National Handwriting Day

So, it is National Handwriting Day, did you know that?! Do you know why today was chosen? Simply because it is John Hancock's birthday! Some may think it silly to have a day for Handwriting, but as a genealogist, I think it is a good idea! Over the last several years, I have heard much talk about the fact that some schools/areas no longer teach cursive in or about the third grade! WHAT?! Just because computers and other technology is being used more and more does not mean that people should not know how to read handwriting. Ok, so maybe cursive is going by the wayside for current use, but it is not gone yet! AND as long as genealogy exists, which will be FOREVER, it will never truly be gone! Someone needs to be able to read what it says!

Here are a few links with a lot of great information for National Handwriting Day, go check them out:
National Handwriting Day
A Brief History of Penmanship
National Awareness Days
How to Celebrate National Handwriting Day
John Hancock - National Handwriting Day

 Here are a few handwriting samples from my own family...at least I was nice and used the ones you can more easily read! What are they saying here? What memories do you suppose these letters brought them many years later? More importantly, what do we learn about these people in what they wrote? These are all written during World War II...

 This is one of my Great Uncles while he served in WWII...

This is his Brother-in-Law back home...

This is my Great Aunt back home...Brother-in-Law's wife...

Oh, and by the way, it is also National Pie Day, but I would rather sit and read these old letters and learn more about my family than think about something I don't like much, so, maybe next year I will post about that...time will tell! There you have it, this is why I like National Handwriting Day...what's it to you?

Did you wear pants to church?

Did you wear pants to church today? Do you normally wear pants to church? What makes you decide to wear pants to church? Hmm…does it depend on your religion? Or maybe on where you live?

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and apparently there was some hoopla about wearing pants to church today! Did you hear about all this? We have not had TV service or internet service in our home for almost 4 months now and that is a whole other issue and post for another time. Suffice it to say, even with limited access and spending countless hours at the library for free Wi-Fi, I had not heard about this ‘event’ until my husband mentioned it a few days ago. There have been mixed information about the starts of this movement. The knowledge I received on the matter was that it started as an equality movement and bloomed from there.  I had a few friends blog about this and they are welcome to link their posts in the comments below.

As for me, well, I do have to say that with all the hoopla I've seen over the last few days, I did joke about wearing both pants and a skirt today, but I didn't,  I wore the same old tired denim skirt to church with one of the same old tired shirts! This photo is from three years ago, but it has the same skirt I wore today, just to give you an idea, I guess:

 I did not notice any females wearing pants in our branch (in Utah, Wasatch Front even) or in the other two wards that meet in our building. Admittedly, I did not pay extreme close attention because, well, it really just doesn’t matter to me what a person is wearing! I think it is much more important that they are coming to church! This is a bit of a soapbox topic for me, so I will just share a few thoughts/stories/experiences below and let that speak for itself:

My first experience with “not the best dressed” members attending church was in Taos, New Mexico, way back in the early 1990’s. As a member who grew up in the church, basically, this was the first time I made a real effort to attend church while on vacation. My younger sister and I attended, arriving about right on time. It was just before the sacrament was passed, a few men walked in dressed in work clothes (farmers) and they were not cleaned up, not a single person made any comments or gave any dirty looks for arriving in such a condition. I knew, even then, that if this were mainstream Utah, this would not have gone over so well!

On another trip, I visited a ward in St George, Utah where a sister arrived with about only 30 minutes left of church. She was wearing sweats, even! I found out later that she rode her bike to church, over 2 hours; just to arrive for the last 30 minutes. However you do the math, I still think that is very impressive to want to attend church for any amount possible to go to such lengths!

You know, men have dress code issues, too! My husband went through a period where he didn't feel comfortable attending church because he didn't have dress pants or dress shoes! For him, it was definitely a Utah thing, as that is where he has lived most of his life. He has come a long way from those days…don’t know if it is just life experience or my soapbox on the matter…but now when he finds himself waiting to get another suit, he would much rather attend church in jeans than not go to church at all. Of course, even though we live along the Wasatch Front, we attend a Branch, not a Ward, and there is a definite difference in atmosphere. For me, who has more experience with the church outside of Utah than he does, I can see the huge difference in how the members of our Branch treat each other in all kinds of ways, not just dress code acceptance, more like the units I've attend outside of mainstream Utah! This includes the one sister who can only attend periodically due to her work as a nurse and when she does come, she is usually in her scrubs, having come straight from work! I say, GOOD FOR HER!

Personally, it was never a question; you wear a dress/skirt to church, dressing the best you can! 6 Years ago we moved back from Mesquite, NV to Utah. My cousin lived in the ward at that time and she was telling me about a big deal being made in the Stake about sisters wearing denim to church. Well, my most common item to wear to church is a denim skirt! In the 6 years we have lived here, not a single person has said a word to me personally, that doesn't mean they haven’t had issues with it, but I’m an active member of the church that does my part, whatever I may be called to do at any given moment! What more can we expect from ourselves or others than just doing our best, whatever it may be, in our callings or attendance in church!  My cousin also told me of there being a lot of talk, bad talk, about sisters in the area attending the Temple in pants, now THAT is a whole other issue for another post and time! I guess my point here is that I don’t care whether you wear a dress or pants, if you are a member, or investigating or being asked to attend strictly because you want assistance of some sort from the church, it is far more important that you attend church! I just have to wonder how far this movement will go…how far is too far? That’s what it is to me…watsit2u?

most embarrassing moment???

Growing up I used to embarrass way too easily, sometimes I could hide it okay and other times not so well....then I got engaged and knowing my family I braced myself to be embarrassed at my bridal shower. My family was nice enough and on the moments when I thought I'd be embarrassed, I wasn't, so it worked out very well. From then on, I've not had any issues with being embarrassed, as least not easily embarrassed. I guess I just kind of figured life happens and most times there isn't anything you can do about it after something weird happens.

Then, one year ago tonight, my mom and I went to two viewings. The first was for a great man from the neighborhood where I grew up. It was great to see some old friends and visit with many people that we have known for years. This was a very typical viewing with nothing of note to report.

After that we went to my cousins viewing. Also a very great man! As we arrived we met up with another cousin who introduced me to his sons, again. Unfortunately, we don't see these cousins very often, so every time we see them, we get introduced and joke about them not remembering me! We did the traditional walk through the line and continued to visit with many other friends and family members that were in attendance!

We found out that another close family friend was on his way, so we waited for him to come before heading home for the night! While waiting I was sitting in one side of the room talking to one of my cousins and my mom was in the middle of the room talking to one of my brothers. Then our friend arrived, I waited for him to make the traditional walk through the line and then when he made his way around the room and was talking to my mom, I jumped up from my seat and ran around the corner to go greet him....only...my pants dropped to the ground!

Yes, my pants dropped to the ground, leaving me standing right in front of my two cousins mentioned earlier laughing very hard and my pants twisted in my feet. I'm not really sure how it happened that I didn't fall down, but as it was I had to wait for my mom to come around and help untangle my pants so I could get them pulled up. As soon as my pants were back in place, I continued my rushed walk over to our friend that we had been waiting for and greeted him as if nothing had happened. He was trying so hard to not laugh or react. After talking with him for a few minutes we made our way through some goodbyes and left!

On the way out, we saw another cousin who would have had a perfect view of my backside, but had missed the entire thing! As soon as we were in the car, I sent out a message to twitter and Facebook saying that my pants had dropped but that I was grateful that it happened at the family viewing and not the friends viewing! Ironically enough, the next day at the funeral, this last cousin we talked to was the only one to say anything to me about losing my pants the night before.

Come to find out a few weeks ago, even the immediate family of my cousin who had passed had no clue what had happened. And my two cousins who I continually get reintroduced to that had front row seats to the entire experience...well, they were not at the funeral, but somehow I don't think they will EVER forget me! Oh, and I no longer own those pants, they went into the garbage that night! I have to agree with this quote:

There's nothing I'm embarrassed about.
Brian May

There you have it, what could potentially have been my most embarrassing moment in reality was just a moment and life happens! What are some of your most embarrassing moments? I don't know how I would answer that question, but since that night one year ago, I think I would have to share that story and see what happens...WATSIT2U?

IT'S GREAT TO BE BACK!!!

Hello everyone! Yes, I am back! It has been way too long and it is great to be back!!! I will keep this post short as I prepare to enjoy my return to regular blogging! I have no great story as to why I've been gone, just life, I guess...it happens!

As you may have noticed by now, I have changed the name of my blog to WATSIT2U? (www.watsit2u.com) I am a major Clay Walker fan and one of his songs is What's It To You? I highly recommend his music and this song, it is one of my top favorites ever! In any case, I saw the use of watsit2u in reference to this song once and instantly fell in love with it and have since used it in many ways. As I thought about my blog and what I wanted it to be about, well, this seemed to be a perfect fit! While it is still my observations about many things, I am also looking to find out, WATSIT2U? So, there ya go...


There will be more changes to my blog in the next few weeks. I am just so excited to be back that I didn't want to wait for them all to be in place before starting again! These include more blogs than just this main one! I introduce you to my other blogs:

• Batty Bites - my thoughts & reviews of food related things, mostly restaurants...
• Beaker's Bookshelf - my thoughts & reviews of books and other things you may find on my bookshelves...
• Family History Engineers - my genealogy blog, to include my personal experiences of working on my own family history for more than 30 years as well as business related topics for my business Family History Engineers
• SLBIZZNET - my blog with SLBIZZNET, a networking group for small business owners and sales people in the great Salt Lake area! On this blog we will feature different businesses involved as well as share a few tips to networking! Join us...

Next post will be about my potentionally most embarrassing moment...or was it?! There you have it, ready or not, I am back....WATSIT2U?

RIP - Francis Reid (Allison Grayson Horton)

A couple of hours ago, I saw the following posts on my cell phone from twitter:

@RealNadiaB: Rest in peace Frances Reid (Alice Horton). She was a great lady whom I feel honored to have known...the heart and soul of Days of Our Lives. 10:22pm PST 02/03/10
@Ali_Sweeney: I'm so sad to hear the news about Frances Reid. She was a truly talented actress & and we are all lucky & proud to have known her. RIP 10:38pm PST 02/03/10
@MarkHapka: It is with a heavy heart that I express this. It has been revealed that Days legend Frances Reid (Alice Horton) has passed away. 10:29pm PST 02/03/10
@MarkHapka: RT Ms. Reid was 96 years old. She will be missed greatly and at this time our thoughts and prayers are with her family, loved ones & friends. 10:41pm PST 02/03/10
@mollydolllyy: To the family and friends and loved ones of Frances Reid. My thoughts and prayers are with you :( 11:10pm PST 02/03/10

Yes, I have a grip on reality. Yes, I know she is a celebrity and is very much entitled to her privacy, as is her family. BUT, with that in mind, you will find many people who have already taken a few moments to blog about this great actress! I wanted to add my observations to the mix, for what it's worth! In doing a tiny search online to confirm mainly the detail of her birth, I came across a few interesting things, which I will share along the way.

First, for those who are not fans of Days of Our Lives, here are a couple of links about Francis Reid and her career. IMDB and tv.com are two great resources to find out about most any actor or actress. Be sure to read the 'full biography' on the tv.com link. The only discrepancy regarding her age is the year of birth. Tv.com has her being born in 1913 while Wikipedia has her being born in 1914. Either way, she lived a long life, which I am certain was a full life. She was married to Philip Bourneuf in 1940, until his death in 1979. Ironically, for portraying one of the most beloved grandmothers (great and great-great grandmothers, too), she never had children of her own! This video is a great tribute to her legacy, even though it is from the show, I am certain that it applied to her real life as well...

She received many awards for her portrayal of Alice Horton on Days of Our Lives. She also received the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement award in 2004. Her last appearance on the show, in a very fragile state, was in December 2007. In their annual Christmas Show with the great family tradition of individual ornaments being placed on the tree. Frances is now reunited with MacDonald Carey, who portrayed her husband on the show, Tom Horton. Even more importantly, she is finally reunited with her sweetheart, Philip Bourneuf, who died in 1979! I am sure that we will be seeing at least one memorial episode of Days dedicated to Frances. Even if you are not a fan of the show, if you happen to catch the tribute, I guarantee you will need tissues!

For me and my family, well, we are long time Days viewers. Yes, I've tried to stop watching it several times over the years, but always go back. There are those that believe that soap operas, such as they are, are all make believe and so far out there that they could never be based on any reality. Well, with most of them, I could agree, and, yes, Days has even had its moments...but for us, there have been several story lines on the show that occurred at the same time as the same story line plays out in our real lives. Including right now.....

Well, I could go into detail, but I won't....suffice it to say, Rest In Peace Ms. Frances Reid. Enjoy your reunions above and continue to watch over your worldwide family as we will always remember you and the love you brought to homes and families everywhere as Mrs. Allison Grayson Horton! Thank you for the memories....

HR3101 - Caption Action 2

Many of you know that I joined Twitter back in June. This has been the best thing for me and my business venture (more on this later in another post) and I love twitter. I go on record right now as saying that I don't necessarily recommend twitter for everyone. It is addicting and can be time consuming! For me, though, I have made friends, locally and nationally. I have made a world of contacts for my PartyLite business and my Family History business. I've also been able to have some contact with a few celebrities that actually do respond to a vast majority of their messages. It's been fun. Steve and I have both made contacts in the photography world, as well, which has helped Steve learn more about this field as he ventures into developing his great talent! One last thing I would like to talk about today and thus the reason for the post....I have learned more about deaf culture and the fight for things to help...Well, read on:

One great person on twitter is @deafnessguide. She is currently lobbying for HR3101. She has made visits to Washington, DC to lobby for this cause and will be making another visit tomorrow, Monday, 23 Nov 2009. In preparation for her time there, she tweeted out the following message on Saturday. I felt strongly enough to try and help get the word out, so I have asked her for more information to share and copy/pasted the list of the offices she will be visiting on Monday.

If you don't see your specific representative on this list, it is most likely because she has already visited their office, but you are welcome to contact their office (and all of your states offices) and encourage their support of this effort. For more details, please visit: http://captionaction2.blogspot.com/. There is a lot of information for this cause. Also, if you scroll down on the right side, you will see the "Caption Action 2 Blogroll", which includes a file of "Congress Staff Contacts". Pull that list up, share with your family and friends. Email the contacts, as they are the ones that will really help in gaining more support for this cause. There are also links for a summary of HR3101. Also, if you click on "Write your Representative", you can use this to get a phone number or snail mail address.

If you happen to already be on twitter, please follow @deafnessguide and @NADtweets. Also, @MarleeMatlin, who is the NAD spokesperson for accessible broadband services and Internet media. There are many others that I would recommend following, if you are already there or choose to take the plunge into twitter. Oh and you can also support this cause on Facebook, by clicking here.

The idea is to work together, so their offices will know this is not a one woman effort. If you would like to be part of this, let me know ASAP with the easiest and quickest contact info for you. So, efforts can be coordinated to have you contact their office shortly after her visit, while it is still fresh on their minds. Here is that information:

Putting together a to-visit list for my fourth and final visit to Capitol Hill Monday. After list is complete, I'm going do something new..
I am going to send out a series of tweets, one for each state, with the names of the Reps I am going to visit. If you see your Rep name..
Either reply to me or DM me and I will mention you to the office staff when I stop by. Then, you can call or email and verify who u are.
And, I will send you a tweet when I stop at your Representative's office. That will give you a chance to call right away.

Alaska deaf: Visiting Alaska rep Don Young on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
American Samoa deaf: visiting Rep. Eni Faleomavaega on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
Arizona deaf: visiting Rep. Jeff Flake on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
Arkansas deaf: visiting Rep. Vic Snyder on Capitol Hill Monday for HR 3101.
California deaf: visiting these representatives' offices Mon on the Hill: Berman, Chu, Dreier, Harman, Herger, Lewis, Matsui, Miller...
More California deaf: visiting these too: Nunes, Pelosi, Radonovich, Thompson, and Waxman.
Connecticut deaf: visiting office of Rep. Rosa DeLauro Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Florida deaf: visiting these representatives Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Kosmas, Meek, Posey, and Young.
Georgia deaf: visiting these representatives Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Bishop, Deal, Linder, and Price.
Illinois deaf: visiting these reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Biggert, Costello, Davis, Halvorson, Jackson Jr., Kirk, Manzullo, Rush.
Iowa deaf: visiting these two reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Bruce Braley and Tom Latham.
Kansas deaf: visiting rep. Lynn Jenkins Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Kentucky deaf: visiting reps Harold Rogers and Ed Whitfield Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Louisiana deaf: visiting reps Joseph Cao and John Fleming Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Maryland deaf: visiting one representative from Maryland, Roscoe Bartlett, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Massachusetts deaf: visiting one representative from Massachusetts, Rep. Richard Neal, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Minnesota deaf: visiting three reps from Minnesota, James Oberstar, Erik Paulsen, and Collin Peterson Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Missouri deaf: visiting 3 reps from Missouri, William Clay, Emmanuel Cleaver, and Ike Skelton Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Nevada deaf: visiting one rep from Nevada, Dean Heller, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
New Jersey deaf: visiting 2 reps from New Jersey Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Frank Pallone Jr and Albio Sires.
New Mexico deaf: visiting 1 rep from New Mexico Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Harry Teague.
New York deaf: visiting 5 reps from NY Mon on Capitol Hill: Michael Arcuri, Yvette Clarke, Joseph Crowley, Eliot Engel, and Paul Tonko.
North Carolina deaf: visiting rep. David Price Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Northern Mariana Islands: visiting Rep. Gregorio Sablan's office Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Ohio deaf: visiting one representative from Ohio, John Boehner, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Oklahoma deaf: visiting one representative from Oklahoma, Tom Cole, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Oregon deaf: visiting one representative from Oregon, Peter Defazio, Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101.
Pennsylvania deaf: visiting 6 PA reps Monday on Capitol HIll for HR 3101: Dent, Holden, Murtha, Sestak, Shuster, and Thompson.
South Carolina deaf: visiting 1 SC rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: James Clyburn.
Tennesee deaf: visiting 2 TN reps Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Steve Cohen and John Duncan.
Texas deaf: visiting 9 Texas reps Mon on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Ralph Hall, Jeb Hensarling, Sheila Jackson Lee, Eddie Bernice Johnson..
More Texas deaf: visting these reps Mon for HR 3101: Kenny Marchant, Michael McCaul, Solomon Ortiz, Lamar Smith, and Mac Thornberry.
Utah deaf: visiting 1 Utah rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Jason Chaffetz.
Virginia deaf: visiting one rep from Virginia on Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Frank Wolf.
Washington deaf: visiting 2 Washington reps Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Jim McDermott and Adam Smith.
Wisconsin deaf: visiting 1 Wisconsin rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: David Obey.
Wyoming deaf: visiting 1 Wyoming rep Monday on Capitol Hill for HR 3101: Cynthia Lummis. (end of tweet series)

Roosters & office politics

I have found it! The ultimate solution to my office politics problem! It's a rooster!!! Any rooster, it seems will do, even!

We are not mall shoppers. Growing up, my mall of choice to hang out on the very rare occasion I did such a thing was Fashion Place Mall. My sisters was Valley Fair Mall. Both of these malls are currently undergoing massive makeovers, so I do not guarantee maps and such on the links. But, anyway, while walking through Fashion Place Mall yesterday we happened upon a store called Asian Gifts. We went in, hoping to find a birthday gift for my mom's best friend. Her birthday was also on Sunday and I hope she had a good one, too. We found a couple of things of interest, but mom decided on a set of 3 Chinese wisemen for Judy's birthday gift. This particular shop does not have its own website. They are to help bring Good Luck, Wealth and Health to your household and are best placed in the dining room.

In looking around, this shop was very good about having papers posted explaining the purpose of many thing on display. One especially caught my eye, it was for The Rooster:I laughed and showed my mom and Steve, who just basically rolled his eyes. Many of you know my background with "jobs" and will immediately get the reason for our reactions! I don't know that I will be in a position to test this purpose, but I found it amusing, at least! Office politics are not my friend...oh the books I could write! My many experiences also lead to my fascination with the only reality show that I really like and watch faithfully, The Apprentice!

So, what are your experiences and solutions to office politics where you work or have worked?!