Summatime Hodgepodge

 

1. Summer's here!  In the northern hemisphere anyway. If you're in the southern hemisphere substitute winter for the word summer. What do you love most about summer? What's your biggest summer pet peeve? I love the longer hours of daylight, the sound of children's laughter from the park, and sunshine. My biggest summer pet peeve is humidity - it is humid in Alabama MOST of the time - so I guess my pet peeve is actually sweat haha!

2. What song always reminds you of summer? Just about anything by the Beach Boys reminds me of summer.

3. What's something you remember about your childhood summers? Do you think kids today get to enjoy summer the way you did as a child? Elaborate. I remember chasing fireflies (or as we call them - lightning bugs!) and putting them in a jar (holes punched in the lid). I remember long days of playing with my friends and roaming from house to house on our street. Many kids today, especially if both parents work full-time, seem to spend most of their days in various summer camps - from zoo camp, to critter camp at the Humane Society, to Harry Potter camp, to month long stays at fancy camps. It seems like they have a very different summer experience than I did.

4. We celebrate Fathers Day on June 21st. Do you favor your dad in looks or temperament? Tell us something about your dad. Or your husband as a dad. Or a son/son-in-law as a dad. Or your grandpa. I look like my mama, but I think my temperament is more like my dad's was. My daddy was a good man. He was so smart, but not because of classes in school. He had his GED but he could work our algebra problems in his head. He also had a lot of common sense. He was a talented carpenter. He drove a train for the L & N Railroad. He could "cuss" like a sailor (which he had been in the Navy in World War II). He loved us so much! I was 15 when our mom died and he stepped in and did it all. I've told this story on my blog before -- I had horrible cramps with each period and one time I was curled up in a ball. Men didn't talk about those things back then - especially with their teenaged daughter. He wanted to help me so bad . . .he offered me a drink of whiskey - haha! I didn't drink it and I know that as I'm typing these words, that gesture sounds horrible . . .but he was trying to fix a problem for his baby girl. Those hard days after my mom died were hard for him. 

5. Let's wrap up with a summer this or that-

• flip flops or sandals - flip flops
• beach or pool - both, please
• watermelon or peaches - both, please
• shorts or sundress - cool, cotton dresses (just not strappy sundresses - too old and I hate strapless bras haha!)
• iced coffee or ice cold lemonade - ice cold diet pepsi or water, please
• amusement park or water park - both, please

6. Insert your own random thought here. Y'all may remember that our long-time cleaning lady's mother is having major health issues. We have a new cleaning crew coming today. They were highly recommended by several others in our neighborhood. Ricardo, and his dad, Ricardo, and their crew of 6 will descend upon our house today. Mark is ridiculously nervous about having someone we don't know in our house, but I have said, "Why would they steal anything? They clean a lot of houses in our neighborhood and it would only take ONE incident for them to lose all of those jobs." I'll let y'all know how it goes - I am so excited about a clean house -- that I don't have to clean!