Share Your World – 2016 Week 43

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

What are you really glad you did yesterday?

I am glad that I was able to write a new poem yesterday and find an image that went perfectly with it (in my opinion). The poem pretty much wrote itself. The image helped write the last stanza. It was a poem addressing one of my fears. You can read it here: OctPoWriMo Day 23.

Would you prefer a one floor house or multiple levels?

I would love to have a multi-level house like, say, the Biltmore House, but financially and practically, that isn't going to happen. The days of walking up and down stairs repeatedly during the day are gone for us both. We cannot safely maneuver stairs anymore.


Have you done something you truly want to do today?

Yes.  I made it back home safely after having to drive on the road with people who have no clue what a speed limit is for.

What plans did you have as a teenager that didn’t happen? Are you happy it didn’t work out that way?

I had plans to become an architect, until the math scared me off.  I can't say that I am happy or unhappy about how that worked out.  It could have been fun, but I have accepted that it isn't going to happen. It is no longer a burning desire, just a fond memory.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful for another stroke-free week.  I am grateful that David's foot is making some positive progress toward healing, finally!  I am grateful that our youngest daughter found her missing rented textbook.  I am thankful that I have been able to keep up with both challenges that I am involved with this month and actually get some book reading done, too.  I am looking forward to getting some future posts ready as well as creating more genealogy posts for PS Annie! as I work to get that blog back to the genealogy focus that I had originally intended for it.


Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 42

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

If you wanted to de-clutter where you live, what room / space would you start with?  (And why, if you feel like admitting to it.)

I have started a major de-cluttering of this house. I started with the middle bedroom which has been used as a storage room since the kids moved out. I started there because it is the smallest of the rooms that I have to choose from and it isn't currently occupied.

If you want to remember something important, how do you do it (sticky note on the fridge, string around your finger, etc.), and does it work?

A string around my finger wouldn't help me at all. I would end up wondering why there was a string around my finger. I write notes and I ask other people to help me remember.  I ask because it gives me an auditory reminder. I write down because it gives me something to visualize later when I realize that I forgot to bring the paper with me to the grocery store or wherever. The written note also, by its very nature, gives me a tangible visual reminder when I don't forget where I left it.

If you could create a one room retreat just for yourself, what would be the most important sense to emphasize:  sight (bright natural light, dim light, etc.), hearing (silence, music, fountain, etc.), smell (candles, incense, etc), touch (wood, stone, soft fabrics, etc.), or taste (herbal tea, fresh fruit, etc.)?

It would probably be a combination of all that are listed, but most important would be hearing.  I cannot think with a lot of noise and, lately, noise -at least, excess noise and activity - has affected my ability to function. If there is too much going on around me, I shut down to a degree and get very frustrated.

If you could interview one of your great-great-great grandparents, who would it be (if you know their name) and what would you ask?

Oh there are so many people and questions to choose from! But, I think that I would probably start with Thomas C. Frith and Eliza for several reasons. First question would be verification of their last name - is it really Frith or is it Thrift as I was raised to believe?  I was told that it was Thrift, but all records that I have found indicate that it was Frith.  I would also ask Grandpa Frith/Thrift why he did not want his daughter Josephine (my 2nd great-grandmother) to marry Grandpa Black. Was it because he was so much older than she was? When they married in 1869, Grandpa Black was 38.  Grandma Black was only 17.  I can understand her daddy having a problem with that!  I understand that this gave Grandpa Black time to get established in his job and farm and to get a home set up for them, but why not find a wife closer to his age? That can also be explained by the short life span overall and wanting to have babies. A younger wife could withstand rough circumstances better, maybe, than a woman of the then-advanced age of 35. Still, I would ask these questions and probably many more to find out their reasoning because it may be for completely different reasons. I want to know their story, not just what was typical at the time.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am thankful for another stroke-free week and not much other drama. I am looking forward to David making it through the week without getting his cast wet or getting infected so that we don't have to go back to the hospital before next Monday.  I am also looking forward to getting some more poetry written for OctPoWriMo and getting more computer files organized.

Have a blessed day, y'all!

Please also visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.


Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 41

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

1. Do you believe in love at first sight?

Yes, I do. From the moment that I looked across the walkway into the chemistry room window and saw those blue eyes looking back at me, I knew that David was the one that Heavenly Father had chosen for me.

2. Your first car?

The first car ever bought specifically and solely for me is my Zoomie, a 2011 Ford Fiesta.

"Zoomie"  ©2011 Suzanne G. McClendon

3. Who taught you to ride a bike? How did it go?

I don't remember who taught me. I do remember that, although I am the oldest child, with two brothers after me, our youngest sister got the first real bicycle.  I am assuming that learning to ride it went well because I could beat the boys in the races through the woods and I am still alive.

4. Ugly and rich or beautiful and poor?

From my way of looking at it, I am ugly and poor, at least in regards to money. But, money is not the only, nor is it the best, way to measure wealth. I was blessed to grow up in an area permeated with family history, *my* family's history, over 300 years of it. I was blessed to grow up with all of my grandparents around me and I was able to visit with them often. I knew that they, and my daddy, loved me.  I was blessed to get married, after having gone years thinking that it was just something good that happened to other people. I figured it would never happen to me.  I was blessed to have beautiful children, in spite of my own looks. There's a funny thing about personal perspective. I am a carbon copy of my Grandma Spence and our daughter Maggie is a carbon copy of me. I think they are both very beautiful…but there are too many tapes playing in my head for me to ever feel that way about myself.

After reading Cee's answer to this one, I am wondering if I took the question the wrong way.  I think that a person's looks and pocketbook/wallet should not matter. What is in their heart is what matters. As I said above, money is not the only measure of wealth. Inner beauty is important; physical beauty is not or, at least, it should not be. A person's worth should not be measure by financial or physical status.  And, as they say, looks can be deceiving. A person could be totally beautiful, but be a horrible person. That isn't true beauty.

5. What was the first dish you could cook?

I have no clue what the first dish I could cook was, but the first thing that I remember cooking was cheese toast. That isn't exactly a "dish".  I remember one of the first dishes that I tried cooking for my in-laws before David and I got married was chicken cacciatore. I had no idea what a "clove" of garlic was. Everything I learned up to that point about cooking, I learned on my own. I hadn't made it up to "garlic terminology" yet. So, I put in the whole bulb.  Let's just say, Emeril would have been very pleased! Don't worry, they survived it. David says, "I liked it and I'm still alive."

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful for another stroke-free week. I am thankful that things are improving for our oldest daughter.  I am thankful that our youngest daughter didn't get more severely injured than she did when she fell down the stairs at the convention. I am thankful that we got to hear from our Marine again.  I am thankful that I have been able to write some new poems after a very long time of not being able to do creative writing.

I am looking forward to David getting a good report, or at least not a bad report, from the podiatrist tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting more posts scheduled for the JNW's Halloween Challenge and the OctPoWriMo challenge that I am participating in. I am doing the Halloween Challenge on PS Annie! and the OctPoWriMo Challenge on McClendon Villa. I am also looking forward to coming up with an idea to keep myself posting throughout November as I continue my quest to post every day for a year.
Have a blessed day, y'all!



Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 40

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

1. Why did you start blogging?

At this point, I do not remember why I started blogging except that I love to write.  My first blog, One Thousand Gifts, was based on the book of the same name by Ann Voskamp. I wrote about things that I was thankful for and feelings caused by parts that I had read in the book.  Somewhere along the way, I thought a blog based on genealogy and family history would be a good idea, a way to get the information out there.  Some things happened along the way and I lost my voice. I couldn't write, not like I had intended to.  Still, it is my goal to make PS Annie! a blog primarily about family history and the importance of sharing our stories to answer the questions of future family members.

2. A piece of clothing you still remember?

When I was a little girl, I had a soft blue denim pantsuit that had a teddy bear embroidered on the top. I absolutely loved that pantsuit. As children do, I grew out of it and my little sister ended up with it. This upset me very much. It was special to me and now this child who had taken my mama from me was wearing it. I didn't like it one little bit that she had my special pantsuit.

3. Who are you trying to reach with your blog?

At this point, I guess that would be just anyone who will take the time to listen. Ultimately, it is to reach family members and share our family history stories. I would also like to reach those that need just a little push to get started on their own family history journey.

4. Is there a stuffed animal in your bedroom?

YES!  Not just "a", but tons of them. We have all of Xerxes' little babies in here: One Spot, Two Spot (both are tigers), Jif (an elephant), and Mouse (which is a snake).  There are also probably 10+ Eeyores, several cows, a big Tigger, a big Pooh, a humongous lamb, a couple of lions, several bunnies, a skunk, a doggy, and something that our daughter calls Toothless (a Night Fury, whatever that is).  The special ones from our Marine's childhood, Dottie, Leo, and Soldier are in here.  Oh, and a teddy bear angel Christmas tree topper.

5. The best birthday present ever?

The best birthday present ever would have to have been on my 16th birthday. That is when I had my first official date with my not-soon-enough-to-be-husband.

6. What would surprise me about you?

That's a tough one because I think most folks already know that I'm a short, not skinny, 51 year old Christian mother of a US Marine, a US Sailor, and two college girls and a few babies waiting in Heaven.  AND that I am married to the only person that I ever dated more than once. AND that I wanted to be an architect but got scared off by the math. AND that I want to be a great nature photographer. AND that I want to be a great writer, or at least a readable writer.  AND that I love shrimp and cheesecake, together or separately, doesn't matter.

Hmm okay. Maybe you don't know that I almost blew the heads off a group of teenage boys with my daddy's .357 Magnum when I was about 14 years old or why.

 How about that?

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for another stroke-free week.  I am grateful for the cooler weather that we've been having the last few days. The weather guesser says that the 90+ degree weather is coming back this week, though.  I'll enjoy the cooler temps while they last.  I am grateful for the fun time at the Ruins yesterday with our oldest daughter. We had a blast at the photo shoot with Hamlet. I am looking forward to another fun Celtic-themed photo shoot, possibly later this week.

©2016 Suzanne G. McClendon

Have a blessed week, y'all!

Please be sure to read David's Share Your World post over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

NOTE: The book link in the first answer is an affiliate link. If you click that link and make a purchase, our family will financially benefit from the transaction. Thank you for your support!

 

Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 39

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

1. A class you wish you would have taken?

There are all sorts of classes that I would have loved to take along the way: basket weaving, pottery making, and painting/drawing. I was in a photography degree program, but we hadn't gotten into the hard-core photography classes yet when I got so sick back in 2010.  When I was so sick that I couldn't even lift my textbook, I decided it was time to give it up. So, I'll just learn photography by doing it and reading tips online and in books.

2. What’s your favorite comic figure and why?

When I was a kid, I loved the Phantom comics and Snuffy Smith. These days, I enjoy it when David reads the Plugger comics and a few others to me. And I absolutely love Maxine's sass. She always makes me think of my granny.

3. Name something you wish you could like.

I don't know of anything that I wish I could like. Either I like it or I don't.  There's no point in wishing to like something that I don't like because it is highly unlikely to happen. It would just be a waste of good wishes.

4. Tell me about your first crush / first date / first kiss.

My first crush was in elementary school around 3rd grade or so. I liked a little boy named Bernard. It was neither socially acceptable nor safe at the time for me to do so. Both of our lives were threatened over it, so I just had to let those feelings go.

My first date was with the son of one of my daddy's friends. We went to see Buck Rogers. There may have been a kiss on the cheek, but I don't really remember.  It was more like going to see a movie with my brother.  My first REAL date was with David on my 16th birthday.

5. Who was your best friend when you were 10?

I can't say for sure how old I was when I met her, but we were friends across several years in elementary school. Her name was Allison Atkins. After sixth grade (our elementary school ended at 6th grade), I don't know where she went to school. I went to a private school in 7th grade because the junior high in my zone was unsafe. I often wonder what became of Allison.

6. What sign are you? Do you believe in astrology?

My sign is Leo.  I think that it is fun to read about the different supposed traits of the star signs. However, I do not "believe" in astrology. I believe in the One Who created the sun, the moon, the stars and the heavens.  He is the only celestial being that directs my life.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful for another stroke-free week.  I am grateful for the rain and the, although temporary, cooler days that we've had. I am also thankful for the family history discoveries that I have made and look forward to making this week, too.  I am also looking forward to a life with no negative drama, but this probably won't be that week.

Please be sure to visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations.

Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 38

To learn more about this challenge, click here.

Are you a hugger or a non-hugger? 

It depends on the situation that I'm in. Overall, though, I guess I'm a hugger. I grew up in huggy churches, was in a mostly huggy family, and that is what seems natural. Our girls are the same way, it seems.

What is your least favorite Candy?

Anything "gummy" and this includes licorice and jelly beans. ICK! I'm not really into any of the fruity candies either.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “fun”?

I love history and nature, so activities involving either of those two are always at the top of my "fun" list.
But, I have to say, the most fun thing is snuggling with David.  He's cuddly.

List of Favorite Smells: What smells do you love? Whether it’s vanilla scented candles or the smell of coffee in the morning or the smell of a fresh spring rain…make a list of all the things you love for a little aromatherapy.

1. Coffee…I love smelling it, but I do not like the taste of it.
2. Bacon!
3. A freshly bathed baby.
4. Freshly mown grass, but it makes me sneeze.
5. Mountain air in the fall.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful for another stroke-free week (and I bet you'll all be grateful when I quit saying that!) I am grateful that we were able to hear from Davey and that things seem to be going okay for Laynie, Davey, and Maggie. I am also very grateful for all of the family history information that I am finding on newspapers.com.  It is a great site!

I am looking forward to Maggie finding the lost rented textbook. It was rented due to the high cost, which we couldn't afford, and if she can't find what happened to it, the full cost will have to be paid. Thank you for prayers concerning this.

I am also looking forward to our sleep schedule getting better, but that probably isn't going to happen any time soon. Our schedule is a bit erratic right now. The hope is it will level out very soon.  I hope so.  I'm tired of feeling like a zombie all day.


Please visit David's SYW post over at  Random Thoughts and Observations.


Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World - Week 36

To learn more about this weekly challenge, please click here.

If you were given a boat or yacht today, what would you name it? (You can always sell the yacht later)

Lots of names come to mind for this. Here are a few:

1. S.S. I'm Outta Here
2. S.S. I'm Free
3. S.S. Remember
4. S.S. Never Forget

Which of Snow White’s 7 dwarfs describes you best? (Doc, Happy, Bashful, Sleepy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Dopey) Plus what would the 8th dwarf’s name be?

"Bashful" describes me best from my perspective. Others would most definitely choose "Grumpy". "Cookie" could be the 8th dwarf.

Name a song or two which are included on the soundtrack to your life?

1. Endless Love
2. What About Now?
3. Remember When
4. Walk A Little Straighter, Daddy

Complete this sentence: I like watching…

I like watching flowers dance in the wind, but not so much when I'm trying to photograph them. I like watching little kiddies, kitties, and puppies as they're learning to walk. I like watching the Cardi families interact with each other in our yard.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that something special has come into our oldest daughter's life.  She plans to still volunteer at the thrift store as often as this new adventure allows. I am grateful that our youngest daughter had a great time at the Con and made it back to school safely. I am grateful that we are able to e-mail with our Marine now and that he has been able to send a message or two via FB Messenger.

I am looking forward to discovering more interesting things about our family history thanks to Newspapers.com. I am also looking forward to getting some more things organized on this computer and the external hard drive so that I can recover some space that is desperately needed.

Please be sure to read David's post over at Random Thoughts and Observations. Thanks!


Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World - 2016 - Week 35

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

List 2 things you have to be happy about?

So far, there have been no other major health events this summer.
Laynie enjoys her volunteer job at the thrift shop.

If you could take a photograph, paint a picture or write a story of any place in the world, what and where would it be?

At the moment, I would choose Edgefield, South Carolina.  That county is the melting pot of mine and David's families. All roads apparently lead to Edgefield and before that, Virginia.   Outside of the US, I would choose Ireland, as that is where many of our forefathers were before they came to the United States.  I specifically would love to take a photograph or paint a picture of the Cliffs of Moher. 

Should children be seen and not heard?

I think that they should be both seen and heard.  We gave them life and should let them live it, not being made to feel like they're just in the way.  I spent a lot of my childhood having to be quiet because my daddy worked swing shift. Third shift was the worst and we had to be absolutely quiet then so that he could sleep and be able to work that night.    First and second shift weren't so bad for us as kids.  During first, he was at work while we were at school, and slept at nighttime like we did. On second, he was at work already when we came home from school and went to bed when  he got home late at night.  I don't begrudge it. It is how it had to be for him to provide for our family. But, it is a very hard life for a child having to be quiet and not play or laugh or anything too loud.

Why have children if you never want to hear a peep out of them? I never did understand that one.

List at least five of your favorite first names.

David (x2), Laynie, Maggie, Jared, Mae, Annie, Evelyn….The list of favorites is actually very long! I had a notebook full of names for future babies when I was a teenager.

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful for the rain that came and just maybe we will end up with tomatoes after all. They are late as can be, but it could still happen.  

I am looking forward to the start of a new challenge for September. It is called September 19-Somethin' Challenge and is based on the song 19-Somethin' by Mark Wills. You can read about it here: 19-Somethin' .  It is also happening on my other blog McClendon Villa
 


Please be sure to read David's post over at Random Thoughts and Observations.



Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World - 2016 - Week 34

To learn more about this challenge, please click here.

What is your favorite comfort snack food?

Shrimp and cheesecake, not necessarily at the same time, but I wouldn't turn either of them down.

Is the paper money in your possession right now organized sequentially according to denomination and with the bills right side up and facing the same way?

I have no money in my possession, but if I did, yes, it would be in order and they would all be right side up and facing the same way.  I don't want to be upside down and backwards, so I figure ol' George and Grandpa Jefferson wouldn't like that either.

If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?

It would see David and me working on blog posts and videos and reading, and comforting our grand-dogger Petra, who recently lost her sister Battly.

Would you rather not be able to read or not be able to speak?

I don't want to not be able to do either one of these things.  Both are very important to me.  If I had to choose, absolutely had to, I would choose not being able to read.  Even illiterate people are able to tell their husband and children that they love them.

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that we had both of our daughters home together for a few weeks and that we made it safely back to the island with our youngest daughter.

I am looking forward to finding a blog post writing challenge for September that David and I can do together.  I am also looking forward to looking through old newspapers online to find the stories that made up the lives of our forefathers.  I have found several so far that are very interesting and some that are just downright sad.  I love finding all of it!



Please read David's post over at Random Thoughts and Observations. Thanks!

Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World – 2016 Week 33

For more information about this challenge, click here.

Would you travel into outer space?

Not physically, no.  Mentally, I do it all the time!

Which country/city in the world (that you have never been to) would you most like to visit and why?

I would love to visit Ireland.  It is where many of my forefathers and foremothers were from.  My blood was green long before it ran red, white, and blue.

What could you do to breathe more deeply today?

I'm not quite sure how to take this question, so I'll say this: I could breathe more deeply if I didn't have COPD and the build-up that it causes.  I could lessen some of the build up by eradicating dairy completely from my diet.  Staying inside would also help me to breathe more deeply because the neighbors are outside smoking again and that causes build-up for me, too.

Complete this sentence: This creamy peanut butter sandwich could really use some …

All that a peanut butter sandwich *needs* is the bread and peanut butter to be perfect.  But, the following things make it a more interesting adventure (not all at the same time, mind you!):

1. Apple butter
2. Grape jelly
3. Raisins
4. Mrs. Butterworth's syrup

Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful for the time that we had with little Battly and her cuteness.  I am looking forward to making more discoveries about our family on Newspapers.com and Ancestry.com.   I am also looking forward to remembering times past as I look through my photo archives while organizing my external and internal hard drives.


Please be sure to read David's post over at Random Thoughts and Observations.  Thanks!

Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!

Share Your World - 2016 - Week 32

For more information about this challenge, please click here.

If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?

I would get shrimp and cheesecake. To make it healthy, an endless supply of Olive Garden salad.

What is the worst thing you ate recently?

I honestly cannot think of anything that I would categorize as "worst" recently. Everything has been fine.

You are comfortable doing nothing? For long stretches of time?

No, I cannot just sit and do absolutely nothing. My hands like to stay busy. If I'm not doing something on the computer, I am either knitting or crocheting, reading, decluttering, or working a word or number puzzle.

List of Jobs You Think You Might Enjoy: Even if you aren’t thinking about a career change, it can be fun to think of other jobs you might enjoy.

I think it would be great to be a professional genealogist. I love research and history and genealogy.  It doesn't matter if it is my family or someone else's.  Other than that, being a professional writer would be good. And, back to my teenaged dream of being an architect…if only I wasn't scared of the math!

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

I am grateful that we made it safely to the island and back and that we now have both of our daughters home with us for a couple of weeks.

I am looking forward to meeting the new kitties that appear to have been born during the night. I say "appear" because Mama's tummy was considerably smaller early this morning, but I haven't found the babies yet.  Which reminds me, I need to go look around again now that it is daylight!


 Please visit David over at Random Thoughts and Observations. Thanks!



Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!