This week I will celebrate another birthday. On Saturday I will have lunch at my favorite restaurant, Mimi's, with family members who would otherwise not be caught dead there. Not everyone shares my enjoyment of the French-American ambiance.
Time really flies sometimes. It's been a year now since I started my trip down family history lane. What began as an effort to compile information for Sara's DAR application has become a search for the different branches. I've learned a lot about my family. I've also learned a lot about the genealogy industry.
I started out by making a hand drawn family tree with the information I had from Mom going back to my great grandparents on both sides, as well as my maternal great grandmother "Little Grandma" Susan Elizabeth Reed, who married Quinline (aka Quentin) Sullins. Then I installed the free program I got with my Gateway laptop a few years ago. Family Tree Maker 2011 has been a great organizing tool for me. I could, however, do without Ancestry.com's green leafs all over the place, since I'm not a subscriber to them or any other paid provider. I know it could have made things easier, but I prefer to do the searching online without paying someone else. Call me stubborn, but call me persistent. I have found great enjoyment in combing over the Web.
Anyway, getting back to that tree, It has certainly grown. After a year of searching and manual entry into the program, I have added over 4,500 people to my tree so far. I have discovered relationships with two presidents--Garfield on Dad's side, Truman on Mom's side. Side note: my aunt told Mom that she wouldn't have been allowed to marry my mom's brother if the Truman connection had been known, even though the common ancestor goes back 200 years. Go figure. I've found Mormon pioneers. along with Salem witches--AND their accusers AND their defenders--Salem was a small town. I have found ministers and soldiers (and other members of the military) who have fought in every war since before the Revolution. I have discovered and had email relationships with cousins I didn't even know existed before I began this wonderful journey. It has changed me in ways I never conceived a year ago.
And the journey continues...
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Cars and Public Transportation
Yesterday Sara leased a 2014 Toyota Corolla, with a little help from Mom and Rick. It's a pretty silver car. I think she would have been happier with another color, but the dealer didn't have a wide selection on the lot for her to drive off in, and she needed to turn in her rental car. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles (GPS, etc.), but it does have AC and a deep trunk for Mom's wheelchair, and it's a vast improvement over the money sucking old car that she had been driving.
This has brought to mind the cars I drove over the years before I stopped driving. I never liked driving. I didn't get my license til I was in my early twenties. That was in order for me to drive a company car for the job I had at the time, field checking commercial properties to help determine their fire insurance rates. I don't even remember what kind it was--some kind of sedan. I got to use it off the job, so had the experience of picking up Becky from music camp at snowy Idylwild.
The first car I bought was a used brown Pinto that I bought from my aunt. Next was an ice blue (in other words white) Nissan Sentra, followed by a red Hyundai. My last car was a used car I bought from a newspaper ad in the Nineties. By then I was living in Long Beach. One rainy day I got in a fender bender on the way to work. That's when I decided that public transportation was the way to go. I used the Long Beach buses until I moved back to my childhood home when my dad passed away.
Since I've lived with my mom, I've used dial-a-ride services. It's a lot less stressful than driving, and a lot easier on my wallet.
This has brought to mind the cars I drove over the years before I stopped driving. I never liked driving. I didn't get my license til I was in my early twenties. That was in order for me to drive a company car for the job I had at the time, field checking commercial properties to help determine their fire insurance rates. I don't even remember what kind it was--some kind of sedan. I got to use it off the job, so had the experience of picking up Becky from music camp at snowy Idylwild.
The first car I bought was a used brown Pinto that I bought from my aunt. Next was an ice blue (in other words white) Nissan Sentra, followed by a red Hyundai. My last car was a used car I bought from a newspaper ad in the Nineties. By then I was living in Long Beach. One rainy day I got in a fender bender on the way to work. That's when I decided that public transportation was the way to go. I used the Long Beach buses until I moved back to my childhood home when my dad passed away.
Since I've lived with my mom, I've used dial-a-ride services. It's a lot less stressful than driving, and a lot easier on my wallet.
Friday, July 4, 2014
Happy Independence Day!!!
I'm sitting at home, relaxing after a long day celebrating the Fourth of July. This morning I watched the big parade in Huntington Beach on channel 7. It's still going strong after 110 years, and is said to be the largest one after the one in Washington DC. It still felt like small town America, with the bands, floats, equestrian units, military, and others all celebrating the day.
We didn't have people over this year. Instead, Rick came and took Mom and me to meet Orin for lunch at Coco's. Then we rook him home and saw his refurbished apartment. The entire senior complex has undergone a makeover. Most of the carpet has been replaced by wood pattern vinyl, walls have been repainted different shades of beige, kitchen and bathroom cabinets have been replaced, as have appliances--a good job overall on the individual apartments. The exterior has been repainted, and awnings replaced, There is still work being done on the entry, front office and common areas, but I imagine work will be complete by the end of the month, which will make Orin a happy camper.
After grocery shopping, we came home to watch Kershaw pitch a lovely 9-0 shutout over the Rockies, although Rick left during the middle of the game. Then Mom and I alternated between watching the Angels squeak out a 7-6 victory over Houston, going outside to take in the aerial panorama of fireworks, and watching the professional shows on PBS (Capital 4th in Washington DC) and NBC ( Macy's big New York bash). It was all spectacular in different ways. PBS tend to be a little more traditional, but very creative in the use of color and patterns, while NBC is a littler hipper, and a lot bigger, with their barges and bridges used to launch an amazing amount of fireworks. Now if they could just get rid of the commercials, that would be so much better--as if a commercial broadcast network ever would.
The air is already thick with smoke, so I won't be headed back outside tonight. I remember the sparklers and fireworks lit on the ground when I was a kid, and I saw plenty of those "safe and sane" fireworks around the neighborhood tonight. But every year the "dangerous" illegal fireworks increase in number and sophistication, to the point that you'd think you were watching a professional show, in spite of law enforcement's best--if underfunded--efforts to curtail their use. I guess people are gonna do what they gotta do, when they've been saving all year for their parties, so that they can set off their colorful explosives until the early morning hours.
I just hope there aren't too many serious injuries or fires.
We didn't have people over this year. Instead, Rick came and took Mom and me to meet Orin for lunch at Coco's. Then we rook him home and saw his refurbished apartment. The entire senior complex has undergone a makeover. Most of the carpet has been replaced by wood pattern vinyl, walls have been repainted different shades of beige, kitchen and bathroom cabinets have been replaced, as have appliances--a good job overall on the individual apartments. The exterior has been repainted, and awnings replaced, There is still work being done on the entry, front office and common areas, but I imagine work will be complete by the end of the month, which will make Orin a happy camper.
After grocery shopping, we came home to watch Kershaw pitch a lovely 9-0 shutout over the Rockies, although Rick left during the middle of the game. Then Mom and I alternated between watching the Angels squeak out a 7-6 victory over Houston, going outside to take in the aerial panorama of fireworks, and watching the professional shows on PBS (Capital 4th in Washington DC) and NBC ( Macy's big New York bash). It was all spectacular in different ways. PBS tend to be a little more traditional, but very creative in the use of color and patterns, while NBC is a littler hipper, and a lot bigger, with their barges and bridges used to launch an amazing amount of fireworks. Now if they could just get rid of the commercials, that would be so much better--as if a commercial broadcast network ever would.
The air is already thick with smoke, so I won't be headed back outside tonight. I remember the sparklers and fireworks lit on the ground when I was a kid, and I saw plenty of those "safe and sane" fireworks around the neighborhood tonight. But every year the "dangerous" illegal fireworks increase in number and sophistication, to the point that you'd think you were watching a professional show, in spite of law enforcement's best--if underfunded--efforts to curtail their use. I guess people are gonna do what they gotta do, when they've been saving all year for their parties, so that they can set off their colorful explosives until the early morning hours.
I just hope there aren't too many serious injuries or fires.
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