Shouldn't that be Whom Do You Love? Anyway . . .
My husband, of course. Have done for 47 years, and we just keep on keeping on. We've known each other since childhood, were best buds in high school, though we went to different schools (same church, though). So on it goes. He enjoys my adventures in academia. I keep him entertained. He takes good care of me, and certainly did last year when I broke my shoulder! He got to be quite the cook, and made some delicious meals!
Our daughters, of course, too (we have no sons). Both are fine ladies. Now middle-aged, which makes me feel a bit old. But I also feel young in having so much in common with each of them. They're fun to be with.
Our son-in-law, who is a fine fellow. He and our daughter have also known each other from childhood, having met at a party given by the sysop (do you remember that term?) of a BBS (and that one?) we all used to participate in. Our son-in-law has been there for our older daughter since before they were married, and certainly does love her. He's brought some genealogical diversity to the family, adding German and Dutch to the mix!
Our grandson, of course, too. He's a great kid. Now in junior high school. I can't believe he's 13! Gads, what an age. But he'll get over it. We all did. He wants to be an architect or an engineer. Following in family footsteps, he's quite the punster, and has been since the age of 5. He is also quite the flirt, and the girls just love him.
Our cat. Well, technically (grammatically) the cat isn't a 'who,' she's a 'what.' But my husband and I love and spoil her, anyway. She's a very affectionate cat, who likes to sleep with us and to be with (or on) us on the couch when we watch TV. She is not quite 2, and is still energetic. Sometimes she runs around the house at great speed. She loves to hide and then jump out at us, or come up behind is in the kitchen and tap us on the rear end! Silly kitty!
My friends. All of our friends, with very few exceptions, are younger than we are, and most of them have no kids. Our daughters are also friends with most of these same people. We have a quite diverse group of friends. That adds to the enjoyment.
The youngsters I work with on a massive database project, to identify and profile everyone we can find in the original documents, who lived in Spanish colonial Florida between 1513 and 1763, and 1784 and 1821. I'm the Principal Investigator of the portion known as East Florida between 1784 and 1821. All these colleagues are younger than I am, some of them by some 50 or so years! The head of the project, who was my major professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg a few years ago, is also quite a bit younger than I am. Fine people, all of them!
Others I have loved are no longer with us -- most of my family, my husband's family, friends I've lost over the years. I still love them, too, and miss them.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Saturday, March 17, 2018
#TheBookofMe: What (or who) do you miss most?
The question reminds me of the old saw: "Of everything I've lost, I miss my mind the most."
Well, I haven't lost my mind. Yet.
I have lost so many people in my lifetime -- my father, my grandma, my aunt, my mother, my brother, friends -- that I miss them all, and don't want to single out just one of them.
I miss my health; it has pretty much gone away, though I still get around. I don't get around as much as I used to, of course. We all suffer from that. But just walking a couple blocks this week in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where our nephew lives, was a real challenge. I also did a lot of standing around, and a lot of sitting. I went up to Washington for the launch of the website of the huge Spanish Colonial Florida database project I've been contributing to. It was a wonderful launch, and a bunch of us went out to eat afterward, and had big fun.
I miss a lot of people less than I used to, because I'm back in touch with them on Facebook. I'm especially happy to be in touch with my cousins, though we lost one of our number a couple years ago.
I miss the ability to travel more and be more adaptable to different environments. No more camping or hiking, or even taking long walks, because of arthritis.
I miss mountains, because I live in Florida. I was born in California, and lived there as a child. I like mountains.
I miss our boat, because we had such fun with it. We even were members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a few years, and used our boat in a number of search and rescue missions, patrols, and training exercises. That was terrific fun!
I'm not sure there's much more I miss. I have so much now. My husband, our kids, our grandson, our kitty-cat, my historical research. I stay occupied, so I don't have time to think about what I miss enough to be in any way despondent about it.
Well, I haven't lost my mind. Yet.
I have lost so many people in my lifetime -- my father, my grandma, my aunt, my mother, my brother, friends -- that I miss them all, and don't want to single out just one of them.
I miss my health; it has pretty much gone away, though I still get around. I don't get around as much as I used to, of course. We all suffer from that. But just walking a couple blocks this week in the Adams-Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where our nephew lives, was a real challenge. I also did a lot of standing around, and a lot of sitting. I went up to Washington for the launch of the website of the huge Spanish Colonial Florida database project I've been contributing to. It was a wonderful launch, and a bunch of us went out to eat afterward, and had big fun.
I miss a lot of people less than I used to, because I'm back in touch with them on Facebook. I'm especially happy to be in touch with my cousins, though we lost one of our number a couple years ago.
I miss the ability to travel more and be more adaptable to different environments. No more camping or hiking, or even taking long walks, because of arthritis.
I miss mountains, because I live in Florida. I was born in California, and lived there as a child. I like mountains.
I miss our boat, because we had such fun with it. We even were members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary for a few years, and used our boat in a number of search and rescue missions, patrols, and training exercises. That was terrific fun!
I'm not sure there's much more I miss. I have so much now. My husband, our kids, our grandson, our kitty-cat, my historical research. I stay occupied, so I don't have time to think about what I miss enough to be in any way despondent about it.
Thursday, March 1, 2018
#TheBookofMe What Do You Dislike?
What do I dislike?
Arrogance.
Ignorance.
Greed.
People who cheat other people.
Avocados.
Liver.
Hot weather.
Cockroaches.
Ticks.
Scorpions.
Unkind people, whether to other people or to animals.
Bad writing.
Bad drivers.
Most popular music.
Most current television programs.
People with no sense of humor. (Never trust such people.)
Gummy anything.
Arrogance.
Ignorance.
Greed.
People who cheat other people.
Avocados.
Liver.
Hot weather.
Cockroaches.
Ticks.
Scorpions.
Unkind people, whether to other people or to animals.
Bad writing.
Bad drivers.
Most popular music.
Most current television programs.
People with no sense of humor. (Never trust such people.)
Gummy anything.
#thebookofme What Do You Collect?
I know, it's March already, but I'm going to catch up on The Book of Me by posting my response to the last two of the February prompts today. I've been really busy!
So -- What do I collect?
Dust. Not much of a joke. We have a lot of dust in our house. I keep telling my husband it's his powder, a necessity in this humid climate, but he insists it isn't. I keep thinking I oughta spend some money and take a sample to a lab for analysis.
Frogs. Ever since I was a little girl, I have collected frogs. Only then, in my childhood, I collected real frogs! I would gather tadpoles (which actually turned out to be toads, not frogs) in a nearby stream and watch them turn into frogs. It was fascinating. That is one of the things that has sparked my lifelong lay person's interest in science. Once the tadpoles metamorphosed, I would liberate them in the back yard, where they were happy in the damp patches in the lawn. After I grew up, I collected ceramic frogs and wooden frogs and plushy frogs. I have quite a collection now. My grandson has inventoried them. He even made frogs for me in art camp. Here is one of them. You can tell that the art camp was at a museum of modern art!
Books. Well, I would not really call myself a book collector. I don't collect first editions or rare books or anything like that. I can't afford that indulgence. I collect books in the sense of having a houseful! I have had to classify them by the Dewey Decimal System! My studies as a historian has prompted me to build quite a library of books on Spain and Spanish colonial Florida.
At one time, I had quite a collection of Star Trek memorabilia, but I have had to pare that down. My three categories of collecting are "Necessary, Nice, and Nuts." When I divested myself of many of my Star Trek items, my priority became the "Nuts" items. They're just such fun.
State Universities (of Florida). I joke that I am collecting state universities, having attended three different institutions in the state university system of Florida. In the 1960s, I attended Florida State University, earning a bachelor's degree in Government and a master's in library science. I worked as a librarian for a while, and enjoyed it. That dried up in the recesion of the early 1970s. After a lifetime of doing this and that while concentrating on raising a family, I finally went back to college at the age of 60, at the University of North Florida. After that, I went for another master's degree at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Not sure if I'm going to be adding to this collection.
And, of course, as a genealogist, I collect dead relatives! Only, these days, as I study the families of St. Augustine, Florida, during the second period of Spanish possession, I'm collecting a whale of a lot of other people's relatives, while neglecting my own. Kinda like the shoemaker whose kids go without shoes.
So -- What do I collect?
Dust. Not much of a joke. We have a lot of dust in our house. I keep telling my husband it's his powder, a necessity in this humid climate, but he insists it isn't. I keep thinking I oughta spend some money and take a sample to a lab for analysis.
Frogs. Ever since I was a little girl, I have collected frogs. Only then, in my childhood, I collected real frogs! I would gather tadpoles (which actually turned out to be toads, not frogs) in a nearby stream and watch them turn into frogs. It was fascinating. That is one of the things that has sparked my lifelong lay person's interest in science. Once the tadpoles metamorphosed, I would liberate them in the back yard, where they were happy in the damp patches in the lawn. After I grew up, I collected ceramic frogs and wooden frogs and plushy frogs. I have quite a collection now. My grandson has inventoried them. He even made frogs for me in art camp. Here is one of them. You can tell that the art camp was at a museum of modern art!
Books. Well, I would not really call myself a book collector. I don't collect first editions or rare books or anything like that. I can't afford that indulgence. I collect books in the sense of having a houseful! I have had to classify them by the Dewey Decimal System! My studies as a historian has prompted me to build quite a library of books on Spain and Spanish colonial Florida.
At one time, I had quite a collection of Star Trek memorabilia, but I have had to pare that down. My three categories of collecting are "Necessary, Nice, and Nuts." When I divested myself of many of my Star Trek items, my priority became the "Nuts" items. They're just such fun.
State Universities (of Florida). I joke that I am collecting state universities, having attended three different institutions in the state university system of Florida. In the 1960s, I attended Florida State University, earning a bachelor's degree in Government and a master's in library science. I worked as a librarian for a while, and enjoyed it. That dried up in the recesion of the early 1970s. After a lifetime of doing this and that while concentrating on raising a family, I finally went back to college at the age of 60, at the University of North Florida. After that, I went for another master's degree at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Not sure if I'm going to be adding to this collection.
And, of course, as a genealogist, I collect dead relatives! Only, these days, as I study the families of St. Augustine, Florida, during the second period of Spanish possession, I'm collecting a whale of a lot of other people's relatives, while neglecting my own. Kinda like the shoemaker whose kids go without shoes.
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