#TheBookofMe How do you keep emotionally strong?

The first way is what comes naturally -- I'm a cantankerous old curmudgeon.  I'm too stubborn to give in.

The second way is that I have, at my age, no qualms about speaking my mind.  Some of my opinions should be issued with laboratory gloves, because they have a pH of 1.

The third way is that I let off steam by having fun.  Everyone needs to do that from time to time.

The fourth way is by trying to take care of myself.  That's difficult, because right now I'm battling a very difficult insomnia. 

The fifth way is with hugs.  We're a very huggy family, and sometimes a hug is just what we need to set things right.

The sixth way is what I just did last week.  I took the week off to be a lazy bum and do nothing.  No work.  I did play computer games.  I watched TV, binged on "Law & Order."  I feel much better now.

On the other hand, in the seventh way, I get into my work, go back to the late 18th - early 19th centuries, and bid the modern world adieu for a while. 

And finally, I realize that, in the great cosmic scheme of things, my problems aren't that big at all.

#TheBookofMe How do you relax and unwind?

Or, as my daughters would say, how do I unlax and rewind?

Playing computer games.  I play a variety of games.  When something has really irritated me, I play Diablo III, because I can blow away demons with great satisfaction.  My daughters and I have an expression for playing Diablo III to blow off steam:  We say, "I'm going to go kill things."  When I'm mellower, I play less violent games.  However, game play can be frustrating in its own way, for the first rule of gaming is "The game always cheats."  (And let's note that when I say "gaming," I mean playing compter or role-playing games.  When Las Vegas and other places I have no wish to go use the word "gaming," they should be using the word "gambling."  They're just trying to make that practice sound innocuous, which it is not.  Here endeth the editorial.)

Interacting with family.  It's fun to go places with my daughters, son-in-law, grandson, and my husband.  We do fun things and/or eat good food.  Or just sitting and talking with them.  Humor plays a big part in our interactions.  We love to laugh.

Taking a nap.  At my age, taking a nap is nearly mandatory.  It sure does help, most of the time.

Reading.  Other things have kept me from reading as much as I like to and as much as I should.  I have a very long To-Read Queue (TRQ).  But I enjoy it.

Playing with or petting our cat.  It is said that petting a cat (or a dog) lowers your blood pressure.  Certainly, when I pet Gabriela, it lowers her blood pressure.  That cat knows how to mellow out.  She also knows how to play, and her favorite toy is a 6' length of string.  She plays with that only under supervision, and she really goes after it.  She also likes "the red dot" (laser pointer).

Listening to music.  And when I say "music," I mean music.  Classical, show tunes, bluegrass, world music, jazz.

#TheBookofMe What Do You Share?

Well, that could get into the realm of Too Much Information!

However, I will exercise uncharacteristic self-restraint.

What, indeed, to I share?

My opinions.  Anyone who knows me on Facebook or, to a lesser extent, on Twitter, knows that I can have very strong opinions.   If you remember high school chemistry, you'll understand when I say that my opinions often have a pH of 1.

My work.  I do enjoy talking about the work I'm doing as a historian studying Spanish colonial East Florida between 1784 and 1821.  A lot of this genealogy blog concerns the genealogy of the residents of that area during that time; I have not much time for my own family genealogy anymore (though today I did get an awful lot of very good documentary hints on Ancestry!).

My fun.  One of the ways I share my fun is in online games.  My daughters and son-in-law and grandson and I all play Diablo III (before anyone gets het up about it involving demons, yes, it does, but your job as a player is to fight them and defeat them on the side of good).  We share fun, and in-game gifts and goodies.  In another game I play, a much more peaceful game called Township, I share my produce and manufactured products with friends, both within and outside of the cooperative I belong to.

Love.  I come from a very huggy family.  We shared our love with hugs and food and humor.  Though there were trying times, my family was basically fun to grow up in.  We still share with food, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, though we also take friends and family out to dinner on our nickel throughout the year.  I love my husband, our daughters, our son-in-law, our grandson, our friends.

Interests.  My husband and I have a lot in common, but we also have different interests.  He's retired, and spends a lot of time on the computer (he was a programmer).  I spend a lot of time in my office because I'm not retired!  I have things in common with our daughters, too (like computer games), and that makes our relationship fun.

That's enough sharing for one day!

#TheBookofMe May's Prompts -- late again

I don't know where the month of May went, but it's now June (hurricane season has begun).  I am going to, once again, combine all of one month's prompts into one blog entry.

1.  What or who are you proud of?

I am proud of my husband for having been a good provider in 47 years of marriage.  He even, on our modest income, got me through graduate school without a student loan.  We've had some rough patches, as we all do.  But we have come through them, perhaps a bit financially bloodied, but unbowed.  We have a comfortable retirement.  Well, he's retired.  I'm probably an old ADHD, and will never retire, as I always have to be doing something.

I am proud of my daughters, who have become hard-working, life-loving, responsible women.  Our older one has a good marriage to a fine man.  Our younger one chose never to marry, and has her own place in the country, where she is most at home.  Both of them have a solid work ethic.  Both of them enjoy their family and friends. 

I am proud of my grandson, who is doing well in school and overall, despite a fairly severe ADHD.  That's why I made the reference above, because I see myself in my grandson.  He has a terrific sense of humor, and is particularly adept at puns.  He made his first pun at the age of about five.

I am proud of having served in the United States Coast Guard, active duty and reserve, enlisted and officer.  I accomplished things beyond what I had ever imagined I could.  It was a tremendous growth experience.

2.  What frustrates you?

Computer games, at times.  There is one cardinal rule of computer gaming -- the game always cheats.  When I can't seem to accomplish a level, it frustrates me.  However, I'm mule stubborn, so I don't give up until I do complete the level!

Deliberate ignorance frustrates me. Not much else does, though.

3.  What is your favorite way to communicate?

Face-to-face.  That's the best.  I despise the telephone.  I had a job once sitting at a desk with a headset on my head, answering incoming call after incoming call, for the Internal Revenue Service.  At home, I informed my husband that he would have to answer the telephone, because I wasn't going to after a day of doing nothing but that.  I still don't like to get on the dratted instrument.

4.  Name a treasured possession and share why.

Family photographs.  My family is mostly gone.  My father died in 1954 (I had just turned 7), my aunt, who helped raise me, in 1967 (I was in college).  My grandma and my mother-in-law in 1978 and my mother in 1980.  My brother in 1996.  So photographs have been for different stretches of years the only thing I have to remember them.

5.  What and who do you value?

I value my family and friends.  They keep me going.

I value honesty and integrity.  I value incorruptibility.  I value a sense of humor; never trust anyone who does not have one.  I value intelligence.