is one of my favorites.
10. Tell us about your favorite thing involving nine pieces/parts/items.
My favorite nine part thing would have to be a dinner of homemade potato latkes with sour cream and a side of applesauce. My latke recipe includes the first 7 ingredients listed below. I can’t provide measurements because I don’t measure any of it. Add in the sour cream and applesauce and that makes 9 items to make one of my favorite meals!
- Potatoes
- Onions
- Eggs
- Flour
- Vegetable Oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- Sour Cream
- Applesauce
Here are my latkes pictured with sour cream and spicy brown mustard instead of applesauce.
If you enjoyed reading my answers, be sure to check out Marsha’s post and her link party for more interesting responses. And feel free to share your own answers in the comments. I would love to read them!
Keeping it on the edge,
Shelbee
Joining these Fabulous Link Parties.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I am a midlife woman, wife, and stay-at-home mother of 2 boys and 2 cats. I have a passion for helping other women feel fabulous in the midst of this crazy, beautiful life.
18 Comments
Joanne
We tend to shorten it to “schnoz”! My babysitter and next door neighbor growing up was a HUGE Niel Diamond fan and I think he was one of the first singers that I knew nearly all the lyrics to all of his songs because she used to play them during lunch and naptime. I don’t think I have ever seen a Long John Silver anywhere on our travels. I love Lily Tomlin and but I definitely relate more to Grace on Frank and Gracie.
That memory with your grandmother is wonderful. I was lucky enough to have 3 grandmothers growing up and my step-father’s grandmother was a riot. We once took her to a waterpark with us and I’ll never forget watching her go down one of those really long straight slides where you have to ride with your arms crossed over your chest and your ankles crossed over one another. I was much too scared to even try it and here she went off to ride– she said it was actually quite awful but was willing to try anything once.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh my gosh, Joanne, I love this comment! Schnoz is a good one, too! I often refer to my nostrils as nozzles, calling them the left nozzle and the right nozzle. You know, because your nostrils don’t always act in accordance with each other! The left one doesn’t always know what the right one is doing. Haha.
Having 3 grandmothers was a wonderful blessing, I am sure. I only had my maternal grandparents growing up. My paternal grandmother died before I was born and my paternal grandfather was not a good man so we had no relationship with him. And now my children only have their paternal grandparents since both of my parents passed long before I had kids. I really enjoyed reading the story of your grandmother on the water slide! I hope to be one of those senior women who will try things as well! But I do have my limits. I might go down a water slide, but you won’t ever see me jumping out of airplanes or anything like that!
xoxo
Shelbee
Astrid
I laughed at your stupid question (though I’d totally give up brushing my teeth if I could). These are such intriguing questions, I’m going to do this post too.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Astrid! I was laughing really hard at my stupid question, too! LOL These posts are super fun. You should totally give it a try!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
Oh, your list is so wonderful, Shelbee! I love your nine letter words! What a hoot! They remind me of Roald Dahl. I haven’t read Treasure Island in years, but I remember being scared of Long John Silver. I don’t think I’ve seen that fast food restaurant around here anywhere, but I haven’t exactly looked, either. Oh, school supplies! I love shopping for them because there’s just nothing like the smell of a new box of crayons. But, I hated having to come up with that list as a teacher. We would try to hone it to the best we could, and then our principal would come back with something like, “There are too many items on here. There can only be x amount.” He hadn’t been in a classroom in over 25 years and didn’t have a clue. I also bought lots of supplies for my classroom. Oh, there I went…off on a tangent! I do remember, though, when I was shopping for my kids or grands, the list saying some weird number of crayons. I’d always buy the next biggest size. When did your son cut his hair off? He looks so different!
Your memory with your grandma is so fun and so endearing. I hope you have this recorded somewhere so your kids can remember it.
Thanks so much for playing along!
https://marshainthemiddle.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Marsha, thanks so much! These were really interesting questions for this one. I had a good time answering them. Sorry to complain about the school supply lists! It wasn’t a dig at teachers at all and I sure hope it didn’t come off that way! I just ordered the final items from Archie’s supply list on Amazon. There was a very specific calculator on there that I couldn’t find in 3 stores where I checked. I guess that’s where I get annoyed with it. That you have to go to multiple stores to find all the stuff and still end up ordering online. I should just go straight to Amazon as soon as I get the list. As for the haircuts, we had a lil incident with some head lice that need evicting! The quickest route to that kind of parasite infestation was a razor. Especially since we were leaving for vacation the very next day. Only one kid got it, but the other shaved his head in solidarity with his brother!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marsha Banks
Oh, I didn’t take it as a dig at all. I just love back to school shopping and miss it a lot! But, yeah, there always seem to be weird numbers or items on those lists.
Ugh…head lice! We had several bouts of that with the kids when they were growing up. I had one student who had it the entire year. They are such icky little buggers!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Oh good! I actually do love school supplies, but without the lists! I have desk drawers filled with sticky pads, notepads, various pens and markers and other stationery items, and all kinds of other office odds and ends that I have accumulated when I worked in office environments. OMG, head lice is one of my worst phobias ever. I was so proud of myself for handling the situation with grace and dignity! My husband was shocked and surprised that I didn’t have a complete breakdown! LOL Now I rub tea tree oil over the kids’ heads before they go to school every morning! (Ugh. Now my head is all itchy.)
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
Omg Ralph and Archie look so big!!
Jennifer
Curated by Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
I can’t get over how much they have grown either, Tamar! Archie grew an inch in a 3 week time span this summer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Suzy Turner
What a fun post! Your silly question really made me laugh out loud LOL!!!
Hugs
Suzy xx
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Suzy! OMG, the silly question made me laugh so hard, it took a few minutes to be able to type it!
xoxo
Shelbee
Anne Sweet
What a great idea and I love all your answers. Your stupid question had me laugh out loud and your memory of your Grandma was so funny too.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Anne! I really appreciate that! I hope you have a lovely day.
xoxo
Shelbee
Jean | DelightfulRepast.com
Shelbee, my eyes immediately flew to the lovely little pink schnoz of the ginger tabby! Reminds me of own dear ginger boy we just lost to cancer and old age. But I came to visit because your blog posts are always a refreshing break when I manage to get here. Number 5 is going to resonate with lots of frustrated moms! Number 9 was my fave because I’m a sucker for grandma stories, and yours was a beaut! Sweet! And I, of course, love how number 10 was a recipe!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Hi Jean! Thanks so much for stopping by. Oh my goodness, all the cute little schnozzles made me smile! I figured they might catch some attention. Teehee. My memories are becoming fainter and fainter with age, but that one with my Grammy at the beach will never fade. We laughed so hard it hurt. And I seem to always remember moments of that kind of laughter! I hope you have a lovely weekend, my friend.
xoxo
Shelbee
Gail
Love your thoughtful and educational responses! Marsha really knocked it out of the park with some random and complex questions this time. Thanks for linking Shelbee.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Gail! Marsha really did formulate some fun and interesting queries for this one! I enjoyed answering them!
xoxo
Shelbee