Finding Your Ancestor, Part I

Now the fun begins! Now that you have filled and organized your photos and documents putting together what you do know about your ancestors will be a great deal easier.

So lets get started. The first thing you will need to do is download and print several charts and forms for compiling your information. You need to write down everything you know about your family in an organized set of forms that will help you to start searching. Here are all the forms you will need:

Pedigree Charts

Family Group Sheet

These are the two main forms to get started. Grab a package of sharpened pencils and set down and fill in as much information as you can using the photos, documents and your memory. Now for some of you this will be easy and you will have a great deal of information to start off with. For others this may be more difficult.

Here are two more pieces to add to your arsenal of information gathering.

Family Interview Also on this site you will find other related articles to help you learn how to interview your family members in order to efficiently unlock the clues of the past.

Very Detailed Family Interview!

Interview as many relatives as you can about themselves and what they remember of the family. It's important to keep in mind that unless they are speaking of themselves consider the information just clues. Second hand accounts may be inaccurate.

Keep a log of your interviews and interview attempts. You may have some relatives resistant at this time, but when they realize the rest of the family is really getting into what you are doing and it gets exciting they may be willing to get involved later. So keep a log that you can go back to and try to revisit those relatives.

Correspondence Log This link will take you to a great article about maintaining a correspondence log. Also included in this article is another link to many other useful forms such as the ones above.

Keep in mind that you need to gather as much information as possible before you start your search. Your search will be a great deal easier if you gather information about relatives living in the 1930's and before. For me that was my grandparents, but where I had information on great grandparents my search became much easier.

The title of this page will take you to a website of someone I consider to be very helpful for the beginner. Emily Ann Croom is the author of Unpuzzling Your Past, a wonderful book. I bought her book of worksheets a while back and it has helped me to be even more efficient in my search. Take a moment to read some of her articles as well.

The Organized Genealogist, Part III

Now it's time to organize all the paperwork you have that pertains to your family history. You will need a file cabinet or files boxes, hanging file folders, and manila or colored folders. There are three ways you can choose to organize your files.

1. Surname: You can choose to organized based one each surname in your family. Create a hanging file for the surname and then create a manila folder for each family group, using the head of household's name (and possible birth year if the name repeats).
2. 
   Location: File everything based on the state then subdivide by county or even city. This maybe useful if you have different surnames from different locations and you do most of your searches based on location.
3. 
   Document Type: File each record based on the type of record. Keep marriage records together or death records together. Then assign a sequential number to each item and write it on an index at the front of the folder.

Next decide on the system that works best for you. For me I choose to use the surname system, but I took it one step further, by color coding the files. First assign a hanging file for each surname. Next I created a file folder for each family group with in that surname. Last I created a color chart and color coded the folders. My chart looked something like this:

1) Ancestors of James Shannon Crooks (my hubby)
a) Earl Porter Crooks
b) Ruth Ann Ward
c) Sam Clifton Riddle
d) Estelle Connor
2) Ancestors of Amy Christine Woolsey
a) Albert Lee Woolsey
b) Olivia Joyce Jenkins
c) Von Joseph “Rusty” Roe
d) Mary Ellen Hayes

Then I applied my chart to all of my folders. All folders that pertained to my husband family had a thin blue highlight across the top, and for my family it was pink. Then the four ancestors below our name represented our four grandparents and their family lines. So that each file a one color at the top to represent mine or my husband’s line and then the rest of the tab was color coded according to the family line that the file belonged to. I will say this method has worked wonderful for me. When I research I generally stick to one person or one particular family. With this method I can go to my file pull out the family I want to work on and set down at my desk with out. If I’m going to the library I may take out a few families I hope to find information on and take with me. With this method it is neat, organized, easy to use, and easy to transport.

Now that you have the system that works for you it’s time to starting filing. In each file I also made sure to include a family group sheet and at the front of each surname file was a pedigree. However you may not yet have that, and I will discuss both of these forms later. First you need to just start filing. As you add more generations and families to your pedigree you will also add more files.

Photo copies; there are certain things like newspaper articles, documents, and scraps of paper that you will want to photo copy as you go. Newspapers will yellow and crumble over time, as will old documents, so it is a good idea to have a photo copy as a back up. Place your originals in an archival safe sheet protector to keep them unnecessary damage. All those scraps of paper you have been write notes on photo copy them on to 8.5”x11” paper so that your files stay neat and don’t bulge with little sheets of paper, also there is a greater chance of loosing the little pieces of paper rather then the full sheet.

Once you have photo copied and filed all your documents, letters, and notes you will be on your way to a much more organized and less stressful search for your ancestors. The next step is to begin searching. I will get you started on that in my next post. Until then you may want to consider other areas of your desk, office and work space that may need to be organized to make you search more efficient, such as a card file for contact information, holder for pencils, pens and highlighters, all of which you will need, a shelf for books you will buy to improve you methods of searching, and last a few files for articles you will collect about genealogy, areas you are searching, and history for time periods you are searching.

The Organized Genealogist, Part II

Now it's time to get started on that huge pile of photos. You know the one that keeps getting stuffed into drawers, in boxes and thrown in the basement. No more! You want to start organizing and preserving your history so that not only can future generations know who you were, but so they can also see you, and the rest of the family.

To me the most rewarding part of my search for my ancestor are the photos I find and that others so graciously share. When you can put a face to the name and see that they really did exist it's indescribable the way you feel.

There are several different ways you can organize and preserve your photos. You can chose one or a combination of methods.

• Scrapbooks This method is fun. It is also a great way to show off your photos and include information about the people and events in the photos. However be careful when scrapbooking to make sure that all material is acid free. Also as much as you want to do not cut your photos. What may not be important to you now may be invaluable to a genealogist in the future. Such as a car with a license plate, or a picture of the family in front of the house that 10 years later is torn down, these items can help to date a photo. If you would like to do scrapbooking you can check it out by searching the internet, there are too many sites to list, check out your arts and crafts store, photos shop, or even Wal Mart carries a good selection of scrapbooking material, though read every label to make sure it is archival safe.
• Boxes Okay I know I told you to get your photos out of the boxes, but you can still use boxes, but they just need to be organized and labeled in some fashion that will make it easy for future generations to search through and view your life. There is a large variety of boxes out there for photo storage, Clamshell boxes, crafted removable lid boxes, photo frame boxes, wooden, plastic or cardboard. It doesn't matter what style you use, what you need to make sure is that it is archival safe and organized. Now you can organize them by surname if your purpose if for mostly family research, or by events in chronological order, or a combination. Maybe you want a tab with a surname behind that tab are all pictures that pertain to that surname, but then maybe behind that you want a tab for weddings with those pictures, anniversaries, reunions, graduations, and so forth.
• Photo Albums These are the great old time favorites of most families. I'm sure some of your photos are already in a few. These are also just as great as scrapbooking, though not as decorative. However, they are still a great way to create a book with pictures and captions talking about the people in the photos so that you can share them with others. Some people find photo albums a little easier to do the scrapbooks. There are also many beautiful photo albums out there to use. Again make sure that the pages are archival safe.

What ever method you choose to use, here is what you must consider.

1. Is is archival safe? I can't stress that enough. You don't want your great granddaughter to come across you wedding photo some day in an album and not be able to see your face because the photo has faded beyond recognition.
2. Is it simple enough that you will continue to use it? Don't choose scrapbooking as your only method if you are only going to get one book started and then throw everything back in a boxes and gine it back to the dark, dreary basement again. That doesn't serve the purpose. If you don't have a lot of time then simply choose the box method. Make tabs and then organize your photo in the boxes. Make sure to write information on the back with a soft pencil as you go.
3. Will future generations be able to view and understand the people and events when you are gone? Make sure to label all photos either on the back or with a caption below it. Include name, dates, places, and events.
4. Last but not least make copies and give to other family members. This way in the event something catastrophic happens to your home and contents those photos will not be lost forever. I'm sure they will be gracious enough to make copies and give back to you.

The last thing to think about is what will happen with your photos and heirlooms when you are gone. Make sure that you have a data base or a file somewhere that expresses who is to get what item when you pass away. This way there is no question to your intentions. The best method is to have a will with every precious item listed and the recipient. Then to further enforce it find a way to put that person's name on the item, or on the container it is stored in. If each generation the item is passed down to continues to do this then it will also serve as a record of each person who has owned the item.

If you have any other methods that you and your family use to preserve, label and designate the next heir of your precious heirlooms and photo please share them with us. I'm sure there are many other methods out there. What ever works for you just make sure it will preserve and be very clear for the next generation to come.

Where does time go?

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was Christopher's, my oldest, birthday. So we spent the day over at Grandma and Grandpa. He is now nine. Time flies by too fast and before you know it they are grown. Especially Christopher. He is becoming so mature for nine, and maybe that's because he has two much younger siblings. Even my neighbor told me the other day that my son is too smart to argue with. It's infuriating, because when he does argue with you he is smart enough to have the facts to back up his argument. He is a smart boy and a great deal of help these days especially with his sister while we are in the middle of this remodel. Still I hate to see him grow up so fast.

He got a new bike from Grandma and Grandpa for his birthday and is loving life right now.

Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery

Normally my blog is for genealogy, but I am compelled to post this. The Vanessa Behan Crisis nursery in Spkane, WA if a volunteer agency that helps watch children from families in crisis. Most of these children are at risk for neglect or abuse, or their parents are simply at a crisis point in their life and need help with watching their children while they get their life back on track. This nursery has helped out thousands of young children and their families in our area.

Right now they are in serious need of formula. Maybe you have some still left from your baby that you just switched to milk. Those of you who live in the Spokane and Cda area know this nursery well. Lets help them out. They have helped so many families. The key is they also help the families work through their crisis in order to stay together as a family, so lets not leave them in crisis.

I guess some of my buddies on Huckleberries Blog had a challenge going for elected officials to donate formula. I have yet to hear how that went, but that doesn't mean more of us can't get involved. They will appreciate any help they can get.

The Organized Genealogist, Getting Started, Part 1

I think I posted something similar to this several month ago, but since I am going to start this blog over as a genealogy blog I will start here again. Of course I've learned a lot more about getting organized since then. It creates fewer headaches if you are organized as a genealogist. The disorganized genealogist doesn't get as far as the organized one. Of course I had to learn this the hard way!


The first part of your family search is gathering information. Where do I start gathering information? In your own home. Go through you attic, basement, chests, and hutches. You will want to gather up all of your photos, certificates, letters, heirlooms (or at least a list of the items), diaries, and books about your family.

Okay, now what do you do with that pill in the living room floor!!? Don't panic, but do pick a place where you can spread everything out for a few days while you work on this. Preferably where the dog won't get it, your hubby won't trip over it, and the kids won't get their sticky paws on it.

Now start separating all of that into piles. One for photos, one for letters, one for heirlooms, another for books and diaries and so forth. Now the books and diaries are the easiest, start there. These are either yours or they have been passed down in the family. What you don't want is for them to deteriorate, so you can pass them on for the next several generations. Air and sunlight are their enemy. As much as I'm sure you would love to display them on a shelf with pride, DON'T. What you need to get are some book boxes to put them in. They need to be archival safe boxes. Here is a list of websites you can visit that offer many types of archival safe products.

Creative Memories at www.creativememories.com

Demco Inc at www.demco.com

Hollinger Corporation at www.hollingercorp.com

Light Impressions at www.lightimpressionsdirect.com

Check out these websites to get an idea of the types of boxes you want and will need to preserve your books. Gravity is also another enemy of books, especially heavy ones. So once you get your boxes, label them on one side so you can see what book(s) you placed in them and then lay the box flat on the shelf, not on it's end.

If this is not an option for you then what you can do won't be as good, but can help to prolong the life of you families books. Find a dark and dry room with very little dust and a moderate temperature, and put your shelf there. Then place your books on that shelf again laying flat, this will save the spin for years to come.

Now the books are out of your way. It's just a dent, but your making progress. Now lets set down and work on the family heirlooms. Some may be very large, others may be small like rings. As much as possible you want to set down at your computer and type up information that you will then attach to each family heirloom.

The information should include the first ancestor to first own it and how it was passed down in the family, and if there is any certain pattern to be followed for the future generations. The date if know when it was first purchased or given as a gift to the first ancestor, and by whom the gift was given. Also include any special story that tells if it was given for an event in that persons life or just because great grandpa cherished and loved great grandma.

Now find acid free labels to print the information on. You may want sheet size so you can cut it to whatever size is needed. Then attach it in a very inconspicuous place. For example on great grandma's oak table attach the label on the underside of the table, you may also want to put a smaller one on each of the chairs so it is understood those chairs stay with that table. But then you will have many items that do not have that kind of room or that you do not want to attach a label to such as a purse or quilt. If it is cloth you could consider making or having made an embroidered label and attach it so that it does not distract from the heirloom.

The only reason I say label each item if possible is if for some reason it is stolen or if you pass away and the rest of the family doesn't pay attention, they may see this label later and realize what they have, or someone else may find it and make an effort to reunite it with your family. But no mater if you use labels or not, you most definitely should create a data sheet of your heirlooms, listing the items, a description, who was the first ancestor, how it was passed down, the dates and places as well as the story behind each item. Then put it in a safe place, like a fire safe, make several copies and give to your children or other family member, and then just cross your fingers that nothing bad ever happens. But if God forbid you have a fire, robbery, flood or any other disaster hopefully you will be able to recover the items or at least prove to you insurance, though anything they pay you in restitution would not even compare to it's real value to you. Also include photos of each item.

Next lets tackle the pictures. Some of them you treasure and hang on your wall. I do too, but are they safe from their natural enemies, sunlight and moisture. Yes the ones on your walls are just as important to organize as the big old box from you basement. Check through these steps for each wall photo

Photo preservation:

1. Get it OUT of SUNLIGHT! If you want to show off your photo then consider a low watt spot light in a darker room.
2. Get the GLASS OFF the PHOTO! If you want glass over the photo to protect it from dust, flies, and scratches you can. The only safe way to do that is with a matting around the photo, or if it is in a frame you can't part with then consider taking the photo out and placing thin strips of card board between the glass and the photo, but where the frame will hide it this will put space so that the glass does not touch the photo. But be careful when removing. Move slowly because it may already be too late. If your photo has stuck to the glass, stop don't go any further. Consult a professional framer or photographer. They may or may not be able to help you depending on the damage.
3. Make sure that you label the back of the photos. Use a soft pencil to write down the names of all in the photo, as well as the place and date it was taken and by whom.
4. Last find a nice place as described in 1 to display your wall portraits with pride and place your spot lights on them if you choose.

Then the fun begins. But I'm going to stop here. I will continue this later. The next thing we will go over is that pile of loose photos. So for now work on your heirlooms, those books, and your wall portraits. Believe it or not this is just as important to find and preserving you family history as the hunt that will follow later, but if you don't organize first the hunt may become too daunting later.

A Moment of Silence

You gotta love grandparents when they come rescue you from the kids to take them out on the boat! My two boys are with their Nana and Papa on the boat today and tomorrow. I only have Jamie here with me, but right now she is down for a nap. And the neighbor girls, well with the boys not around there is no reason for them to come around. I think this is the first break I have had all summer!

Okay now here is where I am going with this blog. Several months ago I discussed going in a genealogy direction with it. Some suggested I only put up information on "how to," But to do that it takes a lot of time to find new material. Then as I discussed yesterday someone found me through Googleing a name of our ancestor that brought her to my blog. So this is what I will do. When I can easily come up with ideas and suggestions for "how to" I will post it, but in between will be blogs of ancestors I am looking for, interesting stories of my ancestors, as well as my business. Yes that's right I am in the process of doing this professionally.

The name of my business will be Untangled Family Roots. I am almost done with UPS. Justin has his surgery (it's minor to remove his adnoids) in a few weeks, we got our glasses, and we are almost done with the dentist. So I should be quitting here in about one to two months. When I do I will start doing research not only for myself but for others who don't have the time and patients to set and do what I do all do. I also plan to ad on two other related pieces to my business. One will be photo restoration (when I get the software) and the other will be selling individual digitally printed books to people from things relating to family events, a person, or their genealogy.

Speaking of photos I have recently discovered a wonderful website, called DeadFred. One of the most rewarding things when doing your family research is when you find a photo. There are so many of my ancestors that I have all the facts about. I knew where they lived and in some rare, but wonderful, cases I know special details about their life that tell me more about who they were. But to find photos of your ancestors well that's just icing on the cake. For me I have obtained many of my photos through reaching out to other researching the same family lines I am. In the genealogy world, for the most part, it is filled with gracious and generous people always willing to share what they have found and always looking for more. It is because of several new cousins I have found in my online searches that I now have faces of those ancestors to cherish forever. With each one of them I have also been able to share the few cherished photos I had. But DeadFred is another wonderful place you just might find a photo of your ancestor. Check it out. Some photos are simply listed as a mystery photos while others do have details of names and places for one or all people in the photo. Maybe after years of building your cake, you'll finally find your icing.

Another must have for an serious genealogists is a subscription to Ancesrty.com. I know there are other website out there that have some of the same information for free, but if you spend hours looking for your ancestors and maybe helping other friends look for theirs you want access to as many records in one places conveniently searchable as possible. That's not to rule out the other site though, such as USGenWeb, Rootsweb.com, or any of the others listed in my side bar. They are all important for conducting a through search for your ancestor.

But it can't all be done online. At some point you need to take it on the road. I am at that point now. I have found about all I can on our family through online research. My next step is to hit the library, courthouses, and Family History Centers. At this time though I will just have to put it all on hold. Without a second vehicle, the kids home for the summer and still working it's just not possible to do. I hope to start going maybe by October. When I do I will tell you more about what you can find and expect at each place. Then by next summer I hope to load up the kids, maybe my husband, and my in-laws and take their motor home back to Oklahoma, Texas, Missouri, and at some point South Carolina where many of our ancestors come from. Until then I will post what information I have on my ancestors here in hopes that someone will see and offer or ask for more information, and keep searching online in the hopes that someone has posted something new.

Laura Alice Barnett Conner

I have been working aggressively on my husband's Conner family. Mostly because my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law planed a trip to take Grandma to TX and OK to visit the places her ancestors were from. Also I have made contact with two more distant cousins just with in the last week. So there is a great deal about the Conner's we now know through our collective knowledge of the family.

Laura on the other hand I know almost nothing about other than that she married William Monroe Conner and had 14 children.

William Monroe Conner was born 15 Mar 1868 somewhere in Missouri. He meet his wife Laura Alice Barnett and married her when she was only 12 about 1891 in Missouri. This of course didn't set very well with her family since they were to get married later on. I believe there was also an issue with her family because she was full blooded Cherokee and William was only partial Cherokee. Laura was born on 14 Feb 1876 somewhere in Missouri.

It appears that had at least the first and maybe the second child in Missouri before they relocated to Williamson County, Texas. I found them in Williamson County, Texas in the 1900 census.

By 1920 the family has moved to Martin Township, Harmon County, Oklahoma.

Then in 1930 I finally found them on the family farm, that Grandma remembers, living in Dryden Township, Harmon County, Oklahoma.

From what Grandma remembers she believes that Laura died around 1970 in Hollis or Dryden, Oklahoma. I have not been able to find death records for her or a grave in the Harmon County area. Our fear is that the family begin to burry their loved ones on the farm in Dryden and that now the graves are lost. Laura lost the farm because she couldn't pay the taxes after William died, so there is no telling for sure.

Her birth information was copied from her bible many years ago. It now seems to be lost or in the hands of one of the branches of the family we have yet to make contact with. Her marriage was an estimate on my part based on information from different family members and the birth of the first child. However, the cousin who just contacted me may have her marriage record. I'll try to get a copy from her later to confirm a date.

One of the cousins that contacted me last week was the one to confirm what we had suspected for some time, Laura was full blooded Cherokee. She remembered seeing a photo of Laura as a child in Indian attire and standing in front of a tee-pee in Missouri. I wished we knew where that photo was now.

I've tried to put a picture I have of William and Laura on here, but it doesn't seem to be working for me today. I'll try again some other time. If anyone out there knows any information on this Conner family from Texas and Oklahoma there are several of us doing this research and would greatly appreciate any information you can share.

This is so COOL!!!

Okay, Okay, I know, bad Amy. I've been away from my blog for far too long. But someone got me excited about it again yesterday. When I started putting my genealogy research on the blog I never thought that it would actually help me to make contact with distant cousins searching for the same ancestor, but it did! So now I know what I am doing with my blog! I am going to put bits and pieces on of my research. This way when someone Googles an ancestors name it will bring them to me. This is so great!

Yesterday I had a distant cousins on my husband's Conner side of the family contact me. She is married to the grandson of Washington Leon Conner. All along our family had thought Leon was stabbed to death somewhere at a young age and never had a family. But here he lived to an old age and died in 1976 after marring and having a family! Now how cool is that!

A Most Embarrassing Day!

I had a day like no other. I have had a couple of weeks of stress over money being tight and then my husband and I both suffering injuries that kept us out of work some making things even worse. So to say the least I was not able to concentrate on my genealogy research yesterday. I saw the sun shining and decided it would be a good day to do some spring cleaning.

I got my oldest out the door to school then I walked to the washroom. pushed through another load of clothes, grabbed the Windex and went to the kitchen to start. I started cleaning the microwave then the stove. While I was pulling the burners off and lifting the top of the stove I locked the oven and turned it on clean. After a while my smoke alarms began to go off even though I didn't see all that much smoke coming from the vent. So I shut the bedroom doors, with a passing thought of "that oven must have been dirtier than I thought." After a while the trickle of smoke coming from the vent began to thicken and turn blacker. It took a minute but then it dawned on me "Oh Shit!!! My skillets!!" I had a skillet with oil in there and my cast iron one that I keep seasoned and always in my oven. I don't know how I could have forgotten it!

I reached up and turned off the clean but couldn't unlock the oven yet. so I wait long enough for the oven to cool down so I can open it. I'm thinking I don't see flames yet so I caught it soon enough I can get the skillets out of there. Ha, I was fooling myself! As soon as I opened the door flames licked out at me. I slammed the door shut and quickly looked for baking soda. Funny how we are always out when I really need it. In desperation I figured my only option was to get some help.

Justin was already getting ready to go outside and play, so I rushed him out the door, slipped on sandals, grabbed Jamie, her sandals, her coat and the phone. I was dialing 911 on my way out the door. After I hung up I see Justin go back in the house! I hollered at him, but he quickly appeared around the corner with his sisters warmer shoes, because it was cold out. He was being sweet, but scared me.

I'm setting there on the cement of the porch with Jamie leaning against my chest keeping me warm, but I was still cold. Gee I wonder why. I'm still in my silky night shorts and sandals, so I look in and see that the house isn't in flames yet so I reached in and grabbed my coat. As I am setting on the steps tears are teasing at the corner of my eyes. It has been a hell of a couple weeks. I've managed to screw up our checking account, pull muscles in my neck and shoulders, James cut his eye with a piece of metal, my son flashes a girl at school, and now this, me trying to burn down the house! But my despair quickly turns to complete embarrassment, as I see three firetruck and an ambulance pull up! I must have looked a sight. I'm setting there in my night shorts, my curly uncombed hair looking like a rats nest, my teeth unbrushed (I felt sorry for the fireman who had to talk to me), and almost in tears.

Then to add to my embarrassment the reality of living on a block with about four other fireman. Word spreads very quickly. Soon my neighbor who was out on a worksite with her lawn business with one of the fireman's wives calls another neighbor and asked her to come over and let me know her house was unlocked if I needed it and then she finally gets through to me on the phone. She tells me to remind her to never let me cook in her house. Ha, Ha funny, but I wasn't cooking I was cleaning!

So finally they got the skillets out of the oven (so much for that batch of fried potatoes in the beacon grease I was planning to do this week), checked the walls for heat and cleared the house of smoke. No major damage other than my pride. I go back in and start cleaning up a bigger mess then I had started out to clean. But finally about 11:00 in the morning I was done with my cleaning and able to finally take my shower. Yes I clean my house so I get dirty before I take my shower. Because when I get around for the day I put on my uniform for work. This routine has always worked for me. This is the one time it made my day a little embarrassing.

When I told my husband the story last night he couldn't help but laugh. He asked me "well why didn't you just let it burn?" My response was "I really could care less about this house, but what I couldn't bare to loose is all my research, the old photos of our ancestors I have collected, things I have from both of my grandmothers, and more." He just smilled at me. He knew what my response would be, it's not the house you live in it's the precious sentimental things you can never replace, and he knows that would just break my heart.

Now I think today I will stick to a safe venue for me, my computer and my research. I don't need any more drama for a while!!

"...really I didn't do it my pants just fell down!"

I found myself speechless when I got a call from the principle of my oldest son's school the other day. The principle called me up and said "Mrs. Crooks I have your son in my office today. We've had a little problem with him today." I ask "Christopher?" I'm completely shocked because of all my children I never expect trouble out of Christopher when he is with other people. He strives so hard to please and make other people happy. He doesn't fight! The only trouble I have with him is his back talking when he thinks I'm being unfair, being to slow when doing chores (or not doing them right), or irritating his little brother. But those things happen at home. In public though he is very accommodating and well behaved.

So what could my Christopher have possibly done to end up in the principles office? How about flashing his underwear at another girl at school. Yea that's right he pulled down his pants at school and flashed a girl. Thank God he didn't get his underwear down!



She explains that she has tried to talk to him, but he insisted that he didn't pull them down they just fell down. At this point I wanted to laugh because I really could see his pants falling down and some girl being unfortunate enough to be behind him. My son is a bean poll. If I buy pants to fit him in the waist they are two inches above his ankles. So we have had to buy pants for length and synch them up with a belt or buy the kind that has the elastic strip inside that he can synch up. So this story was possible. But the principle asked me to speak with him about it and to come pick him up because he would need to go home for the day. She just couldn't allow him to stay there after such an incident.

Well going to pick him up was easier said then done. I explained to her that I don't have a vehicle during the day. My husband I are still sharing one vehicle until my truck is running. So we agreed that someone there would bring him home. They never got around to it so he spent his day in the office and came home on the bus anyway.

He walks through the door like nothing happened. So my guard goes up I know something is up. So I ask him "Christopher what happened at school today?" With a smile he replies " Oh nothing much Mom."

"Christopher, you and I both know that isn't true. Did you think the principle wouldn't call me about what you did today"

With gazed lowered and the smile instantly gone from his face he replies "No" then with great conviction "but Mom really I didn't do it my pants just fell down!"

A couple round without the truth from him and I say "Christopher, what did the little girl do that would make you want to do that to her"

He suddenly wanted to tell what she was doing wrong and forgot that he was trying to convince me that he pants just fell (and yes the pair he had on was a bit baggy) "Mom she wouldn't leave ........... and I alone. She kept following us around on the play ground and bugging us. I just did it so she would go away!"

Mission part one accomplished. "So you did pull your pants down then?"

Knowing he was caught and no use arguing the baggy pants angle anymore he admits that yes he did pull them down. Now what to do. Well I listed off all the privileges he would loose for a while until I though he could be responsible enough to have them back, including no allowance for the next week, no time on the computer, etc. I don't think he'll be pulling that stunt again. But looking back now I can't help but laugh.

Breath, just breath!

I keep telling myself that but somehow it isn't working. My oldest is home the rest of this week for teachers conference week and then next week is spring break. Why does it have to be raining today? All I hear myself saying today is "quit" "stop that" "quiet" "leave your brother alone!"

I want so bad to go ahead and let them go play in the rain. If they keep it up I just might. I've also cut back on their TV watching, boy was that bad timing. It's easy with just the two littlest really. But when my oldest boy is home they drive me crazy. The oldest does little things to irritate his brother. The younger brother just belts him a good one once in a while, and amazingly, considering there is four years between them, he can bring his big brother to his knees. Then I end up listening to them both cry.

I'm laughing now, but earlier I had to separate them. My oldest called his brother over to show him something and when he walked over to him the oldest stuck out his foot and tripped him. This is what happens all the time. Then the oldest innocently, like he knew nothing, asked "what happened? Are you okay"

youngest, crying "no!"

Oldest still innocent "well where does it hurt?"

youngest screaming " my butt! Now leave me alone!!"

That was the clearest I had heard my mumbling youngest speak in a long time. All I could do is tell one to go to one area of the house and the other to another. The whole time glad they couldn't see me behind the computer smiling.

Please stop raining so I can send them outside. They spent the whole day outside yesterday and never once begged to watch TV, like they have already done ten times this morning, and amazingly got along pretty well outside. Either that or they solved their own problems in their own way and never brought it to me.

The baby is now sleeping but she added to the drama for a while too. Her Daddy is spoiling her so rotten by holding her so much in the evening while I'm at work. Now she expects me to hold her all the time too. Well I think it's great that Daddy has the time now to spend with the kids, but it drives me crazy how spoiled she is. So today when she wouldn't stop screaming and crying because I had put her down, I finally had to go put her in her crib and let her fuss herself to sleep.

Now I have seperated the boys after more fights. While they set and think I am going to go take a moment for myself in a bath with a good book, and just breath nice and deep.

GIVE ME A HUMAN!!!!!!!

Have you seen the Citi Bank commercial? The man in the train or the man cooking while trying to dial all the options in order to get to the “right representative?” Ever have the computer ask for your account number and then when you do finally get someone what is the first thing they ask for, your account number?! Where has customer service gone?

Try doing that with three children, cleaning house, cooking, and my many other tasks each day. I don’t want to select options with a computer. I WANT A HUMAN!!!!!!!

I’ve even got two companies that as soon as I pay them off I will never use them again, Providian and Dell Computers. Not only do you spend a half hour on the phone just trying to get a human, but when you do finally do get one they can’t speak English very well because there are in India, Japan, or Ten Buck Two and they are not above lying to you just to try and please you for the moment so they can get you off the phone. Well the last one that tried that with me I told to cancel my credit card because they obviously didn’t want my business.

So here is a way around the stupid, humorless, cold computers. Try this website before you make your next call. www.gethuman.com. This guy has put together all the tips and cheats in order to get past that computer and get a human. Just keep your fingers crossed that you can understand the human.

I'm still here!!!

It's nice to know your missed. I'll try to be better about posting once in a while. I just get so involved in my hobbies sometimes. So Word Tosser thanks for the little jab

First my best friend isn't hear yet, and I just found out some potentially bad news from her today. The doctors thought her son had serious asthma. Well they ran asthma and allergy tests on him this week and nothing. Now they are thinking it may be possible that he has Cystic Fibrosis. One of his cousins already does. So we are all waiting to see what happens. So everyone keep this little boy in your thoughts and prayers.

So what am I doing that has kept me away from my blogging buddies? You guessed it more family research. Well, let's back up first. First we sold the Trans Am to a guy in Canada, then we filed our taxes and got back a hefty return, then we paid of several bills!!!! God does that feel good. Now I can breath again. Now I could afford to sign up for Ancestory.com. Those of you researching you family, it's a great website for giving you more history and possible helping you break though those brick walls you encounter. I have only managed to break down one brick wall so far, and use census records to confirm another generation of my family that I already suspected was connected. Mostly though I am going back and trying to find every family member (at least those in my direct line) in the census records. I'm doing this so that I can gather as much information as I can about each family, like where they lived every 10 years, where they worked or occupation, ages, neighbors and potential spouse to their children in some cases. I plan to gather all this information for how ever long it takes until I have the generations completed that I want and then I will do scrap books with copies of the census, certificates, pictures and more as I tell a story about where our family came from and where they are going. I also came across two more family members. They would have been second cousins twice removed of my grandmother. One lived in PA and the other one in GA, I think. They have helped my complete the Hoard line of our family for as far back as anyone has found. But again as with the others the most precious part are the pictures we shared with each other. I was able to complete a part of the family that the one gals mother knew very little about because they had lost contact with our family when they moved to CA. There are so many website out there that can help in researching ones family, but it's the sharing with other family members you didn't even know existed that is so much more special.

I've also been decorating the babies room. I'll share more of that when I have it done.

Oh and UPS is going great. I'm now moving into the clerk position, so those of you living in the CDA area, if you come in to pick up a package in the evening you'll most likely get me. I take over in about a week. Oh and the latest is Post falls, Rathdrum, Hauser and those areas will be handled out of the Spokane hub now. Our hub just isn't big enough to handle the volume anymore. Yea! Life gets easier for us!!

Take care all.

The Trans AM

Well it's both a happy day and a sad day. The Trans AM will soon be in the possession of a man in Canada. We got $4500 for the car. That was my minimum, but right now it will go a long ways to helping us get out from under our debts and on the road to financial freedom. I'll miss that car, but at least she served a good purpose when we needed it the most.

So it's a new year. I'm not one for new years resolutions. I just try to live my life the best I can all the time. But there is something I have been working on for the last few months, paying off our debt. I have finally got my husband to see the whole picture and stop spending money. We are now working toward some financial freedom, and the amount we get from the car will take a chunk out of our debts. Our income tax will go further to helping us. According to H&R Block estimator we should get back over $5000 for our return which sounds about right. With a business that didn't make profit this year and three children it may end up closer to $6000. You know it isn't worth having fancy cars and pretty clothes or top of the line tools if you can't enjoy life because the debt to get those items stresses you out so bad.

Another new development this year will be my best friend moving here in June. I can't wait! She has been a dear friend of both my husband and I since high school. If anyone knows of jobs available in the nursing or medical management fields please let me know. She would like to have a job lined up before she gets here.

I just know this will be a great year no matter how difficult it ended last year. I hope all of you have a wonderful year ahead as well.

My how time flies

Yes once again I have been burried in my family genealogy. I'm sure you have noticed I haven't been online much. I have had the most rewarding couple of weeks, both with my research and with eBay.

First an update on eBay. Wow, where to start. First my car is going to sell. Which is both a good and a bad thing. The bad thing is I'm sure going to miss her. I have loved that car, and this will be the first time I have sold a car out of necessity and not just because I wanted something new. I also made over $400 on a box of books that my mother gave me to try and sell. All the books were about cat from her cat breeding days. We had no idea the value of that box. I listed the books and with in a matter of minutes I started get bids (very unusual). One of the books sold for $300!!! As I watched the auction over the days I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I called my mom up and asked her what the deal was on this one book. She's was baffeled and explained that she had only paid about $50 for the book in the early 90's. So then we got on Amazon.com and saw that this book was selling only as a used book for $300 for acceptable condition to $650 for like new condition. I even corrisponded with a gal in Indonesia who really needed this book, but couldn't afford it. She said that book she has seen sale for as high as $1250. The book was Feline Husbandry by an author who was a professor at UC Davis, and the book is no longer in production but so highly sought after. So you never know when you might have something you think is junk but may turn out to be a treasure!

Now I'm sure several of you are wondering what is going on with my beloved car. Well it will sale. So far the highest bidder is in Canada, but I also have a couple very interested parties, one in Seattle. So far it is at $4500 which is the reserve I set, but I have a feeling it will go a little higher because the guy in Seattle hasn't even bid yet.

So why was my week so rewarding with my family history research? I made contact with reletives and recieved picutres! It was wonderful. I stumbled across another email while searching my mother's family of someone else searching the same. I emailed her, and she also put me in touch with another cousin. They both turned out to be second cousins to my grandmother who pasted away just a few days before my high school graduation. We have been exchanging information and photos back and forth. We now know a great deal about our HOARD roots.

More eBay

Any Ladies out there looking to pick up golfing this year? I just posted a barely used set of golf clubs on eBay today. Our user name is jamessnapon. Check them out! Great starter set!

Anyway life is okay. We are making it week to week. I'll be glad when I know for sure rather or not I'm going to be laid off though.

I will be posting my Trans AM for sale, hopefully tomarrow. It's a very hot looking car. I get lots of looks and comments on how hot it looks. So you might want to check it out if you are looking for a nicely used car this year.

Getting started

Anonymous said...
amy,any tips on how to get started from scratch as an eBay seller?

9:42 PM

I got this message yesterday about how to get started on eBay.

First find your items that are hot sellers on eBay, unique or valuable.

Then research. I can't say that enough. There are a couple ways to research how well items similar to yours are selling. You can go to the BUY option and see how items similar are currently selling, how people are wording the description, what they are offering, how they accept payment, how they are shipping and charging for it. All of these things impact how well your item will sell. Now you can watch items that are about to end or you can select to watch the item (that option is in the right hand side when you are on the individual item's page) until it does end and watch how it does. For a faster way you can also see how past auctions have gone for similar items. Go to the SELL option. On that page you will see Research (this option is new and currently has a new symbol beside it) select Research. This will take you to a page that looks similar to BUY, but when you type in your description it will only bring up items from past auctions. Search for the same details. All of this will help you familiarize yourself with what does and doesn't work for auctions.

Now you've researched your item(s). Now it's time to set up a couple accounts. The first is to set up your eBay account. Simply register. Make sure all of your information is accurate so that when a potential buyer has a question they can contact you. Then I highly recommend that you also get a PayPal account. This will make collecting payment for your items faster and easier. Under MORE EBAY SITES there is PayPal. Click on that and register.

Okay, you have your accounts set up lets make some money! Go back to SELL. Click on Auction or Fixed price (I recommend auction unless you are selling a new product that you manufacture, then fixed price is a great way to sell your product). Now you need to find a category to sell it in. Use keyword to find a category. You can select a category if you know where you want to sell it, but I recommend, especially if you are new at this, that you let eBay help you determine where your item is most likely to sell. However, keep in mind eBay is not always correct. Use a little common sense when selection a category. EBay is just there to help. Sometimes one category isn't enough. If you have a vintage or antique item then you may want to post the item in a category that fits the item, but you will definitely want to post it under antique for people only looking for antiques. More exposure for some items is a must.

From this point on it's pretty simple. EBay walk you through it one step at a time, but here are a few tips.

Title: Make sure it has every key word in it that people could use to search for your item. You want to be sure that when some one puts a description into the search for an item like yours that yours gets pulled up for them to look at.

Gallery: Always display your item in gallery. When someone is searching for items similar to yours they are more likely to look at an item that has a photo in the gallery with out having to go to your individual page. It costs a little more, but I can guarantee your item will get more hits with it.

Photos: One photo is always included in you cost of posting the item. Each additional is 15 cents more. Use it when necessary. Sometimes all you need to show is one photo, but if you have an item like a jewelry box, you will want to show the box closed and open. Or if there is damage to an item sometimes it's a very good idea to show a photo of the damage so that you avoid an issue of "you didn't' disclose this" later.

Shipping: I highly recommend using UPS for shipping. Not just because I work there. I've done some comparison. USPS charges extra for insurance. By the time you add that on you are near or over the cost of UPS. UPS on the other hand includes insurance up to $100 in the shipping cost. Not only that I haven't been happy with packages getting lost, and USPS not able to tell you everywhere that package has gone. All they can tell you is where or not it has been delivered. UPS on the other hand can follow that package and tell you if there has been some sort of delay or misrouted or whatever is the problem. Be very clear to your potential bidder how you are shipping and what the shipping cost is if you are going to do a fixed amount. I prefer to do the shipping calculator, so that if they are near by they don't pay as much for shipping as the person clear across the country, and you don't lose money that way either. If you are going to add shipping and handling charge don't be stingy. Regular ebayers know when you have an outrageous amount for shipping and they won't bid on your item. I also choose only US shipping, and I'm clear to people that I will not ship world wide, only in the US. This limits me to the people willing to bid, I'm sure, but I do not want to mess with international shipping. You have to decide if you want to deal with that. Just be sure to be clear on that to potential bidders.

Payment: Select the types of payment you are willing to accept. I only accept PayPal (which I express is my preferred method) and money order. Again be very clear on this as well. I choose not to accept personal checks. With the kids and only one vehicle it's not easy for me to run to the bank and verify funds. So I just prefer to avoid the potential issue of a bad check. But if you have the ability to run credit cards, or check aren't a problem because you have a store of some sort then you will probably have more bids on your item because you are offering more options.

description: Be very very very clear in your description of your item. If there is any damage disclose it. Do not hide anything. If you hide anything it will come back to bite you. One thing eBay does is Feed Back reports. If a customer has a bad experience with you that will give bad feed back, and you don't want that. However if they know exactly what they are bidding on then hopefully you can avoid a headache later. That doesn't mean there isn't the occasional coocoo out there that will be a pain in your butt.

Feedback: Feedback is critical as a seller for two reasons. It gives you credability as a seller, as well as your potential buyers you can find out if they routinely bid on things they don't pay for. You can check out someone's feedback by clicking on the number in () beside their screen name. If they look like a problem bidder you also have the right to kick them out of your auction. I've never used this, but it's nice to know it's there.

If you are interested in checking out my feedback or items that I have listed our seller name is jamessnapon (jamessnapon@adelphia.net). You can go to Communtiy and enter jamessnapon and then click on Find a Member. This will take you to the next page where you can select to view our profile, feedback, or our current listed items. Check us out. I hope all of this helps those of you interested in posting items on eBay. I love it I can sell things I no longer want with out dealing with a yard sell, and the icing on the cake is shipping through my own employer!

eBay!!

I'm just loving this! I think I'm getting hooked on eBay. I have been selling things on eBay that normally I would have just given away or paid several bucks to place an add in the paper to sell a large item. Not anymore. I need help paying the bills, well it's time to sell some of our old junk that I am finding out is someone else's treasure. I have even been able to sell some of our old exercise equipment here locally and only pay a couple dollars to put it in the auction for a week. Love it!

I think the sell that I was the most amazed at was a book. It was a Nora Roberts trilogy, hardcover. I had a few gals fighting over it. When it was all said and done the winner of the auction paid over $17 for a used book plus the shipping, total $23. The funny thing was that I had got that as part of a book special package where I only paid $0.99 for it! Now how cool is that.

I may possibly getting laid off at UPS for a while. They are reorganizing the Coeur d'Alene hub. So when my mom found out she called me the other morning and asked if I would like a bunch more things to put on eBay to sell. You bet! She decided that instead of having a yard sale she would give it to me so I can sell the items from the comfort of my home in order to help us through while I am laid off. Then if I don't get laid off then it'll help pay a few more bills.

There is always a way out of any hole. It's just a mater of how hard you want to work at it. So those of you cringing after your Christmas splurging think of selling some of your old junk instead of it collection dust in the basement. If you don't need the money then you can sell it on eBay and have a percentage of the proceeds donated to charity. I was happy to see them start that. I may consider doing this eBay think long term, and donate some of mine to charity when I get my family squared away. Family comes first though.

By the way if you need lawn care this summer think about Tri-Cut. They were behind helping make our Christmas special this year. Their business finally started doing good this year and she felt like giving to someone. She enjoyed it so much that she would like to do this each year. She wants to find a family that isn't in poverty persay but who has just had a rough year and make their Christmas special like ours. So remember when you have a need for landscaping, sprinkler systems and lawn care give Tri-Cut a call at 208-704-2490. They give back to the community. Tell them Amy sent you.

Merry Christmas

Another year almost over. It's not been an easy one for me, but there has always been a silver lining peeking out from behind every cloud. It's been another year of three children, less income then before the baby, more bills then before and the stress of how do I take care of it all. But everytime that I have found myself overwhelmed with the troubles in my life I stop and think of the people who haven't even had the luxuries I have this year. At least I have a roof over my head, my family pictures, and every other luxury in my home unlike those who lost it all in Katrina. And most importantly I have my family here with me and healthy unlike many who lost their family member in all the disasters and in the war this year. Looking back I have a lot to be thankful for. So once again I thank God for all that he has given and allowed me to enjoy.

I would say that God has answered my prayers this morning too. I was in tears to my husband a week ago because I wasn't sure how we would be able to give our children a Christmas this year. So I started gathering up old things around the house like books, an exercise bike, some old tools and put them on eBay. We sold enough to buy each of the boys a couple gently used, but really nice and fun gifts with that. That was going to be Christmas for our boys (except for grandparents), that was until my neighbor with her big heart came forward and asked if she could go buy gifts for the kids and stuff their stockings for me. I don't know what I would have done with out her this year. She has never hesitated to watch my children for me when I really needed help.

Then I found out that my best friend has finally made plans and is moving up here this summer. God knows how much I have needed her around. Especially over the last year or two. I can't wait till she gets here.

It's been a rough year, but it's ending on a good note. Here is wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Look, Look, and Look again

For those of you out there who are trying to find your ancestors as I am, just a little encouragement and advice. Never quit looking over the same old notes.

I have recently revisited old website and postings that I thought I had gleaned as much information from as I could, only to discover there was something new that would open up a new door for me.

Also never quit asking your family for stories. Maybe even ask them to keep a tape recorder around, especially if they are like some of my husband's family members who are embarrassed to write anything because of their lack of education. Ask them to record their stories on the tape recorder and you will write them out for them. It's amazing the little details that are buried in our families stories that can shed new light on our heritage.

Happy Hunting!

It looks a lot like Christmas

It looks like we are going to have a white Christmas this year! At least I hope it doesn't go and melt too much, and I look forward to more of that beautiful white stuff.

Well Christmas is just around the corner. Have you gotten your shopping done, or do you even have an idea of what to get the people on your list? If your like me the answer is "NO" and I don't have the money either. Then this morning I saw the Today Show where they were showing free and nearly free gifts. Check this out

Free and Nearly Free gifts

Not only to I have Christmas to worry about, but Jamie will be a year old on the 13th and Justin will be four on the 28th. Then add in there my mother's birthday on the 14th and my parents anniversary on the 18th. When (wiping brow) what a month. What was I thinking having two children in the month of December. I don't think that I was at the moment!

Oh and the latest news. What the heck is people's problem. What is this about wanting to change Christmas Tree to Holiday Tree. Christmas isn't about how many gifts you can get, but it was, is and should always be about Christ. I may not be religious, but I still believe in Christ, God, and something are just sacred to me.

How time flies

My husband and I celebrated our 12th anniversary a couple weekends ago. We finally got a chance to get away from the kids for a while as well. We called up grandma and grandpa to see if they would take the kids for us so we could drive all the way to Spokane for an evening of dinner and each others company (with no kids!). Well grandma and grandpa, stilling having a life, had made plans for Saturday to go to my mom's sisters for the day (party and games I'm sure it was). But good for them, I'm glad my parents have never given up on life. So we agree that Sunday would be fine for us as well.

So Sunday we went to Clinkerdager's for dinner. Had I not had a gift certificate to cover our dinner I would never have gone there. Don't get me wrong I loved it the food was delicious and the view would have been beautiful if it hadn't already gotten dark, but they were so expensive. My pockets don't run that deep. James' plate was $27 alone. But it was great.

Anyway I enjoyed our anniversary. Sometimes I look back and think I don't feel that old, or look that old, so how can I have been married for so long? At times it feels like just yesterday that I married my high school sweetheart.

It was our junior year in high school, at Thomas Downey High in Modesto, CA. I was sitting in the library at school with a friend of mine. In walks this good looking kid wearing a cream and black sweater (which I think I still have) with shoulder length black hair. He walked up to my friend Sarah and they talked for a minute. I remember looking at him and wishing she would introduce us, but she didn't. When he left I slapped her. "Ouch what was that for," she said. "You didn't introduce me!" I replied.

I didn't see him again until the second semester when I got my schedule changed so I could be a teachers aid for a teacher I never had, but really liked her, Mrs Jackie Jones. I think of her quit often. She had a debilitating degeneration of her hips. I know the last time I went back to visit her she was no longer teaching. I hope she is doing well, because she is often in my thoughts. Anyway, I think she knew James and I were meant to be together. She never stopped us from spending time together, and even took pride in the fact that we meet in her class and later were married. Now I remember the last time I went to visit her was to introduce her to our little boy Christopher when he was a little baby. She would have loved to have meet him.

What I didn't know at the time was James had been putting himself in my path many times since our sophomore year, but I wouldn't give him the time of day that year. He finally talked to one of our other mutual friends and found out I didn't like ear rings, his holy shirts, or the long scraggly hair. So that morning when we meet in the library he had trimmed up his hair, lost the ear ring and was wearing that beautiful sweater. Then when I meet him again in Mrs Jones class I was so excited. We had many times to set and visit and get to know each other.

Then on Valentines Day that year he asked me out with a single rose set beautifully in a container with Baby's Breath. Of course I said yes. Our friends and teachers thought we were a perfect couple. It was my parents that we would have the rocky road with. But after I broke up with him twice (parental influence) we were engaged, and then of course I had to hand him back the ring once too, and then take it back and leave home for the weekend. Even my mother-in-law remembers the morning that I showed up to break up with him the last time. He was still in bed and I went in to give him the ring. I was too upset to talk so I just walked out and he went running up after me in his underwear. Talk about an embarrassing moment for mom. Eventually my parents learned to except that we were getting married weather they liked it or not.

A lot happened that year in 1993. I graduated a few days after going to my grandmother's funeral, and then James and I were married on the 12th of November that year.

I won't say it has been perfect or without our hard times, but we have always stuck together and listened to each other, talked out our problems, never fight in front of the kids, actually we rarely fight, and above all we always make up (that's the best part). I think what has made our marriage so strong is that we both have a great respect for each other, we are best friends, and great lovers.

I hope for many more great years.

Stumped

Well I got as far as I could with the new information I had obtained about my husbands mother's family. Now it's time to take another break from the genealogy search. I don't go at this non stop.

If you are on the hunt for your family be prepared for this to take a long long time, maybe even years to find all the lines of your family. Don't get discouraged. I highly recommend when you hit several road blocks and you are feeling discouraged, then put it aside. I've done this several times because I didn't want to get burned out. I have other hobbies as well that I pick up when I need something new. I find that when I rotate my hobbies I don't get sick of them and I tackle them with new enthusiasm each time.

I picked up my daughter's quilt again this morning. As well as some cake decorating I'm going to tackle today. I've got two birthdays around the corner that I need to practice my cakes again for. My middle boy and daughter will both be having their birthday's next month and I'll make both of their cakes. I'll tell you it have gotten rediculouse how much a cake costs now, when I have found that my cakes taste just as good and look well almost as good.

This preciouse little think will be turning 1 year old in about three weeks and I need to come up with a cute cake idea for her birthday cake.

Then our middle boy will be four at the end of December and he has become a big fan of Bob the Builder. So for him I need to practice building a Bob and one of his trusty tractors. That should be a challenge.

Genealogy, Getting Started 2

I stumbled across a list of helpful hints on Oprah.com tonight. By Regina Lewis, AOL Online Advisor

Genealogy Getting Started

This is some of the same advise I gave before and more. As well as a list of more websites you will find useful in your search for you ancestors.

My latest success story has been with my husband's mother's family. Her and her mother visited this last week, and over the last two weeks I have uncovered a great deal about Grandma's Connor family and even about the Martin part of the family we didn't know about. I was searching on Rootsweb again, looking over some of the same notes and research I had seen before when I happened to notice an email of William Conner's great granddaughter listed as a source of information. I emailed her, and to my surprise not only was she willing to share information, but she also shared photos which I spoke about before. So keep going back over old sites and notes when your stumped, and you'll discover something you missed the last time. Don't forget to share with others also researching the same surnames, and in the end it will be a very rewarding experience.

Now if only I can find information on Grandma when she and her siblings were in an Oklahoma orphanage, or information on her mother either.

I have enjoyed the stories some of you have shared with me about your searches for you family. Keep it up, and happy hunting.

Something Special

I have found my genealogy research to be very addictive, fun, interesting, and so much more. But the best part is how rewarding it can be when you can share what you have found with others, especially those close to you.

As a genealogy researcher don't be stingy with you finding. When you share with other it will come back to you ten fold. I recently stumbled across the email of the great granddaughter of my husbands great great grandfather William Monroe Conner. Donna was more than happy to share information with me and I shared what I could with her. Later I got the very pleasant surprise that she was more than happy to share pictures with me. That's the best! It's great to find information and even stories about your ancestors, but to get pictures is icing on the cake!

My mother-in-law Kathy and her mom Estell showed up Saturday for a visit with us. I set down and shared all the new information with them that I had just discovered, some of it while they were driving up here. They were so excited and happy, but the best part was to see how much Grandma looked like an ancestor she didn't even know she had. Rachel E Martin was William Monroe Conner's mother, so she would have been Grandma's great grandmother. Here is a picture of each.




Now Grandma and Mom are on their way to pick up Grandma's Sister to bring back here so I can share all the stories and pictures about their family with them.

Now if we could only find information on Grandma's mother and her family. All we know is her name was Flora Mae Manning, daughter of Tom Manning, her mother's name is unknown. She was born in OK in 1911 and died after child birth in TX in 1940. Grandma was only 10 when she died and wants to know more about her mother than anyone else.

So get on the internet and find other relative. Let's share our stories and pictures in order to preserve the history of our ancestors who weren't famous enough to end up in the history books.

It's free and very helpful.

I have been researching our family genealogy for months now. I have found that my favorite website is

Roots Web

This website is free and I have been able to uncover many lines of our family here.

You can enter simply the name or dates and places if you have them as well. It will bring up anyone that matches that criteria, and hopefully you will find other family member's names and dates related to that person. In some case people have also posted stories and information about people, which I truly love. Not only do I want to find my ancestors, but I also want to know more about their life if possible.

Give it a try. Start with you grandparents and see if you don't uncover something you didn't know, or people you didn't know existed.

There is also Ancestry.com which you can find a lot of information on and is a very useful tool in your search. I have found it really cuts your search time in half, but it costs about $200 per year. I used their two week free subscription and really got the ball rolling on my search, but I can't afford their site right now.

Happy hunting

Beautiful Fall

One of my favorite times of year next to Christmas.

OUCH!!!!!!

My body is screaming ouch this morning! They weren't joking when they said the loading I would be doing would be hard physical labor. I've got bruises all over and so many sore muscles. But I keep reminding myself it's all worth it for the benefits, pay, potential to advance and the added bonus should be the fat it will work off of my ass.

The team I'm working with is great. Everyone is friendly and very helpful. I found out some of them are doing this job as a second night job. One teaches English at a school in Rathdrum and my manager works in security at the hospital. They are all hard workers. I never saw a lazy bone all night. Which is so amazing. I have worked at Lowes, Wal Mart, Office Max, and other small businesses. In all the large places I have worked I have always been very frustrated at the amount of people they hire that don't pull their own weight. Definitely not the case here.

I got to work in the "can" (trailer) stacking boxes all night. It was very fast pace and before I knew it the night was over. My manager called me in and said I was doing a great job of keeping up and that it would get easier, but for the next few nights he would send me home early. He doesn't want me to push myself too hard and not be able to be much use to them the next night, or risk an injury. I appreciated that. As much as I need the hours and money my muscles were feeling like jello, so it was probably a good idea that he sent me home when he did.

I think I have finally found where I can settle in long term, and maybe even retire with this company. I have many skills in sales that aren't needed here, and it may seem like a waste, but I don't think I could find another company in my field that can compete with all the benefits at UPS, the security of a well established company that I can retire with. I'm finally happy where I'm at.

Employees are Assets

If you will remember I did a post a while back about how so many companies treat their employees more as a liability then as an asset. I think I have found an exception to the rule.

UPS definitely treats their employees as an asset to the company. I will be starting at $8.50/hr. Which really isn't bad to start for this area. But what makes this hard labor worth it is the benefits. My family will now have full medical, dental, and vision benefits at no charge to me. The company pays in full all of it! Not to mention the vacation time, sick days, personal days, retirement and much more.

However, they really do work hard to pick employees that they think can handle the hard work and who will dedicate themselves to the company.

By the way you can apply now for UPS online at www.ups.com. They will also be hiring for temporary Christmas help soon.

I spent my first day going through orientation by watching videos and filling out all that fun paperwork. But all the people that I got a chance to meet today had great attitudes and I liked. Let's hope that everyone is like that.

Wal Mart Countdown.

I only have five more days left at Wal Mart. My last night will be Friday. This week however is going to kill me. I work till midnight for the next five days. I am so glad I made Friday my last day so I have the weekend to recover before starting at UPS next Monday.

Sareena, Update

Thanks everyone for your supportive thoughts. I'm happy to report that Sareena is home with us. She is recovering and still needs more rest, but it looks like she will be fine. My pocket book is screaming OUCH! But she was worth it.

I turns out the she somehow displaced her back which caused pressure and swelling in the spine. Therefore pinching off nerves so her back end didn't function any more. They gave her steroid shots and pain medication. She is now up and walking.

We are so glad she pulled through this, even if it did cost me an arm and a leg!

Pets can be costly

We are in the middle of dealing with a dog who may or may not recover and is killing my pocket book. It's almost as expensive to have a sick dog as it is to have a sick child. However, we don't have insurance on the dog.

Sareena became a member of our family about three years ago. We had had a Cocker Spaniel. We eventually realized that dumb dog was not a fit for our family because he would get aggravated and bite at our son. So we found a home for that dog, and then my husband started look for another one. He has always wanted an English Bulldog. He loves all the extra wrinkly skin. However, we knew we couldn't afford one, nor could we afford a dog that is notorious for many vet bills. So he started looking at the humane societies.

He came home one day and said "I found her. I found our dog. I've already got her, and she is coming home tomorrow. I couldn't resist. I took her for a walk and when we came back she jumped up in my lap and I fell in love." I'm still standing there with a dumb founded look on my face. Then it dawned on me; this is my soft hearted husband. Yea, that sounds about right for him. So she came home the next day, and I too fell in love with her in a heart beat. She is so interesting looking that she is kinda cute. She is half Sharpea and half Bassett Hound. But mostly she is just a big lovable, sweet, gentle dog. The boys even lay across her sometimes and she doesn't even move, maybe look at them and then sigh and lay her head back down.

Yesterday she started whimpering, walking funny and just not herself, so I took her to a veterinary clinic near by. We talked about the fact that I had given Sareena cat food the day before just to hold her over until I could get to the store to buy more dog food for her that night. So the Vet. thought that it could be gastrointeritis. So $204 later I have a few pills to give her and a possible not so bad diagnosis. Just a tummy ache mostly. But today that changed quickly. I got up the morning to find that she was almost dragging her butt on the floor. She was definitely in pain as well. So I called the Vet. We talked for a while and determined that possibly she could now be constipated so he told me to give her some vegetable oil in her food to help her and just watch her. But also keep a close eye on her. Worse case scenario she could be experiencing a spinal problem. He told me to watch and see if she gets so bad that she walks like she is drunk almost completely loosing control of her back end.

By this evening that is what happened. James left work to come home and take her, because he had to carry her. So he comes back tonight, $385 later, to tell me they did X-ray's and her back has gone out. They are keeping her overnight and allowing her to rest. With steroids, rest, and some therapy she may completely recover. On the other hand if she doesn't recover with that and surgery is required we may be forced to make a very difficult decision to let her go. It's one I hope we don't have to make. She is the best dog I have ever had, and so wonderful with the kids, even the baby.

Veterinary care is expensive, but when it works it can save another member of your family. However, when it doesn't work it's hard to make the decision to let them go even though you know it's not very humane to let them suffer for your own selfishness. The mood at my house is very solemn tonight. We don't want to loose our beloved member of our family.

Woo Hoo!!!!!!

I got it! Yes, I got the UPS job in Cda! I start in less than two weeks. It is bye bye Wal Mart. No more rude, grumpy, mean customers, although that also means no more fun, livily, enjoyable customers either. But at least now I can work a little less, see my hubby a little more, make more money, and have full paid benifits for the whole family! Wal Mart can't even come close! It has been a great day! I hope your day has gone as well.

"Enough is Enough!!!!!"

In Oprah's words "Enough is enough!" It's time we put an end to this epidemic in our country! I hope everyone had an opportunity to see Oprah's show today on Sex Offenders. I don't know about you, but like Oprah I am sick, sick, sick and tired of hearing about another child being violated by an offender who has violated BEFORE!!!!!!

What is wrong with this country? How many children have to be violated and even loose their lives before we start putting a value on the life and welfare of our children? I like how the one detective classified it "we have a health crisis on our hands." Now does that get anyone's attention? Our children's health and lives are in jeopardy.

Let’s start today and let these people know they ARE NOT IN ANY FASHION WELCOME in our society. Stop making excuses for them, like “oh his daddy molested him and he can’t help it” Bull shit. These sex offenders are sick. Lets shun them from our neighborhoods, not do business with these ass holes, do not give them jobs, let them know they are nothing more then the dirt of the earth, and I say lets put them away for good!!!! I don’t mean the little offenses like a 21 year old who gets involved with a consenting 17 year old and commits statutory rape. I mean the ass holes who rape and molest, who stalk or even choose their victims at random, and especially if they have re-offended.

So where do we start, first at home? Educate your self. I have discovered a website where you should start your search, www.mapsexoffender.com. Put in your address and find out where the offenders live near you. How many times have we heard of children being violated by a neighbor that the family knew? Don’t think it can’t happen to you. Make sure it doesn’t happen to you and your family! If your state does not have a registry then you have a lot more work to do then some of us. You have to some how get your state to start a registry and don’t give up. My mother had a way of dealing with the law when they wouldn’t listen to her and do anything about the drugs and prostitution in our neighborhood in California when I was a girl. She called them every night, sometimes several times. An officer told us later that it was her continued, unrelenting, persistent calls that put them in action. So do not take no for an answer. Your hard work will pay off.

Next, common sense, we’ve heard it many times. Talk to and educate your children on what to look for.  Have your children walk to and from school or the bus in a group. Not one at a time. If your child is the only one who rides the bus in your neighborhood, then meet your child at the bus. If that isn’t possible for some reason then demand that the school districts drop your child off and pick them up at your home. Again don’t take no for an answer. You want to know how to deal with the schools and get your way. Take your child out of school until they do what is safe for your child. My mother did that with my brother and a problem teacher one time. Three days later the school agreed to move my brother to another class if she would let him come back to school. Hit them in the pocket book, and believe me it works.

Yes my mother is a very strong stubborn woman, but her family is the most important thing to her.

Last, but definitely not least. Parents let’s plug back into our families. I may do a separate post on this later. But to scratch the surface, don’t send your children to the mall with some cash, go with them. Parents, monitor what your children wear. When we allow our 12 year old daughters to dress like a 20 year old hooker we might as well call the predator in our neighbor hood up and say “here Merry Christmas, here is my daughter.” I don’t care how much of a fit my daughter throws. She will never dress like some children I see.  Don’t allow your children to be at home alone! We saw what happened to the Groene family. If a sicko like Duncan can overtake a family and do what he did, think about it do you think your twelve year old daughter can defend herself let alone her younger siblings? There is so much more to this I will cover in a future post.

A bad apple in every bunch

This is just a warning. I have been getting posters trying to advertise their crap or their match maker sites on my blog. If this continues I will be forced to require that posters register. I hate to do that. So if you are not posting a comment related to the topic at hand then take your crap else where. I will continue to delete your posts.

Thank you

The Missing Ingredient

I was just talking to a co-worker the other day about something that I feel very strongly about. It's the missing ingredient in our young people today.

Have you ever stopped to think about how much homework our children have? How much book learning is crammed down their throats? Yet so many of our young people after graduating from high school are no where near being prepared for the work force. Why is that?

In our society we are so focused on book smarts and bringing our test scores up to the level of other countries that we have over looked the one ingredient that would help our young people start a healthy productive life after school. It's not college, or a degree, or high grades. It's a combination really of work ethics, common sense, honesty (both to themselves and others), and responsibility.

I remember when I was in high school many years ago. We had a required course called career training. Ha, was that a laugh. Sure you learned pretty much three things. How to look for a job, create a resume and cover letter, and go through an interview. Great so you get the job, now what? How do you keep it? How do you blend with other personalities? How do you take responsibility and be honest about your mistakes? How do you use common sense to deal with issues and avoid big mistakes? These are all things I see young people everyday in the working world lacking in.

I encounter young people who are amazed at how seriously I take my job. Well they are the ones that some day will have a degree, but won't be able to keep a job or move up to a place of leadership. Then they will set back and whine and complain that they are being discriminated against, that their boss is a jerk, that the world is against them, and many more I'm sure you've heard. Leadership, well there is another one that is hardly taught either.

I learned early on that hard work was more important then some education that there was no guarantee that I would be able to use. My first job, I was determined, was not going to be at a fast food joint. Burger grease made me nauseous. So much so that I didn't even like my husband (then boyfriend) to hug me until he had had a shower after work. I finally, after much patients and pursuing just the right job, got a job answering phones and making calls to customers at a photography studio. Two years later I was doing the sales. Then when the studio was bought out I saw they were running it into the ground and left before they fell flat on their face. I got on at Office Max. Again I worked hard even while trying to go to college. With in three months I was the receiving supervisor. It was at that moment that I realized I really didn't need the college education (I was going for a degree in Agriculture business, which I knew I may never use). That the work ethics, dedication, and hard work my dad had taught me was of more use to me then a college education. I was succeeding over other young people my age because they were lazy, constantly complaining, didn't use common sense to solve an issue, and were notorious for doing a half assed job when they did do their job. The list of jobs and then my career of sales goes on. I whole heartedly give my dad the credit for my success today. He created the foundation that I was able to build on. My mother did too, but in other ways, like teaching me not to be a doormate to others. That's a subject for another time. However, it was my mother who use to say "If you can't do a job right the first time it isn't worth doing at all."

Yes parents should create this foundation for their children, and I hope that I can do even half the job my parents did for my children. But in our society it is obvious to me that parents are not building that foundation for their children, and what our school system is doing really isn't preparing them either.

Now don't get me wrong. I think college is a wonderful thing. But if our young people don't first have the strong foundation to build on then their building block of knowledge will only crumble to the ground in the real world.