Well kid, I was sitting here drinking my java this morning and chain smoking ... (I don't recommend that by the way, you look like you have a very strong little set of lungs and you should keep them that way..)
Anywho, I caught the above frame out of the corner of my eye this morning and I feel so unbelievably sorry for you that I could cry as hard as you've been crying... Not because you didn't catch the ball... You didn't expect to catch it did you? Even if you had gotten your glove underneath it, it most likely would've been going fast enough it would have ripped your little arm right out of the socket...
I used to love the MySpace survey question, "Is there something you're looking forward to?"
It would always cause me to look ahead and plan something fun if there wasn't something I was looking forward to. The thing that I've most been chomping at the bit about is the release of the 1940 Census! hahaha
Now settle down kids, I know that some of you are so excited you could wet your britches...
but seriously I've been very excited about it!
There's what's called a 72 year rule on censuses... Due to privacy each census remains "put away" in the National Archives until 72 years after it was taken. Last Monday at Midnight, the 1940 census was released and a huge crew of people began data entry to get it online of somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.something millions records (I think it was) ...
Within those records lie information and clues to help me further the family search I have been on since the late 90s. I'm not adopted or anything ... though when I'm out at my folks' house on my soap box waving my hippie flowers in the air, I sometimes wonder :^) But I am interested in history and I become completely enthralled when connecting that to ancestors...
Genealogy is kind of becoming "hot" now ... and I'm super excited about that ...
but I was doing genealogy when genealogy wasn't cool.
I was the 18 or 19 year old kid sitting in the floor of the basement of the Johnson County Library absolutely delighted and blissfully happy in the dank room, consumed by the smell of must and dust as I learned about my great-great-great-great-grandpa, Moses Comer and the journey that he and his brother Nathaniel took along the river on a flatbed boat in the mid 1800s... carrying with them animals, family, household goods and all that was needed to start a new life in Southern Illinois. The family would eventually farms acres and acres, one of the brothers would open a dry goods store and the family would remain on the Southern edge of Johnson County/Northern edge of Massac County until migrating into the city of Metropolis in the early 1900s.
I remember the day I approached a librarian asking where I could see the 1940 Census ...
It was in the late 90s and I was on the latter end of my teens ...
a dorky, gangley little child ... carrying around a bit tote bag full of death records and scribbled notes ...
She told me it hadn't yet been released ... I, of course asked when it would be released....
She explained to me the "72 year rule" and after scribbling on a paper chuckled and said, "2012..."
"2012, what? That's when it'll be released?!?!!", I was absolutely blown away .. and I began to laugh ... "That's terrible ... that's a really long time... I wonder if I'll even remember I was doing the family tree then..."
Fast forward doggone near 20 years... to a Tuesday morning ... in my late 30's ... as I sipped my java and chain smoked ... on my way to Ancestry.com
Illinois ... "in progress"
Throughout the day, I would periodically pause my work and check the status...
...later in the day...
Cook county is posted ... that was probably the biggest one ...
Around 6 p.m. I got a call from a friend who'd just finished a golf game in Metropolis
and wanted to take a drive ... "I think I can do that ... hang on ...", I said.
Ancestry.com ....
Illinois ....
"Lasalle" ....
"Yeah, I'm good for a short drive and I could use a break ... I'll watch for you to pull up..."
My friend and I went for a drive and I rattled about the upcoming release of Massac County....
About an hour later I burst through my front door, dropped everything in the floor, opened my laptop and hit refresh .... now ... If you know me in "real life", you've heard me talk about how amazing those moments are when we "come full circle" on something...
I can't even express to you the way my heart was racing when I was finally able to select Massac County and get that pull down list of populated places...
My noggin spun .... I thought of that little old librarian I'd laughed with 19 or so years ago ...
I thought, little did I know then that if you get genealogy in your system; you likely won't get it out. You'll take hiatuses and you'll get on a big run and then maybe burn out a little bit and not mess with it for a few months or years ... but you never quit all together..
I thought of the meek little teenage girl who used to sneak away to be a dweeb ... and the soooo "unmeek" woman she became who doesn't give a rats happy fanny who thinks who's a dweeb ... and is happy to be a dweeb even if it hair-lips every cow in Texas!
Anywho, I don't think I have to tell you that nearly every time I ceased work that week ... even for a quick ciggy, I had that census waiting on my laptop at my last "point of scanning". I've found almost all of my ancestors, though I haven't entered all of the info yet. I've seen a SLEW of y'all's (yes, that was a double contraction) ancestors!
I looked through the Benton section (BENTON ELECTION PRECINCT, ROUND KNOB (PART)) ....and it was like playing in the "Romper Room mirror" ... I saw Beau's grandma Blanche as a 24 year old - she and her hubby, Wilbur were living with his dad, Joe and they were farmers.
I saw some "Meinders" and I'll bet you a dollar to a donut that one of the kids in that household was little old Mr. Meinders who used to sell Jolly Rancher Watermelon sticks and candy of all kinds to the "Jefferson School kids" as they went to and from school.
I took this picture of the sunset behind the Round Knob Store a mere 22 or so years after graduating from Jefferson School. There has never been a time that I drove by that store and didn't recall the smell the old wooden floorboards scattered with the dust, dirt and mud from the boots of farmers, the lunch counter in the back and the area in front of the lunch counter where the old farmers congregated and the feeling of reaching down into large jars of candy to pick "the right" one... ... it was an incredible era ...
I saw Carl Verbarg as a 17 year old and when I was 17 I was serving that little man java at the Park Plaza Restaurant across from Fort Massac .. having no idea that he had grown up just up the road from where I lived.
I saw Jennifer's (Gizmo) :) grandpa Edwin as a 28 year old, living and farming on the land of his dad, John...
As you might imagine if you're familiar with the area ... I saw more Kortes, Bremers, Fosses, Rottmans and Verbargs than I could keep track of. That link above will take you there and I encourage you to go explore if you're familiar with that neck of the woods.
NOW ... Back to 'those Comers' ... I need to wrap it up and make my point :)
I can't recall the exact year of their migration from Dickson County, Tennessee to Johnson County, Illinois, but I think it was the late 1850s. I DO know that it was before the Civil War because of the information on Leroy's (son of Moses) draft card, so they definitely moved to this area PRE-1861.
Leroy Comer
1843 (TN) -1922 (IL)
My Great-Great-Great Grandpa
For those of you who know the more recent Comer Line,
this is the grandpa of great-grandpa,
Lee Comer (1908-1975)
(the logger who wrestled the bear)
If you would've asked me 20 years ago when the Civil War began, I wouldn't have known because I would've had nothing to "relate" it to. I'm sure I had to memorize it and regurgitate it at some point to pass a test, but I wouldn't have "really known"....
Now I'm to my point .....
I would like to start a movement for
a new measure to be implemented into the education system...
Hear me out ... I know I'm pretty liberal and you are likely very frightened right now ....
hahaha, please just take a deep breath and keep reading,
this isn't going to be nearly as shocking of an idea as you think ... in fact, I kind of think it's brilliant :) ....
I think that as a student begins the 8th grade, the history curriculum should include tracing their family tree.
I think the 8th grade year should consist of gathering information on their parents and grandparents through family interviews and then as 9th grade or "Freshman Year" begins, they should be allowed to access Ancestry.com and other genealogy data bases to continue their search. This could also result in field trips to libraries and records offices...
I think this is something that should be implemented to work alongside the current history curriculum from 7th - 12th grades. One big plus would obviously be that the students would actually "learn" the history.. they would have something to attach it to and connect it with. Another wonderful result of this program would be that our currently (mostly) spoiled and completely oblivious youth would get to see the struggles of generations before them. I could go on for days about the benefits of this program... but I've got a lot of stuff to do today ....
I do encourage you to ponder that concept and share it with others ... AND I encourage you to plan at least ONE night when the whole family will sit down and use technology for good as they check out the census and learn about yesteryear...
You'll first go to the U.S. Enumeration District Maps and Descriptions for 1940to find the location your family was living in in 1940. The census will be search-able within months, but for now you have to know an address (or at least a vicinity) to avoid looking through the whoooooooole thing... You can get that information in old city directories at your local library or you can call the oldest person in the family and ask them what street "so and so" lived on, then check the map to get in the neighborhood...
I assure you this is some of the most rewarding time you can spend ... and what a great family project to ponder!!
Also ... if anyone at Ancestry.com happens to be reading along ...
it would behoove you to implement a program in which "Student ID"s can log in at no charge.
You would essentially be "hooking" them on a hobby and passion that they'll carry with them for their entire life ... thus, you'll have a grand majority of them who will then purchase their subscription when they no longer have a student ID.... and Bob's your Uncle ...
your customer base increases every year, just after college graduation....
You're welcome ....
I've been under a curse for the last 14 years that was broken last night when Kentucky won their 8th National Championship. Now I don't literally believe that my run of Murphy's Law, a cheating spouse, financial chaos and a meltdown was caused by the fact that the Kentucky Wildcats hadn't won a championship since 1998... but 1998 was the year that I was married and sometimes we need a little something extra to push us... so for the last several years, I've done what I always did ... I filled out my NCAA bracket with great glee in the day or two following Selection Sunday.... thinking "This will be the year..."
This year I was busy with a deadline and had forgotten to fill out my bracket that week.
At about 10:40 am on the first Thursday of the tourney, one of my friends posted on his facebook status that "the games start in 20 minutes". I gasped and cursed realizing that I hadn't filled out my bracket.
I quickly closed the window I was on and went to ESPN to make my picks. I watched the clock as I hurried through. I submitted my bracket about 5 minutes or so before the games began, with Kentucky and Kansas in the final game and Kentucky winning it all.
As the games began, I was tickled to pick a couple of big upsets. I don't have a real formula for picking the teams because I watch very little of the regular season aside from the occasional Kentucky game...
I watched the game with one of the few Kentucky fans that I still have in my circle of close friends... we ordered steak and lobster tail from Outback and screamed our ever-loving heads off towards the end of the second half when Kansas started to close the gap... as the clock ticked down to nearly nothing and the Kansas guy shot the three pointer while traveling I nearly came right up out of my seat...
Not a breath was breathed in the room until the next second when the travel was called ... and then into the air our arms went and we began to scream like Banshees... we each jumped out of our recliner and hollered and cheered ... that was a loooong time coming and if the ref would've missed that traveling call (as he had missed so many other calls on Kansas during the game) that could've quickly become a "1992 Duke situation".. if I'm not mistaken, if that shot would've been counted they would've only been 3 points away from tying the game and needless to say Kentucky would've been rattled and who knows what could have happened...
That was one wild championship ...
and truthfully, neither team was at the top of their game...
that was one of the sloppiest games I've seen Kentucky play all year and had it not been the championship game I would've gone on to another project and googled the score today ... but I'm thrilled beyond measure with the result ... and now that my curse is broken I have quite a bit of stuff to get done.
Having said that, I'm delighted to announce that I don't give a rat's shiny fanny about sports now until Selection Sunday 2013 ... so let's try to keep it to a low murmur out there if we can ;)
I have to be unequivocally honest with you ... not that I lie to you on other days ... but this is gonna be a tough one to write, but I think I have to because I can't wait another four years for a *Leap Day*...
(Update - 03/05/12 - but evidently I "can" start it on Leap Day and procrastinate on finishing...)
It's highly possible that this will be released in "Chapters", so to speak...
Today I'm gonna tell you where I woke on our last "Leap Day" ... the one in 2008 ... and I use the term "woke" very loosely... I'm just gonna rip it off like a Band-aid because it'll be easier for all of us ...
Two North ... I "woke" at Two North.
For those of you who don't live in this area and know what "Two North" is, it's where you go to "rest for a few days". When celebrities do that it sounds not too bad ... but when you wake up there and know what terminology is being used about you on "the outside", it's really quite disturbing...
Now, allow me to back up and explain...
I was exiting an era of extreme mental and emotional stress. We've all had those eras of extreme stress during which we say quietly to ourselves forty times a day "Oh my God... one more thing and I'm gonna wind up on the evening news...I literally can take no more"
Well, by early in 2008 I was saying just that ... I was coming out of a 13+ year relationship.
I use the term "coming out of" loosely too, because we tried to get out several times, but as many of you who have ended a relationship know, sometimes it's easier said that done to hang it up and walk away...
I stood at the back door watching my life unravel as he put his suitcase in his car on February 28 of 2003.. it was a Friday night. It was on December 3 of 2007 when I walked out of his front door for the last time ... done for good ... an entirely different person than the naive girl in her late 20's who had watched him leave nearly five years before.
I had a meltdown on Christmas Eve that year ... we'll have to come back and pick that up another day because it's pretty lengthy ... but it went 'semi' undetected except for a few close friends who either showed up at my apartment or called my Mom to tell her something didn't seem right with me.
Now we're almost to the part where I wake up at "Two North", so I need to mention here that while we did still have a good working relationship I was hired by he (the ex) and his business partner to manage a store which for the moment shall remain nameless...(02/2007-01/2008)
While managing that store I had hired an old friend who wandered in needing a job right away... I was to learn that the ex had actually had an affair with this old friend during the time we were married. And here she had walked in off the street and I had hired her .... what are the odds of that???
When that information came to light I really started to lose my grip ... I was obviously about to be without a job, I'd just hired a woman my ex had flung around a bed room during our marriage... one whom I had considered a good pretty good friend and it seemed that everything I had ever known was now different.
I remember the entire week of the "meltdown" very clearly ... more clearly than one would normally remember the week preceding a big 'event', I think...
In the sake of keeping it as short as possible, I may come back and recap that week later because in retrospect-a-vision, many interesting things happened that led up to "the great KCoJax meltdown of 2008".
Just after midnight on February 28th, I had returned home from watching a couple of movies with a friend. This friend had been a mutual friend of the former spouse and I for many years, so he was (and still is) a close confidant and friend. He had observed the relationship from the sidelines since we'd met him in the early 2000s, so I seldom had to make a sideline to explain the background or off branching circumstances. We chatted throughout the night about "ending one chapter and beginning the next", "closure", "God", "prayer" and "reinventing oneself", among other things.
As he has always requested I do, I texted him to let him know I had gotten home safely. He texted back. I meandered around for a bit, fixing my Coca-Cola and getting ready to get settled and click around the channels and click around online, I suppose.
I remember going to my MySpace page and working on the design... ((Keep in mind this was early 2008)) ;0) ... I can very clearly remember that my computer was online but nothing was refreshing properly and the internet was just hinky in general. From what I recall I sat there and messed with it for some time.
I remember around 3 a.m. ((I think it was 3ish)), "feeling like I was having a stroke" or something...
My heartbeat became deafening in my ears, I felt very "disoriented, tingly and weird", I kept thinking of or "hearing" the chorus of Simon & Garfunkel's Sound of Silence in my noggin... thank goodness I didn't get the dog who talked to Son of Sam!! :0)
This part is a little scary for me to recollect... I felt like I couldn't compose my words or my thoughts, I got my phone to send a text ... I sent a one word text, "Kristy" to my friend Kristy who lived in the Northeast at the time. She replied back within a minute, "#8".
NOW, Kristy is one of my absolute right hand people. I had met her when she moved into the apartment above "Flawn Ocho" in Fall of 2004 and we became fast friends. I credit Kristy with my getting through the Black Christmas of 2004 and being alive to entertain you today :)
I don't know what my thought process was at that moment really ... I can imagine that I was trying to tell her something was wrong, but it wasn't uncommon for us to text back and forth randomly... so she thought nothing of it and probably after texting me back, rolled over and went to sleep.
Right about this point is where I draw a blank... it was probably 3:20 a.m. by then and I remember absolutely nothing until approximately 6:30 a.m. I remember thinking I needed to call my brother, Kev... and then my Mom was on the phone asking me "what was wrong?" and "what I was talking about?", so eeeeeeeevidently I called Mom and Dad instead of calling Kev. As you might imagine, this is when all Hell broke loose.
Kev did get a call that morning and it was from them, not me ... and they pretty much said, "Something's wrong with Kim and you've gotta get to her apartment, we're on the way..."
***
I'm gonna cut it right there for now ... at this point of the story, no one's even arrived at my apartment to begin trying to gather my marbles yet ... so there's still much more to come on this one ...
Have A Grand and Groovy Day!
If You Liked It ~ Share It!
I am having a hoot assisting my Mom in learning about the blogosphere, widgets, html, traffic and whatnot. I could bore or entertain you for hours with stories ... but for the moment I'm going to give you a link to her blog for today.
She tells how to get rid of springtime ants and not only is the information grand and groovy,
the manner in which she tells it is VERY entertaining!
In Today's Bird's Eye View -
Ant Infestation & Other Bugs...The Remedy That WORKS!!! -
""I'd rather just be good old blabby Granny Goose...
that gets spring ants and knows how to get rid of them...and isn't afraid to share the news....""
---
""One drip/drop of sweet tea...or coca cola...can bring in an army of ants.....or if you wipe off your kitchen counter after breakfast and leave just a teensy bit of jelly smeared on the counter that YOU can't even SEE.....some little ant that you have never even seen before...that seemed to just drop from Heaven...is going to find that teensy bit of jelly and they're going back to their colony and before they even get there....they're going to be standing up on their hind legs and tippy toes...and have their front legs cupped to make a mega phone around their mouth and they're going to be yelling..."HEY GUYS...I FOUND SUGAR...PASS THE WORD AND FOLLOW ME...WAGONS HO" And the next thing you know...you're going to have 1,000 ants ... crawling around on your kitchen counters and you're going to be trying Raid...and Terro...and every other doggone thing you can think of....and you're just gonna be spinning your wheels...because #1 ..an ant infestation is hard to kill out and you have to really know what you're doing....and #2 ..you MUST get the queen ant.""
Anywho, I caught the above frame out of the corner of my eye this morning and I feel so unbelievably sorry for you that I could cry as hard as you've been crying... Not because you didn't catch the ball... You didn't expect to catch it did you? Even if you had gotten your glove underneath it, it most likely would've been going fast enough it would have ripped your little arm right out of the socket... 
