jo burgess hannon

fit for today, fit for life

  • HOME
  • POSTS
    • questions
    • life lessons
    • What I am loving
    • recipes
  • ABOUT ME

Ah, summer. 5 questions for the season

June 22, 2018 by Jo Leave a Comment

1~ Did you know you can freeze watermelon?  Well, I was watching a cooking show where the host was freezing watermelon balls then whirring them up in a blender to make some sort of delicious cocktail.  Then a few days later, I knew I would not be able to eat all the watermelon I had cut up for family dinner.  Since I usually freeze leftover fruit, I tossed the chunks into the freezer container to add to my breakfast smoothie. It’s delicious.

2~Do you hall sprinklers from one part of your lawn to the other?  Ever leave one running all night because you missed hearing your timer ring?  (#metoo! pretty sure this not how this hashtag was meant to be used, going rebel and doing it anyway)  10+ years later, I am still so happy when I hear water rush into the pipes and the yard sprinklers come on. It was worth every penny to have them installed.

3~ Need a summer idea? When the heat gets to much you can always head to the city park with your bag of rollers.  I guess this is what Montana locals do as Honey and I witnessed first hand a woman sitting in her beachside lawn chair rolling up her hair in color coated  curlers.

Just to clarify: this is NOT me. I could never do this without a mirror!

 

4~ Need a laugh out loud movie?  Don’t miss a chance to see the movie Book Club while it is in theaters.  If your over 40 I think you’ll find it funny.  If your over 50 I think you might laugh out loud.  Take a friend too, because giggling in a movie theater is way more fun when you are next to a girlfriend.

5~ Do you every rush through one thing so you can get to the next thing sooner?  For this summer, I am going to try and be right here, right now so I can savor every last warm night, every delicious Rainer cherry, every giggle, every laugh, every pink sky.

Because, summer.  Hello Seattle, you shine brightest during the summertime.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn

Family dinner and saying “come on in”

June 11, 2018 by Jo 1 Comment

Celebrating a friend’s milestone

 

Hospitality is not a house inspection, it’s friendship, it’s family.

Struggle is real. I often run through my childhood memories to understand reactions and feelings of current experiences. For many years after Honey and I were married I was so nervous having people over.  Ask Honey, I would kind of freak out if someone was going to drop off a book. He would mention someone was stopping by and I was clearing counters, checking the bathroom for cleanliness and sometimes even mopping the floor. Just so someone could stand in the front entrance and I would feel comfortable, but not comfortable at all.

What I realized is from about age 10 on, my mom and dad mostly quit inviting people into our home.  More on that another time and the brokenness inside the walls of the home I grew up. I just did not learn how to welcome people into my personal space. Even having family over felt like I had to prove something and have everything perfect.

Anyway, what I learned after we starting having groups in for a get together, that it is pointless to mop the floor before everyone arrives.  Sure, pull out the broom and sweep.  But full on water bucket and mop might be pointless.  First, no one ever comes in inspecting how clean the floor might be: instead they are wondering about where to set their purse, If they should take their shoes off, where the plug-in is for phone charging, checking out the snacks on the kitchen counter.  For the record, I am kind of a neat-nick and most likely the floor is pretty clean anyway.

And then I saw my mom-in-law, sister-in-laws, family, extended family, girlfriends saying come in, come over, stop by. And I wanted to be that person.

And ALWAYS the floor needs to be mopped the next day.

 

or, she thought maybe she could, so she did

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn

What would MLK do?

March 31, 2018 by Jo Leave a Comment

Where’s my mamma????? And nope, not one relative in this photo.

 

About the time we were baptizing our daughter in the St. Luke’s vestibule, the phrase “What Would Jesus Do?” became a faith mantra. Bracelets and rubber wrist bands with the acronym WWJD were everywhere. I bet now instead of brackets, tattoos are more popular.

 

Would you choose the corner or the middle piece of the cake? I am middle all the way, and then I still scrape the frosting off.

 

So anyway, there was a Martin Luther King day event held locally Seattle this year that championed the  phrase “take a knee.’ I shook my head a bit when I first saw the flyer. It just felt off. On one hand, I kind of get it.  MLK was all about nonviolent acts to further civil rights.  And, there is nothing violent about choosing not to sing.

However, while NFL football players took a knee during the national anthem in protest of police violence against blacks, the action was viewed by many as unpatriotic and disrespectful to our flag and military. Would Martin Luther King be grateful and excited our community supported this action in his name? I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. My perspective is limited and possibly tainted by my white girl upbringing, reciting the pledge of allegiance to America every Monday throughout elementary school, my dad fighting in the Korean war, my brother serving in Vietnam, a nephew in the today’s Navy. I grew up with, and still have today, a deep rooted respect for the American flag.

So my question is this: isn’t there another way, any other way, than choosing this divisive topic, to celebrate the works and help further the efforts of a great man?  Wouldn’t  MKL want his name to be the voice for inclusion, rather than excluding those that would always stand while removing their hat for the National Anthem and therefore not attend this event because of the unpatriotic nature it represents?

What would Martin Luther King do? Though I would not wear it on a bracelet, it is a good question to ponder.

Our nation lost a great man when Baptist Minister Martin Luther King was assassinated. How can we best honor the life he gave for the people of this country?

And tomorrow our nation, one nation under God,  celebrates a savior risen.  He has risen indeed.

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn

Boys will be Boys

February 3, 2018 by Jo 2 Comments

My childhood home

 

I jumped into a Facebook chain recently started by a high school friend of my brother. It was a two sentence, derogatory, public statement that threw shade on said brother. Comments built in the feed that included much Loop bravado. I added to the mix, initially being the only female to participate, and was quickly directed to ‘calm down.’

I’ve always been proud of the road were I grew up. Being a Loop kid has anchored me in a way maybe only others from the ‘hood would understand. We knew everybody, everybody knew us. My older brothers had a least 10 different friends from our street. When you grow up with so many boys, (because where there are 4 boys, there is always an extra at the dinner table, one sleeping on the coach, or 5 more playing pool in the basement) you learn to relate on a male level.

Guys let things go. They can be yelling at each other, maybe even throwing a few punches and then moments later start back to playing Monopoly. Mean things can be said without judgment; maybe even soliciting verbal applause for being spoke out loud. Other fellas can pile on to the onslaught of callous banter and relationships still stay intact.

In some ways, I was surprised at the Facebook scolding. Why couldn’t I bluster a little? It was like I was back in 1978 instead of 2018; 2018 where women are encouraged speak their mind, tell some truth.

Side note: It’s not always a positive to live in such a close-knit community. The summer I was 13 I came down with mononucleosis. Is Mono still called the kissing disease?  The 14-year-old boy a ½ block away came down with the same thing. STILL NO, Craig and I never locked lips.

EW. Double EW.

Anyway, It’s going to take more than a hashtag # for stereotypes, biases and knee jerk reactions to change. Men and women: we think differently. After years of being in the power position, telling a woman to calm down (is that just a nice way of saying ‘shut up’?) while continuing to let the men carry on the conversation comes naturally.

 

 

 

 

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • More
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
« Previous Page
Next Page »

Welcome!

Daughter of a truck driver who married a doctor's kid. Life, stories and attempting to age with grace.

recent posts

  • MLK had a LOT of wisdom
  • My dad was a truck driver
  • Life is perspective
  • How can I be of service?
  • Grief and a little joy

Copyright © 2025 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in