Oh! What an awesome weekend! It has been mostly quiet and restful here at the Mountain house. Pop came up on Saturday to meet with an electrician to fix a few of the things that were not working *quite* right. There were a few lights that didn't work and a few switches that we couldn't identify. The power at the dock wasn't working (or so we thought, it works fine!) The power in the fountain is working. Lots of little things around here that just needed tweaking.
Grandma came along with Pop and she and I went into town to run a few errands... post office for her, bakery for me. She marveled at how friendly the people were, gentlemen holding doors for us, the postal worker being uber-patient even though we go there right at closing time... I told her that people are just nicer up here.
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| Grandma |
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| my Steel Magnolia |
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| Pop and Grandma on the back deck |
I've had a few aches and pains and haven't felt *great* but... that's so often the case for me... if you're gonna feel rotten anyways, might as well enjoy the view! I've had a nasty migraine off and on. I've got a place where a tooth broke about... oh... a month or so ago... and it's been anywhere from mildly irritating to "shoot me and put me out of my misery". So that hasn't been fun. It's no better or worse than it would have been back in Riverdale...
Austin still has a few issues - the ones I've battled his entire life but I prefer him with us, safe and bratty to him being in a place where he has to wear dirty clothes (the only time his clothes were washed over the past 3 1/2 months was when I took a load to the laundry mat and paid them to wash for him.) doesn't get enough to eat... doesn't have transportation or any sort of role model in his life. It's been hard for me to know that he wasn't in what I would consider a safe environment but...dang... it's hard trying to raise an adult who doesn't always act like an adult. All of that has come flooding back this weekend and it has made dealing with things like migraines and toothaches a greater challenge. Of course, we're talking about a fraction of the time... for the most part it's been great to have company, great to have help lifting, toting, cooking, etc. It's still good to have him back. Continue to pray that he will find his way in this world.
Today is the last day of my four day weekend. We'll head back home in a little bit... midday so as to avoid Atlanta's gridlock rush hours, hopefully. I'll work four days this week... have a regular two day weekend (which we'll spend up here because of Sarabeth's birthday party next Saturday)... I'll work Monday, be off Tuesday, work Wednesday - Friday and then... I'm not sure how the schedule goes from that point. I just know that it's gonna be busier after today and it will be a few weeks before I have another long weekend.
So... on the 4th day of a four day weekend... it's not hard to find Reasons to Love Monday!
1. Two babies scheduled to come into the world this week: one, the grandchild of my childhood friend Tracey. I'm soooo excited for her! And the other... one of the blogs I read, a couple who have battled infertility, had a half dozen miscarriages and really pulled out all the stops to make sure they could have a healthy baby. She is being induced today. Babies are proof that God intends for life to go on, I believe.
2. I've loved my time in the mountains but I've missed my mama and my Codester and my Marquee... and my Trouble kitty and all the other fur babies. Home is where the heart is.
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| Can't wait to get home to him! |
3. I think there's another new episode of How I Met Your Mother on tonight.
4. The final debate is on tonight and... although it makes me CURRRRAZZZZZZZZY the way these things are skewed toward Obama... I mean, did you hear about MSNBC's Chris Matthews saying that it was unconstitutional for Romney to *challenge* a sitting President in a debate? Where was this clown during the Bush Administration? The closer we get to the election, the more irritated I become. I voted on Friday up here in White County - it took exactly nine minutes from the time I got out of my car to the time I got back in my car. I was proud to cast my vote and grateful for the opportunity to do so. This way... if things don't go the way I should over the next four years... I know I did everything I could. My grandma has also cast her vote... by absentee ballot.
5. It always makes me sad to leave this Mountain House but knowing that we'll be back - either Friday night or Saturday morning - makes it better. I love that we always have a little vacay spot waiting for us!
6. We've tried to keep things picked up along the way during our stay... so the effort involved in cleaning up, loading up the car, etc, is minimal. Austin has a lot of laundry to do... I have a lot of laundry to do... and since we don't have a washer and dryer here at the Mountain House, we'll tote it back with us. We also carry the trash back with us because it doesn't make sense to pay for a monthly trash removal service for a pick up once or twice a month. That's also why we don't have satellite tv hooked up here. Anyways... my point was that even though there's a little bit of effort involved in keeping our Mountain House beautiful, warm and inviting, it's entirely worth it!
7. Have I mentioned that my kid is back home? My baby bird is back in the nest! That's a huge reason to love Monday, even if I loved it last Monday too. It's costing me a chunk of change to keep him fed and comfortable and I can't seem to make him understand that my financial situation has changed drastically (and was never good to start with, can I get an amen?). I still would gladly spend any amount of money to have him with us and safe and I know a lot of parents who feel the same way. Prodigals... are still welcomed with open arms... even in this generation.
8. Speaking of generations... I spent many many many hours yesterday working on my genealogy. I'm following a twig that leads through Henry the 1st of England by legitimate and illegitimate heirs. His legitimate grandson, Henry II and his illegitimate great-granddaughter, Ida Isabella de Toesny, which I think makes them second cousins, once removed, or some such, had a child, Sir William FitzRoy Longspee, who was my 25x great grandfather through my father's father's line. I spent a lot of time researching the events and various records of these relationships to arrive at this conclusion, partly because I wanted to have more concrete resources than ancestry.com and partly because it was so durn interesting! This same William Longspee was my 25x great grandfather through another ancestor of this same line... the deeper I get into this process, working now with about seven thousand relatives, the more fascinating it becomes (to me, anyways). See below, if you're interested...
Otherwise... just hoping you all have a great week and that you find many, many Reasons to Love Monday!
First example:
Sir William FitzRoy "Longsword" Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (1152 - 1226)
is your 25th great grandfather
Son of Sir William FitzRoy "Longsword"
Daughter of William II
Son of Ela
Daughter of Hugh
Daughter of Alice, Baroness of Neville
Daughter of Margaret "Matilda", Baroness Ross
Son of Lady Ena
Son of Sir Knight Norman
Son of Robert Thomas Lord Mayor London
Son of Sir Thomas "knight"
Son of ROBERT
Son of John
Son of Robert
Son of Thomas
Son of Thomas Butcher
Son of Thomas
Daughter of JOHN
Son of Anna Amey
Son of David
Son of David
Son of Cornelius
Daughter of John
Son of Deborah Ann
Son of Elias M
Son of Theodore Stogden
Son of Bruce Bronson
Daughter of James Edward
and then we have
William Longespee (1152 - 1226)
is your 25th great grandfather
Daughter of William
Daughter of Ida
Daughter of Beatrice
Daughter of Maud
Daughter of Ada de
Daughter of Maud
Daughter of Maud
Son of Maud
Son of Sir Humphrey
Son of Sir Humphrey
Son of Humphrey
Son of HUMPHREY IV
Daughter of HUMPHREY V
Son of ELEANOR Ellen
Daughter of Johnis Stafford
Son of Audrey
Daughter of Christopher
Daughter of ELIZABETH
Daughter of Elizabeth Catherine Almay
Son of Rebecca
Son of Cornelius
Daughter of John
Son of Deborah Ann
Son of Elias M
Son of Theodore Stogden
Son of Bruce Bronson
Daughter of James Edward
So we have the family tree branching off in two different directions, a niece and aunt, Ela and Ida Longspee, who are my 23x and my 24x great grandmothers... and the branch reconnects with my 5x great-grandfather, whose parents were 18th cousins once removed... or some such!
1 comments:
Through my paternal grandmother I'm related to Cooke, although it changed to Cooksey in the late 1400s. My grandmother was a Cooksey.
Thank you for the genealogy work.
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