52 Weeks of Geneology - Week 3

I am working on catching up of the 52 Weeks of Genealogy and today I am on Week 3: About Your Parents

Week 3:  All about your parents:

• Their full names? William Thomas & Mary Nell
• Their parents names? William Clifton/Mandy & James Josh/Jewell Canzada
• Their Nicknames? Bill & Mernell (not really nicknames but that is what many people called them)
• Likes & dislikes? Dad liked working, traveling & mom likes spending time with family, watching TV
• Physical characteristics? Dad-about 5'10", dark eyes, dark skin and hair (decended from Native Americans) & mom-about 4'11", dark curly hair and medium-skinned - has a distinctive pinpoint birthmark right on the tip of her nose.
• What did they do for a living? Dad started out as a truck driver (driving gasoline tankers), then was promoted to dispatcher, then terminal manager, then safety director.  Mom was a housewife (as she calls it but most say "stay at home mom"), but when we were in highschool she worked at Richway, which became Target while she was working there.
• What made them happy? They both were happy if their kids were happy.
• What made them sad? They both were sad if any of their kids were sad.
• What made them mad? Daddy could get mad about odd things, things that usually were only perceived in his mind (he once thought we spraypainted the bathroom sink and we didn't but he was convinced we did for some reason and was mad that we were lying) - Mom rarely gets mad - I guess the only times she does is if there is some kind of injustice or unfair treatment of someone.

Important dates: 

• Birthday? Dad - 16 Jan 1934;  Mom 08 Oct 1940
• Achievements? - Dad retired in 2003
• Marriage? 1 Apr 1955 (yes - my mom was 14 and my dad was 21 !!)
• Death? Dad - 13 Jan 2012 (I miss him every single day)
• Other?  
• 1962 - Moved to Norcross, GA from FL
• 1963 - Moved from Norcross, GA to Columbus, GA
• 1972 - Moved from Columbus, GA to Alpharetta, GA
• 1973 -  Bought first single family house - Doraville, GA
• 1994 - Bough second single family house & moved back to hometown of Bonifay, FL

Favorites: 

• Books: Dad liked Detective novels, Chicken Soup for the Soul books, Mom likes books by John Grisham, Alex Cross, Steven King, Karen Slaughter
• Actors: I don't think either had/have a favorite
• Foods: Dad - raw oysters, boiled shrimp; Mom - fried mullet, fried chicken
• Vacations? I think they both would say that our trip to South Dakota was the favorite vacation we ever had (except that my sis wasn't along-we missed her)
• TV shows? Dad-All in the Family,Sanford & Son, The Heat of the Night, 60 Minutes, Cops; Mom-The Good Wife, 48 Hours Mystery, Downton Abbey, The Killing, Too Cute, any show about Ghosts/Hauntings.

52 Weeks of Genealogy - Week 2

 Week 2 asked ....What toys did you play with growing up?

What a fun question!When I was a kid, I had a very active imagination so I loved to play and luckily I had a brother and sister so I always had playmates!

My favorite toy by far was my Malibu Barbie and Barbie camper.  Although I found out years later that she really wasn't "Barbie" but rather her friend "Malibu Francie". Which I like her better!  Her bathing suit is way cooler than Barbie's (Barbie's was solid baby blue and Francie's is Hot Pink and Orange)

I still have her but she lost her hands many, many years ago in a tragic dog-chewing accident - haha!

Now my sister had "Malibu Ken" so of course Francie and Ken would go on dates together.  (Isn't he cute?)

Most of the time, though, Francie, Ken, Miss America Barbie, Skipper and Donny & Marie would go camping..... in my Barbie Country Camper. Man I loved my camper - especially the little pop out tent

Other favorite toys were Spirograph, Bonkers, Headache, Easy Bake Oven, Baby That-a-Way, Playdoh and so much more.  I still have most of these to this day!

52 Weeks of Genealogy - Week 1

Okay, so I was browsing Pinterest and came across this blog - Teach Me Genealogy.

I love it and the blogger has posted each week a "lesson" for lack of a better word, I wish I had found this at the first of the year but it isn't too late to start.  I will just try to catch up by posting daily until I am caught up to the same week the blogger is on.

Week 1 - How Did You Get Your Name?

When my mom was pregnant with me, she was trying to come up with boy and girl names (back in those days you didn't normally do ultrasounds so you didn't know the gender of your baby in advance).

She was watching the Elvis movie - Love Me Tender and Debra Paget was in it (she was Elvis' first leading lady).  My mom liked the way Debra was spelled and decided that would be a great name if she had a girl.

I don't really know where she got my middle name but I think she said she liked the way it sounded with Debra (my middle name is NOT Ann as most people guess it to be).  It is a common name though but spelled a bit different, in fact, I don't think I have ever seen it spelled the way my middle name is spelled and I really like the spelling.

Since Debra was a movie star, I attribute my love for movies to be because of my namesake

I often wondered, if I had been a boy, would my name have been Elvis - (that wouldn't have been too bad either) !

Arm Knitting - My Thoughts

There is a new trend that has been going on in the knitting world and it is called

ARM KNITTING

Here are my thoughts about it.

1) I think it is something that some yarn company invented as a way to use up a lot of yarn. Knitting with "needles" the size of your forearms take up a LOT of yarn.  Another reason I think a yarn company invented it is because it is "trendy" and people will want to try it so they...buy yarn...duh!

2) I think it is butt-ugly. I am sorry (if you are one that likes it) but seriously, it is UGLY.  Would you really, really wear something like this out in public ?

What about this?

Good grief - she looks she is choking !

3) The finish product, doesn't really look "knitted" - it just looks like a big mess of yarn wrapped around your neck - maybe it looks a little like you tried to braid it but it doesn't look knitted.

4) Once you start a project, you pretty much have to finish it - it isn't like knitting needles, you can't lay it down and pick it back up - I mean the yarn is all wrapped around you arms.  What if the phone rings?  What if the baby cries?  What if your 4 year old knocked over a glass of milk?  You would have to either not assist or mess up your knitting.  Crazy!

I think you get the point.  Now if you are looking at this and thing "Gee, that is kind of pretty" - well...I can't help you with that but you can learn how to arm knit by watching this video.

Funny Friday - Itsy Bitsy Spiderman

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Lenten Season.

Are you giving up anything for Lent?
Are you incorporating something good/new during Lent?

I have decided to follow the Daniel Plan and reading our church's daily devotional.  You can read it too - you can either read online or have a daily email sent to you.  You can find it HERE.

John Candy - One In a Million

Today, March 4, 2014 marks 20 years since John Candy passed away.  I loved him, still do.  I was so sad when he died.  He is in so many of my all time favorite movies.

Splash - I've seen it so many times, I can quote it.  He played Freddie, the brother of the male lead, Allen, played by Tom Hanks.

He had a small part at the end of Vacation, with Chevy Chase - as the security guard of Wally World

 

He played Barf in Spaceballs, The Movie - I LOVE this movie! He was a MOG -  "Half Man, Half Dog"

He was his own best friend. 

He was the lovable Gus Polinski in Home Alone (one of the best Christmas movies ever!)

And who could forget Neil Griffith's hands being between two pillows. . . in Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Wait...THOSE AREN'T PILLOWS !!!!

 

Speaking of Planes, Trains and Automobiles, one of my favorite and most memorial movies scenes has John 'Doing the Mess Around"

Of course, he was in a TON of movies - too many to mention here.  I think I just loved him because he seemed like a friend.  He seemed like a nice guy that you'd like to know.  His characters were sometimes meant to annoy the other characters but yet he usually had a soft loveable, sweet side.

He was only 43 when he died of a heart attack.  FORTY-THREE !!! Too young - younger than I am now.  I sure miss seeing new movies from him - he was one in a million and even now...20 years after his passing, I still miss him.