"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! December 13th - 15th, 2019 [closed]

Question

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CHANGE TO BEST ANSWER PROCESS:  After much discussion we have come to the conclusion that all answers in the Weekend Chat are of equal importance and weight.  So we are going to discontinue the Best Answer portion as it adds points and then takes them away from posters and is causing some hurt feelings.  So in the interest of everyone is equal and valued we will delete any best answers given which will deduct those points because it has been pointed out that to give everyone best answer is also not a viable option. 

Weekend Chat is for everyone. It's a place to catch up on what people are up to and to share what you've been doing.  New members can say hello, introduce themselves, ask questions, and meet each other.  Our seasoned members can share progress or successes from their projects, give tips and advice, or chime in on hot topics.

Post as many answers and comments as you wish. It doesn't hurt anyone to post a lot and enjoy the multitude of topics.

Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

Comments

Pip - kudos for going out and learning the bagpipes! Have you ever learned another instrument before, or will this be your first? I've found that they all share some characteristics somewhere and general music reading is always a bonus as well. I'm a saxophonist (hey, I think that's a real word), but I've dabbled on piano and voice from time to time, and I spent a lot of time learning to read music, so I'd imagine that would translate well into other instruments as well.

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Hiya, Scott! Started with the piano for many years (still have one). I played cornet in band for five years before switching to tuba and percussion. Took classical voice in college. However, the old gray stallion ain’t what he used to be. But the musical background will come in handy starting the bagpipes. I’m excited about it!

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My brother played the bagpipes for years. It sounds fabulous on the beach, a minimum of 500 yards away from the picnic.  Otherwise ...   I'm quite interested in chapter 2 of that story, most particularly your wife's response when you try to drown her out with the chanter.  I mean, it will sound better from the doghouse too, right?

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As always, thanks Pip for hosting!

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[edited... meant to post as an answer, not a comment!]

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Do you know the definition of perfect pitch?

It's the sound achieved by throwing the banjo out of a 2ǹd floor window and it lands on the bagpipes on the street below.

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*rimshot*

Good one, Paul!

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Thanks for hosting, Pip.

Bagpipes! I really like bagpipes from pretty much any culture that has them (Scotland and Ireland aren't the only places). Something about them resonates deep within the being. My wife keeps threatening to take up the bagpipes. I think she should. Maybe it would scare the evil bunnies away.

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My surname is Teague which I have found to be spelled numerous ways also and mispelled numerous ways; this makes it very hard finding sources like a census for example.  I finally found one for my grandfather by looking at every page in that year's census.  It was mispelled so bad I would have never found it any other way.

I have been using ancestry.com for years to build a huge tree of over 22,000 kin and one of just my (and my wife's) ancestors of over 800 people;  now I need to go through it very carefully to insure it is as accurate as possible.  I have tried to do that already and have found documents that seem to establish my kinship to them but I still have some work to do.  One thing I am now in the process of doing is to use ancestry, family search, and wiki tree to see who was the first immigrant in the various lines of our tree, who owned slaves (most of our ancestors were way too poor and were small land owners so very few had or needed slaves -- thank goodness), who were illiterate, and their occupations.  Most likely 90% were farmers.  I am brand new to wikitree so I will need tons of help using it; one thing that is especially hard is understanding how to use Gedmatch to verify kinship, etc.  Hopefully it will become easier in the future.

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I am from Louisiana & the weather is warm & partly cloudy but expect Thunderstorms tomorrow & then turning cold expects to drop about 20 degrees

I met two cousins & convinced them to join Wiki Tree & accept my invitation  so they can now go to my profile & learn about the information I have on  some of their family - I think they will get others to join & learn also   Martha

Answer 1

We are looking at rain for the weekend here in Central Pennsylvania. Hopefully, and it appears that the temperatures will stay above freezing.

I will not be around next weekend, so this will be my last post  on Weekend Chat before the 27^th of December. I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas. I hope you get to spend time with family and friends, and enjoy some time away from all the insanity the world has to offer sometimes.

This is a good time also to say what a great community we have here, and express appreciation for the effort and work members do to keep it that way. So many people, too numerous to mention,  do so many different type tasks, provide help and guidance when needed, and share knowledge that could not even be purchased anywhere. I appreciate you all.

On the tree, I am working horizontally on some lines, and enjoying every minute of it. It always amazes me to see who went where, their accomplishments, and their struggles. So many times I find myself thinking, I would have liked to have had a conversation with that person.

Have a good weekend, stay healthy, and travel safe.

Comments

Yes, Rodney, I think that often as I work, too: a conversation with a person I'm researching. I'm planning a video interview with my 92 year old mother. She's the last of her generation. I have an aunt I need to do this with, too.

Temps staying right at 34F, so fortunately for us it is not freezing rain we are having.

A really nice tribute to the worth and specialness of our community your wrote there, Rodney. It is so true!

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What a great idea with the video interview. It will be a treasure.

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Very well said about the community, and so true.

It is amazing to see what folks went through and where they traveled. Just thinking of what central Pennsylvania is currently like really makes one wonder what it was like traveling through 150 or so years ago.

Wishing you a great holiday.

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Hi Kay, hope all is well. Central Pennsylvania is growing. Thirty years ago I built a house at the edge of town. Now I am in town. You have a good weekend and holiday season. Travel safe.

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Merry Christmas to you too, Rodney!  I hope your holiday is filled with joy.

And that you have some quiet time for discussions with ancestors.

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Hi Laurie, hope all is well in your corner of the world. You have a good weekend.

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Hear hear!  We do have a wonderful community here.

Answer 2

Today is....

     

NATIONAL COCOA DAY

Warm-up with a hot cup of chocolate on National Cocoa Day. December 13th ushers in a celebration worthy of the winter holidays.  

We make hot cocoa with cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar. However, the terms hot chocolate and hot cocoa are often used interchangeably by Americans, causing a bit of confusion. To make hot chocolate, we use ground chocolate containing cocoa butter. It’s mixed with hot milk and is drinking chocolate.  

Hot chocolate is also known as drinking chocolate.

We make hot cocoa from cocoa powder. Through the fermentation, drying, roasting, and grinding process of cocoa beans, we produce a paste called chocolate liquor. Through another method, they separate cocoa butter, leaving cocoa powder. We use this cocoa powder to make hot cocoa. It has very little fat and calories.

Cocoa History

The Mayans are credited with creating the first chocolate beverage around 2000 years ago. Culturally, cocoa became an essential part of the Aztec civilization by 1400 AD.  After the drink found its way from Mexico through the New World, Europeans popularized the chocolate drink. However, it has undergone multiple changes since then.  Until the 19th century, drinkers used hot chocolate medicinally to treat ailments such as stomach diseases. 

In the United States, an instant form of the drink is popular. Mixed with hot water or milk, the packet contains mostly cocoa powder, sugar, and dry milk.  Often, cocoa drinkers add marshmallows or whipped cream.

Health Benefits

The health benefits of drinking hot cocoa abound. Cocoa contains significant amounts of antioxidants that may help prevent cancer. They have also shown that the cocoa bean helps with digestion. The flavonoids found in cocoa also have a positive effect on arterial health.

Chocolate lovers enjoy both drinking cocoa and hot cocoa in a variety of combinations. Some top the hot drink with whipped cream or marshmallows. Sprinkle a dash of cinnamon or peppermint to make the chocolate extra special.

HOW TO OBSERVE National Cocoa Day:

Host a cocoa bar after a day outdoors in the snow. A cup of hot cocoa after sledding or building a snowman warms us right up. When we gather around the table and sip our steaming cup, let the conversation begin. 

Try some of these delicious toppings:

• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon and sugar
• Marshmallow
• candy canes
• caramel
• toffee bits
• coconut
• Peppermint Patties
• butterscotch candies, crushed
• candy sprinkles
• cinnamon cereal
• mini chocolate chips
• chopped nuts

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-cocoa-day-december-13/

Comments

This is a perfect day for a hot cocoa, Dorothy! Cold and rainy (but not freezing, thankfully). I saw that you got some pretty nasty weather recently. Hope you have hot cocoa for it!

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I have not had hot chocolate in a while. I think I will tell my wife to make me a cup. ( I am not allowed anywhere near the stove).

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Thanks Dorothy..... I'm heading to the kitchen right now!

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I've got several packets of Swiss Miss in the cupboard, and we have a fancy hot chocolate maker in the corner gathering dust. Might have to drag it out for this special occasion.

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Excellent suggestion, thank you Dorothy, I think I will.

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Yummmmmmmmmmmm

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I missed National Cocoa Day! I'll have to have extra today to make up for it.

Answer 3

Thanks for the "Host" Comments Pip!   

Not much sensational going on in Catoosa County Georgia,  which is how we like it.   

Weather:    Got a taste of winter this week.  

Here's our first snow for the winter.   As you can tell,  we didn't have to get out the snow shovels.  It came in overnight and melted by midmorning.   We did use the treadmill instead of walking the trails for a couple of days; mainly because it was windy.

When I was retired in the midwest,  after a snow I'd go around taking pictures of the snowmen..... guess that won't be happening here.

Genealogy:   Still working on my  Plunkett brickwall.... posted Research Notes and will probably move on for a couple of years.  Hopefully,  more information will continue to surface.

Enjoy your weekend everyone.  I look forward to reading your adventures for the week.

Peg

Comments

Hi Peggy! I'm wondering if you have squirrels taking advantage of the bird feeder? We had to take ours away from the trees and put "coolie hats" on the shepherds' crooks to keep them from chewing the feeders trying to get to the seed. Now they have to settle for eating what the birds knock out of the feeders. Plenty, of course!

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Ah yes ,  squirrels. That particular feeder is difficult for squirrels to get on (I think it's the large overhanging roof)...... we had to raise it about 12" to keep them from jumping up from the deck railing.   They get plenty of what falls from the feeder onto the deck   (birds are digging around in the feed for the sunflower seeds).

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Pretty snow.

Careful! When I moved from Central New York, with an average of over 200" of snow annually, to southeastern Virginia, with some years with no measurable snowfall, I learned that no one knows how to drive in it. My first winter I went to work after a 9" snowfall; good thing I knew how to drive unplowed roads. Two years ago a 15" snowfall shut down schools for a week.

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Hope you're happy about moving south,  we certainly are.

9" of unplowed arterial roads would get the entire Public Works management of a midwestern city fired.  (Unless, it was still an active storm.)

From what we're experiencing,  it's like winter has gone from 5 questionable months a year to 3 questionable months a year.

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My wife bought two dog bowls and we fill them with squirrel chow to keep the pesky critters busy. We also nailed up one of those twirly squirrel corn feeders - you know, the ones that spin the corn around a bit. The first time the squirrels got hold of it, they did grab onto the corn and spin just a little, but now they hang onto the tree with two claws and grab the corn with two claws and chomp away.

But it really doesn't stop them from attacking the bird feeder. We did try the little hats but I guess we have acrobat squirrels and it never stopped them for long. We also tried waxing the poles, and that lasts for about 3-5 days - then the wax wears off and they're all over them again. But is is fun to watch them shimmy up the pole, then slide back down unable to make it all the way up.

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Ah, the squirrel wars!  I have so many good memories of failed contraptions.  The only one that made a difference was a feeder that was made specifically for small birds. Any weight at all closes off the dispenser.

There are fewer squirrels out here, but I still use one - it keeps the pigeons and starlings off too.

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How nice, a little early Christmas frosting 

Answer 4

Hails and horns, Wikipeeps!

How is everyone? On the genealogy front, I posted a blog about my family traditions at Christmas time: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2019/12/52-ancestors-week-50-tradition.html

So much food. So many memories. It's honestly hard to pick the best ones because I have so many. I do remember playing my cousins in Mario Kart on the Game Cube and Wii. Before that we played the Sega Genesis. Many good times. 

It's a shame we never got a classic NES. But, my brother and I had friends for that. Classic Zelda was where it was at. Ain't no hard game like "Nintendo hard".

I also mailed a letter yesterday to cousins in San Pietro a Maida. I sent a card, a photo and a nice letter. They should get it sometime in the next 6 to 10 days. Hope they like it! I also made sure there was no glitter. Glitter is arts and crafts cancer. It gets everywhere and I don't want to cause an international incident.

I haven't really done much on Wikitree since I fixed the Famiglietti family. I THINK it's resolved. You can check my change log. I was all over the place last week.

On the non genealogy front, Christmas shopping is done and I am off to mail my last card. No glitter. That counts as domestic terrorism, too. =)

Comments

Christmas fish, ymmm.  Did you have a favourite recipe, Kay, or did you do all seven?

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Sorry, Olive Garden is not Italian food.

And for some reason I can't seem to say that I lived in Rome, New York without associated arm and hand movements.

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OH! Now it makes sense.

And yeah. Olive Garden is not Italian food. Someone offered to take me there once when there's a perfectly good real Italian place IN town.

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The only good Italian places to eat at in Nebraska. Are people's homes. Mainly relatives of mine that I don't really know from the Marchesi side of the family. I was in Omaha for work yesterday, and a 2nd cousin I recently met, invited me over for lunch. She had a pretty decent size meal prepared. I walked in her house weighing 240. I left weighing 310. The sausages and peppers were amazing. The olive garden has nothing on my extended family

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And that's how it should be Paul! Sounds like a great meal! Checking out your tree. I bet your Hawaiian side has some great food, too! =D

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I miss enjoying the food from the Hawaiian side of my family. I miss the people too. I moved away from the islands when I was 10. In Hawaii our diet was a mix of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, and Portugese. Thanks to my dad's side of the family. We had some influence from German food and southern food. My mom's side brought the Italian into the mix as well as German. I miss fresh mahi mahi, and fresh ocean fish in general. Man, I could go on and on just about the food. I really miss kalua pig. I love salty pulled pork. Thanks to my childhood, and my mom  and grandmother keeping it alive throughout my 20's. I believe in a meal having a meat, vegetables, and 2 starches. I eat rice with almost everything. I also have to have a bottle of Aloha Shoyu. Or as most people where I live call it, soy sauce.

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Very cool. :) My next door neighbors are Portuguese. So we had some of their treats when they offered it. It’s so good. I think I tried mahi mahi once, That was good. Keep those traditions alive! I am sure you can fly some fresh fish in. Somehow. :)

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I felt the same way, Paul, all the years that I lived too far inland. When my grandmother visited, we went on a fish-tasting crawl, and concluded that the freshest fish around was sold under the Highliner brand, frozen fresh on the wharf.

I think you're lucky that you grew up in paradise, and have wonderful memories to be nostalgic about. I hope your life's journey will bring you back there one day. Sometimes you need salt in the air, sand between your teeth, and people who understand the way you grew up.  

Meanwhile, cheers to frozen fish and soy sauce!

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Chris, Portuguese neighbors are awesome. When I was a kid on the island. I didn't have neighbors. Some of my relatives on Oahu had Portuguese neighbors. I loved when they made fresh malasadas for us kids.

Laurie, after over 30yrs living in the mainland, and 17 of them in the only triple land locked state. I have adapted some parts of my diet. After a few bad moments, I never buy fresh ocean fish in Omaha or Lincoln. I have an uncle that sends me seafood by request. I used to have to get my soy sauce online or mailed to me by family. Now I can get it at an oriental market. Luckily I can get the rice I grew up with at almost every grocery store in town. I also grew up in Washington state. The ocean was a bit to cold there for my liking, but it was better than Nebraska. In the Army I was in Maryland and South Carolina for a bit. I'm not an Atlantic guy. I miss Maui a lot. I haven't been there in almost 15yrs for a visit. I used to visit all the time. Then I made a family.

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Paul, that's a cool story. My parents went to Hawaii for a dental convention. I didn't get a chance to go with them as I had college. Sigh...school always getting in the way. Darn it! I commuted. So, it was okay.

I live on the east coast and New England waters can be cold. And yet we get some people doing that polar bear competition in the dead of winter. We New Englanders are a hardy folk. We like our lobsters and steamers and apparently we jump into cold Atlantic waters because we're crazy.

Wouldn't catch me doing that.

As for the neighbors, growing up I'd have linquisa and other assorted Portuguese goodies. And at my parents' boat we'd have Greek and Arabic style dishes. Combined with my grandmother feeding me Italian goodies every other week, it's a wonder I stayed in shape.

Track and Cross country helped.

Answer 5

Enjoy gaining more bagpipe skills!   When I was a kid,  I had to practice piano 1 hour a day  (Dad's rule,  if he was paying for lessons I was going to practice.)  I enjoyed it enough to do it,  but when I tried a stringed instrument it was a whole different story.   Enjoy your bag pipes and let us know if you have the true  "passion" to practice.

Comments

I certainly will, Peggy! Thank goodness for the video lessons!

I was a piano player, too, and my mom required at least one half hour of practice a day. When I finally came to enjoy it on my own, that half hour turned into hours.A great escape.

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I hated piano lessons and practising!!  I did it for 2 years from age 10 to 12. The only reason I stopped is because we moved overseas and could not take the piano with us. By the time we came home, I had no interest in ever taking it up again.

In our chat last week, mum asked my sister and I if we would mind if she gave the piano away to a family that really wanted one. She hasnt played the piano for years and its not something that easily be dumped in the trash or the landfill.

My sister and I both agreed that the piano should go to a new home. It is currently more than 40 years old and still in good condition. It just needs to be retuned.

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Robynne,   sounds like you have a quality piano that someone will enjoy.

My Mom moved to an apartment 2 years ago,  and she took her piano with her.  I found a reputable piano mover for her on the internet.   We were a bit surprised when the movers showed up. It was a married couple around 50 years old,  neither particularly large nor muscular, and the husband was blind.  It was impressive watching them work together.... her piano was not small.    It reminded my why I no longer have an acoustic piano,  I stick to electric pianos with the FEEL of a piano, no tuning, weighs 110 pounds and headphone friendly.   Sort of like Pip's bagpipes. 

Answer 6

On the genealogy front I have very little to report. I did work on a couple of Notable profiles but mostly I just worked on finding and adding sources for some of those I adopted recently and then cut them loose to try to get my watchlist back under 5000. I am still not there yet but moving in the right direction.

On the home front. The weather here is cycling between cold and snow then back above freezing to melt the snow.

The hearing aid saga took a new turn this week. The insurance company did approve two aids but they would not accept the only way I could pay the deductible. I went back to the specialist and discussed my options yesterday and I should have my new aids by Monday. They are very good aids but do not have all of the bells and whistles I mentioned. They do have the capability to stream from other sources and there is a remote microphone I can buy later down the road that can stream directly into the aids. They can also be set up so that I can change the volume on one one and the other will also change at the same time. The best news is that they cost about $2000 less than my old aids for the pair. I decided to buy them without the assistance of the insurance company but that will mean we have to cut back on a few other planned purchases, I mean instead of paying the deductible of less than $1600 I am now paying almost $4000 and that money has to come from somewhere.

I am also happy to report that the way things look now the new position with the radio club should be very little work. Last night at the class there were 5 of the 7 Executive committee members attending and the discussions we had, unofficial of course, we agreed on everything and started planning the calendar for next year.

Comments

Hi there, Dale! Freezing up there? My watch list has ballooned to nearly 3000. I'm going to have to wait until I finish one of those two families I'm working on before I cut them loose. Ought to cut it down by at least 500.

Sorry to hear about the cost of the new aids. That's a whopper of a bill. Still, I hope that it all works out for hearing clearly.

So I guess nothing controversial came up at the meeting, considering the unanimous votes.

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Pip, I spent over $6000 when I bought my old aids in Kannapolis back in the spring of 2014. As for the "meeting" as I said it was all very unofficial but the 5 of us are usually the ones that work the events, teach the classes, administer the tests, and work public service events. That plus the fact that we are all long time hams helps.

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Wow. My hearing aids cost about 5 grand. Sucks about the bill Are yours programmed by a computer? Mine are and I swear it has the Windows 7 start up noise when I turn them on.

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Chris, My old ones were programmed by computer and the new ones will also be programmed by computer but as I understand it they can be adjusted remotely by an app on a smartphone.

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Yeah, I have that too. And my own personal headset.

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As for the price, I really can't complain they did give me a discount of $650, so that's something.

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I'm glad your hearing aids are ready!  The technology is really amazing isn't it?  When I think about your radio and everything that goes along with it, I can see why you made the investment in 2014. Hopefully, these new ones won't need replacing for many years!

Answer 7

On this day:

1938: The Neuengamme Concentration Camp is established. Richard Rudolph,, the Jehovah's Witness I translated the video interview of, was imprisoned there.

1944: The painter Wassily Kandinsky dies

In Scandinavia is today St. Lucy's Day

Comments

Happy Santa Lucia, Jelena!  

I think of girls in white dresses, and beautiful candles.  Such a lovely way to brighten the dark days before Christmas.

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Thank you for the post "On This Day", Jelena.

Answer 8

How many of us have taken a basic first aid class?

I took one two years ago and I think they are very important.

Although, I think mothers get a crash course.

Comments

My parents are doctors. This was required.

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i have taken Basic First Aid more times than I care to remember. I am also working on an elaborate first aid supplies kit to go along with the food supplies as part of my disaster kit.

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The Army teaches basic first aid to all their soldiers, so I guess I got a crash course there. But I don't carry a pressure bandage with me everywhere I go, so I guess I'd have to improvise. And there's not much call day-to-day for doing a tourniquet or doing first aid on a sucking chest wound. And I seriously doubt I'll encounter someone who has experienced a nerve agent poisoning, but if I do, I'd know what to inject them with - that is, if I had my trusty auto-injectors that the Army didn't let me take home when I left their employment.

But after having kids, I'm pretty handy with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, antibacterial cream, and band-aids. And I definitely know how to drive to the nearest medical facility for assistance.

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Yes, I have, and I've used it too. That's excellent advice for anyone who is a parent, colleague or neighbor, as is Dale's disaster kit.  Thank you for the timely reminder, Betty!

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Scott,

My first aid class didn't include nerve agents. LOL. Just your basic tourniquet, cpr, splint, and wound wrapping. I had been meaning to take a cpr class because my husband's family all have heart problems. So far hubby isn't having any trouble, but you never know. My family all have high blood pressure issues. Not me yet. I told hubby he has to take a stroke class or at least learn all he can about them. Just in case. We ain't gettin' any younger.

Also no sucking chest wound training in my class. Yikes. That sounds very unnerving.

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LOL!

Definition of a sucking chest wound:

A perforation in the chest that penetrates into the lungs, thus creating a "sucking" sound through the wound as air fills and leaves the lungs.

Treatment:

Cover the wound with something that seals against the air, like a plastic bag. Then apply a pressure bandage, wrapping it tight enough to keep the plastic seal in place. In cases where the penetration goes through, make sure to apply a bandage on both front and back sides to provide a good seal. If applied correctly, it should allow the person to breathe a bit better and patch them up long enough for a medic to take them away for further treatment (i.e., surgery).

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I hope I never have to bandage a sucking chest wound. I don't carry Saran Wrap.

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I even made my husband take a class with me almost ten years ago.  We certainly need a refresher course.

Thanks for the reminder.   

My cousin recently performed CPR on his neighbor for 20 minutes before professional help arrived.   The patient didn't survive but he certainly had a team there to give him the best chance possible.

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Thank you for reminding us about the importance of taking a first aid course. Being a father I have had to use first aid knowledge a number of times over the years even for myself. 

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I took a basic first aid class in high school. They have us some kind of card to prove we did it. I also took first aid in  Army basic training. Like Scott mentioned. They taught us the saran wrap to patch up a chest wound technique. I did improve my push up technique when they taught us about the saran wrap. I thought it would be funny to point out that they didn't issue saran wrap to us. So I had to push Alabama closer to North Korea.

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Paul,

Just how many times did you have to work on your technique? Was it fifty or a hundred? I notice Alabama is still geographically stable. Maybe you din't practice enough. :)

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Betty,

The thousands of push ups I did during basic training and AIT at Ft. McClellan, was probably countered by the North Korean Army. I had the afflictions, according to my Drill Sergeant. Of Cranial Insertion of the Rectum, and Bowel Evacuation through the oral cavity. I will say I'm pretty good with the auto injectors Scott mentioned.

Answer 9

Hi Everyone,

Brr it is freezing cold up here in the great white north!!

Right now, there is no snow on the ground at our place (on the lake shore) - but plenty of snow the further away from the lakes you go.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that my mother had made plans to met her new previously unknown half neices, the daughters of her half sister.

Well that meeting took place yesterday and 3 cousins showed up and mum says they had a wonderful time. 

I dont have a lot of details, but I have emailed them and am waiting for a response. 2 of these girls are identical twins judging by the photo they sent me. They are the daughters of mums half sister.  The 3rd girl was another cousin - the daughter of mums half brother. They are all my new half first cousins.

Now I am waiting to get a family tree from them as all I currently have are the names of my grandmothers children - mums half siblings - or these cousins parents names. I have  no details on their children and grandchildren.

I will let you know what I learn when and if I get a response to my email.

Ciao for now.

Robynne

Comments

Stay warm and dry Robynne!  

Family is family, and the past is in the past. I'm glad you're all taking time to get acquainted.

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Wow, snow!  Good for you.  Will feel like Chrstmas.

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I think we might get some snow this weekend too here in Indy - looking forward to it. After living in the mountains for a few years, I kind of miss the snow. I don't miss the shoveling, although some of that is OK too.

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So great that your mum got to meet her cousins.

I miss how pretty the snow is, but not the cold or getting up early to run the snowblower before going to work.

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Wonderful that your mother got to meet her half nieces. Maybe you will get a white Christmas since snow is so close to your area.

Answer 10

Greetings and Salutations, Fellow WikiTreers!

It's been a busy couple of weeks - the holidays always seem to bring that - so I've been out of chat for a few, but I'm back (at least for this week).

From a genealogy perspective, it's been a busy couple of weeks. I participated in connections and sometimes new profiles for several recently deceased notables. Sadly, several of them had Star Trek connections, so it was unfortunately to see more of my childhood slip away. I also helped out a few individuals on the Notables team in hunting up connections for their notables, so that kept me tied up quite a bit. And I also have been trying to get more Fulkersons out there with the goal of making a profile for a Fulkerson-2000 by end of year. That goal is slipping away from me too, as I believe I've put in a Fulkerson-1935 - so I doubt I'll get another 65 in there by December 31, but we'll see. Who knows? Some Secret Santa might even add a few just for kicks...

On a personal note, it's been Busy Busy Busy lately. I've had my Deacon duties on outside communion the past two weeks - visiting nursing homes and the homebound - as I wrap up my term as Deacon for the church. I even got a taste as Head Deacon for a few months, as we needed a fill-in for a short time and I'm glad I got to help out. But this Sunday they'll make me an Elder and while I'm pretty sure I know what I'm getting into, it's still a big step and I'll take it one tiny step at a time. I'm anxious to see what I can do to help and to lead in whatever way I can.

We've got a big dinner party to go to this weekend - a pitch-in style where we all bring something good to eat. My wife does all the work and I help till she chases me off (I'm not so sure you can call it helping, but I do try). But I am pretty good at helping eat at the dinners and do a fair job of taking the leftovers for lunches. And Sunday is not only ordination, but also Church Greeting weekend, Sunday School teaching weekend, Children's Church teaching weekend, and Missions Meeting weekend as well. I think I'll be worn out by Sunday night and ready to go back to work on Monday... or maybe take a vacation...

Comments

Hey, Scott!

Nice pages for Rene Auberjonois. So sad about him. Odo has returned to the Great Link.

I also added Italian roots stuff to D.C. Fontana's parents pages. They were waaaay up north.

If you make Elder, I will be sure to get you a fake beard that's like a mile long. Then you can yell at people at tell them to get off your lawn.

Great stuff happening this week for you, man. Keep up the good work!

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Enjoy your weekend!  It sounds like a nice way to finish your term as Deacon.

I nunno how you feel about the beard, but will be prepared for words of great wisdom from Elder Fulkerson in the New Year.

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Thanks, Chris! I wanted to give Rene a decent bio, so hopefully I managed to get close. But once I read his daughter's write-up about him coming home and singing Beatles' songs to them, driving her to college and her watching him cry in the car when he dropped her off, and all the other personal moments, you began to realize how cool of a guy he really was. I wish I had captured that into his bio, but I suppose that would be best served in a book format and I unfortunately don't have that time.

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Should have had Weyoun write it. =)

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Scott, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it here but apparently Marina Sirtis's husband also died this week.  I've been swamped so I haven't looked to see if he has a profile.

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Congratulations, Scott on becoming an Elder. I agree it is a busy time of the year. Thank you for your contributions to our shared tree.

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Oh yes, Michael Lamper. He did have a profile and it's now open. Very sketchy details on him though.

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Marina Sirtis lost her husband? That is so sad to hear...

I hope she will be OK.

Deanna Troi was always one of my most favourite characters on STTNG.

Answer 11

I'm carpenter-Laurie today, haha!

I use my office as a guest room. I've had a cot in there for years, hiding in an ottoman, but takes up a lot of space, and its no longer as comfortable as it once was. So I decided to replace it with a Murphy bed, which folds up into a wall cabinet.

I had the choice of hiring a carpenter to do the work, in January, but my favourite brother is coming to visit for Xmas, and I decided I would get it faster than that. So, without really thinking it through, I ordered the bed and it arrived in parts in a wooden crate. The next step is ....

In the foggy future, these things will assemble themselves right?

Robertson is the square one, right?

Comments

Now Laurie, if you were a man, I'd tell you the steps we usually take:

Step 1) Open the box and find the most interesting looking parts and lay them out kind of like you think they'll go into the final product.

Step 2) Glance at the instructions, scan over and see if you see anything that looks of interest, then toss them aside.

Step 3) Start putting stuff together, because it isn't going to get done by itself.

Step 4) Reach a point where you've run out of parts, it's still not completely assembled, there appears to be a big difference between the picture on the box and your "final" product, and something's definitely wrong.

Step 5) Take several parts apart, make several attempts to fix it, and if you're real lucky, it will come together - OR -

Step 5A) Grudgingly go back, read the instructions, figure out where you went wrong, and assemble it correctly.

GOOD LUCK!!

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Thank you for the sound advice Scott!  

As a woman, with instructions in hand, I still have to think about which is left and which is right (I do know up and down pretty well, though)

What could possibly go wrong?

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My suggestion is to read and follow the assembly directions for the new Murphy bed!  Scott's advice seem reasonable.

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Scott left out the part about using a drill, or impact driver. As well as making sure to strip out the heads of any screws. Then a trip to no less than 3 hardware stores to get new screws. Oh, and extreme amounts of swearing in between the various failures. Also, when it doesn't work out. It's a piece of crap. Then you read the instructions.

Answer 12

Hello WikiKin!  Can't believe its a weekend already!  Only a few days left until the end of the year!

On the weather front, we're still warm (21 C / 70 F) but expecting rain tomorrow and lower temperatures.

On the genealogy front, still lagging any research - been doing project work.

Good news on the DNA - I convinced my dad to submit a DNA test, he completed it and mailed it in!  Hoping that it will reveal some new cousins.

We're setting up our Christmas decorations this week.

Looking forward to reading everyone's answers and comments!

Comments

Yaaay for a DNA test - especially of the older generations!!

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Congrats on the DNA test! =D

Weather seems much nicer than here.

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Hi SJ, I ordered two DNA kits this past week one for me and one for my wife. I would like to break down some brick walls on my wife's side of her family. Here the weather is up and down from cold to cool to warm, we ave a slight chance of rain Monday. No snow or ice in the near future. I also have been working on projects and not much time for my family and ancestors lately. Be sure and post some photos of those Christmas decorations.

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Oh! Forgot to mention. Thanks for giving me the Blogger badge!

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You earned it, I merely annotated it on your profile 

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Thanks, buddy!

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I rec'd an email from FTDNA last night that his test kit was received :-)

Now for the analysis countdown clock...

Answer 13

Currently, it's 2˚ C and cloudy in Fort Erie, which already the predicted low for tonight. (It's a big improvement over the -6˚ C it was this morning when I got up.) Tomorrow's high is predicted to be 3˚ C, with mixed rain and snow in the afternoon.

A while ago, I bought one of those indoor/outdoor thermometers, with a sensor that I put out under the rail of the back porch (in the shade) that transmits to the base unit. I don't know whether they use Bluetooth, WiFi, or what, but they suck batteries empty in a matter of days. (So I went out and got some AAA rechargables, because I just can't afford to buy new batteries in the volume that these things consume.) It's mostly for curiosity's sake, since all I really need to know is "It's too nasty to go outside so you should stick to the treadmill." But today I noticed that the temperature keeps wavering up and down. It normally varies within less than a degree, so I probably wouldn't even have noticed it if the thermometer didn't measure in tenths of a degree. But I had never realised before how up-and-down the temperature goes within a few minutes.

I haven't gotten much done on the genealogy front, because it's been a busy week. The light of my life and delight of my eyes teaches Sunday School, and her class is singing in this year's Christmas pageant. (It's called "Sheep in Heavenly Peace", which fits right in with my love of wordplay.) What with rehearsals and performances, I fully expect her to topple into bed Sunday after church and remain comatose until Monday. (What's that? You ask why I'm not helping? Well, I did paint a "JOB BOARD" sign for the background which should look pretty good. At least, to anybody sitting right at the back of the sanctuary. As long as they're near-sighted.)

Nevertheless, I have added some Welches from ThePeerage.com, and am still working through the Let others know what locations you are working on page to make sure that there are five unconnected branches and two unconnected notables for each jurisdiction. So far, I've made it from the bottom of the list up to Alabama.

Comments

Hehe - SHEEP in heavenly peace... I LOVE it! Wish I could see it. :)

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We received one of those outdoor battery-powered thermometers and the batteries last for about a month. It only reads the outside temp not sure of the brand. I am sure the bard you painted was appreciated and looks a lot better than you described it.

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Actually, Scott, you may be able to. Our church has a group on Facebook, and most Sundays, somebody live streams the service. The play is planned for tomorrow morning, so as long as somebody streams it, you should be able to watch. (Watch for Maxine's assistant Riley. He gets a whole bunch of "Dad joke" lines.)

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I wish I had gotten the brand you got, David. The batteries in the outdoor sensor usually die after about 5 days. The inside unit usually lasts 2-3 weeks. I first got it about a year ago, so I thought the problem with the outside sensor was the cold, but it doesn't last any longer in the summer time, so...

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Greg, the brand we have is called "ACU-RITE and is indoor and outdoor, it runs on two AAA batteries for both the inside and outside units. I have no idea where it was purchased as we received it as a gift a couple of years ago.

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Interesting. I checked the brand on ours and it says "ACCU|Temp". I just assumed that the "Temp" stood for "Temperature", but now I'm wondering if it really stands for "Temporary". 

Answer 14

Happy weekend, everyone!  The semester is winding down and it was a crazy busy week here.  Lots of meetings and stuff on top of the usual classes, etc.  But I also got a fair bit of lab work done. I'm going to miss this research student, who's graduating this semester.  If we had more time we could get some really cool stuff done.  It feels like we just got started.

Got both final exams written and copied today, so I can relax a bit this weekend.  Housework is on the agenda, but yesterday I managed to bang my toe really hard on a kitchen chair and I'm still hobbling around today.  Might have to take it easy and do some Wikitreeing instead.  (I'm not currently on track to get 100 contributions this month and I don't want to break my streak!)

Comments

Best with the battered toe and hoping it heals fast for you. I think a lot of us are behind on the contributions front this time of year with the holidays.

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Yep. Gotta break that 100 contribution streak.

*Edits and saves own profile over and over again.*

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Chris, I would never do such a thing!    Well, ok, except that one time when I suddenly remembered that WikiTree isn't on East Coast time and instead of a few hours I only had a few minutes left to get my last few contributions done...

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I only edit my own profile when I need to. Like when I update that ancestor chart I have.

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That's a great chart, Chris.  I should add mine to my profile page.  (Instead, because I'm a geek, I periodically save the data out to an Excel file and graph my progress.)

About a third of the way to my 100 now.  It's a start.  But I also need to take a little time to take advantage of the current deal at MyHeritage... my kit is already there but I have others I can upload.

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Success!  Built out some branches of my Jett family and got my 100 contributions done, so I can relax about that silly thing now.  I managed to get a couple of lines back just a little farther, and I found some unsourced trees online that look like they'll help me get back even farther (just pre-1700) if I can actually find proper sources.  And I uploaded my husband and father in law's kits to MyHeritage.  If my aunt's kit at Ancestry gets processed in the next couple of days I can do that one, too.

Answer 15

PIP I wonder that you do not set out bales (broken open) of hay or something but then I don't have deer to contend with here ... wildest life we got around here went away when the woman who had rabbits -- rabbits which were adventurous and clever and frequently escaped -- she moved. The hens the woman across the street fell prey to hungry (feral) cats. No loss in my opinion since the rooster, king of the coop, kept odd hours and crowed at every moment. 

And the man who played music 11 pm to 3 am when tanked up moved out (blessed silence) ... yes, and HE was three houses down the street and I can imagine what the closer folk thought 

WEATHER is ... well, not erratic, no, just not ... just not what I'd like to see, torn as I am between "I do not want to face more drought come spring and summer 2020 but I don't want to be flooded out and can we PLEASE have 2 days back to back of blue skies and sunshine? Hmm?" Instead of a few hours at odd times (in the daytime) with the clouds / drizzle / fog playing peek a boo with sunshine ... 

GENEALOGICALLY I crawled into a deep cave at the start of November and had not done much compared to the prior 17 or 18 months but I am slowly coming back out ... and do not foresee that I will return to the Club 1000 again  -- might surprise myself, but ... the body rebels more often and it takes "more" to get anything done 

NEVERTHELESS I made a few connections and not a few new profiles and always confronted with "Um. How much do I want to do beyond a census, and sources for birth death and marriage(s)?" 

And someone suggested I try doing some Narrative Profiles and I've tested it on two and I have to say I wonder if I will "master" turning what I can collect into prose that reads well? I will continue to contemplate style, but ... and yes, I won't master unless I practice ... but there's so MUCH else I think I need to do on what I HAVE so far ... 

However, I think I am about to decide -- may have done so pretty much in fact -- to stick to revising my earliest efforts (up through Jul 2019) and just sure what I have is readable and Genealogically Defined and if I do that much, the Genealogically Defined stuff, I'm a Good Girl. 

And can pat myself on my shoulder (and we have a fading shot of Lassie sitting on her hinder and barking the traditional three barks and every human there laughs happily) ... 

Eh. I've been scolded AGAIN (LOL) for starting some more food fights (REALLY??? the people what get all wound up are the ones doing the fighting) AND whatever I said was "buried" (bless Ellen SMITH, overworked on shift ... some tend to be a  fractious lot, I gather, in g2g) and I've been  handed the kudos (ditto) on YOUR ANSWER got a gold star, mostly I suspect because it was the ONLY answer there (LOL) ... and no doubt was dethroned in at least half the times ...

 I'm TRYING to be careful but I don't seem to understand the UNWRITTEN rules (a spade is a spade, and a shovel is a shovel, just google it and you'll SEE that) ... doing okay with the Rules I KNOW about (once again I bless Ellen Smith, poor woman, taxed to the nth at her duties) (she assures me I'm not the only one she "speaks to") ... (her keyboard is in danger of collapsing, IMO) (I'd like to think I'm the Joy of her Golden Years, but I gather there's more than a handful of us she has to be firm with ...) (she's REALLY a wonderful instructess) 

WHICH all foregoing about sums up the latter half of Oct, all of Nov and two weeks and counting in Dec ... 

Well, there's (always) room for improvement, in my profiles and in my "mastering" what I suppose is tact, diplomacy and that ilk ... (oh, I love that word 'ilk' and what it means, someone explained it in g2g and I just LOVE it) 

Hasta manana et adios

Comments

Susan,

All I can say is .      OK, maybe a few words to show a connection.   I too will have to redo all my early profiles to meet my current standards.   We've both apparently grown beyond our initial goals of being family researchers..... who knows where we'll end up.   Maybe narrative profiles will be our area of expertise one day  (NOT).  But isn't the journey incredible?

hasta más tarde

Peg

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Eh, Peggy, it is INCREDIBLE so far. 

I very soon realized early in my stint here (started May 2018), much to my horror, that if I stuck to immediate family and as far back as I could find, I'd have a very very short contribution... so I ADDED the parents of spouses. Umph. Well, okay so far, but then I decided to extend THOSE family lines. 

And discovered that some family lines in what we might call a .. hmm .. "limited geographical area" INTERMARRIED which had not been OBVIOUS until I extended the extend lines. Oh, bless my garters, may they auction for fabulous sums, I was in heaven once again, beating my keyboard into submission, ... 

And AS YOU SAY "grew" beyond that level and REALIZED as you say that I needed to bring up my earlier effort to "spec" ... mumble grumble ... so I have been doing so and in doing so extending more extended families etc 

I say "horror" is what I felt, but these folk had LOOMED in my mind a MASSIVE, and to find out they were drops of rain in a large barrel ... deflated my ego (a bit) ... 

AND I discovered what I thought would be a garden of joyous conversations in g2g and ... kept getting me hinder parts kicked ... 

Well!! Okay. You're alive, I said, it's not JUST you, the world is as it is, focus on the profiles, tone down the tone (whatever it was, but certainly egocentric) and LEARN from all this ... so I have ... Acronymic (whole new language), foreign words (like "ilk") and the fact that there are EVEN euphemisms that turn out to be nasty words in some sub-culture ethnic section of geography ... big surprise there when those same words are in Media online .. well, okay, I'm here to LEARN things 

I don't say I 'aged' here but I sure have matured (not quite as egocentric as I was) -- being scolded has helped me mature

BUT I AGREE it has been an incredible journey!! 

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Susan, I guess I am different as I wish I lived further out and could watch the deer and wildlife. A little distance away every morning and evening when I take our dog out I can hear a rooster crow off in the distance. Welcome to the world of learning and I agree genealogy is an incredible journey! 

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LOL, David S. I used to think that way and was nearly 20 when I realized it ain't gonna happen ... and as I aged and health issues became more ... interesting ... and caused me to re-arrange all my routines and norms ... such as being very near an HMO I had insurance with, and no snow and ice, very near a grocery, and a bus system ...  there's always a trade off to attain viable (hopefully sustainable) conditions or ditto for a situation ... 

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Susan, I live in the "country" and I am very close to the doctors that are part of my HMO insurance plan. I am also very close to the hospital in that plan as well. The county I live in has a bus service that picks you up at your house and takes you where you want to go in the county for $1 per ride. I am about 3 miles from the closest grocery store but we have a small general store that stocks basic grocery items right across the street. We do have cold weather and snow but when we tried to move to a warmer climate we found that we just could not adapt and moved back after just a couple of months. My point is there are compromises available and you can get the best of both worlds with a little effort.

We do see plenty of deer near our home and the translation of the Native American word that is the basis for our county name means racoon, we even have the "Racoon county music festival" every year. I grew up near where I live now but Diane was a city girl. It is actually her idea to live where we do now and she would never go back to the city, her words, because it is much more peaceful where we live now.

Just for the record there are a few of my original contributions that still need a bit of work to meet the standards on WikiTree but I keep plugging away at them, I just don't think I will ever get them totally up to where I would like them to be.

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Well, Dale, good to know you are well-situated, just as me and my Sig. O. 

I've lived in nearly 90 different residences in my 75 yrs and some of it on the ... what are they calling it now? ... ah, urban-wilderness interface? ... something like that, on the edges where Nature and town meet ... lived in the Sierra's and near the deserts and in the flatlands ... near rivers and lakes and creeks ... traveled the USA country horizontally and vertically crossing it over a dozen times -- and dipped into Canada and Mexico -- camped out in camp grounds (city, county, state, federal and commercial) ... traveled by train, bus, and in a private vehicle ... avoided bears, porcupines, skunks, gila monsters (that one was half the size of VW), lizards, snakes, scorpions, and whatever else was around (I know my limitations, and my skill is avoidance) ... even contracted chicken pox the 2nd time at Gettysburg (me and all three kids).

Even got bit by a fish in MN lake, snagged by a bat at Carlsbad, hid from a bear somewhere (don't recall where, now) and so forth. Lived in Reno where the bears would come down out of the hills to rummage in dumpsters and where you were as likely to come across a mountain lion or coyote etc and one year it was an escaped leopard .. and snow was often enough, ice even more often ...  sleet, hail .. 

In my mid-60's I decided me and Nature would be separated by the glass in my windows, and I'd look at it while warm and dry. 

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Susan, Add plane to the mode of travel and you almost described my wanderings. I have not been further west than New Mexico, and don't plan on going any further west, and I have only lived in 13 different homes but in my late 60's I still enjoy the outdoors, I really miss camping but finances will not allow that anymore. My father lives in the country in a house he built back in 1956 and is still active even going out shooting at least once a week and fishing as often as he can. he just celebrated his 90th birthday. For most an active lifestyle is healthy  so I will not slow down or retreat until I am forced to do so. I actually feel safer outside of the city than I ever did while living in a large area populated by humans.

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I've been on WikiTree just long enough to realize my early profiles are not anywhere near my current style. I seem to have devolved into a very dry narrative, unless there was something unique about the person. So when I write in year xxx he lived in place <cite census > the household included name age xx born in xxx. Name was a farmer. Name was the mother of x children, x living...then I can just cut/paste to family members. I also realized it sort of reads like a computer user manual.

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Dale, so there is Youth (60's:70's) and there is Stability (13:~90) and possibly gender (xx:xy) and likely familial culture (the ones who camp, hunt, etc tend most often to be from a family culture that does so)

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Kay, I can relate to THAT perception, dull dry lifeless not a bit of "color" to it ... 

I actually prefer to just lay out the transcripts and the URL and let someone "interactively" verify what's there ... hopefully without "doing" one of those "inline" things all over it (which is totally NOT my style.) 

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well we have not seen any deer around our home in Louisiana but we do have  Bobcats , rabbits , & cayotes not far behind our house in a wooded area I used to clean it out to about 20 feet but can no longer do it as I 84 years & hurt my hip trying to cut weeds with a hoe & tried to move a cement block which was my downfall for the last 3 weeks now ]] so I always bring my six cats  in the house late afternoon afternoon for the night   Martha

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Amazing what will thrive in an urban-wilderness interface ... McDonalds and Bank of America in town and coyotes and cougars out in the county's backside ... one of the reasons why many wildfires (or arson events) in the CA mountainous terrain are so devastating, to the point even 90% of a town or 95% of a subdivision will simply turn into ashes and other debris and pollutants is BECAUSE they within the interface zone -- or were, before the wildfire

Martha, you might want to consider hiring some yard man to come in and do the clearing just to insure your own safety? 

Answer 16

Remember our grand aventure as we left Bristol, RI in April, arrived in Portland, OR and then rebooted to Poulsbo, WA?

We are pretty well settled in now and I had time to put up our first Xmas lights.

Comments

Very nice home and wonderful Christmas lights you have added.

Answer 17

Belated Friday the 13th Greetings to all my WT Kin!

It's been a week! I worked on a grant with colleagues, wrote and submitted an abstract for a conference in June, communicated with a colleague and journal editor to get an English language policy paper that has been translated into Spanish published in a U.S. journal, and had to write an editorial for the policy paper.

Plus, I am STILL revising/updating Henry Baldwin of  Woburn's biography and adding sources. Half of my 100 contributions for December have come from this ONE profile. I'm near done and will celebrate with a Guinness when totally done. He's worth it because he's my direct 7th GGF. I was able to find and download his will, and Stephen Trueblood was kind enough to get Henry's baptismal information from FMP. The information confirmed his parents and baptism location with exact date and year (1623). I'll upload his will tomorrow and add a section on his Baldwin relatives. So many Baldwins came from Aston Clinton that I'm writing a paragraph to include in the other MA and CT Baldwins showing their relationship to each other.

Oh! I should find out from Scott Wilkerson if Notable houses are eligible for Notable stickers (hahaha). While Henry isn't really notable, his home is. Known as the 'Baldwin House' it has a Wikipedia page! Henry built it in 1661 in North Woburn. It became as the Col. Loammi 'Baldwin Mansion' when Loammi added a 3rd level on the home in 1820. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It had been in the Baldwin family until the 1930s. Sadly, it is now a Chinese restaurant. I wish I had the $$$ to buy it back, air it out and turn it into a B&B.

OK. I have to go to bed. It's after midnight and I need to be up early to do laundry, then leave for my 3rd class in genetic genealogy at our Pima County Genealogical Society.  I swear I will finish Henry tonight (it's Saturday now). Hope all of you have a happy, healthy and productive weekend and rest of the week!

Pip! Thank you for hosting! Will you be doing the scan-a-thon with the Strollers in January? I'm going to upload a bunch of photos that I took while in Leeds, Dover, Canterbury, London, Warwickshire, Stratford, Oxford, Cardiff and Caerphilly last year!

Comments

Oh my goodness, you've been busy. It sounds rewarding.

I have found references to several ancestors' houses (e.g., Joel Cornish), and need to pull these together for a future visit to New England.

Answer 18

I missed last weekend.  I am on serious elf time.  Tomorrow is Christmas cookie baking then the whole family (us both son's their families) go out to see the Griswald and tastefully decorated homes in the area.  Got my cards out finally.  Even though it seems like I am doing fewer every year as the older generation moves on, they seem to take me longer to do...  

Attended my youngest granddaughter's Christmas pagent (she is 2 years old and everyone of my friends who saw it said she was so adorable... of course we knew that!)  When she was finished she came back to where we were sitting and went straight for her cousin my oldest granddaughter and the two of them sat arm in arm watching the other classes present.  They were so cute cuddled together.  They are between 4 and 5 years apart but really enjoy each other.  

My grandson has mastered walking and has moved on to a sort of bouncy run.  He is also getting into everything and we had to fence off the tree from him.  I have a Santa doll from when I was little (yes ancient history an artifact) and he has taken possession of it and snuggles with it.  

This time of year is filled with seeing friends, parties, shopping, eating and more eating, and not getting enough sleep.  As the family head elf I have been seeing lots of very late nights that become early mornings.  

A fun fact, I share a birthday with my youngest son's wife's father.  What are the odds?   So we each turned a year older this past week... on the same day...  And a super huge cold moon and planetary conjunction dropped in to celebrate with us.  

Stay warm and hug your families and friends and enjoy this time of year.

Comments

LAURA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*dramatic pause*

Hi. =)

Just remember that the elf needs to rest every now and then. My mother said she's off of elf duty. Then it's co-chef duty with my dad. That's always fun.

Sounds like a great week!

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Just finished making sprinkle cookie dough.  Getting ready to make almond cookie dough.   Then cream cheese cookie dough.  Then Spice cookie dough.  Already have choc chip cookie dough.  Then when my granddaughter gets here we bake it.  And if we have time we will do molded chocolates.

Then I will be one tired elf but wait we go out to see the lights...  then I get to sleep.....  

Good thing elf magic will keep me going...

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What great memories you are making for your grandchildren.

Take care of the elf.

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Hi stranger! Enjoy your grandchildren as they grow up so fast and now the youngest is walking and into everything. Brings back memories of when our children were at home and still children and all the dance recitals our daughter was in. You sound like us, busy, busy! Take care of yourself "Elf" so you will be there for all your family.

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Santa magic protects we elves or is that wee???  Not me.. I am a tall elf.  I inducted my two daughters in law into the order of Santa Elves last year by giving the both large Santa bags, wrapping paper, tape, ribbon, tissue paper, bows, tags and a certificate that shows they are a standing member of Santa's elves just in case some child would catch them helping!  

Doughs are all done.  Now in clean up mode.  Took a quick break to check emails.   I did take about an hour nap this morning in between dough making batches while my mixer bowl and blades were drying.

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Tall elf? Hmmmm....

Do you have friends in the Shire?

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I am blessed with having friends and family all over the world and even in places most people have never heard of.  Many of them live in places with Shire in the name.

Answer 19

I guess I am still needed by the grandchildren. Last night I got a call from my youngest granddaughter, a 12 year old. She was panicked because the tip of charger plug for her laptop broke off in her computer. She had her father bring her and the laptop to "Papa's" house do that I could fix it. I did extract the offending part and even had a backup power supply with the proper tip to give her. Daddy was going to go pick up a new power supply after they left so she should be OK by now. I thought that we older people were supposed to be the ones that run to the young folks with computer problems.

Comments

I should explain that her laptop is a twin of the one I am using right now. With only a different color case to tell them apart. That is why I had an extra power supply for a backup.

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It was great you could help with your youngest granddaughters computer problem. Now, will you come by and fix my laptop? 

Answer 20

Genealogically speaking I did more than I thought I did in the last week ... dealt with Thomas E. Bilbrey, merged Wanell and Wyanell Smith, dealt with John Benjamin Bilberry [the Bilbrey and Billberry surnames tend to be the same family, descendants of Madison Monroe Bilberry and MARY ANN MEDLOCK, dau of Thomas Medlock and his 3rd wife Mrs. Rebecca Miller. (Thomas m. 4x, had children by 1st, 3rd and 4th), added a spouse to Mattie Ruby Pearl (Bilbrey) Steele, answered OODLES of questions as best I could, comments also; dealt with Benjamin Tinsley, a cousin and posted a query about the 1870 census, to see if I could get a better read on his DOD; dealt with the spouse of Ada Alice McClendon (a cousin), dealt with & still dealing with siblings of  spouse of a cousin (Edwin Arthur Smith's spouse), AND connected one of the siblings (Cordie Elizabeth Goble) to a cousin as a sibling? (have not completed the descent of this cousin's sibling) [whomever said genealogy was fun and easy ought to be committed for a psych exam ...)

AND so forth, quite a of this sort of "dealing" ... no wonder I'm "exhausted" ... LOL -- did a lot more than I thought I had ... 

Comments

Genealogy is fun and easy! I made an unconnected notable connected by just linking her to her husband, who already had a profile on WikiTree last week and in the process connected several other Notables to her at the same time. I find sources for many profiles very quickly all the time. It is just who you work on and how you search.

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Dale, , we sprang from different wombs and from differing family cultures and almost from different generations and while we have both experienced a number of similar events in life, our perceptions are likely to differ because (IMO) by our temperament and nature, we differ in our views in some matters -- I'm sure of that ... 

You have had a most interesting life and have a sharp mind and have situated yourself and family in the optimized situation -- and as it is stated in Book of Changes, Hex 11, line 3 (changing) Enjoy what you have now, because undertaking this action, conditions will be changed [undertaking will cause changes]