Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (Come Sunday) - January 24, 2010

As usual, a day late [well, you know the old saying!]. But then better late than...well, you know that one too!

Here's Randy's latest SNGF assignment:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

* Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.

And so, I respond:

I have a very eclectic set of hobbies and other interests. Genealogy for clients and my own pursuit of family history keeps me the most busy. [It's not just a hobby, it's my career, and my passion!]

But, believe it or not... I do get involved, and love doing other things!

* I love to read! I am an eclectic reader as well! [Get that from my Grandpa Dreher!] Believe it or not, once [many moons ago] I was living in Texas with my first husband. We didn't have any money. No car. So I couldn't even get to the town's library. I had a desire to read so badly, that I literally pulled the canned goods out of the cupboard, and read them one by one. Yep. That's how much I love to read! I just recently started a blog "The Books on My Shelf" that reviews each of the books I read. I literally read 3-4 new books every single week. When I run out of new material, I go back through my old books, or will quickly download an ebook, and read! I almost always have 2 books going at once, and sometimes 3! Just can't read, or learn enough!

* I love to study! I am one of those people, who until I discovered I could work at genealogy, couldn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up! I was 42 before I realized genealogy was my called profession. Until then? I'd been a salesman [many times over!], a waitress, a seamstress, a free-lance writer, and I had spent thirteen years as a geriatric nurse practitioner! I've even received two degrees in theology, and am an ordained non-denominational minister. I still study whatever catches my fancy. Right now... I'm searching for the perfect genealogy based degree program. [I think Boston University may be where I'm about to tap into next!]

* I love to crochet and knit. Although I never have the time any more! I used to do one or the other as I watched television in the evening. But I don't usually watch television in the evening any more. As a matter of fact, when the hubby is gone [he's a truck driver and gone Sunday through Friday] I never even turn the thing on! He will watch a little tv now and then; I don't even know why I have cable. It's really a wasted expense in our home! Anyway, back to the knitting and crocheting: I do want to crochet about 150 white snowflakes to go on my Christmas tree this coming Christmas. I'm going to craft an Ancestor Christmas tree this year. Photos of my ancestors and my husband's ancestors hanging amongst the crocheted snowflakes. Oh, I can picture it in my mind!!! Just hope I can make it look as pretty as my mind is showing it to me! Ha ha.

* I love to cook! Last year I had decided to work my way through Julia Childs, Emeril Lagasse, Paula Deen, Rachel Ray, and so many others! I have dozens of cookbooks! I decided I would do something similar to the theme behind Julie and Julia [the 2009 movie blockbuster]. So, I sat up a blog, and I actually got several absolutely yummy, rich, wonderful recipes down. Then my doctor put the hammer down! Lose some weight, shape up, or I was going to get a new outfit. Complete with angels wings and a white gown. I just wouldn't be wearing it in this life!!! So, I had to start working on my poor physical condition. I've since gone all natural and health conscious. [When I do ANYTHING I go all the way!] So, I joined a health conscious group. And I blog daily on their web site. I also changed my on cooking blog, [you can view it here], where I blog about once weekly [sometimes more often] with a new healthful, nutritious, recipe.

* I am a "grassroots" advocate. While I don't get out and physically campaign, I speak out in the manner in which I do best, and am trained to do. I write. I protest the way our country has taken a turn for, and I speak out to get Americans involved in protecting their own civil and national rights. I ferociously defend our constitutional rights. Again, I blog. It's the manner I speak out best in. I blog daily at The Grassroots American.. Yeah, recently, I've even been labeled a "tea-bagger". That's okay by me. Call me what you like! I'm just me!!!

* I love my pets. I have two right now. My little cranky Chihuahua, Chica, which my husband rescued for me in 2005 in Dallas, Texas. I was traveling with him on the road [I spent a year on the truck with him traveling the US - I documented those travels in thousands in photos - you can see a few at my Flickr site - just click on the "From the Road" folder.] And I have another rescue pet, Fred. Fred is a bit of a misnomer. Fred is a feline. A female feline. She started out as a "Daddy's little girl" cat, and actually lived on the truck with my hubby. Then she came home to stay one weekend, and has been here ever since. At night I sleep Chica lying on one side of me, and Fred on the other! [I sometimes add the pair in my blog posts! So be watching for glimpses of them!]

* And I love being with my children and grand-children. I have five grown children, who I seldom get to see! The are spread all over the country now [literally from Virginia's seacaost, all the way to Las Vegas, Nevada!] I have 12 grandchildren, counting the extended family. [Four are natural, but I love them all equally!]

* And I absolutely love, love, love my hubby. I've told the story before, so I won't bore anyone with it yet again, but he is my hero. My knight in shining armor. I literally live for the weekends, when he comes home and can spend one or two days here. He's usually too exhausted for us to do more than just know we're both home together. But the weekends are what makes my life!!!

Okay, I probably wrote a bit more than Randy was intending here! But then again, that's something else I LOVE to do! I write. I've had over 40 published genealogy research project and a memoir. I am in the process of getting "Christmas Recollections" published [remember the 24 advent days of Christmas blogging we did in December? Mine is being published, and will be available on Amazon.com and other online retailers in the near future. Watch for announcements!] I have had numerous newspaper stories and articles published by local papers [Mountain Messenger, The WV Daily News, Charleston Gazatte, The Monroe Watchman, etc.]. I have even spent a stint of time writing "how-to" manuals [back in the 1990's I even wrote a how-to manual on how to start a day-care in your home - ugh! Believe it or not, it sold pretty well!!!] I am currently working on my very first work of fiction. I won't give it all away, but it's a genealogical based story. Be watching for that as well! [Although I'm far from finished with it!]

And that concludes this lesson in NEVER asking me what I enjoy doing!!! You see, there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I enjoy most! And when you get me talking about all of those things.... well I never know when to shut up!

Okay, so let me tell you about...........