...how negligent I've been...

But let me explain. So much has happened over the past few months that I've been unable to sit down and write my blog:
1. New grandson, Michael Grant Matthias, courtesy of our 20-year-old son, Matthew "Knucklehead", and his former girlfriend, Katrina. Our little "Noodleneck" will be four months old on July 22nd. Although Matthew and Katrina's relationship lasted only last summer, they will be forever involved with each other because of our little bobblehead baby boy.
2. Desktop computer has been on the blink since right after the spring semester ended...along with a problem with our Internet provider. My #2 daughter was able to somehow "borrow" our neighbor's wireless signal to be able to use the laptop computer. This was my birthday present last December from my thoughtful husband, Scott. This was to use for school, however, he bought the largest screen laptop that Dell makes, and it not only weighs too much to want to carry it to my classes, it is also bigger than the desk tops in the classroom. No place for my books. So it has been sitting idle until:
3. Daughter #2 (Meeghan) came to visit...she and our three granddaughters and (step-)grandson arrived one month ago, and just left to return to Florida this morning. Meeghan has been doing a genealogical search of our family for the past three years, and has managed to trace my mom's side of the family back to England, Scotland, and France in the 1500s. This was an incredible feat; unraveling our family's history began based solely on about three sentences my mom told me when I was a kid...that her grandmother's name was Sarah Lathrop who lived in northern California, after traveling by covered wagon from back "East." The two-inch thick stack of research traces the family and uncovered surprising (for us) ancestors...after hearing Meeghan's research, I feel that our family really dummied down over the last few generations, and I feel especially self-critical. Ancestors include my third cousin, I think, Ulysses S. Grant (from where grandson Michael's middle name is chosen), and the founders of a couple of universities. Captain Hope Lathrop, my seventh (I think) great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, and was a legislator from the state (colony) of Connecticut. Because of our connection to him, Meeghan applied for, and was accepted for membership in the "Daughters of the American Revolution." Ancestors included abolitionists, Utah pioneers, founders of a couple of towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut. She is now going to work on tracing the family back to the Mayflower. We were simply amazed that none of my eight aunts and uncles nor any of my hundreds of cousins, second cousins and other relatives knew anything of the family history. Meeghan is thinking of giving up her job as a nurse and concentrate on becoming a genealogist. If you would like your family tree traced, she is on a roll and would jump at the chance to practice and use some of the search sites she is paying for. It has become an addiction. The other day I was feeding the baby a bottle, and she was sitting across the room watching episode 8 of season one of Prison Break. She blurted out, "give me a name, any name..." And I gave her the name of my lifelong friend Donna. Before the baby finished his bottle, she had traced Donna's dad's family back to Ohio and West Virginia to the mid-1700s. So, my friends, give me a couple of family names, and whatever information you have, and feed my daughter's addiction. Who knows, maybe we are related!
4. We have replaced our air conditioner/furnace, wash machine, and hot water heater, had a huge dead pine tree cut down, and had both our truck and car repaired since March. We are feeling stressed from all of the $$$$$$$$$$$$ spent. And we are reluctant to even imagine what else can go wrong, for fear of tempting fate.
5. Michael has been keeping us busy, but at this time he is napping on half of my lap, and I'm balancing the computer on my other thigh. He's starting to squirm, so I'm going to close for now. I have some comments to make about some of our legislators, which will have to wait for another day. Thanks for not giving up on me.