Genealogy- brush the dirt off those roots!

I was asked by one of my co-workers to help her find her grandmother's side of the family. Since I do this as a hobby and have freelanced for others out of state, I agreed to be hired by her.

I have been a member of the CT Society of Genealogists, Inc since 1983, although I've done it sporadically. I have my family done on some branches all the way back to 1590's....

I LOVE the process of the search, whether it's on my family or someone else's....It's like putting together a puzzle, and hope to get certain sections connected, then bringing the whole thing together is a gift. I love just getting a section at a time done. Even if it's not MY family. Sometimes, I end up knowing their family better than they do. Such a mystery.

Thankfully, they are mostly in CT at the moment, but all the resources online, make it great for branching the tree out. After my vacation, I hope to use a half-day Friday at some point to go to the CT State Library (Archives) to do some serious looking.

Lots of doings...and planning sewing too!

I have to plan what to take to Maine with us..... sewing-wise, too, since my dear hubby said to bring the sewing machine (we're going for two weeks). Something fun! Maybe a UFO or two. I should stock up on pillowcases for the grandkids birthdays and christmas (I use them for giftwrap)...

Another 'doings', is that after 18 yrs at a local dealership, my dear hubby gave his notice. They took it fine, mainly because he didn't say he was moving to their competition. He just said after 18 yrs he thought it was time to 'move on'... after all he is 63 this year. They asked if he was retiring or working parttime somewhere and he said "I don't know.... I just know it's time to move in another direction in my life"... That was SO well put. Didn't burn any bridges and hopes all goes well for the last two days.

After our vacation, he'll be starting at another Toyota place in the state. Working for someone he's worked with before and really likes!! It will be a 'flat-rate' place too, with potential to make lots of money. Hope so.... Good luck, honey. I support whatever makes you happy.

Now, what to pack for Maine?..... guess I need to check the laundry. I'll have the car packed by tomorrow night, since we're leaving at 5am. Sat. I hope to hit the Marden's in Ellsworth, ME for supplies (;-)  just love to get a bargain. Maybe I'll actually look at the rest of the store (not just the fabrics)!

Dan's First Naval Leave- May 2010

Dan, in the center, came home after naval school in Pensicola, FL for a 10 day visit before deploying to his permanent ship, the USS Carl Vinson, stationed in San Diego, CA. It was so nice to see him. Here he is with his friends, Kyle and Melissa and cousin Julie (my daughter).

Here he is with  his friend Melissa, his Uncle Bob (the builder) and his two nephews, Jonathan (in his lap) and Malakai.

His cousins enjoyed themselves,Kathy and Jenny and my stepdaughter, Amber.

Here is some of my brother Bob's family...Jonathan and wife Paula. Nice photo.  

We would have stayed longer, I'm sure, but there was a power outage 5 mins. before we got there, so we all were in the dark shadows for the party (we stayed 2 hrs). The kids built a bon-fire in the back yard, but the winds were REALLY whipping, so it may not have been a great idea to do THAT!! Hope we see him before we leave on vacation and he goes back. He certainly has grown up.... nice to see that.

Bob's Last House...

As my aunt Norma said when we pulled into the driveway... "That's his house?? The HOTEL??" LOL

Well, yeah, I guess it does look like it. Once you get to the house and walk up along the right side of it, the drop off is pretty sharp. My mom has a fit getting near the edge (she's 82).  I guess it IS pretty steep, and he does have a 2 yr old.

If I turn around, this is the side of the house that actually looks out on to the view. The porch enters into the living room (lower right) and the upper floor slider is in the master bedroom (little Jonathan's room is the left window sticking out).

This is the view from the upstairs bedroom porch.... nice.

This is the wrap-around porch. The window into the living room (the brick is the chimney).

I love the peek-a-boo spot above the porch... there will be windows on each wall. This is also from the master bedroom (I think I'd just like to live in THAT room!!)

And to think he designed this house from a picture in a magazine (just the outside of it). He 'winged' the inside rooms since it was just a Victorian house in the photo. He is truly a gifted architect and builder. He's doing almost all of it himself. Damn, you're good, Bob!!

Electricity and procrastination

We had our electrician come and fix our lines... the outside lines ...and change us from fuses to breakers.

He also added an outlet in the kitchen and fixed our chain lights downstairs (Malakai figured out that, even though he can't reach the chain (to the florescent lights) from his bed, if he climbed onto his mom's bed and jumped OUT and towards HIS bed, he could grab the string/chain.  This is the old chain he took out....

No matter that the string couldn't hold him. Hence, needing to have the electrician take apart the fixture and install a new chain). This time, I have the strings hitched up higher (I hope high enough).  We'll see...

The only problem was that due to the weather, he didn't hang around long enough (the electrician) to label ALL the breakers, but I said we would do it. Why do I do that???? Say that I'll get it finshed? I KNOW I won't. It'll drag on so long that when the building inspector comes to inspect, it won't have gotten done. Of course, he was nice and said he could either 'fail us' and we'd have to have the electrician come back to do that, or he'd 'pass us' and we'd have to promise to do it and call him to let him know that it's been done. I siad we'd do it. (Do I even have to tell you...? No, I haven't done it and it's a week later). TODAY, Lee and I WILL get it done. I hate electricity. Why did I agree to do it myself?  Besides, it's Mother's day. I invited my mom over for spaghetti and a movie ("It's Complicated"- given to me by Julie for mom's day). It was a fun day, but we have lots to do before we leave for vacation next Sat.

You wanna see the awful electrical lines on the outside of our house??? Here are some of them.

Pretty bad, huh? I wondered whether the meter hanging was a mistake or not. He said the inspector would okay the job then notify the electric company to reset it. Ok!