Genealogical hazards

I've been on a genealogy kick for quite a while, and I've managed to find a ton of info on my mother's side of the family. Some of these lines go all the way back to England, well before the pilgrims came to America (and I found a few ancestors who came over on the Mayflower. Coolness!). History junkie that I am, I've taken to this task with understandable enthusiasm. It's fun!

My biological father's family has always been something of a mystery to me. He's, to put it mildly, a bit of an unsavory character and has spent most of his life in prison. I knew next to nothing about his biological parents, as he was adopted by other family members as a child. Weeks of digging and research on ancestry.com yielded some leads, so I followed them, ending up in contact with a few truly delightful blood relatives on this side who are helping me fill in the genealogical gaps.

Yet, I'm finding this branch of the family has more than its fair share of closeted skeletons, things I wasn't prepared to learn about, and I'm sure there's more to come. It makes me wonder how I could descend from people who are capable of the things about which I'm learning. And, quite honestly, it's very depressing. Whether I want to admit it or not, this is where I come from.

So I'm choosing to take an objective approach to the not-so-nice stuff and focus my energies and enthusiasm on the bright spots, like those relatives I've discovered who are as thrilled about a relationship with me as I am about a relationship with them. Thankfully, they're far removed from the unpleasantness I've discovered and would rather focus on the positives as well. After all, you can't choose your ancestors, but you can choose how you allow their stories to affect you.

Rain, Rain Go Away

I know, I know. Who in their right mind would live in Del Norte County if they hate rain as much as I do? You'd think a long childhood in Humboldt would have inocculated me against crummy weather, yet here I sit, watching the dreary gray clouds wring themselves out over and over, wishing I were somewhere warm and dry.

Rather than complain, I've been trying to come up with a list of things to do in Del Norte on a rainy day (which pretty much encompasses the time between October and May. It's just one long rainy day. It's not complaining if you're stating facts, right?). So far I've managed to come up with:

1. Cartoons - God bless Charter Communications for the zillion and one kid-friendly episodes of something-or-other that are on at any given time of the day. My family in particular would not have survived the winter without regular doses of Phineas and Ferb and just about anything on Boomerang.

2. Rec League Basketball - Big gym + lots of running = exhausted kids AND content parents. Win-win.

3. School assemblies - My kids' school has weekly assemblies that are open to parents, and I've found it's not only a good way to distract yourself from the depressing meteorographic events outside, but also a really neat way to find out what's going on within the student body and to promote a sense of community in general. Plus, I get to see how my kids behave when they don't think I'm around, which ends up being surprisingly well.


Admittedly, I don't get out much, so the list is pretty short. But I'll do my best to keep adding to it while I'm waiting for June to roll around.