Time to relax, or a time to seek out adventure…

Social media vacations – did you take one over the last month or so? I know of some people who made a conscious effort to reduce their social media interactions during the holidays, but for a lot of us our social media vacation may have been a consequence of being busier than usual!

I know I did, I took a few weeks off from writing the blog to clear my head & desk & work on some other things; lots of parties, etc.  If you’re an avid reader then you know I actually went back and back-posted all of the posts that I wanted and/or needed to write for the family. Everyone needs to allow themselves some alone time. Its not being selfish, its just part of our well being; prudent.

I left my Great Aunt Treva’s funeral this afternoon with a renewed sense of life.  She didn’t watch it – she lived it. She was an avid golfer, loved to dance, play basketball & baseball, was a long time member of the DAV, among all sorts of other activities. She way always doing something.  She even bowled a 299 in 1999, which given her advanced age, was a very nice accomplishment.  I don’t bowl myself, but my Aunt Jackie always has so I turned to her at one point & asked if she wanted me to include that in her eulogy & she said yes;  just don’t look for it in mine.

Our elders LIVED life. They didn’t have any of the media that we do now, some couldn’t even imagine it. I need to be more active – that’s what I plan to do this year – LIVE!

You may start to see fewer posts in the upcoming months. I don’t think I’ll take up a new sport at age 50, but I may spend a little more time sitting in the grandstands watching my grand-kids play ball. Sounds like a good time to me.

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Did you take a Facebook/Twitter/Blogging vacation? How did it work out for you?

There is nothing final about a mistake, except it being taken as final. ~ Phyllis Bottome

 

Sunday Vivre

I wanted to write a quick post tonight, because I had missed so much last month. I did try to go back and post some recipes; at least I did get that much accomplished. I’ve been getting ready for the upcoming Holiday’s and trying to find some old family recipes, trying to stay up on my reading and enjoying my personal and family life.

I’ve spent a few hours looking through my sister’s old family albums. That has to be my favorite hobby. I only wish that when someone takes a picture, they’d write down the names of those in it and the date it was taken. That information is priceless.

Not a lot of new things going on these days. I did quit my job, for various reasons. I didn’t even make it to the 90 day mark, in which I would have gotten paid for the 40 hours of orientation I had put in, watching endless hours of mind numbing videos and taking numerous tests. Of course, they don’t tell you that, you’re not getting paid for it, until after you’ve been there a few weeks. That wasn’t even cool. If I had depended on that, I’d been sunk.

Steven, came home yesterday to switch cell phones with me, which turned out to be a major ordeal. I spent 2.5 hours on the phone last evening, with my provider trying to get the two phones, changed. What used to be a simple switch of the sim cards has now become a two day trip, to the local mall, to have the boy there, try and mediate between the two. By the way, he reprogrammed mine; he reset it back to its original state. Now Steven has two phones. I’ll have to spend an hour or two on the phone in the morning trying to get it put mine back, it’s a vicious cycle. I have to ask myself, whatever did we do before all this technology?

“I’ve had a week… I’ve had a week,” I used to laugh when I heard older family members say that, but now I can totally relate, when all my appliances decided to break at the same time, I spent countless hours on the phone and dealing with repairman, it almost seemed endless. It felt like, I was up to my eyeballs in/with repairmen. It’s a long story, and I’m just glad it’s over. Everything is working again, for now anyway. And, if you have a few hours to spare, I’ll go into it with you, but all I have to say about it now is… I recommend that you buy really cheap appliances, so that when they die, you can give them a proper burial and get new ones; far less headache in the long run, than trying to get them repaired. I’m just saying…

I do enjoy Steven’s trips home. He wanted to go to Golden Corral today, and against my better judgment, we went. I’m not sure what I was hoping for, but that wasn’t it. I did get a chance to see Brother Ferrell and his wife, there. I’ve always been very impressed with the both of them. She was a foster parent and he was part of the visitation ministry at our church. When Steven was a baby, he ran a temperature of 105 for 4 days; he had some kind of an infection in his blood stream. Brother Ferrell came to visit everyday, when most people were fearful to even come into the room, he wasn’t. To me, that meant so much. There aren’t too many people that will do that, and I for one wanted to make sure that he knew just how much it meant to me.

She did mention to me that, she loved and appreciated my daughter Mandy for being a foster parent and that she had given her a big bag of socks at church this morning. I didn’t ask why. I’m sure it was a loving gift for the kids, she has a good heart. Thanks again, to the both of you, for being so giving.

Not much more to report really. I did meet a few new people this week and my newly founded, Toni’s group is meeting regularly at KJ’s for brunch. I have to admit, I’m really enjoying it. I get to talk to friends whom listen and I get slopped with the now called Virginia aka Toni’s. Yum…

Toni was the woman that invented my favorite comfort food, years ago. The restaurant has a new owner and I was told that he renamed it after his daughter. To some, it may sound disgusting, but if you haven’t tried it, you don’t know what you’re missing. They take a biscuit and cut it in half, then add a layer of hashbrowns; a layer of eggs; cooked to order, I do over easy, and cover that with sausage gravy. True, they top it off with shredded cheese, but I’m not a fan, I have them leave it off of mine, if they remember.

I will add that everyone needs to be slopped about once a week, in the company of good friends. It’s more than just therapeutic; it’s good for the soul. I recommend it to all my friends.

I did get an email from a cousin on the Reed side; she informed me that Lincoln Reed, the last of my Grandma Phebie’s first cousins from her uncle Charles Reed and her aunt Marelda Mary “Relda” Chadwell Reed’s line, had past away in October. I’ll have to do an “In Memoriam” for him at a later date and back post it in October. I would like to express my deepest sympathy to the family and may he rest in peace.

Also, I wanted to wish my sister Linda Ann’s significant other, Chris Baeyens
a very Happy Birthday today, Gelukkige verjaardag hé Chris!

I want mention, that I wrote this quick and off the top of my head, so if there are grammar or editorial mistakes, please feel free to mention them and I’ll go back in later and fix them. Thanks.

As always and Welcome to the Family,
Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

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It isn’t the great big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of the little ones. ~ Jean Webster

 

Write a letter.

In these days of emotionless email, the art of letter writing is getting lost. Pick one of your information needs or queries and write a letter requesting information. You may want to write to a small library or a relative asking for family history information. If you’re requesting a return reply, be sure to include any forms that are required, funds (if necessary) or a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return correspondence. If you write a genealogy blog, include a post about the information you requested and from whom.

Rosiness is not a worse windowpane than gloomy gray when viewing the world. ~ Grace Paley

 

We are…

Soooo alike…       ~       Soooo different…

A quick review of genealogy blogs shows that many bloggers have made resolutions to write more about genealogy in 2009. Yes, you should blog more about genealogy! Carve out a little time for yourself (that means make an appointment for YOU and put it on your calendar). If you have a little writer’s block, don’t worry. Help is on the way!

Have a family member be a guest blogger. Let a family member take the reins and provide a different perspective for a post or two. If you can’t find anyone to take the job, interview a relative and spotlight the person yourself.

“I try to allow family members to help write every post. It’s a group effort and this is how we learn. We agree to disagree.” ~ Sheila Jean Adkins Metcalf

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Sisters are two different flowers from the same garden.

 

Just gots some gifts for my Anniversary

… they came from strange places. I was talking to Denny briefly yesterday, he stopped by to bring me The Reed Family of Eastern Kentucky books and I went to bed still with the big question of all on my mind. Who was Havila Cook? And why was his daughter Catherine Cook along with Nancy W Reed, given land by Lyles Dolsbury in his Will?

 

So first thing this morning, I got up and put “Havila Cook” in the Google search and I found this dated Dec 4, 2008 otherwise, I would have missed it entirely. I wish he would have sent email alert just to let me know he posted this but am so thankful…  Todd Preston wrote in THE SALYERSVILLE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER…

I have dug deep to try to find a response to a query sent by Doris Rose of CA from Shelia Metcalf concerning Martha Hammond b. about 1867, a daughter of Benjamin Hamman.  Benjamin was born about 1834 and his wife Mary “Pop” Caudill was born about 1837 and died in 1910.  My mother always referred to her as “Aunt Pop”. She was the daughter of Elder Benjamin Caudill and Abigail Pennington.

            In the 1900 Magoffin census we find that Mary “Pop” Caudill was the mother of 10 children with 9 living at that time. Martha was the 6^th child and her age shows to be 3 in 1870 and 12 in 1880. Martha would have been about age 32 by 1900.

            In the Annals of Tazewell Co. VA we find info that Havila Cook and Ursula Reed were joined in holy wedlock on 18 Oct 1838.  The 1850 Tazewell Co. census lists Lyles Dolesbury, age 105, with his daughter Catherine age 59. Catherine was the widow of William Reid.  Her son Thomas Reid was age 20 at that time.  He later married Minerva Adams, daughter of William “Uncle Billy” Adams, town founder of Adamsville, forerunner of Salyersville, KY.  Lyles Dolsbury died 2 August 1850. He was a Revolutionary War veteran whose daughter Ursula Reid (b. 1823) married Havila Cook. Havila was born in 1812 and his mother was Betty Cook.

            By 1860 this family shows up in Magoffin County. Havila Cook was then age 63 and a widower.  His daughter Elizabeth was age 28. Also in the household were Rebecca Jane age 6, John J. age 4 and Havila age 2.

            The 1880 Magoffin census has Havila Cook age 73, wife Martha age 47 and grandsons John age 14 and Havila age 12.

            Magoffin Marriages shows that Havila Cook married on 8 May 1879 to Martha Colvin at the home of B. F. Adams; also Havila Cook married on 17 Mar 1887 to Martha Reid at the home of Louis Reed.

            This doesn’t answer all the questions in the email but we hope it will help to some degree.

I had most of this information but it’s great to get an answer to one of the biggies…

 

Then Christine IM-ed and said she’d meet us at the Cheesecake Factory tonight at 7:00 p.m. always good to see her. She stays fairly obscure most of the year. LOL

 

I got an email from Ancestry and a woman name Jacquie Robbins the niece of the late Bernice Phipps, is it a small world or what? I wonder if she has that recipe. LOL

 

Got pix of the kids in Myrtle Beach enjoying their trip. I’ll try to post some later.

 

Well, I didn’t get the sign for the yard today; Anthony hates Teds so the sign is out. But, if you do a drive by today… HONK!!!

 

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“If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Twitter Tweets and Hot Frogs

KEYWORDS

 

I have found a way to make Twitter work for me.  I have not climbed on board the whole Twitter craze, but I have added the Twitter widget to my blog, (see upper middle right column)> and use it to add updates and statistics.  It is short and sweet and always something fresh for people to check out on my site, and it pulls my site into the Web 2.0 dimension. LOL I love the old style look I chose for the blog; it’s very much me… but everyone knows how I love all the new techno – gadgets, etc.!!!

 

Also, if you own your website and haven’t checked out hotfrog.com please do it now, you should add yourself to their directory.  I just added my profile today, we were already there, someone had already added our company, but the information was 13 years old. I added lots of keywords and was amazed at the simplicity – you know I love simplicity. And the best part is that it’s free. Who doesn’t love free?

 

I love Lindedin, Plaxo is okay, Facebook… the jury is still out, but I draw the line at Plurk. Too many irons in the fire is not a good thing.

 

I love all the great tips I have learned so just thought I would share a couple that I hope are working for me.

 

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Make the most of the best and the least of the worst.

Every life has its dark and cheerful hours. Happiness comes from choosing which to remember.