DNA

My son got one of those DNA kits. All he had to do was spit (pardon me) into the tube, seal everything, and mail it in to the company. After a suitable wait the company sends email giving the results of your ancestry.

As you might have guessed from this blog I am so interested with family; where we came from, who we are, and even who we can be in the future. That is why I write this. I want my children and grandchildren to know how we fit into this world.

My family stories tell part of the story. I can tell the funny stories and the sad stories that give a little insight into the personalities of individual members of the family. I can give a little insight into why we are a loud boisterous bunch. I can mention physical and personality quirks that seem to belong to different members of the family beginning with some before me and continuing after me.

The DNA results are not quite as complete as we had hoped. There were many general areas that ancestors could be found. I suppose that could be because of the movements of groups of people in earlier times.

However some results were more specific. My son is 3% Neanderthal. Interesting. They say most people of European heritage have some Neanderthal genetically but 3% is on the high side.

And he is 0.1% Japanese. Where did that come from? As far as I knew we were mostly Northern European but DNA says that while we are Northern European that is not all there is.

The good thing is that since my children have the same heritage this works for all of them. The others do not have to send away for theirs unless they want to. However if I want to know mine I will have to spend the money. I may just do that.

There is also a program that comes along with the DNA test results. It is for a family tree. I have wanted to do one for a long time but I did not know how to start. I know there are programs you can buy but I felt they would be a large expense for what little I know about where we come from.

So I decided to help my son fill it out with what information I have. He started by placing his father's and my names along with his brothers and sister in the chart. Then he asked for help.

I know a lot of birthdays and a few birth places. What really surprised me was that I have a lot more information than I thought I had. I can go back to my great-grandparents and even some great-greats.
It is time consuming and maybe even a little addictive.

I also came across a website called findagrave.com. You can search a cemetery for family names there. It has been helpful and I found it quite by accident.

So I have been busily filling in the chart. I have not even begun to work on my husband's side of the family but I am anxious to get it ready. Then I can surprise my sister-in-law with what I have and ask for some help with the rest. It will be something nice for us to leave our family.

Also this program has an upgrade that you can pay for. It will connect you to family trees that contain any of the members of your own family tree. That way you can extend even further. I have already been notified of a couple of members who are part of other trees. Two of them I knew had done family trees so I am excited.

I am planning a trip to the historical society in a small town I lived in as a child. It holds information for the whole county. Most of my relatives lived in that county at one time or another.

I also will visit the graves of one set of grandparents and a bunch of other relatives who are in a local cemetery. Often spouses and children are buried nearby.

I am looking forward to digging ever deeper and discovering more of who I am.

Where To Sleep?

 I can sleep almost any place. I most certainly prefer a nice bed but I have been camping and I can sleep there too.

At the same time I like my bed and my room. I have everything I need in there. My bed is made up the way I like it. I can watch the television shows I want to watch. I have my electronic book reader and my books.

I used to aggravate my daughter-in-law. They had purchased a new set of living room furniture. There was something about the couch. Every time I sat down I was asleep within a matter of minutes. I still think she believed I waited to go visit them to catch a nap. The couch was no more comfortable than any other as far as I could tell. I just fell asleep there.

My daughter and I decided to drive and see my mother and sister. It was about an 8 hour drive. When my daughter-in-law said she would like to go and take my grandchildren who were babies I was happy to have the extra company. She and my daughter could take turns keeping me awake.

After my daughter and I picked them up we drove about 3 minutes to the interstate highway. My grandson and granddaughter were happily cooing to each other in the back seat. Their mother was between them sound asleep. I looked over at my daughter so we could have a quick chuckle. My daughter was sleeping just as soundly! So much for company.

The babies stayed awake most of the trip which we were taking at night to avoid traffic. The girls slept soundly until I woke them up about 50 miles from our destination and told them I needed someone to either drive or keep me awake.

The man I married could sleep wherever he was when he felt tired. A bed, a couch, the ground, the greasy floor at work, the backseat of the car, or the floor at home were just a few of the places he slept.

I have mentioned before that my husband had a habit of drinking too much. Of course drinking also made him sleepy. The bars he liked were too far from where we lived to allow him to make it home. Many nights he did not come home.

A lot of people would ask me if I worried about him not coming home at night. I would laugh and tell them that even if he did not come home I knew where he was.

He would either go to his brother's house or my parent's house. It would be late so he just let himself in and made himself comfortable.

My father did not sleep well if he was not home in his own bed. He slept hard and snored loud. When he awoke he jumped straight up to stand beside the bed. No casually rolling over and sitting on the edge of the bed to wake up for him.

My husband had taken a job in another state so of course the children and I moved there too. My parents missed us and wanted to spend Christmas with us so they and my younger brother and sister came to visit.

Daddy got off work on Friday and drove home to pack the car and grab a quick meal. They then drove all night to get to our house.

When they got there I fixed breakfast. Then we opened Christmas gifts. The kids all had a good time showing off what they got to everybody. They were especially happy to have Grandpa there.

Late in the afternoon as I was preparing supper my father turned to my mother and said, "You ready to head for home?"

He was tired finally and wanted to be in his own bed. Mom made him stay for the whole weekend but I could tell he was anxious to be home.

My oldest son also likes his own bed. Other than having the dog in there with him he wants no company. He likes the feeling of having no one able to intrude on his rest.

I guess when it comes to it a person should sleep wherever he/she is most comfortable.

Don't Touch That Dial

My third brother was about three years old. He had a morning routine. After the rest of us went to school he was given a penny. Mom watched him walk up to the corner and the woman in the store watched him walk the rest of the way to the store where he bought a piece of candy. Then she watched him to the corner and Mom watched him the rest of the way home.

Once at home my brother would watch the morning children's programs. This was his morning ritual every day.

One morning he hurriedly told my mother to turn the television off because he had to go to the bathroom. He did not want to miss anything so he would have her turn it back on when he was ready.

Mom thought it was hilarious. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense to a three-year-old. If the TV is not on neither is the program.

Now that happened in the middle 1950's. The town we lived in had 1, count it, 1 television channel available. It was a combination of the three networks. Whatever programs the heads of the station chose were what we watched.

Many years passed. We had a new way to watch movies on television. VCR's had been invented. You hooked the machine up to the television. Then you chose the movie you wished to see. There was a cartridge you injected into the machine. After a bit of fiddling with buttons you could watch the movie in the luxury of your own home.

VCR's were so simple a child could operate them. My nephew enjoyed watching movies. Unfortunately he was also a mischievous child.  My sister had to invest in a new DVD machine after my nephew inserted a Hershey bar and then a cartridge.

Then came the DVD player. Instead of those bulky cartridges you had a flat disc to insert into the machine attached to your television. The discs were not going to stick in the machine. They were also much easier to store. They took up so much less space.

Someone came up with the idea to store programs seen on television. If you were not at home when your favorite program came on you could program your DVR to save it for you to watch at your leisure.

Or what if there were two programs on at the same time and they were both important to you? You could watch one and record one to watch later. Perhaps you could not be at home. Record them both for later. Progress is a wonderful thing.

Now I have a DVR that will allow for 5 programs at the same time! Imagine that. There are three televisions in my home. One in the living room, one in my room, and one in my son's room. Each TV in bedrooms is connected to the main DVR in the living room.

I can watch programs that I have saved in my room before I go to sleep. If I see something I would like to record for another time I can issue the order from my room.

I can search for my favorite actors or an upcoming program to set a recording so I do not forget about it. I can even set series recordings for programs that I watch weekly or daily. There are even programs like baseball that are seasonal. If I set a series recording for my favorite team the games will begin recording when the new season begins. I do not have to reset the series recordings.

Technology makes all this possible. And it is such a frivolous thing. If I were to miss an episode of my favorite soap opera I would survive. If I miss one baseball game out of the season I would probably live. But I do not have to.

If all this is possible just think what else can be done. Most of these improvements were not even imagined once. Now we realize that if we can imagine something we can make it so. Marvelous.

It's All For The Kids

Most parents have had to take part in raising funds for some activity for the children. Baseball teams, dance classes, and even school programs cost money. Fundraisers are held to help pay for these things.

At school bake sales were the easiest and most popular. Cupcakes, cookies, and brownies would be available to the children and teachers for a small fee. The baked goods were dutifully cooked by parents.

The hard part of a bake sale was finding parents willing to man the table to sell those cupcakes. "I have to work", or "I have babies to take care of", or any excuse seemed to work. For everyone but me.

I would take my smaller children with me. They had small toys and books to keep them occupied while Mom sold baked items. We actually had a decent time. And I took them to lunch at a nearby cafe so the children were happy.

My grandchildren often sold candy for fundraisers. A big box of overpriced candy bars was given to each child. My grandchildren took two boxes, That was because Grandma would take a box to work and sell it. Sometimes I took a couple because more than one grandchild had a fundraiser.

What I would do is set the box in the break area. People like a snack at break time. In the box I placed an envelope with my name and the reason for the fundraiser. Also the price was included. People could help themselves and I did not have to approach anyone and try to "guilt" them into buying. It worked very well and I sold a lot of candy that way.

A newer type of fundraiser is selling pizza kits. Inside the box are the makings for individual pizzas. To make them you cover the dough with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Then you bake them for a few minutes and , voila, pizza for one.

They seem to be very popular. I know they were selling a lot of them for a while.

One of my co-workers had a daughter attending a school for students planning on entering the field of arts. That could be painting, broadcasting, or movies. For their fundraiser they sold pies.

These pies came frozen. Some were fruit pies that had to be baked. Some were cream pies that only had to be defrosted. They were delicious. Unfortunately the pies were expensive.

For the Mothers' Club of my daughter's dance class we were trying to decide which fundraiser we would have. I was tired of selling candy and baking cupcakes.

I suggested that we do something a bit more personal. Mother's Day was coming soon. Why not give personalized phone calls? The person purchasing the greeting would let us know what time they wished us to call. That way they could stand ready with flowers and/or candy to present after the call.

We sold a lot of calls. And they were very well received. We had several poems that had nice sentiments that we read and then we told them who had sent them the call.

I called the mother of a young man who was a friend of my youngest brother. I had known him since he was a little boy.

So at the appointed time I called. I read a nice poem and told her it was from her son. She thanked me and hung up.

After a time my phone rang. It was my brother's friend. He told me that he had almost called right after I spoke to his mother to yell at me.

Apparently she was so touched by the wishes sent to her by her son that she began to cry uncontrollably. When he tried to find out what was wrong all she could do was point to the phone. He thoought I had said something to hurt her.

When she finally calmed down enough to talk she told him that was the nicest thing he had ever done for her. She gave him a huge hug and kiss. Then he was touched. He just wanted to thank me.

It just goes to show that some of the nicest gifts are from the heart not the pocketbook.

It has been a while since I was involved in raising funds. I am grateful for that. I am also grateful for the experiences when I was involved.

What The ...!?!

I was married to a strange person. He was interesting but at times so strange.

One Saturday afternoon we were watching an old movie on television. He fell asleep with his head on my lap.

All of a sudden he sat up screaming, "LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT!!!"

I frantically tried to see what I was in danger from as I tried to shrink at the same time. I was screaming, "WHAT? WHAT?"

"Don't you see it?"

"See what?"

" That chain coming at us!"

What? I was ducking and weaving and bobbing to get away from an imaginary chain? He was having a bad dream about a loose chain in a warehouse that was falling and going to hit us. At least he was covering me to protect me.

When he woke up later I told him about the incident and he said he almost remembered the dream.

On occasion he would walk in his sleep. I would normally just guide him back to the place he had been sleeping and tell him about it later.

Of course he denied doing it. He thought I was making it up. So one day when he got up I let him go.

I watched him carefully but I did not interfere in any way. The children were laughing the whole time.

My husband walked from the couch to the front door. He opened the front door and went through it. We had an enclosed porch. He crossed that and went through that door, down the front steps and on outside.

We lived on the corner so I readied myself in case he tried to cross the street. As he reached the corner of the sidewalk he suddenly looked up and got a sheepish look on his face. He was now awake.

He turned the corner and walked to the backyard gate. I went in the front door. He came in through the back door.

My husband was furious. He said we would have let him walk right out into the street. We laughed because we knew he was in no danger.

There was no guessing some of the things my husband would do. One time he decided that he could sell to some of the marijuana smokers.So we went on vacation to visit his parents.

While there he and his brother went out and cut down a bunch of the hemp weed that grows wild here. When back home in the big city he began the "curing" process.

He and his brother made drying racks and put them in his brother's basement. Then they spread the plants out on the racks and left them there.

In a couple of weeks they went down to check on it. All those hemp plants had turned moldy. They simply turned them over.

Eventually the plants dried. They flaked the leaves off. They crumbled them a bit and put them in baggies.

Do you know that some people will smoke anything? My husband and his brother actually made a small bit of money on the venture. Thankfully they never tried it again.

Cleaning car parts in my kitchen sink was a favorite irritation of his. Irritation to me that is. It drove me crazy.

But the biggest "What the ...." of all was the day I came home and found a transmission on my couch!
A transmission!

My darling husband had decided he wanted to watch TV while he rebuilt his transmission. He did not want to get grease and transmission fluid all over the floor so he put it on the couch. Logical right? Even more strange is that he found some idiot to help him carry the transmission in.

As I said my husband was interesting. But he was strange.

What To Drink?

I grew up drinking milk. It was plentiful because of the farms we lived on and Grandpa had. And it was good for me. I still like milk.

When my husband and I married neither of us drank coffee. We still drank milk.

My mother made Kool-Aid too. I never did like it... too sweet. We could not afford soda pop which we called just pop.

When we got our allowance we would head straight for the store. It would be Saturday which was the day of the free show where they showed free movies to occupy the children while their parents did the weekly shopping.

At the store I would buy a candy bar for a nickel and a pop for 11 cents. (When I returned the empty bottle to the store I would get 1 cent back because of the deposit.) We had to save a nickel for the collection plate at church. The pop was a real treat.

As I got older I had pop a little more often. First my friends and I all drank RC Cola. We put peanuts in it and felt ever so urbane. I drank RC until moving to another town.

Coca Cola  was what we drank there. I drank Coke until after I was married. I decided one day I was addicted to Coke so I quit drinking it.

I drank Pepsi instead! I drank at least an eight pack of Pepsi every week. I drank Pepsi until I decided to stop drinking pop altogether.

If I was out partying there were several drinks I liked. My favorite was Long Island iced tea. It is made using all the clear liquors with enough cola to make it the color of iced tea. It is a sipping drink that can last all night.

In the summer there is nothing as refreshing as an ice cold beer on a hot day. I am not much of a beer drinker but it is a good summer beverage.

However these days I drink water or tea.

Hot tea is good for breakfast or on a chilly day. When I was a child we put sugar in tea. My mother always said that if I ever learned to drink tea without sugar I would not drink it any other way.

A friend from Scotland introduced me to tea with milk in it to help me stop using sugar. Of course her tea was so much better than what I make but it worked. I now drink tea with nothing added.

Iced tea is cool and refreshing. It is good on hot days but I drink it all year.

Most of the time I drink water. It is refreshing too.

Where I live the water from the faucet tastes terrible. And my son was giving it to the dog but it made her sick. So we drink bottled water.

I spend more than I should to buy the individual bottles but they are so handy. We buy big jugs for the dog and other uses.

So these days I drink no pop at all. I cannot remember the last time I had an alcoholic drink of any kind. I do not like coffee. I drink milk occasionally. I drink iced tea and water now.

I Want My Daddy

My father was a creature of habit. He liked his schedule and he liked being at home and sleeping in his own bed.

When I was grown with a family of my own I was often at my parents' house when Daddy came home from work. He always arrived at the same time. When the door opened we knew it was him and we were ready to greet him.

For a long time after he died if someone came through the door at that time we would look up expecting to see him. It was a let down when it was not my father.

When I was a little girl of about 4 and 5 years old my father came home every day at the same time too. He worked at a munitions factory.

His work uniform was different. It was white. All the pockets were strips of cloth instead of a big patch enclosing the pocket. He told me that was so no one would take a lighter or matches into the factory.

I thought that was funny. When I was much older and Daddy no longer worked there I realized that it was to lessen the threat of an accidental explosion.

Every day when it was almost time for Daddy to come home from work I would run into the kitchen and hide behind the door. When he came in from work I would jump out from behind the door and scare him. Of course he was always surprised.

After he was properly "shocked" he would pick me up for a big hug as he walked over to give my mother a hello kiss.. He would ask what was for supper then go change into normal clothes. It was my favorite time of the day.

One day Mom started supper so I went into my hiding place to wait anxiously for my daddy. I crouched with a smile on my face in expectation of scaring Daddy. Mom just kept fixing supper with a wry grin on her face.

Finally she said, "Daddy's not coming home tonight."

I shrieked. I began to cry. Finally I went to Mom and whined, "But I want a Daddy just like everybody else!"

She began to chuckle as she gave me a hug. She tried to explain to me about overtime. She told me my father would be home the next night when it was time. I was inconsolable. I wanted my Daddy.

Of course he came home the next day. I waited behind the door and scared him. All was right with the world.