Wednesday Hodgepodge - 27 July 2016

Wednesday Hodgepodge 27 July 2016

1. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your summer so far? Why?
(1=eh and 10=best summer ever)

I guess about a 5. It hasn't been spectacular, but it hasn't been horrible either. Well, except for the heat. That HAS been horrible! One day our heat index was 115 degrees!

2. July 26th is National Aunts and Uncles Day. Did you have many aunts and uncles growing up? Were you especially close to any one or maybe all of them? Are you an aunt? (or uncle for the men who join here on Wednesdays) Share a favorite memory relating to one of your own aunts or uncles or relating to a niece or nephew who calls you Aunt (or Uncle).

My daddy has one living sibling, my Aunt Charlotte. They had an older brother, Uncle Bobby Joe, that was killed while in service in Germany. My mama had 2 brothers and 4 sisters (3 that made it to adulthood). Also, my grandparents had siblings. The one that I was closest to was my maternal grandma's sister, my Aunt Mae. She was as sweet as could be, just like my grandma. I used to spend time with her during the summer. One night while we were asleep, I had a dream that involve stairs that led into Heaven. I was moving furniture up the stairs into Heaven. I remember wondering about that dream and she helped me to not be so confused. Aunt Mae, and Grandma, too, were fine Christian women and I was blessed to have them in my life. Aunt Mae passed away just before I could tell her that I was pregnant with the son that would ultimately carry her daddy's name. I had promised her when I was a teenager that I would name my firstborn son after her daddy, my great-grandpa, Julius Jared Pressley (surname unknown at the time). When David and I had Jared, he didn't want me to name him Julius, so I dropped Julius. Our son was named Jared Pressley McClendon.

3. What's your favorite food dipped in chocolate? What's your favorite food dipped in cheese?

I think cheesecake would be great dipped in chocolate and in cheese! I wouldn't run from chocolate or cheese-covered shrimp, either. Cheesecake and shrimp are my favorite foods no matter how they are dressed.

4. When were you last astonished by something? Explain.

I would have to say it was earlier when David came up to me, totally out of the blue, and laid a major kiss on me. :)

5. Surf board, paddle board, ironing board, Pinterest board, score board, clip board, bulletin board...which board have you most recently encountered?

I would have to say a Pinterest board. It was one about saving and making money.


6. What's your favorite story from scripture? Why that story?

I think that my favorite story from the Bible, aside from the birth of Christ, is the story of the little boy being raised from the dead. It is in 2 Kings Chapter 4. Elisha stretched himself out on the child a couple of times and the child sneezed back to life. I know how it feels to lose a child. This woman's faith was strong and she knew that Heavenly Father through Elisha could bring her child back to life again. Oh, to have such faith and to have it answered that way!

7. If you were to travel from the east coast to the west coast in your own country, which five cities would you most want to see?

This doesn't have to be in a straight line, does it? This adventure would be a little ziggity-zaggity. I don't really like cities, but if I have to chose cities over small towns, I would choose: Asheville, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, California (but only because our boys have spent so much time there!).

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I am just totally amazed at the folks that will go on and on about not liking something, about how something is so wrong, yet close off all avenues to changing it. They don't want to hear or consider any ideas about how to change the problem or work through it. They just want to spit out hate. They shut off two-way conversation, refusing to see that change starts with each of us, thereby proving that they and other closed-minded people like them, are the root of the problem.

Don't blame me for what my ancestors did almost 200 years ago. Don't think that you get a free pass because of what yours endured those same 200 years ago. Neither of us are the guilty party and neither of us are the victim of what went on all those years ago. We can't change the past, but hate can kill the future. We can change that!