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.