Wednesday Medley: The Final Frontier

Good morning! It's Wednesday and that means it's Medley time, Wednesday Medley, that is. Sit back, enjoy the questions, and then join in the fun yourself by visiting here.

1. Space. The final frontier. October 4th ⁠— 10th is World Space Week. Over the course of your lifetime, how many solar systems or science projects have you created for the school Science Fair? I've only done one science fair project. At my school, everyone was required to do one in 9th grade. Everyone. It didn't matter if you were inspired, had a good idea, or even liked science. The rule was EVERYONE. Were any of your projects memorable? No, but not nearly as terrible of many of the ones submitted. Have you ever peered through a telescope or visited a planetarium? Oh yes! I loved astronomy and took it as an elective science in high school. Me, who hates and struggles with anything beyond basic math, loved astronomy so much that I tutored other students in using calculus to find the distance to stars and planets. I briefly considered it as a college major. We had a telescope when the kids were young. It's probably still around somewhere. Been away from city lights and enjoyed the night sky? Yes! I'd enjoy it every night if we lived somewhere with less light pollution. The most beautiful night sky I've ever seen was way out in the mountains of the Navajo reservation in Arizona.
Bonus question: If you helped your child or a younger sibling with a science project, what grade did you receive?  We didn't do that kind of "help." Our kids were required to plan and execute their own projects and sink or swim on their own merit. Oh, we gave them technical help with power tools or things like that, but we only supervised them as they did it themselves. 
2. It is also National Carry A Tune Week. Do you sing in the shower? Doesn't everyone? In a choir? Bahahahaha! That would be the death of the choir. Carpool karaoke? Good grief, NO! Whistle while you work? I can't whistle very well at all.

3. On this day in 1992, seventeen-year-old Michelle Knapp was watching television when she was startled by crash in the driveway. Little did she know but she'd have to cancel her date with her boyfriend. Her Chevy Malibu had been struck by a meteorite! What is the strangest excuse you've ever heard? My husband once had a man working under him who claimed his mother died. A few weeks later he called off because she was very ill. A few months after that she was on her death bed once again. Or come up with? I'm sure I probably got creative when I was a kid, but I can't remember anything. As an adult the only excuses I use are the truth. 

4. Happy Birthday, John Winston Ono Lennon! John Lennon was resistant to The Beatles wearing identical suits which played a part of their early image leading to commercial success. Have you ever worn a uniform or an outfit that you disliked?  The years I attended a private school I was required to wear a plaid skirt, white or pale yellow blouse, green knee socks, and brown oxfords. Disliked is not a strong enough word. My mom, however, loved those years....no arguing over what I'd be wearing to school.

5. We are in the midst of the Major League Baseball playoffs.
At the time of writing, the New York Yankees swept the Minnesota Twins to advance to the American League championship. Is there a team you are cheering for? Nope. Is your team out of contention? The local team is, but I don't have a team. Do you prefer a different sport? Yes. Football. Or are sports not your thing? I grew up in a home where ALL sports were watched. It didn't matter if it was football, gymnastics, or ping pong. If it was on TV my dad turned it on so I watched or did something else. (This was back in the dark ages when cable was still just a dream and most homes had only one TV.) Now I live with a husband who grew up in a home where sports were not watched and he doesn't watch, either. Not even the Super Bowl. So the only sports I regularly watch are the Steeler games...a frustrating experience this season.

6. Tell us something interesting about your week.  I received a text from my recently discovered half-sister (read about that here) this week. She and her husband are going to visit our father (whom I have never met) this weekend and they are stopping in Latrobe tonight. Tomorrow I took half of my work shift off and we are going to meet up for lunch. 

So, yeah, it's happening, this first face-to-face meeting. I'm excited, but also nervous as all get out. It is weird to be the child he rejected meeting one of the children he chose to be a father to. 

She is slowly telling me about our father. She sent the first pictures I've seen of him in a text this week. I didn't really feel anything looking at them. They could have been pictures of anyone. I guess maybe I can see a little similarity in our smiles. I see a good bit of him in our oldest grandson. Their faces are very similar. Weird.