RhondaMum

My lovely friend Valerie has tagged me! The purpose of the tag is to get to know a little bit more about me, and I am flatter that she wants to do so.

The rules of this tag are:

1. Post a link about family.
2. Post a link about friends.

3. Post a prior link about yourself. Something that gives an indication of who you are.

4. Post a prior link about something you love.

5. Post a link about anything you choose.

So, here is my first link and it is about family. Some interesting facts about the blood line of Rhonda.

1. My relatives on my Mother's side had a hotel in Punxsutawney, PA. They started this tradition involving , you will never guess, a groundhog.

2. Also, from my mother's side, these people named the Norths. Have you ever heard of John Ringling North?

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took our daughter's to that world famous circus. During the intermission, I called my mom. I said, "Guess where I am?" She went on to tell me about her childhood days at this same circus with her Grandmother, my Great Grandma Good, Betty's mom for those of you that know me, who is a North. My Grandma Good grew up with many of the people in the circus, and would see them as they made their annual stop in town, along with those she, we, are related to.

I wonder if this family relation has anything to do with my love of elephants? That is another post, my collection and dream of seeing elephants in the wild one day. I also have a tattoo of one, but not in a noticeable spot.

3. Okay, maybe I just need to do a post about my Great Grandma Good as well. She was remarkable, leader of a band and a radio celebrity. Well, same side of the family. My Great Grandma Good's grandmother was a Morris. Ever heard of Lewis Morris who signed the Declaration of Independence? Another relation of mine. I'm a blue blood. I think that is really cool. I am very patriotic and also a proud member of DAR, although I don't get to attend meetings anymore with my girls needing all that I so thankfully give them.

4. So, to add a little twist... my husband's family, mother's french side, lived in LA. Also, my husband is related to the famous pirate, Jean Le Fete (spell?). Personally, it fascinates me and I think it is so cool. So now we joke with my daughter's that they are blue bloods and pirates.

I think my DH appreciated it more during a recent business trip to New Orleans. He went and visited local spots, including Jean's former spots of interest. And being me, I was like, "Oh my gosh, you have to tell them you are related". I would love to go to the pub he supposedly haunts and say, "Hey Jean, I'm related by marriage! Come on out and tell me hello!" However, nothing against those in this beautiful area, but the thought of visiting New Orleans scares the crap out of me. Actually, the thought of visiting LA scares the crap out of me, although I would really love to visit and stay at The Myrtles Plantation..... So much history, and lots of "haunted" and "too much feeling" to a place...

5. .... which leads into the next fact about my mom's side that is a little creepy to some, especially living in the "bible belt" of the south. My mom spent some of her younger years growing up, living in a VERY haunted house. A beautiful old home that my grandmother was instantly drawn to. Because of the "ghost", who left a trail through the house one day, they learned that the house was part of the Underground Railroad. You could hear a woman walking up the stairs, and her dress dragging behind, men walking though that smelled as if they had been working in the fields all day, and just a childhood full of ghost stories for me.

Why does this fall under the "family" category? Seems like all of the women on my mom's side have that "sixth sense". We can all tell when a place is "haunted". I have had a long struggle with this, being the converted pick and choose Catholic that I am and it took some time for me to finally "accept" this ability. At one time, it scared the freakin' crap out of me and I hated it. Especially living in the haunted homes that I did, four to be exact. Now, I embrace it, welcome it, and figure "God made me like this for a reason". When I go to a spot that I "feel" is haunted (sometimes I can even tell you who haunts it, as in male, female, was very ill, unhappy, something bad happened here and I want out) I just say a little prayer for their peace.

I hope this doesn't prevent some of you from reading my blog now. But it is a huge part of me. I love reading books about true ghost stories now.

When I lived in the UK, my friends and I were going to do a "ghost tour" of Chester England. Funny thing though, in walking through this town that I practically lived in, I would mention this place and that, "something really bad happened there" or "that place is so haunted". Then we went on the tour, it freaked my friends out because I basically had already told them about a lot of these spots in advance, that we didn't even know were on the tour.

Once, while we were on our yearly vacation in Edisto, SC, my mother, sister and I went on a plantation tour. It's funny, when we compare notes, and we have the same thoughts about a place. One home, after comparing notes, we all absolutely hated. I was so nauseous and I just wanted to leave I felt so ill. I knew something really bad had happened there. My mom and sister felt the same way. Ends up, one of the slaves on this plantation was a cannibal. Need I say more????



6. Final fact (and I thought this would be a quick post). My family has always done this, and we still do. When someone leaves, for example; my father has dropped one of the girls off. We all stand in the doorway and wave goodbye until the car is gone. When at my parents, and we leave for home, my parent's stand there and wave until we are gone. Now granted, this can be tiring at times. I might be in the middle of a huge project or in the process of writing a long post for my blog, LOL, but I really love this fact about us. And for those of you that know me, when my parent's are involved, it always includes a "Chirp!". I wonder what my neighbor's think about that?

I hope that you enjoyed these little facts about my family. I promise the next ones won't be as long. Well, maybe..... have a great day!