Wednesday Hodgepodge

  Questions
1. May is National Blood Pressure Month...what sends yours soaring, either literally or figuratively? What calms you down? When did you last have your BP checked?

Everything lately sends my blood pressure soaring. I'm worried about David's health and my own and what it means for our future. I'm trying to deal with the loss of my daddy and guilt. We are facing our oldest daughter moving three hours away to another college this fall. I don't know that anything really calms me down. I try to control my blood pressure with garlic, but haven't used it as much as I should lately. I've really pegged the meter on the blood pressure monitor in recent times, the highest being 164/135 and a pulse of 103 with an irregular heartbeat warning. I haven't had it officially checked in a couple of years, but we check it fairly regularly here at home.

2. You found $1-what do you spend it on? $10 $100?

If it is just a dollar, then I might spend it on a 99 cent book for the Kindle or save it until I have more to go with it. Ten dollars would get me maybe a half a tank of gas, but since I don't have anywhere to go until the end of May, I might pass on that. One hundred dollars would definitely go for groceries!

3. Mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) food has been proposed, but not yet enacted in the US. How much attention do you give food labels before you buy? Are you in favor of labeling if it means higher prices? Is this an issue you've been following and feel strongly about, or is this the first you've heard of the controversy?

I am all for labeling the food, genetically modified or otherwise. As for higher prices, I don't see why it should cost any more to label it as modified as it would to label it otherwise. That seems illogical to me. They already have to put a label on it. How much more could it possibly cost to add "genetically modified" to the label while they're at it?

My daddy, Jimmy Ray Gunter

 4. May 15th marks the birth date of Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz. At this point in time are you more in need of brains, courage, heart, or a trip back home? Explain.

All of the above are needed here. I am having a horrible time with memory and focus lately, so a brain would come in handy. These changes for the worse in my brain health and a few other things going on here give me a need for courage. I think that overall my heart is okay, but the chest pains have become more persistent. A trip back home...yes, I need that something fierce but, like they say, you can never go home again. Too much has changed. It just won't ever be the same without my daddy there.

5. "There's no place like home" is an oft repeated line from Baum's book. When was the last time you felt the truth of that statement?

Every time I see my sister post a picture of our family, those that have gone on before, the longing for home hits. It lingers for awhile, but I realize that going back home is something that can never happen...not the home that I left, anyway.



6. Steak-yes please or no thank you? What cut do you prefer and how do you like yours cooked? Sauce or no sauce? Besides your own kitchen where's a place you like to go to get a great steak?

I love to eat steak, but hate that I love to eat it, if that makes any sense. I don't want to be a meat-eater. I think it is horribly mean what is done to the animals. It was what I grew up eating and it is hard to give it up. I will be healthier, and so will the cows!, once I do give it up.

7. When was the last time you were in a genuine hurry?

I am always in a hurry when the kids text to let me know they are ready to be picked up. I don't like the idea of them being on campus any longer than necessary, most especially on a nearly empty campus after classes are over.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

There is so much on my mind right now, I don't know where to start. Seeing the pictures of my family - Papa, Granny, Daddy, Aunt Mae, Aunt Bessie - and realizing how much I don't remember from my childhood, and their stories and what we've lost because of their passing, makes me realize all the more how important it is for us to leave a written legacy for our children. We need to share the stories with them orally for sure, but write them down, answer the questions for them that we would love to have had answered by our ancestors. Don't let them spend their old age wondering how mama and daddy met or what kind of car grandpa drove, or where they got their brown eyes and curly hair, or how you chose their name. Tell them now while you're still here. It is that important!