Overview of 2013
Family History remains a big focus. I have several Trees posted on www.ancestry.com and I keep trying to catch up by adding documentation. It is a never ending job. I continue to field inquiries about people in the trees. I help when I can and enjoy the feeling when some one is greatful when they find data on their families in my tree and perhaps I have contact with their people and can connect them up. Genealogy becomes a passion! Perhaps, more so for us who are elderly. Young folks are too busy earning a living and trying to keep up with young families, etc.
Along the above lines, I had a bit of a disaster happen before Thanksgiving this year. My older desktop computer's mother board crashed and then my laptop malfunctioned with some Update that came in. I took them both out to the Best Buy Geek Squad. I had the hard drive pulled from the desktop machine and recycled the machine and they were able to wipe my laptop clean and reload to factory settings which means I have to start all over and reload software, etc. I'm still working on that process. I lost my Family Tree Maker sync to my ancestry trees and have to start over which involved hours and hours as my trees are quite large. I'm leaving the biggest tree to last. Then I hope this laptop will last a few more years before I again have to start over.
I also have to learn the new Windows 8.1 as it is on my new desktop. It seems to be a smart OS. However, it all takes much of my time.
Christmas has come and gone. This year I set up the fake white tree and let two of my grandkids decorate it at Thanksgiving time. They had fun and it looks nice. This was the first time in several years that I bothered with a big tree. In some recent years, I had only set up a small tree on the mantel and my husband had his Charlie Brown tree. In a few days, I will start to dismantle the big tree and put it away. We still enjoy the lights on in the evening. I also bought one of those Musical clocks that plays Carols on the hour and it has been fun. The face has a Thomas Kincade scene so I can remove the batteries that plays the specialized music and use the clock. We spent Christmas eve up in Edmonds with our daughter and family and our son who lives in Sammamish brought his family over so we could be together for a few hours. Our daughter made lefse for the first time with equipment I gave her last Christmas and she did a fantastic job. It was delicious. The son mentioned here was on the team that made XBOX One. It has become a big seller this Christmas. I'm proud of all three of my adult children...all productive workers and good people.
November 17th, Bill and I celebrated our 51st Wedding Anniversary by going down to Hearthfire for dinner. This year we picked out a diamond necklace for me. I love it. Last year on the 50th, we didn't buy a gift but spent some money on a family and friend type dinner out. Time marches on!
Thanksgiving was spent at our home and my son-in-law who cooks as good as any Chef did the whole dinner and it was delicious. They spent the night and got to go on a date to a movie while we had fun with the grandkids.
October we wake up to see a big Buck laying under our Maple Tree in the fenced back yard! He was beautiful. The big fella had jumped the fences.
In September, Bill and I spend a few days at Ocean Shores in a beach house that my cousin lets us use now and then. We enjoy walking the beaches. It was a bit foggy on some days. I didn't make it back to Minnesota for a high school reunion. I've only made it to two. I graduated in 1958.
August brought some unwelcome news. My sister-in-law has incurable lung cancer. Her husband was dx in the Spring with early Alzheimers! D wasn't a smoker, either. Chemo has shrunk the tumor and so far it hasn't gotten into lymph nodes. Maybe they can keep it at bay for many months. I hope so. I'm not ready to lose D. She has many times been my confidant. I have envied them many times because they have been able to do so much traveling around the world which is what I would have loved to do but couldn't because of my husband's health and my back isn't up to much trekking around either! We live many states away from each other so I can't be of much help. They have taken care of business now...the legal kinds...and sold their house but can live in it as long as they wish, etc. We are all in our 70's so Life happens! We also went to a Milbourn Family Reunion in August at Humptulips. The matriarch is my 1st cousin Florence who will be 89 years old on 10 Jan 2014. I met cousins there for the first time. We are related through Florence's Mother, Julia Krupicka Willis who was my Dad's older sister.
Summer was uneventful. It is harder to keep up since we both have health issues that make it harder to weed, etc. Well, I forgot that one important event happened. Our son and wife and kids helped us clean out our garage so we could finally park our car in it! One load to dump, three loads to Goodwill and one load of goodies for E to sell or keep or ??? I also passed on my Grandma's cupboard to E and J.
Spring time I had my first Medic Van ride and spent a couple nights under observation and did a test on my heart. It was boring. My heart test showed no heart attack or damage.
January brings both Bill and my birthdays...dinner out again.
That about culminates the year 2013.
