Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1) The Family History Hound listed 20 Questions about your Ancestor, and I'm going to use some of them in the next few months.  

2)  Please answer the first question - "Which ancestor moved the farthest from their home?"

3)  Write your own blog post, make a comment on this post, or post  your answer on Facebook or Google+.  Please leave a link to your answer in comments on this post.

This was very difficult for me.  For the most part, once my folks got to South Carolina and Georgia, they stayed put. For most of my branches, there are over 300 years of family history in those two states.  The immigrant ancestors arrived in what would become the United States way back in the 1600s and the information that I have on most of them is slim and none.

But, I do have Catherine Montgomery, my 8th great-grandmother, wife of James Patrick Calhoun, family matriarch, and grandmother of VP John C. Calhoun, and victim of the Long Cane Massacre.

Born: County Donegal, Ireland

Died: Long Cane, South Carolina

County Donegal, Ireland to Augusta, Virginia USA ~ 3415 miles

Augusta VA to County Donegal, Ireland ~ 3415 miles

County Donegal, Ireland to Lancaster, Pennsylvania ~ 3213 miles

Lancaster, Pennsylvania to Long Cane, South Carolina ~ 660 miles

Approximately 10,703 miles from one side of her dash to the other.

Now, for David’s family...

Dennis McClendon, Sr. - 7th Great-grandfather

Born: Cromarty, Cromartyshire, Scotland

Died: Burgess, Perquimans County, North Carolina, USA

Cromarty, Scotland to Barbados ~ 4207 miles

Barbados to Elizabeth City, North Carolina~ 1905 miles

Elizabeth City, North Carolina to Burgess, North Carolina ~ 20 miles

For a total of 6132 miles.

Franz Blecha - David’s 2nd Great-grandfather

Born: Bohemia, Austria

Died: Elk City, Kansas

Bohemia, Austria to Seneca, Kansas ~ 5091 miles

Seneca, Kansas to Decatur County, Kansas ~ 247 miles

Decatur County, Kansas to Elk City, Kansas ~ 397 miles

Elk City, Kansas to Oak Valley, Kansas ~ 11 miles

Oak Valley, Kansas to Longton, Kansas ~ 6 miles

Longton, KS to Elk City, KS ~ 14 miles           

Elk City, KS to Oak Valley, KS ~ 11 miles

Oak Valley, KS to Elk City, KS ~ 11 miles

Elk City, KS to Needville, Texas ~ 618 miles

Needville, Texas to Elk City, KS ~ 618 miles

Elk City, KS to Spearville, KS ~ 253 miles

Spearville, KS to Elk City, KS ~ 253 miles

For a total of 7530 miles.

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Be sure to drop by and read Mr. Seaver’s post for this week.   

Have a blessed evening, y’all!

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: The Other You

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

* Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.  Be mindful of your family's privacy, though!

* Write a blog post of your own, respond with a comment to this post, or write a Facebook status post or a Google+ Stream post.

My other hobbies, outside of genealogy, are all over the place, I guess.  I like to knit and crochet and have attempted to do beadwork, but my eyes and hands are against that one.

I love photography, especially nature photography. Over the last month, I have had a blast photographing the birds and squirrels in our backyard.  The pictures aren’t anywhere near perfect, but it makes me happy just the same.

Blue Jay ©27 May 2017 Suzanne G. McClendon

I love to cook and want to get back into cake decorating. Maybe that will happen.

I also love to read.  I have always had a love of words and books, reading and writing. I enjoy writing poetry, too.

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Be sure to drop by and read Mr. Seaver’s post for this week.  






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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: The Homes I've Lived In

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:
For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

1)  Read Linda Stufflebean's blog post, "Homes In Which I've Lived" on her Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.

2)  This week, please list the homes in which you have resided (not just visited) from your birth until the present.

3)  Share your list in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or on Facebook or Google+.  Please provide a link to your list as a comment to this post.

When I was born, my parents were living on Wilmont Street in Anderson, South Carolina.  At some point, we also lived on Marlon Avenue, also in Anderson.  I do not remember either of those homes. We also lived at 507 Wellington Street, then moved over to 508 Wellington Street, both in Anderson, SC.  I vaguely remember 507 Wellington Street. I remember 508 very well.  During the summer of 1978, my daddy bought land on Martin Road in Starr, South Carolina.  I started 8th grade in a totally different school district from my first seven years of school. It was like a whole other world.  This is where I lived until I moved off to college and then got married (1984).  

Our First Home ©1984 David E. McClendon, Sr.

Our first home together was on East Green Street in Iva, South Carolina.  Once I conceived the first McClendon-branded grandchild, we moved to Poplar Street in Iva, practically in the backyard of McClendon Manor, the home of David's parents.  After David's daddy died, we moved to Anderson to Country Club Lane, then to B Street, also in Anderson.  After that, we moved to my daddy's property on Martin Road in Starr. We were there until we moved for a job to Grace Street in Greenwood, South Carolina (1993).  When that job played out, we moved back to Anderson, to a house on Power Street.  After Power Street, we moved to Lari Lane and then Tabitha Court, both in the same complex.  Then, it was back to Starr for us.

We bought our first house. It was on Sanford Road in Starr, South Carolina. We lived there from 1996 until 2004, which was when we moved out here to Texas. We have lived in this same house almost 13 years now. This is the longest that I have ever lived in any one house, either with my parents or as a married woman. 

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Part 2

Here are the translations of the phrases listed earlier in this post.

1. Dum spiro spero: Google said it is Italian for “As long as I am alive there is hope”. Our family – Clan MacLennan- motto is Dum spiro spero “While I breathe, I hope”.

2. This one is in Irish and means “Provide all”.  The original phrase was: A tout pourvoir, French, for Provide for all.  It is the motto for Clan Oliphant.

3. The motto for Clan Logan is Hoc Marjorum Virtus, which means “This is the valour of my ancestors”.

4. Google translate says the Latin Deus Juvat means “God help”.  It is the Clan MacDuff family motto “God assists”.

5. If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance. George Bernard Shaw

Image from Pixabay.

Have a blessed night, y'all! 

 

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Part 1

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Find some of your favorite sayings, aphorisms, jokes, etc. They can be genealogy-related, or not.

2)  Translate them into Latin using Google Translate.

3)  Share them with us in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook status line or Google Plus Stream post (impress your non-genealogy friends with your Latin skills!).

4)  Of course, you could translate the Latin you read (on my blog, or the blogs of others) back into English (or your native language) using Google Translate too to see who was really funny, or mean, or romantic.  If you want to be really fancy, you could translate your sayings into any other language that uses Google Translate and really confuse all of us.

Here are my Latin (or are they?) phrases:

1. Dum spiro spero
2. A chur ar fáil go léir
3. Hoc Marjorum Virtus
4. Deus Juvat
5. Si potest non tollendum ossa de domo, et bene sit tibi sicut exultant lusibus.

Here are my guesses for Mr. Seaver’s Latin phrases:

1. Genealogy without sources is mythology.
2. Families are like fudge… mostly sweet with a few nuts
3. Genealogy: Collecting dead relatives and sometimes a live cousin!
4. A family tree can wither if nobody tends it’s roots
5. When you search for ancestors, you find great friends!

Check back at midnight for the translation of my phrases!

Have a blessed night, y’all!

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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) How many different "trees" do you have in your genealogy management program (i.e., RootsMagic, Family Tree Maker, reunion, etc.) or online tree (e.g. Ancestry Member Tree, MyHeritage tree)?

2)  How many trees do you have, and how big is your biggest tree?  Do you have some smaller "bushes" or "twigs?"

3)  Tell us in your own blog post (please leave a link in Comments here), in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.

I have six family trees that I created in Family Tree Maker and on Ancestry.com. Three other related trees are currently being shared with me on Ancestry.

McClendon Family Tree (1) 3,332

McClendon Family Tree 3,121

These are actually the same tree, but something went freaky with the sync tool in FTM. I ended up with a new version of the tree - the one with the (1) by the name - AND the original version which is no longer synced with the website. Very frustrating!

Bell Family Tree 31    

This is for a friend's family.

Gailey Family Tree 14  

This is the family that built the home owned by David's family in Iva, South Carolina.  It was originally called The Gailey Place. When David's family moved in, it became known as McClendon Manor.

Howland Family Tree 45

This tree is part of the George H. W. Bush family and is where I am researching the possible link between their family and ours. This was started long before the We're Related app told me that they are potential relatives.  David and I both have the Bush surname in our trees.

Jefferson-Lee Family Tree 126  

I was given reason to suspect that Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee are related to each other and this is the tree where I am researching that possible connection. Quite some time ago, I was given reason to suspect that one or both were also related to me somehow and now the We're Related app says the same thing. I have a long way to go on this one.

Luke Family Tree 84  

This is where I am working on the family tree of my best friend.  There is reason to think that our families were connected in the distant past.

The biggest tree, by far, is the McClendon Family Tree (1).  Even with 3,332 people on it, it is still very much just a wee little twig in the grand scheme of things. I just have to remind myself of several things along the way so that I don’t get caught up in the comparison/inferiority trap:

1. It is not a competition.
2. Some families are more willing to share information with each other than others.
3. Some people have had a lot more time to actually work on their trees.
4. Some people have a bigger wallet to facilitate more extensive research.

It’s all good!  It is a fun adventure and very educational regardless of whether it leads to a tree, a bush, or a twig.

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Are there persons in your genealogy database that has the same exact birth date that you do?  If so, tell us about him or her - what do you know, and how is s/he related to you?

2)  Are there persons in your database that are your ancestors that share your birth day (but not the year)?   How many, and who are they?

3)  Are there other persons in your database that share your birth day (but not the year)?  How many, and who are they?

4)  For bonus points, how did you determine this?  What feature or process did you use in your software to work this problem out?  I think the Calendar feature probably does it, but perhaps you have a trick to make this work outside of the Calendar function.

5)  Share your answers on your own blog, or on a comment to this post, or on Facebook or google+.  Be sure to leave a link in Comments to your post.


This one is very easy for me: ZERO!  Absolutely no one in my database has my birth date or even just birth day. Nobody.  Not one single person.

However, five people chose to make their exit from this life on my birth day.  No one in my database died on my exact birth date.

I just got the free updated/upgraded version of Family Tree Maker 2014.1.  It took a few minutes to find the place to generate a calendar.  Here is the path that I took to get the answers to this week's questions:

Publish>Other>Calendar Report>Create Report>All Individuals>Generate Report

I couldn't figure out how to make this program list the people instead of a calendar view, so I just went with the calendar view.

This calendar view shows the names with numbers out beside them.  I was unsure exactly what those numbers meant, so I did some digging around in my trees on Ancestry.com.  Apparently those numbers represent how many years ago it has been since the event in question took place. 

The most recent death on my birth day was 54 years ago, which was before I was born.  The most distant death on my birth day was 335 years ago on a part of my tree that is so messed up that I don't know if I'll ever be able to get it fixed!  Oh well, it will be an adventure. :)


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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- A Family's Increase

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Pick one of your sets of great-grandparents - if possible, the one with the most descendants.

2) Create a descendants list for those great-grandparents either by hand or in your software program.

3) Tell us how many descendants, living or dead, are in each generation from those great-grandparents.

4) How many are still living? Of those, how many have you met and exchanged family information with? Are there any that you should make contact with ASAP? Please don't use last names of living people for this - respect their privacy.

5) Write about it in your own blog post, in comments to this post, or in comments or a Note on Facebook.

For this exercise, I chose my maternal grandmother’s parents, Julius Jared Pressley and Carrie Williams Pressley.

When Grandpa Pressley died in October 1958, he had three surviving children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

When Grandma Pressley died in September 1966, she had three surviving children, eight grandchildren and *several* great-grandchildren, one of which was yours truly. I had just turned two years old.

Though no more grandchildren were born to Grandma and Grandpa Pressley after their deaths.  There were quite a few more great-grandchildren and beyond born.

Here are the numbers by the generations. Those numbers with + after them are the least number of people for that generation.   I know that number for certain.  I know that others are on that generational line, but I do not know how many more.

5 children  - All deceased.
All five of their children were girls.  Only three of them made it to adulthood.  I got a few family stories, opposing viewpoints, from the older sister (my aunt) and the younger sister (my grandma).  I never met the middle sister, according to my mama.

Maggie Pressley Spence & Mae Pressley Worley

9 grandchildren - 3 deceased
One of them was already deceased by the time Grandpa Pressley died. She got an infection and died as a toddler.  One was murdered in his late 30s.  The other one died as an older man, already a grandpa himself.  I have met all of them except for the deceased toddler. 

28+ great-grands - 2 deceased
One great-grandson died as a newborn due to a stomach problem.  He was a first cousin.  One great-granddaughter was murdered as she performed her job as an apartment manager. She was a second cousin, the granddaughter of my grandma's sister. I met her and her three siblings.

21+ 2nd great-grands  I have met quite a few, but nowhere near all, of this generation of children.

4+ 3rd great-grands - 1 deceased
He died as an infant of causes unknown to me. I have not met any of the 3rd great-grandchildren, including my sister's granddaughter. She was born in South Carolina a few years after we moved out here to Texas.

So, that makes an increase of at least 67, but I know the number is far higher. After our move out here to Texas, over a thousand miles away from well over 300 years of family history back in South Carolina, I lost touch with those that I had grown up with.   I know there have been many more baby cousins born since I left South Carolina.  It seems everyone in my generation is a grandparent now except for me!

Some of my cousins that grew up in the state of Washington, I probably met when we were little, but I do not remember them (with one exception and that is because he came to stay the summer with one of my aunts after I got married) and I have no clue how many children or grandchildren any of them have.  I remember my cousins that lived in Virginia because we saw them every few years, but I know nothing about their descendants.

If I can pin down a number for the uncounted folks, I will put an update here on this post.

This assignment was very hard for me to do on several levels.  It certainly revealed to me that I have a whole lot of work ahead of me filling in some empty spots and not nearly enough time left to do it!
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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Where Have You Visited?

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) A meme on Facebook has been circulating about what states, countries and other places you have visited. The average for Americans is 8.

2) Copy the list from this blog post and denote your places visited with an X, and add states or countries you've visited not on the list. Then total it up at the end of your list.

3) Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

Here are the answers for both David X and myself X:


Afghanistan
Alabama X X
Alaska
Algeria
Arizona X
Argentina
Arkansas X X
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bermuda
Bonaire
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
California
Canada X
Colombia
Castaway Island
Cayman Islands
Chile
China
Chicago X
Colorado
Connecticut X
Costa Rica
Cuba
Curacao
Czech Republic
Delaware X
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Dubai
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
England
Estonia
Fiji
Finland
Florida X X
France
Georgia X X
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guam
Guatemala
Haiti
Hawaii
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Idaho
Illinois X
India
Indiana
Iowa
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kansas X X
Kentucky
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Latvia
Lithuania
Louisiana X X
Luxembourg
Maine
Maryland X
Massachusetts X
Mexico X
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi X X
Missouri X X
Montana
Morocco
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey X
New Mexico X
New York X
New Zealand
Nicaragua
North Carolina X X
North Dakota
Norway
Ohio
Oklahoma X X
Oregon
Palestine
Panamá
Pennsylvania X
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island X
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Sicily
Scotland
Singapore
South Africa
South Carolina X X
South Dakota
South Korea
Spain
St Marten
St Thomas
Switzerland
Sweden
Taiwan
Tennessee X X
Texas X X
Thailand
Trinidad
Turkey
The Netherlands
United Arab Emirates
US Virgin Islands
Utah
Venezuela
Vermont X
Vietnam
Virginia X X
Washington
Washington DC X
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Wales

Score:

David: 30 Suzanne: 14

So, where in the world have YOU been?

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Day Your Grandfather Was Born

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) What day of the week was your Grandfather born (either one)? Tell us how you found out.

2) What has happened in recorded history on your Grandfather's birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

3) What famous people have been born on your Grandfather's birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

4) Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

My response:

My maternal grandpa, William Howard Taft Spence, was born on 12 May 1910, a Thursday.

My paternal grandpa, Andrew James Gunter, was born on 27 October 1918, a Sunday.

I did a search to find a perpetual calendar in order to pin down their birth day.  I used this one: Infoplease.

I also did an Internet search (search.yahoo.com) for “what happened on 5/12/1910” and “what happened on 10/27/1918 and found three sources with which I was able to find both events and those sharing birth dates with my grandpas. Ordinarily, I would be using Swagbucks for my searches, but I have yet to figure out how to make it the default search engine on this computer.

William Howard Taft Spence, 1910-1992

12 May
Things that happened on Grandpa Spence's birth date:
1864 – Death of JEB Stuart, Confederate Army General
1932 – The remains of the Lindbergh baby were found.
1949 – Soviet Union lifts blockade of Berlin
1965 – Luna 5, Soviet spacecraft, crashes on the moon
2002 – Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba

Those who shared Grandpa Spence’s birth date:
1812 – Edward Lear, English painter/poet
1820 – Florence Nightingale, English nurse
1910 – Gordon Jenkins, composer
1911 – Olive Faye, actress, USO Camp Shows
1925 – Yogi Berra, baseball player

Sources: Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac, IMDB and Day in History

Andrew James Gunter, 1918-1980

27 October
Things that happened on Papa Gunter’s birth date:
1787 – First of Federalist Papers published, USA
1838 – Extermination Order, Missouri, Mormons must leave the state or be executed
1904 – The IRT, first rapid transit subway, opened, New York City
1914 – The British battleship, HMS Audacious, is sunk
1986 – “Big Bang”, the deregulation of financial markets in Britain

Those who shared Papa Gunter’s birth date:
1858 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th US President
1920 – Nanette Fabray, actress
1928 - Burt Bacharach, actor
1937 – George Carlin, actor
1948 – Steve Winwood, musician

Sources: Smriti "Simmi" D. Isaac, IMDB and Day in History


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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- A Critical Life Decision

To join in this weekly genealogy fun, please click the happy dude below!


Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music):

1) Did you or your ancestor make a critical life decision that really changed their life in terms of place, work, family, relationships, etc.?
2)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a comment on Facebook or Google+.

There have been many life-changing critical decisions made during my adult life.  Several of them changed life as we knew it for many people. This is about some of the hardest.

A crime was committed and I reported it.  Yes, I turned in a relative and I don’t regret it for a moment. The crime was vile and disgusting and against a child.

Fast forward several years and this same child was at the center of another bit of family turmoil.  I testified in court against another, much closer relative.  Though I did not believe for a minute that this relative did what they were accused of, they had threatened to kill my husband because he’d said something that upset the wife of said relative.  I was scared and, while I do not believe that I committed absolute perjury, my testimony was such that this relative went to jail for the crime the child accused him of, a crime of which he was not guilty.

This severed ties to this branch of my family completely.  The incarceration of this older relative destroyed his family financially. While they did not lose their home, thank goodness, this relative lost his retirement benefits, which thrust them into financial ruin at a point in time when they were too old and infirm to recover.

David and I moved over a 1000 miles away from South Carolina due to further threats against our family.   This move robbed me of my last remaining grandparent for the last 13 years of her life.  I never saw my father again before he died.

I do not regret for a moment turning in the first relative mentioned. He was guilty and he even admitted it.  I will regret till my dying day the testimony against the second one because I know he was not guilty of what she said.

And this seemingly innocent, mistreated child? Well, it turns out she was a manipulator, a pathological liar.  She went on to her next victims, destroying yet another family with false accusations.




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I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Where Did You Go to School?

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I want you to:

1)  Michael John Neill started an interesting Facebook meme - when and where did you go to school? 
2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a status line on Facebook or a stream post on Google Plus.  Be sure to leave a link to your post in Comments on this post.

Here are the schools that I attended:

1971-1977 Homeland Park Elementary School, Anderson, South Carolina.  I often walked to and from school with my mother and siblings.  Sometimes, Mrs. Deanhardt drove us back and forth. I was in Bluebirds, which was part of the Camp Fire Girls, when I was in elementary school. We had our meetings in the school lunchroom.

1977-1978 Oakwood Christian School, Anderson, South Carolina.  During my 6th grade year, I heard a horrible story about something that happened to a girl at the junior high school that I was supposed to attend based on the school district in which I lived.  Daddy moved Heaven and earth to make sure I was able to go to a safe school during 7th grade while he made arrangements to buy property in another school district.  He often worked overtime and sometimes three shifts in a row to keep me in that private school.  I was the only one of my parents’ children to attend a private school.  They were still in elementary school during my 7th grade year.  The next school year, we were living in a different school district and all of us attended public school.

1978-1979 Starr-Iva Middle School, Starr, South Carolina.  This was my first year in a new school district and the start of five years of heck on earth for me in regards to school.  However, there were some bright spots that year and their names were Miss Ruth Elrod (my English teacher) and Mrs. Pettigrew (my science teacher).  It is also the year that I met Mae Boston and Bernice Valentine.  They were the sweetest girls and we became friends.  I will never forget their kindness to me as I tried to fit into this new group of people.

1979-1983 Crescent High School, Iva, South Carolina. This is the school where I met my then-future husband.  I was a freshman and he was a senior with the most amazing hazel eyes. They laser-locked me from across the walkway that was outside between the chemistry room and the lunchroom.  After a few weeks of me giggling at him, he said something to my best friend Holly Bevens, that made me hate him for a couple of years.  Well, okay, very strongly dislike him. Then, the summer between 10th and 11th grade, he had the nerve to write to me and here we are.

1984 University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina.  I started out to pursue a degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education (I cannot remember which anymore!).  I went to school in the Spring semester and both summer sessions.  I did not start the fall semester as we were planning to get married that fall. 

It was another 25 or so years before I went back to school and that was via online schools that are not worth mentioning.  I stopped going to school completely once I got sick and nearly died in 2010. My priorities have changed and I no longer feel a need to pursue a degree that I cannot use at this point in my life. 



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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings offers us the following challenge:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I want you to:

1)  Using the Facebook "Learn About Each Other" meme being passed around this week, answer the 31 questions as listed below.
2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, in a status line on Facebook or a stream post on Google Plus.  Be sure to leave a link to your post in Comments on this post.

Here are the questions.  My answers are in green.

1. Who are you named after?  

My daddy’s paternal grandmother Annie Black Gunter and her sister Suzie Black Skelton.

2. Last time you cried?

Thanks to this stage of life, it is a daily occurrence.

3. Do you like your handwriting?

No, not anymore. Thanks to years of typing, my handwriting has gotten terribly bad.

4. What is your favorite lunch meat?

Mesquite roasted turkey

5.  Spicy or sweet?  

I like both!

6. Longest relationship?  

I imagine at this point my mother and my Aunt Carolyn would win the prize. We’ve known each other for 51.5 years.

7. Do you still have your tonsils?

No. They were removed during Christmas vacation the year that I turned 16.

8. Would you bungee jump?

I think it would be a fun adventure, but also one that I would have to pass on.

9. What is your favorite kind of cereal?

Peanut Butter Captain Crunch for cold cereal.  Oatmeal with brown sugar and syrup wins for hot cereal.

10. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?

No. I wear sandals and they just slide off and on.

11. Do you think you're strong?

I used to be referred to as Hercules. I was pretty strong when I was young.  At 16 years old, 99 pounds, I could leg press over 700 pounds.  Now, I struggle to lift a gallon of milk, thanks to anemia.  Emotionally, the answer would have to be no. Everything makes me cry. I have always been a very sensitive, or tender-hearted, person.

12. Favorite ice cream?

Blue Bell’s Dutch Chocolate!

13. What is the first thing you notice about a person?

Eyes are generally the first thing that I notice about a person. 

14. Football or baseball?

Neither. I am not a sports fan.

15. What color pants are you wearing?

Black.

16. Last thing you ate?

Popcorn.

17. What are you listening to?

The hum of this room. It is the loudest room in the house.

18. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

I would be either red or black. Those are two of my favorite colors.

19. What is your Favorite Smell?  

There are so many wonderful smells that I can’t pin down a favorite, so I’ll go with one of the first that came to mind: freshly mowed grass.

20. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?

Our youngest daughter.

21.  Are you married?  

Yes. David and I have been married for just over 32 years.

22. Hair color?

Though it is very gray now, it used to be auburn.

23. Eye color?

Brown with gold flecks.

24. Favorite foods to eat?

Shrimp and cheesecake and Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate Ice Cream.

25. Scary movies or happy endings?

At this point in my life, I would have to say happy endings. But there was a time that I loved a good horror movie!

26. Last movie you watched?

Swan Princess Royally Undercover.

27.What color shirt are you wearing?
Yellow with little pinkish flowers scattered around it.

28. What is your favorite holiday?  

It used to be Thanksgiving. I don’t have a favorite holiday anymore.

29. Beer or Wine?

Neither. I do not drink. When I did, many years ago, vodka was my poison of choice.

30. Night owl or morning person?

I am a night owl through and through.  I do my best thinking and writing at night.

31. Favorite day of the week?

They are all the same to me.  We are retired. We do what we want, when we want, for the most part.



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

I respond to all comments on this blog, ideally within 24 hours.  Please check back here for a response to your comment.  Thank you!
 
Please subscribe to David's YouTube Channel. Thanks!