Random 5 for August 18, 2024 – Ancestors, traits, radio, home projects, side effects

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What a surprise! – As an active ancestry researcher (sort of) from time to time I get “tips” from the big ancestry folks (Ancestry.com, Family Search or 23andme). Mostly it’s information I already have. Today I got a lead on the last name of my 4th great grandmother along with her date of birth (1790). I enjoy filling in the blanks. I wish I had pictures. I received a picture of my mother’s sister’s wedding (circa 1917-ish) from one of her grandkids which had my maternal grandfather in it. He died young and it’s the only picture of him I have. My uncle (his oldest son) looked just like him (I don’t have a picture of my uncle though). One of the other uncles looked more like his mother. The rest were a mix of both parents.

Speaking of genetic research – I also received an email comparing my “characteristics” (as determined by my spit) to some of the Olympic competitors. Some traits I share with one of the volleyball players includes good balance (nope), naturally stronger (nope), muscle fatigue (yes, yes, yes) and performs choreography easily (that’s a matter of opinion!). Good for a laugh!

Local radio – I love to listen to our local oldies radio station. The two guys on the morning show are a hoot. Even if I must endure car commercials (thank God they are not political), it’s always fun. They have a “sing the next line” contest. They play a song to a point and you sing the next line. If you win you get tickets to a concert featuring the artist of the song. This past week it was a Rod Stewart song. Some people call in and stumble over the words. Some sing it quietly. This week the guy who called in sang it with gusto and sang it right through the chorus. He had me singing it in the car. Now that’s a great way to wake up in the morning except the song turned out to be an ear worm I sang all day.

It will really be over, maybe – This week we get the shower door installed in our new bathroom. That will be the official end of the project (except for anything decorative I want to do). We have been using it for two weeks with a tension rod and waterproof curtain. We love it but I don’t think I can go through another life upheaving project. This is an aspect of aging I didn’t expect. Now I understand why my mom didn’t want to do house improvements as she got older.

A summer lost – Another side effect of the shower project was the lost summer. The project was more stressful than I imagined. There was lots of cleaning and hovering to be sure nothing slipped through the cracks. By the time the workers were gone, I was exhausted and routine things that I would do during the day were done nights and weekends (laundry, general cleaning and just flopping on a chair). When the project was almost completed and we moved back to the bedroom, I realized that we hadn’t seen friends since the start. I have a few “meet ups” scheduled to get my fix before I get “peopled out.” I like a touch of human interaction, not too much and not too little. Yeah, weird.

So how was your week? Enjoy the ear worm!

 

61 thoughts on “Random 5 for August 18, 2024 – Ancestors, traits, radio, home projects, side effects”

  3. I am relieved to hear your shower and bathroom project are nearing the end. Your projects are a lot of work and bring disruption, but I’m sure the finished project is beautiful! And the Ancestry information is so interesting. I mostly dabble, but I can get really lost in the details when I do get started!

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    • I subscribe to Ancestry.com. Every time I think I will drop the membership, I find something fascinating. I don’t touch it for months and then I’m right back in that rabbit hole. I am fascinated with what our ancestors went through to get us to the point we’re at. And the “whys” are fascinating too. Truly it’s not different than immigrants today.

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  4. Wait, you had to have the shower door installed? So you weren’t actually done?? You misled us! 😉 Congrats again. I am just jealous, so ignore my antics. Kudos to you for continuing with the genealogy. I started that during lockdown a tiny bit (inspired by one of your posts then, I’m sure), but I sort of forgot about it. I really should go back and dive back into it at some point. Thanks for the earworm… NOT! – Marty

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    • I know. I’m a positive thinking person! The main stuff was done. Today I got an email from the contractor asking for the final payment. I said not until it’s ALL done. The electrical outlets/switches need some work and the plumber connected the hot and cold incorrectly which makes my brain work harder. I want to see the shower doors installed correctly too. Details, details. Yes, dive right in that ancestry stuff and lose valuable time you will never get back!

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  5. I understand getting too peopled out. I also understand the unexpected stress of having a bathroom remodeled. For such a small space, so many decisions. Enjoy the rest of your August.

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  6. My summer flew by because we moved my mother out of her home of forty years into an independent living facility. Though she resisted, she is ecstatic now. She is addicted to walking with her new friends, goes to exercise class, and has gained weight. She drinks milk at breakfast and is eating well, for the first time in years. I am so glad she’s happy. Sometimes when we call or try to schedule a visit, she has to put us off because she has plans. I am so delighted for her.

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    • That sounds wonderful. People are very resistant about going into these places but their social life picks up and they have friends easily available. When I get to that stage I will gleefully move.

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  7. Wow, those were some tight pants Rod was rocking in the video!! It’s been awhile since I thoght of him. I wonder what ever happened to him? I love oldies music. I hate that 80’s and 90’s is now oldies though. Seems weird.

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  8. My friend Carol is really into researching her family tree and has paid genealogists from other countries to track down relatives or “report” on what they found. She even had one of them do some legwork on my father and contact me with the info … he was very helpful. And my neighbor Marge Aubin made a friend for life when she was on Ancestry, early on doing research and came upon a relative (many times removed) with the same name – they stayed in contact for years.

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    • It’s really easy to do research on line. All the old records going back to the 1700s are getting digitized. About 20 years ago a friend of mine (who was adopted) researched to find her parents. She had to go to Ellis Island to look at records. Those are all digitized too. I am surprised that your dad never contacted you. I’m not sure how you can abandon a child.

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      • When Carol did my tree, I learned some things I didn’t know before. My great-grandmother had 10 kids … one died shortly after birth. I never knew about that child. I did know that her husband died young and she married his brother. I didn’t know there were records from Ellis Island – that is interesting. It bothered my mother greatly that he never contacted me, his only child.

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  10. I remember how daring “If you think I’m sexy” seemed when it came out. Now, not so much.

    “I like a touch of human interaction, not too much and not too little.” That’s not weird. I feel the same.

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    • There is nothing quite like a 70+ year old woman belting out “If you think I’m sexy and you want my body…” Fortunately the car windows were up! I blame my job for my stance on people but it’s probably more my nature as it runs in the family.

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  11. I hope you can look forward to a more relaxing summer next year. I have a few small projects I keep putting off, like painting the bathroom and laundry room. First it was smokey from the wildfires, so I wouldn’t be able to open windows, then too hot. Maybe in the fall….or next year.

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  12. Hi, Kate- I greatly admire anyone who diligently researches their family tree and then sticks with it. Years ago, I filled in our basic family tree, then promptly ran away screaming, and never returned. Although I generally love rabbit holes, ancestry.com had way too many for me and I could never relax with all of those shaking leaves. 😀

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    • I can’t look up anything without losing 5 or 6 hours. One person leads to another. When I was doing it more actively, it wouldn’t be unusual for me to miss dinnertime and work until bedtime. It was that fascinating and addictive!

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  13. When I was young and my mother-in-law was about my age now, she would go on any day trips we wanted, but she wanted to be home by night to sleep in her own bed. I didn’t understand it. As we age, we get into a routine, and although to someone else it may seem boring to us it feels comfortable. It goes along with your wanting to see people but not get peopled out. I get it. 🙂

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  14. No more projects here… weather gods, please just get us through hurricane season.
    “I like a touch of human interaction, not too much and not too little.”— That’s not weird. I have the exact same thought.
    Our week was HOT and HUMID! But yesterday and today… lovely… thank you to the midwest that let a cold front drop down our way.
    Enjoy your “meet ups.” 🙂

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  17. As far as I’m concerned, summer wore it’s welcome out long ago. So glad that your bathroom is almost completely finished (sans the ‘finishing touches’). I say sit back, regain your vitality with a few people visits and enjoy the calm.

    My parents were fairly silent about their history and I wish I knew how to find out about the family. You don’t know what you don’t know and I’m not sure how to figure out pulling on the right threads with Ancestry. Sigh.

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  18. Remodels and repairs are exhausting. Still putting off redoing the bathroom. Maybe when the kid moves out some day! I figure by then we will probably need to make it a walk-in shower and add bars for us to grab so we don’t break our hips.

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  19. Now that the bathroom is 99.9999999% complete (except for your “touches”) you have time to notice you haven’t had people around (other than worker bees). Kind of nice thinking about getting back into the routine again – the one where you didn’t have a house full of strangers! As for ancestry – having parents who simply would NOT discuss their family didn’t seem weird to me when I was a kid but now that I’m not (a kid) I wonder what they were hiding! I’m suspicious…..I’m thinking prison? murderers? I’ve often thought of trying to find out but know zip about doing that. On the other hand, my life is relatively uncomplicated right now so why get into something that may be a “can of worms” ??!!!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • It won’t be a can of worms although you may get some stories. My maternal grandmother’s grand nephew is in jail for killing his ex and her new boyfriend. I remember reading about the murders but had no idea that there was a very slight connection. We weren’t close to that side of the family. In fact I had never met any of them.

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  20. My summer disappeared too, only partly due to the kitchen renovation (which was smoother than your bathroom one!) But ringworm and heavy pet sitting schedule made summer an endless challenge and no fun at all. Things are quieting now, and I, too, am looking ahead with time for more fun stuff.

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