Genealogy Treasure

 I have been interested in my family ancestry for a number of years.  Lots of research has gone into finding information on so many of my ancestors.  This has been made easier with the invention of the home computer.  I can find Census records, birth and death certificates as well as a wealth of other information online.

But a few days ago I was handed a small, self printed book that is an absolute treasure trove of information.

My daughter came over and shared this book that was put together by one of her aunts on her Dad's side of the family.  It not only contains several generations of family history, it also contains family stories.  Lots of them.  It is an absolute treasure.

I don't expect my family to care much about their heritage just now.  After all, I was well past 50 years of age before I developed an interest.  But this small book is exactly what I am trying to do just in case one or two decided they want to know about their ancestors.

It is important to know where we come from.  Those who went before are the ones who made us who we are.  I know that many find the genealogy research is dry as dust.  I have been writing down the family stories when I remember them.  Some of my family seem to enjoy them.

With our world seemingly in chaos, I find it soothing to look back in time.  There is much to be learned.

Taking the Weekend Off

 One of the things I really enjoy doing in my retirement is researching my family tree.  And ornery old lady that I am, I find it fun to unearth the reprobates.  Not surprisingly, my ancestry has quite a few!

Today I find myself in the middle of research and I really want to continue, so I am spending the rest of my weekend diving into my gene pool!

While busy with that, I am making sure to pray for those caught in the eye of the storm we have been hearing about.  Here in Minnesota the temps are up from last evening's minus 18 degrees.  Still in the minus column, but better than it was.

Take care and stay safe.  See you all on Monday.

Scam Calls

 Soon after I retired, the scam calls began.  Seems they want to separate me from my Social Security money using a variety of silly reasons.  As long as I can't seem to stop the calls, this morning I decided to have a little fun with it.  The goal was to get them to hang up on me.

There are those who call me by name.  So those I told that she had died 3 days ago and nobody could talk to them until after the funeral.  CLICK.

Some try to sell me home improvement items.  New windows.  New house siding.  Other various and assorted items.  So when they ask if I am the home owner, I proudly tell them that yes, I am the owner of the pretty blue tent pitched down along the riverbank.  CLICK.

Then there are the ones who offer "End of Life" insurance.  I let them run through all of the stellar benefits for me and my family.  And when they ask my age to see if I qualify, I tell them I am 97 years old.  CLICK.

And then there is the ever popular "Car Warranty" scam.  Let them go through their script right up to the place where they asked the make and model of my car.  When I told them that I do not own a car, CLICK.  

Sometimes you just need to make your own fun!

I Want My Country Back

 I understand that I am officially a cranky old lady.  Come summer, God willing, I will hit the 80 year mark.  I am truly amazed that I have lasted this long.

But having acheived cranky old lady status and apparently having brain cells that still work, I have memories.  Lots of them.

I remember when kids could play outdoors all day without needing an adult holding their hands.  My friends and I rode our bikes all over town, played at the local park and in winter, ice skated at the local ice rink 5 blocks from my home.  And when we heard my friend Larry's mother call him (Lovely lady.  Voice could be heard 3 blocks away.) we all knew it was time to go home.  (Grin)

I remember when one of the neighbors would have his car parked in the driveway, hood up, trying to figure out what might be wrong with the engine.  And there would always be a couple of the neighbor men, leaning on the fenders, offering advice.

The ladies often met to sip coffee, nibble cookies and share gossip.  For a time I recall my mother and the neighbor ladies meeting once a month in what they called "The Fat Ladies Club."  None were fat, but all had senses of humor.  Hence the name.

Evenings spent on front porches with friends were common.  I can still taste the lemonade and homemade gingersnaps.

There was a time as a teenager when I would go with a couple of friends for lunch at a small family restaurant in the downtown part of my town.  I am told that harassment is common in those areas now.

I can't recall any place - city or rural areas - that we were afraid to go.  Now I am positive that I would not enter any downtown area of any city without protection.

I realize that the past years are not all bunnies and roses.  We had protests against the VietNam war.  There was a movement to insure civil rights for all.

But even then, our country wasn't so full of entitled people, those who don't seem interested in working but would rather live off taxpayers, those who don't seem to think they are responsible for their actions, and so many full of just plain hatred.

Yep.  I really do want my country back.

Why We Prepare

My son and his family visited me last week.  Always a joy!  During the conversation one of my adult granddaughters remarked that I was the most prepared person she knows.  And that got me to thinking about why this lifestyle is so important to me. 

Many moons ago when my 4 children were young, I found myself in a bad place.  Single Mom.  My job disappeared.  The bills continued.  We were living in a house that was on a plot of land where a garden could not be planted.  Hills and pine forest don't work well for planting seeds.

Before I could get our lives back under control, I ran out of food.  There is little more terrifying than to have hungry children and nothing to feed them.

I loaded my kids into the car.  We drove the few miles to my aunt and uncle's house.  It was late in the afternoon.  I knew that my aunt would insist we stay for supper.

The fact that my kids could eat outweighed the humiliation of not being able to take care of them myself.

Thankfully, things changed for the better right away.  Found another job.  Bought groceries.  Fed my family.

But then I did one more thing.  I moved.

Found an old farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere.  It was affordable.  It had a huge garden area.  It had a shed to house chickens.  There was an old car sitting on the property.  A friend spotted it and said he sure could use that rusted out car for parts.  Worked out a deal where he got the car and I got a milk cow.  Kids now had a source of milk and cream and butter.

You do what you have to do.  To this day, more years later than I care to count, I still feel like if one of my kids or grands or great-grands came to me hungry and I had nothing to feed them, I think it might break this old heart.

Those of us who are living this lifestyle, for that is exactly what preparedness is, have a story.  Most of us have gone through circumstances that brought us to this place.  Whatever the reason, the decision to prepare for bad times is one of the best deccisions we can make.

  

Bat Guano Crazy

 It seems that we are there.  Common sense has left the building and is replaced by insanity.

I live in Minnesota.  My apartment is located in a western suburb of Minneapolis.  So far, things seem quiet here.  But for how long?

I have been watching the local news concerning the events, including all of the deportation efforts.  And I am having a hard time understanding all of the objections to removing criminals from our country.  Seems to me that when a person decides to break our laws the minute they step onto United States soil, that person should not be surprised when they have to go back where they came from.

But what bothers me the most is the raw hatred of many of our citizens.  Minnesota nice?  Really?  The Minnesota Nice thing used to be true.  It still is outside the cities.  I am sure there are still good people living in Minneapolis.  Sadly, those are not the ones we hear about.  We hear about those who have stolen vast amounts of money from the rest of us.  We hear about those who do everything in their power to prevent law enforcement from rounding up the criminals.  And we hear the wailing of those who haven't yet figured out that if one plays stupid games like trying to run over officers, chances are pretty good they will win stupid prizes.

I have tried all my life to be a person who is fair, especially with those of different ethnicities.  Gowing up in the era of the Civil Rights Movement made me more aware.  But now I find that it is not the race of people I am angry with, but those who think it is OK to move into my state and steal billions of dollars from our citizens.

That ticks me off!

As does those who think it is OK to do everything in their power to prevent law enforcement from doing their jobs.  I'm pretty sure that some would want law enforcement to do their jobs if a crisis arose in their lives.  But not in this case. 

It is my prayer that the obnoxious Minnesota leaders - the ones who caused this mess in the first place - be put into handcuffs and orange jumpsuits, for that is exactly where they belong.

This and That

 Thinking about my Dad today.  I was loudly complaining one day years ago, after weeding the garden and mucking out the hog barn.  Dirty, sweaty and crabby I was.  Dad, in his usual calm fashion, informed me that there was no shame in being dirty from hard, honest work.  The shame came in when the dirt was from slovenly behavior and laziness.

This same Dad, when I was 12 years old, had me convinced that the new lawn mower sitting in the middle of the front yard, was indeed my birthday present.  He let me fuss and stew about that for maybe 15 minutes, after which he handed me the bat and baseball glove I had been begging for.  My family may not be famous, but we are known for having working senses of humor.  :)

I have some interesting conversations with the home health care nurses that I see three days a week.  Lately, they have been telling me about the overabundance of "Karen" types they deal with.  The kind of person who gets their knickers in a twist if the nurse is 5 minutes late in coming to care for them.  The ones who fail to understand that these traveling angels of mercy have 10 to 12 patients to see in a day and these patients reside miles apart.  Not to mention the one who thinks the nurse should vacuum their carpet and dust their furniture.  Really?

Yesterday was my grocery delivery day.  I have had the same delivery guy for several years now.  I know that he is honest and truthful.  In answering a question, he tells me that as far as he can see, the current tariffs aren't having much of an impact on the grocery stores as yet.  We have been hearing that store shelves will be empty, but so far, at least in my area, that hasn't happened.

However, someone who works for a large company that makes a variety of machines for lawn care as well as for other purposes, tells me that there is a problem with getting the parts needed to build the machines.  Plus, their overseas sales have dropped dramatically.  

I suppose there will be a variety of outcomes with this tariff thing.  I am not knowledgeable enough with the subject to offer an opinion.  I just hope and pray that we as a nation can find a way to be civil and friendly and happy and productive again.

I find that keeping up with all of the crazy in this world is challenging.  I have gotten to the place where I spend a small amount of time on what passes for news.  The rest of my time is spent on the things that matter to me.

Phone calls and visits with kids and grands are at the very top of my list.  My son gave me an iPad and programmed it for FaceTime.  So from time to time I get a face to face visit with family.  The most fun is when I get to go on a FT walk when they take the dog for a walk. For someone who is housebound, a walk down a trail while watching the pup scouring the bushes for bunnies, is a pure delight.

Prices in the grocery stores are still ridiculously high.  Don't expect that to change any time soon.  So I am getting back to making my own instead of relying on store bought.  Mixes, like hot chocolate and flavored rice and soup using dehydrated veggies.  Jennifer over at Prep School Daily has a ton of recipes and ideas for this kind of thing.  Her blog is listed on the right of this page.

And then there are the activities that I do just because we all need some joy in our lives.  Things that make me happy.  Genealogy research.  Sewing quilts.  Crocheting afghans.  And soon, I hope, scrapbooking old family photos.

We can either let ourselves dwell on the gloom and doom we see on the news or the internet and as a result, live in fear, or we can live our lives the way they are meant to be lived.  Keep an eye on what is happening around us, but enjoying life as much as possible.  

I choose the latter.