"Welcome to the Weekend Chat!" All Members Invited!! December 22nd - 24th, 2023 [closed]

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

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

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

Enjoy yourselves and spread the love!

Comments

Pip it sounds like it has been a wonderful year for you.  Our weather is sitting at 30 degrees. We are going to have a quiet day at home today. Enjoy seeing all your children plus. Sounds like you are a weekly reader too. I think my number is about 30 this year. My husband is more than 150 this year. He averages about 2-3 books a week.

Have a very Merry Christmas

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Kay, it sounds like you have a very good plan. My Coulter and Vernon families reached out to me, as well as the Stephens. The 2024 goal is to help build those family lines, and find connections.  I have been having fun cleaning up biographies, working on a few GEDCOMS, and the Rhode Island Challenge.  Merry Christmas

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Merry Christmas, Pip, to you and your family. I know you will enjoy having your family together this year. I can relate to missing your Mom. This is the 9th Christmas without my mom; still want to talk to her, especially during Christmas. It is good you have her snowflake ornaments to place on your tree. I have many of my mom's treasures that I use; will use her Moon and Star glasses for Christmas this year and her crocheted bedspread (I use it as a tablecloth rather than a bedspread). 

Hope your shoulder is healing nicely and will not give you any issues during the holidays.

@ Kay, I admire your spreadsheet work. I wonder if you were an IT person in your former life. Your post reminds me of my days working in Clinical informatics. I had spreadsheets for spreadsheets. I want to try this Gedcom situation for a Connect-a-thon. I uploaded a small one, about 50 people several months back. It took more time to validate the Gedcom than if I had added the folks individually and I still had to manually add the sources.I may try another one after the Thon and see if I can master the situation. I admire the WT members who thrive at thons.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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As a fellow reader, you will appreciate the gift(s) I'm so excited for my sister to open! She sent me a video of someone opening/talking about their book advent calendar, that she thought it would be so wonderful to have a new book every day. I couldn't quite afford 24 books, plus won't see her until Christmas Day so a countdown would no longer make sense, so I took a 12-days-of-Christmas angle and picked a dozen of my favorite reads of the last few years, books that I thought she'd enjoy or get something out of (or that I'd just enjoy discussing with her!) and wrapped them up. She can open them as she reads them, or all at once (I kind of hope she opts for all at once so I can see her face/tell her why I'm excited about each).

I know it's not as recent a loss as your mom, but my dad died 20 Dec 2012 so this time of year is always a challenge. I know many years have gone by, but it's still a time of year I always wish he were around to meet and hang out with his grandkids.

Wishing you and your family the happiest of holidays!!

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@Margaret. I was a software developer. But they made me a manager and I created a monster spreadsheet that projected the work breakdown structure for $25 million in 80 hour increments.

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Pip, I know that you will enjoy having all of your family around for at least part of the holidays. We sometimes have to take what we can get. As for books, I have two on the go to finish in order to reach 60 books this year.

I totally understand about missing your Mom. My Dad passed in 1977 when I was 12 and I still miss him at Christmas and other times. My Mom passed in Nov as I have mentioned. With her dementia and the distance I hadn’t celebrated Christmas with her for a few years but it is weird to think of her as being gone.

Merry Christmas!

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A happy Christmas to you and yours, Cousin! Nice that you'll have everyone home, even if a couple of them are called in to work.

The holidays have always been bittersweet for me. I come from a small family of nominal but non-churchgoing Protestants. My mom deplored the hypocrisy she saw in some so-called "Sunday Christians" and apparently felt everyone's spiritual beliefs were no one else's business but their own. I had my little books of Bible stories and liked playing Christmas carols on the piano, but was never pressured to attend religious services. A melancholy sort even as a kid, I could imagine future Christmases without family, and it made me sad. My husband is the youngest of five kids in a German family in which Christmas was celebrated, but not with the hoopla you see in some big families. They moved around a lot due to his dad's civil service job and so were sort of rootless. So we exchange a few small gifts, have a quiet meal together, and go about our daily pursuits. I will probably watch "It's a Wonderful Life," and my favorite holiday show, a PBS Nature documentary called "Christmas in Yellowstone." Out in the woods, or by the lake, are where I feel most closely connected to Spirit.

Blessings, D

P.S. Books! My parents learned early to make me open the gift  books last. Or else I'd spend the rest of Christmas Day with my nose in a book and thus, incommunicada. ;)

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D. Thank you for sharing.  Merry Christmas. I agree with your mother on some of her feelings, having been on the negative end by some of my family.  I am missing my father, my mother, and my sister very much this year.  I lost my only sister in April this year. She was 20 yrs and 10 days older than me but we talked weekly and visited often.  My mother's birthday is in 2 days, she would be 104. Tomorrow is rough day, I lost a brother and a husband on 26 December. I am thankful for a wonderful husband, an adopted brother (I adopted) and our two 4 legged babies, Teddy and Scotty.  We watched Home Alone (original) and White Christmas last night. My husband Tom and I are both avid readers, so sure there are books under the tree (waiting for him to wake up, he is only 80) LOL. I will have to check out the PBS "Christmas in Yellowstone" it sounds like it is delightful. I enjoyed very much seeing Yellowstone in person about 15 years ago. We are big supporters of PBS. I understand what you say about the nomad life for your husband. My father was a Finish Grader operator for Road Construction. I averaged 5 moves a year and 4 schools a year until High School. It prepared me for my time as an Army Surgical Intensive Care/Multiple Trauma Nurse with many moves/adventures.  Take care. Alice

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@Alice, thank you for your kind words. I really didn't want to be a Debbie Downer, but felt the need for honesty about my holiday feelings. Both my parents (divorced) are gone now and I had a complicated relationship with my father, who never supported my career choices; we loved each other but butted heads way too often. Got tired of being shouted down when I said something he disagreed with and learned just to walk away.

 I especially miss my grandmother Daisy, my strongest advocate. She had the best Depression stories. Her husband (my grandfather, whom sadly I never met as he died when my mother was a teenager) also worked in road construction, hauling gravel as a contractor. Before they were married, he wrote her every night from the road. I'm lucky to have his letters.

My husband is my rock and I don't know what I'd do without him. Sadly, we lost our 15-year-old Chow dog right before Thanksgiving; she gave us so much joy and it feels weird, as we've always had at least 1 dog (sometimes two or three).

My best to you and Tom and the critters. Stay busy, and read those books...it helps a lot!

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Very Merry Christmas to all. Have a safe and fun holiday season.   We went to our son’s house on Christmas Day and they made a white bean chili style soup that was very good then we layer several board games. Our 11 year old granddaughter is quite good at games. She won several rounds and we did not let her win.  She is very good at strategy and is also lucky a combo that is hard to beat. A good time was had by all. We had the other two grand children the day after Christmas and Henry fractured his tibia falling off his easy rider. he has a festive red cast to about mid calf. It is not a walking cast. He goes. Back in 3 weeks to check on his healing process. he said his leg feels better since getting the cast which goes down from mid calf over the ankle to about mid foot. I kept my Dad’s wheelchair and we leant it to Henry since he cealk and is too big to carry long distances. This way Mom can wheel him into his classroom and he can sit in the wheelchair and color and interact with his friends while protecting his leg. The wheelchair has all the leg attachments. And a good brake. So he can easily be moved in and out of it.  His Mom is a nurse and knows what she is doing so she was glad to get a complete light weight folding wheelchair to use for the time he will need for it.  I have leant it out several times and amglad I decided to keep it. My Dad died in 2025 but he is still helping people. He used to tell me helping people is the greatest gift you can give. My Dad was everyone’s friend and always had a kind word for anyone he met. I miss his upbeat attitude and warm way of helping people. I know he is with his great grandchildren because he loved playing with little ones and made sure all the kids in our neighborhood got Christmas presents.

My grandmother was a Christmas baby so she always got the most present because some were birthday gifts. She always liked opening gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner and keeping Christmas Day for church and prayers. She died in The 1980s. She was the baby of her family born in 1904. She lived through 2 worl wars. The Great Depression and the space age. She never learned to drive but loved going for rides. In the country. She traveled to Hawaii and Canada. Took several cruises and enjoyed her life.  My sons called he grey great old grandma and she loved when we dropped in to visit or take her out to lunch. My memories of her are all positive.  My Grandfather was a big man and loved to walk and fish a listen to Cardinal baseball. To this day I like listening to Cardinal baseball games on the radio. Reminds me of summer with my Dad and Grandpa. Good times.

We are hosting New Year’s Eve with friends from college. Been going back and forth with them for almost 50 years.

jim is a local Santa so Henry is always excited when he sees Jim and Santa knows his name and a lot about him. Jim and his wife have 5 grandchildren or it might be 6 or 7 as two new ones came this year.  Ron and Jim went to same grade school and high school and college. So they have stories and shared memories that go back over half a century      

hugs to all stay safe and well and celebrate your lives  I am so glad we get to meet here  pip I send warm hugs to you and yours  so glad you are here with us  I am going to end now so I can do more Secret Santa research

Answer 1

¡Buenos días a todos from the Old Pueblo! It is 7:00 am and 50F (10C) with an expected high of 61F (16.1C) with overcast skies and rain in Tucson.

Extra! Extra! Extra! I finally had the opportunity to chat with my sister, Bonny, via videophone to review her paternal WikiTree. She was gobsmacked at the amount of information and referred to Maria Lundholm and me as her ‘Secret Santas and very own special Holiday Elves.’ As I suspected, she also cried. Bonny cries at the drop of a hat, though. Maria, Bonny cannot thank you enough for all the information you provided on her Swedish ancestors. I tried to pronounce some of the towns, and she told me I sounded like the ‘Swedish Chef’ on Sesame Street. What she found most compelling is that she had a great grandfather and a great granduncle who served with Wisconsin units during the American Civil War. She really liked how the Civil War and Birth Location Stickers added to the appearance of the profiles. And to support our WikiTree connectedness, the great granduncle who served in the Civil War was married to a woman with a ‘Boettcher’ surname. Bonny has a friend, Lori, she grew up with who has lived in Germany (Bavaria) for some 25 years. Lori’s husband’s last name is Boettcher! Bonny is going to see if Gerd can determine if this Mary Boettcher is any relation to him, which would make Bonny a cousin to Gerd!

Bonny and I reviewed her paternal genealogy on Saturday night but did not have much time because she and the entire family left for a Holiday vacay touring six Caribbean islands by plane, cruise ship and possibly horseback. The family (roughly nine people) left on Tuesday for O’Hare airport. Their first stop was Puerto Rico. They arrived on Wednesday. I must wait for Bonny to upload her photos and narratives onto FaceBook (FB). I travel with them vicariously through Bonny’s FB travelogue. Many of her photos are as fine as the ones M Ross posts for her virtual vacays. Bonny got the photographer gene from my dad. He was all set to adopt her, but sadly he died of cancer before he/we could make it legal.

This week has been exhausting for so many reasons. I am still tidying up our collective nurse-authored policy paper. When I am first author on a paper, my OCD kicks in and it never seems to be good enough. I am putting some finishing touches on the paper that a colleague suggested and will check for submission guidelines through the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). Given that it is a policy paper, it needs to be reviewed by the AAN board. I was interrupted twice this week having to review a sleep paper for an American-based journal, and a second for a European-based journal. Doing these reviews is almost more exhausting than writing a paper for publication. Evaluations can support (or not) the publication of a paper and I try to be as fair and objective as possible.

What has not helped and has contributed to a lot of fatigue that interferes with getting my work done is that terrible right flank pain that has been problematic since around August. It does not help that I cannot get a steroid shot for the severe lumbar stenosis until the end of January. My pain specialist only provides five steroid shots per year given that they reduce the immune system and I have immune-related disorders. Since the Emergency Room ruled out the right kidney stone, I am thinking that I might be developing arthritis in my right hip and, perhaps, the lower right ribs. I will see the neurologist in January and will ask him to include imaging to assess for arthritis. I know for sure that I am developing arthritis in my right fingers. My knuckles are swollen and are very painful, particularly when word processing.

I still have not contacted the Guild of One Name Studies to take the lead on the Baldwin surname. I’ve been busy and tired but will contact them within the next week. I have, however, still been working on the Boys family of the Canterbury, Kent region, which extends back to my 25^th great grandparents. I have been working on the children of the 10^th through 14^th great grandparents given that many of them did not have biographies, or proper sourcing, or were GEDCOM uploads. I also found evidence to extend a 10^th great grandfather to an 11^th, possibly 12^th generation. I will have gone as far as I can with the Boys by next week, then will return to Buckinghamshire and add to the Baldwins. The Boys detour provided me with a very nice reference for some of these 15^th and 16^th century Baldwins. These are very nice Holiday gifts to me. I celebrated the Winter Solstice yesterday by working on some of the Boys family.

Pip, as ever, thank you for leading the Weekend Chat. Another week closer to seeing you in 2024! I also want to wish all my WikiTree friends and family a great fourth weekend of December 2023 AND a very Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Las Posadas, Soyal, Hannukah, Yule! Felices Fiestas y Saludos a todos!

 

Comments

Look who's first today!

Boettcher? I know a Boettcher that lives near us, Carol. He had an ancestor who served in the war. He joined WikiTree a while back, but hasn't done much with his family here. 

I have a thumb that I am sure is arthritic in the big joint. It is also very painful and I have no idea why it flares up every so often. Of course it's on my dominant (right) hand. My handwriting is already scribble, so that just makes it worse. I hope you get you pain issues sorted out. You've been dealing with them for so long. 

Hope you find time amidst all your writing and reviewing to get some rest and have an enjoyable Christmas.

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PIP! I am surprised to be first. It was rather scary and 'other worldly' to boot up, write my Chat, then find that NO ONE had posted anything other than you! Almost like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits segment on WikiTree. 

Now I am wondering if Boettcher might be a common surname. The only one I knew until Bonny's tree was our friends in Bavaria...Gerd and his mum (his dad and grandparents died several years ago),. 

Your right thumb sounds like my right fingers, except it is not coming and going. It seems to be getting worse, probably because I am old. I know a good cure, though! That would be when you visit Mike in Tucson and I benefit from hugs from you two!

Pip, my true and sincere best wishes for a happy Christmas to you and yours. You/your presence are presents to all of us all year round via chats, Thons and so much more on WikiTree and not just at Christmas or New Years. Thank you for all you do!  

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@ Pip: She may be first but yelling "FIRST COMMENT" on the internet gets ya nowhere. Well, no. It gets you scorn and ridicule. And maybe some bots.

@ Carol: Cuz! How are ya? Looks like you had a full week! I hope you and yours have a merry Christmas!

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Merry Christmas Carol!!

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Carol, thank you so much for telling us about your family branch reveal with Bonny! And that despite of all the stress with papers! Tell Bonny "God Jul" from me! 

In Sweden we celebrate Christmas on the 24th. God Jul Carol! God Jul everyone on the chat! 

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@Maria Lundholm...Thank you, Maria, for all of your wonderful help. I will be sure to tell Bonny when she returns from her family vacation. 'God Jul' and 'kram' to you as well.

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Carol, I sent you an e-card, it's not spam!

M

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I am so happy Bonny is happy!! It is such an amazing gift to be able to show someone pieces of their history. I've been having a great time RAWKing for that reason, and on my personal tree, Maryland recently released a number of records that were unavailable previously, so I was able to gift my grandmother with some interesting tidbits of research gleaned from the new data. I really love this hobby/obsession. Have a very happy holiday!

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I really wished my parents had died a few years later than they did.

They weren't young both 87 and died about 18 months apart, but if they had died 2 years later I would have had far more detailed information about their families.

There were big gaps on both sides back in the late 1700s, my dad would have been thrilled to know that I finally found his 3 x GGF who was a mystery for many years.

My mum would have been thrilled to know that she was probably a descendant of Edward the first.

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Pip, you can get some Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar & take that to clear out the arthritis in your thumb. Drink a cup 3x a day until the soreness is gone. If you have never taken ACV before, you can start out small (1 - 2 Tbs in 1 C distilled water) & work up to 1/4 C ACV & 3/4 C distilled water. What's happening is the calcium isn't getting fully absorbed into the system & the excess toxin has deposited sand-like particles on the outside of the bone & is rubbing on the soft tissue as you move the joint. This creates micro-tears in the soft tissue & the soft tissue gets inflamed. The white at the bottom of the Braggs bottle is the "goody" that will clear out the toxin & allow the micor-tears to heal. If it comes back again, just do another ACV protocol & it should be fine.

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@M...THANK YOU! I love it! Hugs to you & Robbie... 

M, my dad was 62 when he died of kidney cancer. One always thinks there will be plenty of time, but there isn't. 

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@Erin, she was really touched by the Holiday gift this year. My sincere best wishes to you and your family for a very Happy Christmas. Hugs to you...

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Mi prima, !feliz Navidad y prospero An~o Nuevo! My you are busy...a regular Energizer Bunny! I know the OCD well; always tweaking this or that project, which is never good enough.

I am sorry for your pain. May you find relief soon...my old ballet dancer joints complain rather loudly too at this unsettled weather we've been having. Maybe I'll have to be a snowbird like most other folks my age, go bake in the sun and soak in hot springs 3-4 months out of the year. We'll see.

Cheers!

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@Pat, thabks for the reminder...Bragg's is good stuff. My neighbor swears by it, so I'll have to start the regimen again. Havw a blessed holiday!

Answer 2

Merry Christmas to all the Weekend Chatters!

Hi from southern Ontario, 

Chez moi/at home: what's been happening here? It looks like we will have a green Christmas. The forecast for the 25th is 9 C with sun and cloud. No snow in the 14 day forecast. 

Tree decorating and baking and not much else. I have a few presents to wrap, Christmas dinner is planned, and I hope everything needed has already been bought, because I don’t intend to go to the grocery store over the weekend. 

On Wednesday we bought ourselves new bicycles for Christmas, I must have shrunk and got quite stiff, my old 10 speed is now too high for me to get on and off without lying it down, and my feet don’t reach the ground even when the seat is as low as it goes. 

We bought folding bikes! We often take bikes on our road trips and these folding bikes will fit into the back of our Rav much more easily than the old 10 speeds. Even better, the distributor for this company is about 20 minutes drive from home, so we were able to pick them up, got a walk in customer discount, no shipping cost, the same bikes on Amazon were about $100 more and got bags for the bikes that they fit into when they are folded. 

WikiTree and family history: I have been working on the Alexander family members buried at Alton, that all came to halt because profiles were created for some of the family members back in 2015, the people died in the 1940s and listed them as living, the PM has not been active since 2015 so I have to wait for the requisite amount of time to do an Unresponsive profile manager request. 

What else: The new bike!

Photo from Solorock.com

Comments

What a cool bike, M! Being a fold-up will make it easier for you to travel with. How great is that?

No snow in the forecast here. We are expecting rain this weekend. No fun as I will have to be out and about for three services at church. 

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Hi M! Your folding bikes look very cool and what a bargain. I try not to buy things on Amazon because Jeff Bezos already has enough of my $$$. I purchased a very cool 'handmade' bike when I lived in Japan...with air brakes. It is over 30 years old now and still works when I ride it. I have to be careful of falls because of the MS, but I do love that old bike.

I am 'at home' in Tucson for the holidays. I did not fly to the midwest to see family this year given cost and some health issues. I will be having Christmas dinner with friends; a colleague I have known since I returned from East Asia in 1994 and his wife who are more like family now than friends/co-workers. Their son is joining us from Colorado. It will be a desert saquaro Christmas here, but I am hoping to see snow capped Catalinas on Christmas.

My Sincere Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas to you and Robbie. Thank you so much for your splendid virtual vacations that enrich our chats every week. Hugs to you and the family.

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Merry Christmas M!

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That is a cool bike! Merry Christmas!

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I'm sorry about the unresponsive manager, that is frustrating. Hopefully it gets resolved. I don't like when something outside my control holds up progress! I can't imagine why they would have listed them as living.

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Erin, I got a reply from the PM, they were only active for about 3 weeks and will get back to me with more details. I'm guessing that because of being very new they did not know much about creating profiles.

And I'm not sure but I think that back then in 2015 there were far fewer rules about profile creation, there are so many profiles mostly created by Gedcom that have no dates in the early days of WT.

The profiles were not Gedcom created but could not have been edited since their creation because of the privacy levels they have. The person does have an Ancestry tree with more information but that doesn't help here on WT.

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I  finished the Alexander family other than being able to add to the private profiles created in 2015!

And discovered another connection to a family buried at Alton, that means adding to the descendants of a profile I already created.

Answer 3

We're planning a fairly quiet Christmas, with one of our daughter's family, as we remember loved ones who recently went on ahead.  Yesterday, Cousin Frank said he's dropping in for coffee, today......looking forward to the visit......he seems to be getting pretty handy with a parachute.  We wish our leader, Pip, his family and fellow WikiTree friends the Best of the Christmas Season,

Comments

Now you're talking.....

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Merry Christmas John!

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"The best of the Christmas season" is all right here: friends, family, and togetherness. Happy holidays chat friend!

Answer 4

Thank You for hosting the Chat Pip.

 Musings from Northeast Ohio on Americas North Coast. 

This last week we got 10.7 inches of snow on Monday, then it started melting. We are expecting a wet Christmas but a white New Years. The family members who had back surgery are improving better than expected but both have a long recovery ahead. the down side this week is one of Diane's nephews died, he was only 48.

 His Obituary, 

Jeremy Michael Marn February 16, 1975 – December 18, 2023 Obituary of Jeremy Michael Marn IN THE CARE OF Myers Funeral Home Jeremy M. Marn, 48 of Huntington passed away on December 18, 2023 at his residence. Jeremy was a 1993 graduate of North Manchester High School. He served in the National Guard and the United States Coast Guard. He worked at Bendix for over ten years prior to working at the United States Postal Service. Jeremy held numerous black belts in the martial arts and he enjoyed playing video games. He was born on February 16, 1975 in Wabash, Indiana, a son of John and Kathleen (Mansfield) Marn. He was united in marriage to Dawn Gooley on January 1, 2000. Dawn survives. Additional survivors include: a son: Blayde Marn of Huntington; two daughters: Eaden Marn and Athena Marn both of Huntington; his parents: John and Kathy Marn of Fort Wayne; a brother: John (Erika) Marn of Fort Wayne; a sister: Holly (Scott) Goodwin. Graveside service will, be held at a later date at the Marion National Cemetery in Marion, Indiana. I did add him to the tree but since his father is still living and I am not on the trusted list for him I could not connect him.

 Genealogy, Nothing much but I did complete a merge from my watchlist.

Comments

Merry Christmas Dale!

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Well, every merge makes the tree more accurate! So definitely not "nothing much"!

I'm so sorry to hear about the nephew. I know his family will have a rough holiday, sending best wishes for those remembering loved ones.

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May his memory be a blessing, Dale. Best wishes to all.

Answer 5

Hails and horns Wikipeeps!

 Wow. I can't believe we're only three days away from Christmas. The year has just flown by, it seems. I hope everyone is doing well. Pip! Thanks for hosting, man!

On the genealogy front, I posted a blog about my cousin in Canada: https://allroadhaverhill.blogspot.com/2023/12/52-ancestors-week-51-cousins.html

That was a fun one to do. Cousins are indeed awesome!

I didn't do much on Wikitree as I was busy with a lot of other things. We unfortunately had to go to a wake for one of my dad's friends.  He seems to be okay with everything. At least he saw one of the other grumpy old Italian men there and they talked for a while....a LONG while. They had a lot to catch up on and you don't want to interupt them.

I did  some work on this tree for a celeb: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Picerni-1

I might have to redo the bio some. Azure helped with a few things here and there. If I have spare time I might polish it up some more. Right now it's the best I could do. The bio, I think, needs more work. Also, i had to add profiles that just had "Italy" in it.  That was not fun. Would be more helpful to have the name of the town, ya know?

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! =D

Comments

Merry Christmas Chris!

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Thanks, John!

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Ciao Cousin Chris, great job on the profile! Sincere best wishes for a Merry Christmas!

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Thanks, Carol! Merry Christmas!

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Sorry to hear about your dad's friend. Glad he had some healing conversations. I have always been able to soothe my heart a bit getting together with old friends and family at wakes.

Cousins ARE awesome! Looking forward to seeing some of mine at Christmas, and super curious about a supposed first cousin DNA match of someone I don't know...thought I knew all my cousins...maybe found a mystery here.

Hope you have a great holiday. Thanks for all the work you put in, all year. Sending hugs.

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Hey Chris, my friend was at our local Costco at noon today and it was not very busy at all. Strange!

Merry Christmas!

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@ Erin: Yeah. My dad seems to be okay now. Good luck with the cousin!

@ Liza: Perhaps it was a calm before the storm. Ya never know! Merry Christmas!

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Buon Natale, Chris!

Answer 6

Virtual Vacation!

Let’s go somewhere warm!  In late November 2012 we looked after grandkids for a weekend, it was miserably cold and snowy. 

We visited the Cambridge Butterfly Conservatory in Waterloo region, which is located about 45 minutes west of our house, it is set in 107 acres of environmentally sensitive bog, it includes a 10,800 square foot indoor tropical garden with many free-flying butterflies, birds and turtles and waterfalls. 

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You can watch butterflies emerge from their chrysalis and take their first flight, this is the butterfly nursery where the butterfly larvae are kept until they have changed into butterflies, they hang from the racks until their wings have expanded and dried. 

Learn about gardening for butterflies, and have butterflies land on your head. This is one of our granddaughters 

Learn about feeding butterflies!

Comments

Hi M, This is a really lovely virtual vacay! The photographs are just beautiful and so vivid I feel as though the they will fly from my screen and land on my hand, hair, desk. Most precious is the photo of your granddaughter with the butterflis on her cap and her hand. Thank you so much for this lovely vacay.

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That looks positively Awesome for a holiday. Agreed with the adorable pic of your grand daughter.

Answer 7

Top of the Morning or should I say Merry Christmas, or X-mas not to offend, Happy Holiday's, Seasons Greetings or maybe Happy Festivus! Me, I am guaranteed a quiet Christmas. After I call and yell at mom (she's getting hard of hearing) I think I will turn my phone off and close my laptop. Enjoy!

Comments

Merry Christmas brother!

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Just droppin' in with some 'Best Wishes'............

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Right back at you guys. Did cousin Frank land OK?

Answer 8

Howdy folks! Seasons Greetings from a wet and mild central Oklahoma USA! The temps have been in the 50s and 60s and we're supposed to get up to 2 inches of rain between today and Sunday. Christmas morning, however, a cold front is going to blow through with winds at 30-40 mph and wind chills in the teens and 20s. Ugh.

Like pretty much everyone, we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Tomorrow the grandgirl and the others are coming over. We found a good deal on a prime rib roast, so that's what we'll be having for 1st Christmas supper, along with potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and a few other sides. Sunday we will go to Brook's moms place. 2nd Christmas dinner will be ham and duck. I'll be making bagna cauda, and, at my nieces request, I'm bringing our ice cream maker to make my Wendy's frosty knock off recipe. Christmas day, Brook and I are going to stay home, and relax in the peace and quiet. There's a tri tip in the freezer that I'm going to thaw out and that will be the main course for 3rd Christmas dinner. I'm dreaming of a carnivores Christmas.

I went on my last walk for the week this morning, and on the trail I walk lives an elderly lady who I have become friends with. We always say hi and chat about what's happening in our lives at the time. This morning she hollered at me from her garage, where she had a table of baked goods. She then handed me a shopping bag and said "take whatever you want". I got a foil pan of cinnamon rolls that she had baked this morning, and a tin of butterscotch fudge. What can I say? Fat guys gonna fat guy.

Thanks Pip, for being the host with the most. If you're in our area and need a place to hang out on Christmas Day, shoot me a PM and I'll tell you how to get here. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Until next time......

Santa

Comments

I have a prime rib, one of my favorites, in the freezer.......I used to carve off a bone and take it in my lunch and would get asked, "What have you got there, a sore hand?"

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Carnivores Christmas sounds great. I can relate, since my father was a butcher.

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Great photo, Kay.......brings back memories!

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Great pic, Kay! I miss the old butcher shops. Merry Christmas!

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Hi John.

Prime rib is one of my faves as well. I'm looking forward to it. Merry Christmas!

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'The Store', a property where I grew up, has an old-fashioned butcher shop. You pay a little more but well worth it.

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Happy holidays from the other side of the Red River.

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Glad you got some homemade goodies! One of the best parts of the holidays. Grateful for all your help on greeters and WT in general. Happy holidays!

Answer 9

Today in Everett, Washington it is raining a lot and the gutters are gurgling.

Yesterday was the solstice and the feast of St. Thomas, the doubting Apostle. In this darkest time of year, when hopes are lowest, the Church reminds us of the hope of Christmas.

We went looking for a Christmas tree this week. Trees are harder to find. It used to be that the tree lots would pop up in supermarket and hardware store parking lots. But we cannot recall seeing them there this season at all. We were prepared to drive all the way to Snohomish and cut down a tree at a tree farm, or, as I was saying last week, rent a living tree for a few years. But we got a tip that Home Depot had them. We went into the Home Depot parking lot, where immigrants hang out waiting for hourly jobs, as in Matthew 20:7, and into a back area where there were many trees, most of them larger than what we needed. Husband and I picked out a small one. On Sunday our children will decorate it.

We are having our young friend from church over for Christmas, and I have been thinking what gift to give him, perhaps a 6-pack of IPA...

I have spent nearly all my time trying to connect baseball player Vada Pinson to WikiTree. I have had two false leads and one possible connection that, alas, probably goes through someone living. Sitting here at this computer makes my back hurt, though, but I get locked into the search.

I miss travel, getting out to visit people, and I miss vacations in general. I hope we can go to the Oregon coast in the spring.

Christmas blessings to you all.

Comments

Merry Christmas, Margaret!

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I hope you have fun with your kids decorating the tree. My kids just decorated my mom's tree yesterday, and it was really nice going through the memories of Christmas yesteryears and the origins of ornaments.

Good luck with your ball player, I know it can be difficult trying and trying for a connection but remember, every profile is a new opportunity!

I hope you have a very happy holiday.

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Thank you, Erin.

Answer 10

Ok, finally done. All Suggestions for profiles I manage are complete.

All Suggestions for profiles related to me, through Generation 8, are also complete. I have some to clean up for Generations 9 and 10.

It was a lot of work. But I'm happy that it's done. Now to keep it clean.

Comments

Congratulations!!!

I just went and looked at mine. Oh my goodness. I think I get to some of the "father dead before birth" and go running away down a different rabbit hole.

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Well done Eric !

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Congrats Eric! I know all your hard work has inspired many of us to go through our own lists, and this all makes the tree healthier.

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Thank you, Kay, M, and Erin! 

Answer 11

On this day:

1947: Italy gets a republican constitution

1989: The Brandenburg Gate is opened again after the fall of the Berlin wall

1992: The Archives of Terror are discovered in Paraguay

Comments

Hi Jelena, I will go with the opening of the Brandenburg Gate today.

Answer 12

Christmas 2023 - High Street Colchester Outside the Salvation Army Charity shop in High Street, Colchester, Salvation Army Musicians playing Christmas Carols. 

Comments

Merry Christmas everyone......

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Merry Christmas Chris! Thanks for the photo from Colchester!

Answer 13

Hello all! 

This is my first week really getting into WT and my first Weekend Chat! Over the past week I've gotten the family trees that have been handed down to me in here. I've now started to add sources and improve bios for those ancestors. 

I have managed to connect one line of my family to the larger tree and found a profile already in existence for my 5x great grandfather, thank you, Gary Bunker!

I'm also very pleased to announce I have hit my first brick wall (with many more to come)! Because I have so many branches to track, having one stop-gap is quite helpful in terms of being able to push that branch to the side while I flesh out the others! I am hoping to finish fleshing out for the others in the next few weeks.

Comments

How exciting, so many directions to travel on your genealogy journey! Whole-hearted welcome and best wishes for a happy holiday for you.

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Welcome Mason! And Season’s Greetings!

Answer 14

Merry Christmas and good evening from stormy and rainy Germany

where we were happy that we only had to do grocery shopping today, while we had to go to the next city yesterday because the plug of the router died completely when it got a shortcut. I thought first it was the router itself that died, but fortunately it was only the plug and our electrician neighbor had a fitting one. The cable is too short though, so that we can't put the router on its usual place, but at least the router works. Between the years (aka after Christmas) I will go again in the city and order a proper plug with a long enough cable. Tonight we put up our Christmas tree, it'll be decorated tomorrow.

Do you remember I said in the beginning of September that cancer is a B.... because my removed cousin has stage 4 cancer? Well, this cousin died last Sunday, and when we chatted with her aunt, we also heard that the mother-in-law of another removed cousin of mine had also died recently. So this made, in connection with two dead infants of my recently dead cousins, my CC7 increase by 5 in the last four weeks. I'd rather keep my CC7 low to be honest.

Genealogy wise, I helped a German WikiTreer with the Serbian part of her One-Name-Study and cleaned the locations of her (then Austrian, now Serbian) profiles. Beside that, I was today able to initiate a merge of an unconnected and a connected profile. When this merge is done, more than 2300 profiles will get connected to the Big Tree. It is the biggest unconnected branch with German profiles in it, but it also has a bunch of Hungarian profiles in it. I also tried to work on one of my big unconnected Eckstädt branches, but I will continue with that tomorrow. For now I'm too tired.

Have a nice time with family and friends, stay safe!

Comments

So sorry about your cousins. Cancer is a B....

Congrats on connecting that big branch.

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Hi Jelena, I am so sorry to hear deaths in your family. These losses are difficult to bear; however, the grief seems even more compounded during the holidays.

My sincere best wishes to you and your mum for a Happy Christmas. Sending hugs...

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So very sorry for your losses. I hope you are able to have some happiness in your holiday even if sadness creeps in.

Answer 15

I had a disappointing phone call this afternoon, and some of you may not agree with me, but I had been invited to my grandson's sponsored Christmas party on Saturday evening.
The guests are my son and his wife, his three single adult children and myself and grandson's girlfriend.  Girlfriend was diagnosed three days ago with Covid but not very ill.  Problem?  She lives full time in the house we are meeting in and my grandson has been totally exposed to her, the house may be full of germs (although she is not going to be there), and even though I had my three fall boosters, flu, RSV, and covid, I just turned 87 and do not want to be down with any infections.  I manage to live alone and there is no one to easily care for me if I get sick.  I have seen all of them except my granddaughter within the last three months.  I would be more interested in seeing the updating my grandson has been doing to his childhood home but he tells me I can come another time and see it.  He just lives up the road from me so I will take him up on it later.

On a happier note, I received an injection of cortisone in my hip two weeks ago and it is the difference of day and night.
I had no pain during the procedure after the tech spent five minutes telling me all about it and his warnings of everything that could happen.  After ten days I can bend over, I can tie my shoelace if I prop my foot up on the peanut butter jar, (no more roman soldier sandal style tying my laces around my ankle and in knots in front of my shin).
All knee pain and spasms are gone.
My former orthopedic doctor just took one look and sent me for 2 hip x-rays.  One look at them and he diagnosed severe arthritis.  My hip surgeon, his physician assistant, and nurse had seen 1-4 x-rays a month for 6 months and kept insisting nothing was wrong and it was all in my head.
I requested a conference with the Dr. but was denied by the nurse and PA because "We all talk to each other".  I couldn't get around them.  Thank heavens for second opinions with my checkup from knee surgery four years ago.

Happy holidays to every one who will be celebrating this season.  Last year this area got a five foot snow blizzard on Christmas week.  Thank heaven I was in Florida.  This year we are having a mild winter, three small 2-3 inch snow falls that melt off in a few days.  I am no longer going to Florida.
Too much traffic hassles, too expensive, and most of my friends have died or moved.  I have more chat friends here than anywhere.  Everyone is so appreciated.

Comments

Beulah, I agree, we, I think are the only people in our big circle of family and acquaintances who have not had Covid and I'm happy to have it stay that way.

We have had 5 Covid vaccinations, flu shots, pneumonia shots, we don't 'do lunch', nowhere around here other than fast food and a few chain restaurants.

Plus I'm so annoyed with what seems to be the current version of customer service, yes your food took 40 minutes, yes it was the wrong food and covered in slime. but you can select the tip of up to 50% when you pay with your credit card.

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Our news reporters are telling our area is expanding with a new variant cases.  Apparently it is coming up from the south. Just reenforcement for my decision.

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I'm so glad the cortisone is helping!! Reduction of pain has exponential benefits to life quality. Wishing you a happy, healthy holiday. Staying away from germs is the right choice, even if it seems a little sad to do so.

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I agree Beulah, I would stay away from that house. I have had 6 Covid shots so far but I still got Covid between shots 4 & 5 at Easter almost 2 years ago. (Fortunately it was short-lived.) I am a transplant recipient so my immunity is compromised. I still wear a mask in stores and try to keep away from sick people.

One of my friends ended up with Covid for the first time after a work Christmas party. Our group of 6 friends was supposed to get together about a week later but we decided to post-pone it until Dec 29th. Stay safe!

Merry Christmas!

Answer 16

Greetings from Rochester, Minnesota!!

Current Temp: 42°F

Wind Chill or lack thereof: 39°F

For anyone in Tucson, Arizona USA. I want to see pictures of Christmas lights and lumenarias (Lighted sand candles in paper bags).

Minus the snow, I will celebrate this beautiful season. I was able to send Christmas cards finally.

The position is going pretty well. I'm learning about life/work balance and shockingly enough.... I'm doing well.

I was asked about my strengths and development of skills learned. I had my monthly evaluation which was very insightful. I mentioned that I need to document better.

I hope that I can better at communicating.

As far as genealogy, I was impressed by the information I received from my cousin. I'm nervous to chat with this person.

Comments

Hi Eileen, I won't be going out much; however, if I do see luminarias I will get photos for you. I won't be going to Winterhaven this year, otherwise I would get photos for you.

My sincere best wishes for a Merry Christmas. Sending hugs.

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Congrats on sending cards out! That is one thing I always wished I were organized enough to do. Every year I think I will be doing it, then the time runs by so quickly and I never get to it. I hope my family and friends know I love them and think of them even though I suck at getting things in the mail. Have a happy holiday.

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Don't worry Carol. I found this:

https://youtu.be/-e6at2Hz3PM

Answer 17

MERRY CHRISTMAS WEEKEND! With a long weekend ahead, I hope everyone has a wonderful time with family or friends or just a nice quiet holiday. Our got off to a successful beginning this afternoon with "Cookie Day" with the three grandsons. We started this when the youngest was about three years old and he is now 16. The other two are 18 and 22 and they still like to have our cookie day. I have to say their cookie decorating skills have improved during the years and they are still just as much fun! And, I am just as tired when done!!

On the genealogy front I have been working through DNA matches on Ancestry to help find out who a 3x great grandmother might be. I am far from finished with sorting all the matches but there are no clues showing up so far.

Since Thanksgiving I have battled allergies that began a turn for the worse on Wednesday when I developed a low-grade temp. On Thursday I messaged my doctor on the portal and if only took about 15 minutes until there was a prescription at my pharmacy. This is nothing new for me this time of year and I am grateful I don't have to fight this through the Christmas weekend!

For those who will travel - stay safe and well. For those who will be celebrating at home, enjoy not fighting the crowds and traffic (I am in this category - only driving a few miles on Christmas Day). Whatever all of you do, have a blessed Christmas (Holiday) weekend. See you again next week on Friday.

Comments

Cookie day sounds like a lot of fun and great memories made! My grandmother came to my mom's to decorate the tree with the kids, I love getting everyone together and reminiscing about the origins of the ornaments. Have a happy holiday and safe travels even if a very short distance!

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Erin, our cookie time was a great success! The boys dove right in and created some really nice cookies. Meanwhile, I kept the cutting and baking going to stay ahead of them. Still creating memories with them after all these years.

I think the tree decorating is a great idea! And knowing the origin of the ornaments is really special.

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I did my cookie day yesterday for my nieces and nephews. Chocolate chip.

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Fantastic Eileen! I bet they had a lot of fun with Aunt Eileen!!

Answer 18

Is it really another weekend again?  I'm finally moved into my new home in Tucson, most of the boxes unpacked (all the important ones anyway) and as of yesterday I have a buyer for my old house, so I can finally relax for a bit.   What I really like about my new neighborhood is it still feels like "desert" out here.  It's gotten too cold at night to hear the coyotes out on the golf course, but I still see hummingbirds and the occasional cotton-tail rabbit in my backyard, and the skies are so dark that during the recent Geminid shower I was able to watch meteors from my kitchen table after it got too chilly to sit out on the patio.

With all the packing, diriving to and fro and getting the old place fixed up to sell, I've allowed myself occasional sessions on Wikitree as a treat.  I went back to my brick wall ancestor Asahal Freeman in colonial New Jersey and started working down some of his other lines of descent.  that led me to Richard Freeman's very detailed 1828 will, which is an absolute treasure trove.  It names one son, nine grandchildren (including those of a married daughter), several nieghbors, and goes into considerable detail as to how his land and posessions should be sold/rented to provide an income for his widow.  It seems he was land rich but quite aware that his wife would need cash to maintain herself.  

Do any of you watch Mary Berry's cooking shows on PBS?  I tried out two of her holiday recipies yesterday, the ruby red cabbage and the brussels sprouts with peas and cashews.  Both came out wonderfully, expecially the spiced cabbage.  To top it off an old friend unexpectedly dropped by having been on the road all day, so we had a nice feast and time to catch up.

Hope everyone is healthy, happy, and sound as the year winds down.  Stay safe from the crazy weather, the crazy drivers, and the crazy shoppers.

-Nan

P.S. It is raining buckets tonight as I write this.

Comments

I love Dame Mary!! I miss her on Great British Bake Off. I have always wanted to try some of her recipes but am a big chicken when it comes to the kitchen. She does have a way of making things seem accessible though, even to inexperienced cooks. I'm so glad your recipes turned out! It feels good to get a good return on effort investment.

Have a happy holiday.

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What neighborhood are you in? I miss my hometown so much!

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Eileen, I'm out in Sun City Oro Valley and loving being on the "edge of town".  Last night I was leaving my cousin's Christmas Eve dinner and surprised ten javelina in her front yard!  They love to chow down on the acorns from her oak tree.

Answer 19

On this day:

1896: The Germany polar explorer Eduard Dallmann dies

1913: The Federal Reserve is founded

1943: Queen Silvia of Sweden is born. Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag!

Comments

Hi Jelena, because Maria Lundholm and I worked on my kid sister's paternal line for a Christmas present and has Swedish ancestry, I will go with Queen Silvia of Sweden.

Answer 20

Greetings y'all from Texoma, the land of pneumonia weather. I mean seriously. 40 degree temp swings around here are enough to keep the sinuses blocked up secure. But the empty nest is a bustle again since my daughter and her young boys moved back. We finally shoehorned us all in with some creative (non-existent) storage. But I haven't laughed so hard since the girls were there age. This year everyone is making out like bandits from Santa. And God Bless Goodwill. It wasn't a necessity but I just find the old-school toys are just as good as the remote controlled drones and electronics. Little boogie got some vintage early 70's fisher price toys that I know he'll love. And the older monkey got a vintage Rockem Sockem Robots. Let the mahem begin. Even got the older daughter a "new" PS1 since her's hit the skids last year. As for me well my old work pc (as opposed to my gaming rig) went psychotic last month. In the middle of the night around thanksgiving it just started a start up/fail/reset death loop. Was able to save my hard drives but the machine is kissed. So my present (early) was a new motherboard that even shadows my gaming rig. So I'm spending the weekend reconfiguring everything. And moving stuff around.

But with the full (stuffed) house, we are all doing Christmas at the older daughter's place in Paris (Tx, not the City of Lights). All 3 grandsons together again. and like I said earlier, Let the mayhem begin!!!!

Comments

I can almost hear the laughter here in New York.  Enjoy.  As you probably know, they will be gone in what seems only this time next year until you look at the calendar and the year is 2038.

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Great to have everyone together even if it is a little cramped! Enjoy the hectic-ness. May you all have a happy holiday.