Happy Blogoversary to me (yesterday)

As per usual, I forgot my Blogoversary, but hey, better late than never, right? And this is a big one, 10 years! I went back and looked at my first post on Aug 30, 2011...it was short (yep, believe it or not!), but it was also quite ironic in it's wording:

This is my first blog post and I'm hoping all will go well! Facebook just isn't for me because most (o.k., all) of my "friends" don't like the same things I do, so it's useless for me to post updates about my life since they just don't get it. I've created a blog for me to share what's important to me to no one in particular (might sound sad, but there is a method to my madness). I'm going to be posting pics of my cross stitching progress, books I've read, movies or television series I've watched, or am watching, music that's important to me, and other random musings about nothing in particular. So, here goes, and wish me luck!

Ah, sweet naive me! If I only knew then the twists and turns my life would take since then. I ended up posting about a lot more than that. I told my life story (pretty much all the dark and dirty of it). I ended up sharing more of my Asper world (that I didn't intend to go into much at all). I started out participating in a lot of stitching groups tryiing to fit in, but they just made me feel more uncomfortable (I don't do well with expectations). I tried to be a "joiner", I'm just not the type. I did the April A to Z Challenge numerous years in a row, but my OCD got the better of me and I ended up doing two, then three challenges in one year and it just got to be too much (because I can't do anything in moderation). And oh, the Disney trips, tips and tricks, and pics I ended up sharing! I probably Disney'ed you guys out!

This has been a rough year, I gotta say, but I made it through it (or at least I think I have, sometimes I wonder). When it comes to blogging, and especially cross-stitching, it has been a HORRIBLE year, and for that, I must appologise to you guys. I would say, "I'll do better next year", but that would probably be a lie, since I'm still in the same frame of mind right now that I've been in, at least for the past two to three years, so I'm not going to bother (and I think I actually tried that last year in an effort to try to "visualize" it into existence...so much for that crap working, right?).

I did have the "brilliant" (lots of quotes this blog, huh?) idea of starting a YouTube Channel of all my exploits of living in the world as an Asper, my "travels", as they are, and I've filmed a lot of stuff. But filmed is all I have done. I've done nothing to learn how to edit and I've edited nothing. I just keep taking trips. some small, some big, and keep loading them on a hard drive with excuse after excuse as to why I can't do anything with them. To be honest, I think I'm just scared to take that next step of actually posting them somewhere for all to see. Blogging is one thing, vlogging is a whole other beast. Oh well, at least when I'm ready to start editing, I'll have plenty of material to keep up a schedule, since I can't afford to travel that much.

Speaking of travel, my big Massachusetts "discover my roots" trip is off. I've decided that it's just not a good time to be travelling right now, vaccinated or not. The more I learn about my geneology, the more I'm finding out that I also have roots in Maine and New Hampshire, so what was going to be a quick "run through" those states to cross them off my scratch off map, now has to be part of the journey, so that requires a reboot of the trip. My Sister and I also aren't seeing eye-to-eye on what this trip is about, so I also think it's best to regroup and maybe either go at a later time, or maybe not go together after all. The trip ended up turning into something else, and I wasn't happy about it. I need to bring it back down to geneology.

But as a year goes, on the positive side, I have traveled quite a bit for a hermit and seen new places (even if I still can't walk in a store). I've tried twice to eat take-away now, both times I ended up throwing away the food for one reason or the other, not eating it. I'm just not ready for that. On the bright side, stopping sodas and eating out has trimmed my waistline, even if it's just a little bit. And, as guess, another positive note, I'm back in therapy, even if I've been dealing with an incompetent therapist for four months, waiting on my regular one to come back (this one likes to "distract" and get me talking about stupid stuff, instead of focusing on problem issues...yes, it puts me in a better mood, but that's not what I'm paying $400/hr for, or rather my insurance is). But hey, I've also found an amazing new hobby that's got my mind running ninety to nothing...geneology! I don't now how long it will last,but obessions have always been good for me, so yea me!

On the negative side, no stitching (or not much) to show...I can't even remember when the last time I stitched was (although I guess I should look and post about it). It just doesn't work as the distraction from life that it used to. I wish I could get back to it though. Maybe when this geneology thing wears off. And don't get me started about work. I think you guys have heard me bitch enough about that subject. I think I've just resigned myself to being stuck here. I tried to move on, but apparently, no one else wants me. The Cali guys got my hopes up all over (again), only to let me down (again), which I should have seen coming, but it still blindsided me. I think my lackluster resume is what did it. I explained to them my situation, what little education I had, that I was self-taught, nothing in that piece of paper they didn't already know. But oh well. Then, when I started looking around elsewhere, I started noticing a trend, the first question EVERYONE asked me was, "what's your degree in again?". Damn. I hate those words. So, I've just given up.

But, you guys know me, I never give up completely. This whole geneology thing has started me on a new path, one I've mentioned NUMEROUS times in the past, so it shouldn't come as a shock...I've been looking at a degree is History again. I want to make sure this is not one of my short-lived fads again first, but I've done some serious soul-searching about this and I see it this way...I'm about to be 51 years old this month. It will take me approximately 3-4 years to finish a degree of any kind working full-time. Everytime I take one of those apptitude tests that tells you what you should be, it tells me an artist or a computer tech. I lost my artistic talent years ago (after I dropped that major the first time) and I've gotten where I really HATE working I.T. I'm getting too old for it, I'm female and it's a male dominated world, and frankly, I'm just sick of dealing with the B.S. of it. Just because you're "good" at something, doesn't mean that's what you should do, you should do what you "love" and I hate both of those things. I "love" history and literature and always have.

Yes, I realize I can't do much with a history degree, but so what? I have a job. Maybe I take it further and get a masters or even a doctorate? I don't have to teach, historians do a lot of work outside of academia. One thing I've noticed just going through my geneology, is the lack of information there is in certain areas I've been researching...like the Scottish witch hunts that took place in the 1590s (almost 100 years before all the other witch hunts across the world), or King James's (yes, THAT King James) obsession with witches and demons and the book he wrote himself BEFORE he commissioned his version of the bible (he was a bit off his rocker, FYI). Anything negative about James is pretty hard to find, and I'm not sure why. His history and "lifestyle" was pretty well documented. Maybe it's one of those subjects no one wants to touch with a ten foot pole (I'm not too scared of it, but still). But there is also enough stories about my family specifically, especially how so many died in the battle of Flodden fields I have typed that date so many times in death dates for individuals, I know it by heart...9 Sept 1513). I would love to find out their stories and tell them as a family. And there were so many other battles as well. I could spend the rest of my days writing books about my family! But again, just a thought, and I need to make sure I'm serious this time. I tend to change my mind a LOT!

I can get my degree in something I love, keep my day job (for now, I definitely don't want to stay here forever) and maybe write a book in my spare time and see what happens. Or maybe get a job as a historian somewhere else, and start a new adventure. Who knows! But it is a new path, and one I need to make sure I'm serious about first, but also one I probably should embark on before I get too old and too forgetful to go back to school in the first place. My memory definitely isn't what it used to be!

As far as my future with blogging, I'm not going anywhere (at least I don't think so). This is my "home" online, one of the few I have. I still don't post on Twitter, rarely post on Instagram and I also still refuse to open a Facebook account again (and yes, I know FB owns Instagram, but I try not to think about it, and I'm hoping the FCC will split them up soon). I still want to start my YouTube Channel and maybe build a real webpage, transferring my blog over there, but that would require more I.T. work after hours, and I'm not a fan of that. The fact that I have to use a computer to do geneology is annoying enough. I don't like to touch a computer when I go home (a byproduct of my crappy work life, I guess...I didn't use to be that way, but it's probably another reason why I definitely don't want to major in computer science anymore, they've gone from fun toys to annoying thorns in my side).

As always, and I feel like I don't say this enough, I can't thank you guys enough for supporting me, being there for me, and offering me the support that you have over the years, but especially throughout these last couple years. I know I have been extra whiny, and even I find myself hard to take, so I don't know how you guys put up with me, but you're always there! That's why I love the blog world more than any other! I love that you guys are honest with me and, even when we disagree, you offer your different opinion and we discuss it like rational humans...I don't even get that with the people who are physically around me. This is how relationships should be, which is why you guys are more my friends and family than anyone else, and I love you all.

Until my next post, stay safe my friends! And thank you for being there for me for 10 years! Here's to 10 more (and let's hope the next 10 are WAY better!).

An Ancestry update

So, I have been chugging along on Ancestry.com, almost every single day after work, sometimes, even leaving work on time (yes, you read that correctly, some days I'm only working 9 hours a day, instead of my usual 12!). Maybe one day, I'll get down to 8!

I did discover that the more American of my friends tend to be WAY more interested in their family history than the more European of my friends here. I found that extremely interesting! I do wonder if it's because you guys are surrounded by so much history, you may be a bit more immune to it than those of us in the States are. You're records are extremely well documented (hence the ease at which we can trace our lineage). The oldest structures or museums or anything of stature we have here are 300 or so years old at most (other than natural places or Native American structures, most of which aren't taken care of...just look at the way the natural parks have been treated during the pandemic, it's deplorable...don't get me started on THAT rant). But some of you are surrounded by places that are WAY older than that, built on structures that are sometimes upwards of thousands of years old. Anything in this country that we have in that time range, our couple of hundred year old ancestors, tried their hardest to wipe off the map (although some still do exist).

With someone like me, whose ancestors didn't come over on the Mayflower and haven't been here since the beginning of the colonies, my ties to this country aren't nearly as strong as they might be for others, I'm literally in the wrong county (like Tiff said on Instagram, no wonder I'm an Anglophile, and she's right...my DNA is craving home). Since I was a little kid, it has been drilled in my head that I am Scottish, and thus it was how it was. Yes, I was also told I was Native American, Polish and Greek, but my Scottish blood was stronger (or so my dad said), and the "rest didn't matter", so of course, being a daddy's girl, I believed him. I didn't realize how true he was...to an extent and probaby not in the way he intended. I have found things that would make his hair curl (well, his hair is already curly, like mine, but still)! Yes, my Blair line is definitely Scottish, but not leading back to the Scottish nobles and royalty he always believed, but to the rogue royalty that sided with the English (sorry to my English friends, but it was war, after all!). Most of that Scottish line also originated in England when I go back further than the 1200's. I had NO CLUE about this part of my history.

What has been ultimately shocking is that my hillbilly, redneck, moonshining, maternal grandfather, who I was always told had a full-blooded Native American mother (which he is, although I apparently got none of that blood somehow) and a half-blooded Native American father mixed in with something else (they thought probably Irish) because of his skin color and bright red hair. Well, turns out, barely two generations back from him, he was also VERY Scottish, and less than two generations back from that, they were nobles, then eventually royalty as well, and the very loyal Scottish kind...Scottish born and bred. Considering how this family is now, I'm just mind-blown!

To make it weirder, the Blair line and the Henderson line, crossed paths MANY times! Technically, obviously may times removed, my mother and father are cousins (and yes, my DNA results did confirm that my father is my biological father and my mother is my biological mother)!

I've also come across a MAJOR roadblock with my maternal grandmother's lineage. I can't trace it back further than her father (some accounts show him born in Austria, some Czechoslovakia, my DNA answered the question-probably Poland). Her mother I can only go one generation back. Both lines completely die out after that. No documentation whatsoever! It's freaky!

Speaking of which, my DNA results are back a LOT quicker than I imagined (especially since I still have almost two months of my three month subscription left, so yea me)! I did post this on Instagram, but since I can't help it, I'm going to do it again! I have watched dozens of videos of YouTubers going "yep, I'm white, big shock!", but I think I might actually be one of the whitest people ever! Not sure how to feel about that. No Native American blood at all, although that would explain why I have more yellow skin and my mother and Sister have more red skin. But the breakdown is as follows:

I think the English and Scottish are pretty self explanatory. The Northwestern Europe includes France, Luxembourg, Swizterland, The Netherlands, Wales and Belgium. These lines were easy to trace because royal lines can be easily traced on Wikipedia, but I found they referenced several books on the geneology of certain families, so I found it easier just to buy the Kindle versions of these books and found them more accurate and more detailed in some aspects. I found too many inconsistencies with the information on Ancestry.com, since I was dealing with other people and I don't feel like they were looking up their information very well, just really copying it from each other. You guys know me, I'm a stickler for documentation!

The littler percentages were also pretty easy, once I broke them down and went back further. I basically took a line directly from Robert the Bruce (one of his daughters to be precise) and followed her line in a straight line. So, on the Eastern Europe and Russia line, it was Poland, Urkraine and Slovakia that stood out the most, but those areas I haven't hit yet (definitely grandmother's...got to be). It's the Irish, Swedish, Germanic, and Norwegian (as well as Icelandic) areas that I've been digging up left and right. Granted, I also got stuck in the Spain royal lines, but they always link back in to both the French and the English lines, so that's probably why.

I'm going to keep on this path, one kid at a time, and eventually, everyone will be so inter-related, they will all mingle out. I'm sure one person will be related to me in 20 different ways by the time I'm done! But I've hit the Stewarts (before they became Stuarts), the Medici's, and, of course, EVERYONE is related to Charlemagne in some way, so he's there too. So many people from history that we all know...Louis XIII, who I've always had a fondness for, not just because of the Three Musketeers, but because he and I share a birthday (obviously about 369 years apart, but still). And even his Queen, Anne is a very distant cousin (hence my long day yesterday into the Spanish royal line).

I've started to REALLY get the hankering to go back to school again, only this time, history is calling me, and I'm pretty sure it's all due to all that I'm learning over my family. I swear, a few more months of this and I could ace a history degree! Everytime I run across a new battle or something I didn't know, off to YouTube I go to find out all about it! Since a massively large chuck of my relatives died at the Battle of Flodden Hill (I wish I had a dime for every time I've typed the death date of 9 Sept 1513...now I just know they died during the battle), I'm obsessed with it now. Not a lot of English relatives yet, but a TON of Scottish ones from both sides.

I did have to buy a new chair and desk. Working at the kitchen table is KILLING my back! I guess I'll have to dismantle the kitchen table, since I have no room for both. We'll see when they come in. I worked so long yesterday, that I had to sit for a few hours, get up and walk around, or watch TV for a while, and then back at it. I am completely obsessed! It's not making work better (nothing can do that), but it's making me forget work, at least for a little while, so that's good enough for me!

And on a final note, when it comes to new books, I've found several on my quest through Ancestry (and just browsing Amazon) that are blowing my brain even more...there are actual books about my family! The first one I found was the book I mentioned last post. I have since read it, and it wasn't a romance after all. It was good, but I'm not sure why she felt the need to mix reality with fiction. Why use my 8th Great Grandfather's true story (and I got the grandfather's wrong...that book was my 8th), but not use his real family, use other real-life characters, but then add fictional ones. It was all highly confusing. I think the true story of his struggle would have been better than adding the witchcraft element. But whatever. I still need to leave an Amazon review on that one. I'm just composing my thoughts.

I also found myself referencing another book from both Ancestry and Wikipedia called The Henderson Chronicles, and, considering how it read (like a late 1800s, early 1900's, I'm surprised I found a hard copy of it at all!". It was incredibly helpful until I got off on the this royal tangent. But THEN, I found the piece de resistance....Autism in History - The Case of Hugh Blair of Borgue. Yep, that's right, there is a book, about a Granduncle of mine, that was documented posthumously, as having Autism! The case of his life was famous enough, I guess it sparked enough people to write, not one, but a couple of books about it. This one just seemed the most interesting. I had to get the paperback, because the hardback version was literally $150 bucks! I have ALWAYS said my Autism comes from my father, but this could definitely be the proof! I haven't had time to read it yet, but I'll get there.

I have taken another trip, and yes, this one went off track as per usual. I just haven't had time to edit the pictures yet. With all that is happening with COVID again, I'm not sure we're even going to be able to go on our Massachusetts trip. It depends on if the boosters get approved for the rest of us regular immunocompromised folks sometime soon (asthmatics and the like). Right now, it's only for the severe immunocompromised and the elderly (which is FABULOUS...one step at a time and one step closer!).

And I guess that's all for now! More updates to follow, I'm sure! If you guys have traced your lineage, who famous are you related to (well, other than Charlemagne...we all end up there eventually, right?).