MaryAnn, I feelterrible that I did not remember your birthday.  How could I forget!? When you catch up to me.  I think I should feel different, but my mind says I can do so much,but not my body, says no,no.   I set in a chair to day and planted myhugh flower pot.  3 prim rose red, white and blue. 3dusty miller and one larger plant of candytuffs in the middle. weeee!
now! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Thank you Bubble, Sandy and Gloria for the birthday wishes.  I've had quite a day so far and so far I have received no gifts!  That's another "thanks".  I did receive a lovely bouquet from Tom in Indps and Dot brought over a vase with some yellow tulips.  My Tom took me to lunch at a nearby restaurant where I had part of a fish sandwich and a piece of peanut butter pie - delicious.  I'll finish the sandwich for supper as Tom will not be here.  Saturday Erin will be up from Indy (not for my birthday, but good timing) and she, her mother, maybe Dot, Tom and I will go to the restaurant where we were today for lunch.  Tom said I was a "cheap date" because my lunch was free because of my birthday. 

I have decided to go to Indy one more time and now I have to contact those involved to make arrangements.  Others have jobs and schedules and I try to work around them.  At present I would plan to be there on a weekend so I can go to their church one last time, too, because I want to be able to say 'good bye" to their minister and his wife as they have become friends along with some of the congregation. 

I am sure we are at 70 degrees now, the first time since last fall.  No coat was necessary today; it is just lovely.

Gloria, my little blue flowers are showing now.  They are bulbs and die down in a few days.  Then we can plant other annuals.  The condo is thinking Spring too and I've got to send in a waiver telling them that I will or will not manage my garden.  My next door neighbor has done a good job for me although she doesn't pay attention to what plants are there, even when I've told her.  Since neither Tom nor I can do the work, I don't say anything.  I'm lucky my blue flowers and the snow drops come up.  Beggars can't be choosers.  I may buy a hanging basket or two, but that will be all.  I do have some myrtle that I'd like to move.  We shall see!!!

Mary Ann

MaryAnn, I use to have snow drops, but I have not seen them in the last few years.  My coral bells still  come up, next to my butter fly bush, which really grew tall. I had Keith cut it way back.   Last year I only saw one Monarch butterfly. We use to have so many. I also plan to buy some hanging baskets.  I also will buy a pot with mixed plants for one of myplanters

10:06 and there is a ship coming into Duluth canal.

Mary Ann

Happy Birthday Mary Ann!

Thank you,  Beverly.  It was a great day!

Mary Ann

Mary ann - Glad you had such a nice birthday yesterday!

Last night I saw right after you posted, that there was a ship coming into the Duluth Canal.  I looked right away, but only saw a totally black screen.  I checked the other cams, and the only one that wasn't black, was the bridge, which was well lighted, and looked pretty.  Some day, I'm sure I'll see one of the big ships, but I think it will have to be in the daytime? 

Nothing happening here today.  I just got home from Whole Foods, where they were having some good sale prices on things that we like.  So now I'm all set for dinner tonight, and can just relax and read or maybe watch an afternoon movie?

Joan - Is this the day that Candy has her doctor appointment?  I hope he gives her a prescription for something that will make her feel much better.   

Marilyn, it was hard to see the ship, but I did follow it all the way from start to finish.  You are right about the bridge cam being bright.  The water was calm so the reflection was clear.  I look every once in a while during the day and sometimes see a ship but most often not.

Tom's daughter just stopped by for a few minutes.  She's always in a rush, but she works seven days a week from about 10 am to 7 pm.  Her boss is her SO. 

There's a ship in the Duluth Harbor, but it's been through the canal and bridge and is headed for one of the docks.  I wish I had checked in about a half hour earlier.

It's still close to 55 degrees now at 8:20 pm. 

Mary Ann

Hi Everyone.  It is a truly beautiful morning here in South Carolina with no rain in the forecast.  Only two things on my schedule for today.  I will make a quick trip to Aldi's for a few items later this morning and a stop at the Hardware store for one item. This evening we will have our dinner at the Church and then Scott and Elizabeth will be coming out to the house. We had a great visit yesterday with the lady from Tennessee, a very special friend, who visited with us for 3 hours, including lunch.   

It looks like the posting I wrote here yesterday didn't get saved.  I will try to do better today. 

Marilyne, we such our main meal yesterday with the hot chicken salad casserole that we had for our lunch with our friend from Tennessee as she traveled to Florence, South Carolina. 

Mary Ann, I am sure you are always happy to be Tom's daughter even if it is a short visit. 

Larry, I think you meant "with Tom's daughter" as it would be difficult for me to BE Tom's daughter.  I think he is sometimes accused of being my son, however.

Tom got home from breakfast and said it is beautiful out.  I can see the sun is shining but I have't gotten up to look out a window to see what the sky looks like.

Other than that, I'll probably do what I do most days - nothing of importance!

Mary Ann

After a couple of beautiful days, we're back to overcast and cool this morning.  Supposed to stay this way for a week, and then we'll have some more sunshine.  Typical April weather.

I don't know what I'll do today to keep busy.  I did accomplish a few things yesterday, but then I sat down in the afternoon and watched a two hour movie, that my daughter has been begging me to see.  It's called, Life of Pi, about a young Indian boy, who who survives a shipwreck, and is adrift in a lifeboat, with a tiger.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but the early part of the story explains how the tiger happens to be there.  I would recommend this movie to everyone - it was a wonderful uplifting story.  It's playing on my free movies, so is probably available free from most cable providers. It's hard to understand the Indian accent, so if anyone wants to see it, be sure to turn on closed captions!

Marilyne - The Life of Pi is based on a 2001 novel  by Yann Martel.  It was the subject of a book discussion in  SN some time ago. That discussion too was captivating.  I suppose it was all lost in the various moves we had
The book is quite good too for those who can't get the movie.

I have been wanting to see that movie .  I will have to watch more closely for it.  Sounds wonderful !

Joy

The book discussion was way back in December of 2002. I don't know if you can see this dicussion or not. I can, but it is tiny print and the header links don't work anymore.

http://www.seniorlearn.org/bookclubs/archives/fiction/LifeOfPi.htm

It's hard to believe I've been on SN, Seniors and Friends and SeniorLearn for so long.

Bubble and MarsGal - Thanks for the information on the Life of Pi book discussions, on both Senior Net and Senior Learn.  I was active in SN, back then, but don't remember that particular book discussion.  After seeing the movie, I can imagine that it's a wonderful book as well.  I'll take this discussion over to the Library Bookshelf folder, and possibly there are a few members there, who read the book or saw the movie, or remember the SN book discussion.

MarsGal - yes I could access the discussion.  About the size of the font, you can enlarge it by using the control button and your scroll on the mouse.

Didn't know about the Control/scroll short cut feature to enlarge the text, Bubble. Handy to know. My Firefox has several short cut buttons up in the bar where the web address is that enlarges or reduces the type, and one for "Reader View", Save-to-Pocket and the "Flag Fox" extension. I suppose other browsers have those features available now.

It looks like we are going to have a sunny day. It is 47 now, to go to around 67 later. I may or may not go outside. I'd kind of like to, but I have to finish putting together my new TV furniture and do some vacuuming. That will probably be enough for my back to handle today. We'll see.

Hi Everyone.  We have a another very bright morning with clear skies.  However, there is a chance of rain later this morning and the rest of the day although the percentage chance of having it isn't too high.  I ended up not feeling up to going to Aldi's yesterday morning so will make a quick stop there after coffee on the way home from taking my friend back to his assisted living home.  There is a new Dollar Tree very close to where he lives so will make a quick stop there to pick up a birthday card for our youngest great grandchild who is turning seven on the 29th.  We did have a good dinner at church last night as the Shepard's Pie was delicious.

Mary Ann, that is certainly what I met to say and see I left out the "with" in the sentence.  Sometimes when I reread I see what I think it should be rather than what is actually there. 

Marilyne, that sounds like an interesting movie. 

Bubble, I would more likely read the book than watch the movie as don't watch many movies but am enjoying reading again.  Maybe I can get it as an audio book from the library. 

MarsGal, the years have really flown by since we were in the early days of SeniorNet and even the replacement discussions.  I hope you are able to get your furniture put together today. 

Thanks, Larry. I've been taking my time with it. It has lots of screws, etc. and my hands get a little sore from using the ubiquitous Alan wrench that they always seem to send. I must have a ton of them by now. I have yet to install the mount bracket and the mounting pieces on back of the TV. The TV came with the pieces for the back of it, but the TV stand also has them. I will probably try the ones that came with the TV first. The other thing is, I will probably need to get help actually putting the TV onto the stand mount. I am not sure yet whether or not I will have to screw anything down to the main stand as I mount the TV or if it slides onto the mount and then maybe screw it down to hold it fast. In other words, I don't yet know if I will need a second set of hands or not. Fortunately, it is one of the smaller HDTVs.

Larry, I find I have to do my proofreading after I have posted my message.  It shows up better with my bold colored type.  And it is easy to go back to Reply to make a change.  I find I leave off both words and letters in my hasty typing.

I had a nice belated birthday greeting in my e-mail this morning from Jim's oldest granddaughter.  I haven't quite decided yet, but I think I will be going to Indps in early June when the whole family will be there.  I plan to make the trip my last to that area - getting too old but on the other hand, one never knows. 

Tom's former wife was adopted at 6 months and has never wanted to find her biological parents.  Her adoptive mother encouraged her to try but Sue would not, feeling she'd hurt her mother's feelings.  However, both James and Annie wanted to know so finally Sue took the DNA test.  Annie had taken it previously and got a hit immediately.  Now Sue is so glad she did test her DNA because she has made contact with a huge family and she sent me pictures, one was of Sue and her biological sister who is five years younger.  They look almost like twins.  One of the sister's children has carrot red hair which is like James when he was young.  Now we know where the red hair in our family comes from because I only know of one other redhead in our family and she is a cousin's daughter.

Mary Ann

MaryAnn,  My son and DIL gave me one of the DNA kits for Christmas.  I just have not gotten around to doing anything with it yet.  I need to open it up and read the directions.  At the time I got it,  I had a cold and I think you have put sputum in a tube,, or something like that, and I wanted to wait until I was over the cold.  I have been over the cold for a long time now, and had kind of forgotten about it.  But, after reading your message, I will think more about doing it. 

It had mentioned before to them, that I would like to see where I came from. LOL  And, I guess that is why they gave it to me.  I think it is the one from Ancestry?   I guess they got it from there, but I did see where Walmart was selling them at Christmas time.   

I am sure it will be interesting to get the results.

Joy

Joy - I gave my son an Ancestry DNA kit for a Christmas present, and like you, he hasn't yet sent his back. My two daughters teased him a little about it when they saw him in March, but apparently that didn't encourage him to send it in. I don't think he realizes that we, (those of us who have sent in and received our results), can see our DNA matches on Ancestry, so we know he hasn't sent the kit back yet.   I think that when you decide to send yours in that you'll be glad you did, because you will see family members and cousins that you never knew existed.  It's really a lot of fun to look at your hundreds of DNA matches!

Mary Ann - It's interesting how red hair eventually reappears in a family, even when it skips a generation or more.  My maternal grandfather was a red head.  He and my grandma had three children, and only one, (my mother), had the red hair.  Neither my brother nor I, inherited the red hair,  and none of my three children did either - nor did my grandchildren. However, three of my brother's children are redheads! 

Joy, I think there are only four companies who process the DNA kits and Ancestry is one, 23andme is another.  The others are "names" but I don't remember them.  WalMart may be selling the kits for one of the four.

You're right, you spit into a tiny vial, cap the vial, seal the box and send it in.  It is prepaid so you don't have to pay postage.  You do have to furnish your name, address and e-mail info.  It takes from one to two months to get your results and the companies e-mail the information to you. 

So go spit and send it in!!!

I have no idea how my spit could tell what my background is, but it gave me information I already knew.  The programs have identified relatives I knew about.  It can't pinpoint a nephew but says Tom is a cousin, then tells you he may be a nephew or grandson or, or, or.  There is a place where you can identify the relationship.

Ancestry says I have almost 500 fourth cousins or better.  I really ignore anything beyond that such as fifth cousins on up.  With the fourth cousin designation if the person has named some ancestors, I generally can place them in my extended family. 

Marilyn,  you're right about the red heads skipping a generation.  I will say that James now has auburn hair, his wife Alicia has carrot red hair and the twins both have red hair (they're not identical).  What is interesting about the girls is that one has curly hair to take after our family (Norm and I, Tom and James) and the other has Alicia's straight hair.  However - Alicia says she thinks the straight haired girl favors our family and the curly haired one favors her family.  Go figure!

Mary Ann

Mary Ann and Marilyne,   thanks for the encouragement for doing the DNA test.  I did get the box out and read the directions.  So, I am a little further than I was before.
Now, I will have to try to remember to not eat for 30 minutes before I  "spit".    It does sound like it will be interesting to find out some unknown things.

It is a beautiful sunny day out and here I am sitting inside. I have cleaned out a dresser drawer, which is a plus.  I was having trouble getting it open, as the bottom had shifted and come unloose.  I thought I would have to put some nails in it, but once I got it emptied,  it slid right back into a groove.

This had been a catch-all drawer, so I was able to get rid of most what was in it.  Must have been over 100 greeting cards that I had saved from birthdays, Mother's Day and Easter..... some from back in 2009.  I must have had a big party for my 75th birthday, but I honestly don't remember much about it.   I just hate to throw away such pretty cards, but I have gone through most of them and will discard most of them. It looks like I must have cut the fronts off of some of them, as the greetings were the only thing left. I know there are places that will take old cards, but you have to just send the fronts of them.

Have a good rest of the afternoon.

Joy

Any one here on "My Heritage"?   
I heard about it from an acquaintance and  put my name and parents on it.  I found out not only my grand parents (which I knew of course) but also who my great grands were and their siblings!

I never knew my grand dad had 7 brothers and sisters and I got their names and dates too.  Fascinating, but takes too much time.

Bubble, I am on MyHeritage but I don't use it as often as Ancestry.  I understand it is a very top-rated genealogy site.  At first, they sent me reminders to send birthday cards to people in my list and I did not like that so I took the birthdays out.  Much later, I did put them in and I think they no longer do that as I don't get reminders from them now.  I think they are one of the sites for DNA tests. 

It is interesting what you find in sites like MyHeritage.  I may have made contact with my paternal grandmother's father's family but the name isn't spelled the same - but I have a couple other spellings, so which one is correct!!!???

I'm surprised you hadn't heard of it because I believe MyHeritage is based in Israel.

Mary Ann

We all have different hobbies or interests that we enjoy, and want to spend our time on.  I  know that genealogy is not a subject that is of interest to everyone!   For some reason, it struck a chord with me, and I wanted to know more and more, about all these people from the past.  It's very interesting to me, to find any and all information about my long ago relatives.  It's even more satisfying to hear from a 2nd or 3rd or distant cousin, who saw my name on Ancestry, and wants to know who I am, and how we are connected?   I really enjoy my online time spent with these new cousins, who have become my friends.

Mary Ann - Your story about Tom's former wife, finding out about her birth parents through Ancestry, is fascinating.  It's also good for Annie, to learn about this side of her family, that she never knew existed.     

Marilyn, it's very interesting about Sue because for so long she did not want to find out about her birth family.  Finally, her mother encouraged Sue's brother, also adopted, to find his birth family.  He found his mother and the birth and adopted families now get together.  I sent for a DNA kit for Annie and she had an instant contact.  Both Annie and James urged their mother to get a DNA kit, which she did.  And now that she's found her birth family, you'd think she invented the DNA process!!!  This morning Sue sent me some pictures of her birth family and one was of her, her birth sister and the sister's two children.  Sue and her sister look enough alike to be twins, however, there is five years difference in their ages.  If Sue had not waited as long as she did, she might have made contact with her birth mother who died two or three years ago. 

At an early age, my mother told me I was descended from four Henry Cooks, two Lemuels, Homer and Mary Emeline (my grandmother).  The older Lemuel was possibly the oldest or last (or nearly) survivor of the Revolutionary War.  Another third great-grandfather on my mother's side was also in the Revolutionary War; his name was Daniel Cook.  There was no connection between the two Cooks; not related.  Homer married a granddaughter of Daniel (Mary Ann) - Cook married Cook, so you can see how I've been interested in my family history for many years.  I have met several of my second cousins, many of my parents' cousins, yet here we are alone in Michigan with the rest of them in Minnesota and/or Wisconsin.  Most of my second cousins are gone; we were all in the same age bracket.

Mary Ann