THANKFUL

If anyone dreads the dreaded colonoscopy and EGD (word is so long I can't spell it - but the esophogus/stomach scope), let him dread no more. They aren't wonderful, comfortable or something I'd want done every year, but things have improved... At least by the instructions the doctor I went to gave me. The other scopes I've had done, I've been completely out, but not this time. I kept thinking, okay, things will get black in a second... Never did. Totally relaxed, though. A good thing. From the time I was rolled in to the time they wheeled me out, maybe 20 minutes. Of course, I was so relaxed, it could have been 10 or 45... All was well, too; I just will have to add one pill to my cache to take every day, which is great considering some alternatives that could have been. And I thank God that weren't! So adding a pill is no big deal.

Paul and I went to eat (yea!) at Jason's Deli, picked Oscar up at Amy's, and came home. I napped. By the time we got home, I had a terrible "druggy" headache, from the sedation wearing off, and a little wooziness, so I went to bed and slept for a couple of hours. Felt much better after the nap.

When we got home, there was a USPS box waiting for me - from Nan! This is Paul's cousin with whom I've been emailing about genealogy and she sent me a book and other information about the Nichols family. I haven't opened it yet - I'd rather have a whole block of time to devote just to looking at it. She and her family will be gone and out of touch for the summer until October, so I have time to go through and make copies. (This is the camper/hiker who will be "tenting" on the three-month long trip! Looking forward to hearing about that!)

I think I'll try a McD breakfast biscuit this morning. After two days practically of not eating, except for the half of a chicken salad sandwich and a little cup of soft serve ice cream, that's probably just what I need on an empty stomach... That and hot coffee.

WOMEN ON MISSION DAY

Women on Mission is a group of ladies in our church who meet once a month for a missions program, potluck lunch and fellowship. This was my second meeting to attend and I love it! I've known most everyone for years and years, and it's so great to be able to go during the day.

The program today was given by Victoria Harris about the trip she and a small group made to Las Vegas to assist Michael and Janelle Ellis in the work they're doing at Northstar Baptist Church there. We take so much for granted here, the heat notwithstanding! Every week they transport equipment to rented space in an elementary school and set up, then take it down... They're very dedicated to God's work and reaching people for Him there.

Afterward, I went to the vet's office to get Oscar's arthritis med for the next few weeks, and to Walmart for a few things. Soon after I got home I heard actual thunder! So far we didn't get much rain out of all the noise; the patio got damp, not completely wet even.

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This evening a young lady called the house to speak to Paul, who wasn't here at the time. He'd left the office, so I gave her his cell number. She wanted him to perform a marriage ceremony for her and her boyfriend. So... they got in touch with Paul and a little after five o'clock, came to the house for their wedding! As far as I know, this is the first wedding ever held in our home! Tracy and Jake... She used to live down the street on the other side of the Lees.

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Paul's cousin Nan who lives in Pennsylvania is sending me information on the Nichols family. Her mother and Paul's dad were brother and sister. She said she is getting ready to leave on a three-month hiking trip through the northwest and lower Canada and "tenting" it. I wished her a great trip! And I'm glad it's her and not me! They "leave the light" on for people like me; I'd be looking for Motel 6 or Holiday Inn or Best Western. But I'm sure it'll be an interesting trip.

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So tomorrow begins the clear liquid diet. I've tried not to think about it. There's no limit to the liquid, but you know it's not the same as fried squash, tomatoes and cornbread...

ANCESTORS SPINNING

Yesterday I worked on my side of family tree; tonight on Paul's. So many questions! It's either great or torturous for "mildly" OCD-type personalities. You just want every blank filled in on every person - all the dates, places, kids, parents, grandparents, in-laws, outlaws, back to Adam.

I learned today that my great grandfather was fourteen years old when he enlisted in the Union Army (he was from Mississippi) and his regiment fought at Corinth and Shiloh. He deserted after seven months. I wonder if that teenage boy didn't have his fill of adventure by that time. Or maybe his mama had been looking for him. I know fourteen-year-olds then were probably more mature than many are now, but I can just imagine that he saw and heard things he wished he had never taken part in. His name on the regiment roster (Wisconsin) did not have a state of origin. Maybe that's why they never found him or looked for him. That I know of. Yet.

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I searched all over the house tonight looking for the Bible I have with family statistics written in it and finally did find it. I'd written in pencil, so I went over all that with a pen. It isn't legal unless it's in ink. Not that I think I'd ever have to use it for a legal document, but if I did... And the pencil writing had smudged so it was almost illegible in some places.

I do know this: never in this lifetime or anyone else's will there be an end to all the research, recording, organizing, scanning, editing, copying and filing and exchanging of family records. Only God has all that.

Me, about age 4, from Edwina's album, which I'm sure Mama sent back to my dad's family after they divorced. I was eating something and looks as if I had on a little bracelet. There appears to be a water fountain behind me, probably at a city park or the Memphis Zoo. I'd never seen this picture before, either. Wonder who was standing just in front of me - she had a hat on; maybe Goobie - she wore them.

I DON'T DO MUCH MATH

Yesterday in Memphis (while there giving Amy TLC for her strep throat, which is better) I got fabric swatches for a table cloth and placemats. I couldn't decide right then, so I brought the tiny little squares home and tried to see if they coordinated with the valances I'd already made a couple of years ago. They did and I decided I didn't need to redo the valances - close enough, and all the fabric was in the same "family" so it couldn't be much off.

Today Paul and I made a quick trip to Jonesboro for plywood for pantry doors (he decided to just redo the doors so they look like the cabinet doors), and I got the material for the table cloth and placemats. And enough for napkins, though I'm sure we won't be using them for that. I just wanted a nice-looking table because we use the back door all the time and that's what you see when you come in. No, what you see is the washer, but I've been saying for years that I've tried to make a big house out of a little house. But I love my little house. Sher loves my little house. Amy does; Paul does. It's paid for; it's quirky, and it's home. We'll have to retrain ourselves on where to put our stuff - his cap, my purse, Walmart bags, newspapers...

I intended to lay the cloth kitty-cornered on the table, but guess what? Forty-two inches square does not mean 42" diagonally, too! Who knew? There was about an inch or so of each corner of the table top showing, so... so much for that brilliant idea. (The nice lady who helped me at Hancock's didn't catch it either, so I don't feel too bad...) I'm just glad there was enough to have an overhang that doesn't look entirely dorky.

This isn't pressed, it's just to see what it looked like. I'll have to hem the table cloth, and in my spare time, when I'm not looking for Thornes, make the placemats. The dish is from Pray Pottery in Iuka.

BTW, Bren researched the Thornes and someone in our little town - someone she knows and who is another cousin of her sister-in-law - had already done a lot of work, and lo and behold, I now know of some of my ancestors back to 1176! And Thorne began as the name Torun, from Prussia, later Germany! This peaks my interest, so I will do a little reading of the history of that time. This was before Columbus! You just never know where you may have come from...

ALL THESE KINFOLKS

A "chance" phone call and it has opened up a whole set of relatives and ancestors I never knew I had! When cousin Edwina called Aunt Ginny (not her aunt, Paul's aunt and really "my" aunt), to see if I'd be interested in her research on family history, I immediately called her back and said I certainly would!

So now I have an album of pictures of grandparents and great grandparents, aunts and uncles, great uncles and great aunts, and branches of other families I had no idea I was related to in some way. All of north Tishomingo County is related to each other. All. Since we have no near relatives here, it is even more surprising and epiphanous to find all these connections! It's wonderful and I love it.

Mamaw Bessie and Papaw Charlie Thorne, my paternal grandparents.

Their living children at the time this was made. I think this was made at Mamaw's funeral. There were three other sons who died in infancy, early childhood and as a young man of 35. My father is in the middle. Now Uncle Spencer (Slip), far left, and Uncle Allen have passed away. Now Luther is 84; Aunt Polly is about 71, and Aunt Reba is 96!

I didn't know until Edwina gave me this that Papaw Charlie played the fiddle! He's on the far right.

Brenda says you can't do it all at once and I believe it. You can't take internet postings at face value; facts need to be verified. You have to be patient. She's done family history for over 30 years; I've "played" with it along the way, and this is my first serious foray into my father's side of the family. It just takes time.

Tomorrow I hope to begin a sewing project; at least get the fabric: table cloth and placemats. Simple enough.