Who do you think you are?

That's the tv show that I've been watching on Fridays on NBC. It's quite interesting. Yes, the actors are dramatic and sometimes over the top when they find out a fact about their family, but that's ok. I've seen 3 episodes now, tracing Lisa Kudrow's family, Brooke Sheild's family, and last night's traced Sarah Jessica Parker's family. I think my favorite of the three is Lisa Kudrow's episode; she was able to trace back to her great grandmother's demise in the Holocaust, and she was able to find a living relative that she didn't know was still living. Joe finds the show over dramatic, but I'm ok with it.

I've always had a relationship with genealogy. My mom and grandparents had traced our family trees back. Some of the tales being mentioned on Sarah Jessica Parker's episode made me wonder if we were long lost relatives. I remember hearing of having family involved in the Salem witch trials. Hopefully I'll be able to find the information as we get our house ready to move. I also wonder if there's relation to Brooke Sheild's family. I don't know that our family had ties to Louis IV, but there are ties to Princess Di, Eleanor Roosevelt and Nancy Reagan. I've read somewhere that Louisa May Alcott was in there too, and it would be really cool if it was true. After all, my name came from Amy in Little Women.

Recently I've been trying to trace back my dad's side. His maternal grandmother's family has stumped us. We know she was Gertrude Garrett and that she was one of 14 children from Joseph and Lucy (Vance) Garrett, but that's about the end of the line. Family legend has that Gertrude was full blood Cherokee, but I haven't found that yet. I've been checking out things at the library when I get a chance. I love that they allow free access to Ancestry.com, even if it is only for an hour or two a day. The last time I was able to find the marriage certificate for Gertrude Garrette and Asia Miller, my great grandparents. I found it interesting the spelling was different. I also found the marriage certificate for her parents, Joseph and L.E. Vance. There are always walls that you'll hit when doing genealogy, and when you're not able to go to the states where the licenses and records are, it is difficult. But, at the same time, it is fun. I do worry a bit about the Vance line though. When I was checking out Joe's line a few years ago, he also has Vance ties. I am hoping that they don't cross! :)

Well, that is all for now. I think I'm going to do a bit of research from home tonight. Here's hoping I find something!

Jury Duty and things

So this morning didn't start out so swell. I made it out the door only to realize that my keys weren't in my hand. Nope. They were on the table, behind the locked door. Total frustration! (Especially since I needed to be at the courthouse for jury duty 45 minutes from then!) So, I called Joe who wasn't quite at work yet-although he was almost there, and he turned around and let me in. (Thank you, honey!)

I made it to jury duty and was only 20 minutes late. They hadn't done anything yet, other than herd the jurors into the room. After about an hour, they took 15 people to a trial, the left about 40 of us left. So, we sat there listening to the news talk about Tiger Woods' return to golf today. I was thankful I had my book with me. Eventually they came back in and took another 25 people. (I wasn't one of them.) I did have some time to observe though. One wife came with her husband (I'm pretty sure she couldn't drive), and they let him go and sit with her in the court. Another observation was dress. The paper they had given us said to dress in business casual. I wore a work outfit, since we pretty much wear business casual anyway. (Although we don't wear jeans.) I was floored by the amount of people in jeans and t-shirts! Since when is a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt business casual? Did I miss something?? Now, a nice white cotton shirt and jeans isn't bad, and I'll allow that. But a t-shirt that can more appropriately be considered an undershirt? I don't think so. I also liked the Cavs t-shirt and jeans dressed up with a jean jacket.
Good times. Hey, something has to amuse me while I'm sitting around! I did have to wonder what the cases/trials were. The first group of people were the ones that were sitting around reading religious materials or carrying their Bibles, and the second group was mostly minority females. The bailiff pointed out that if anyone was a primary care provider for an elderly parent or had issues with childcare to bring it up, because they would be dismissed. I'm glad I'm not there, but yet, I want to know what the case was!

Well, that's all for now. I had some other observations, but I can't allow all of my excitement to be shared right now! ;)

Happy Easter

Spring has sprung and Easter is here! What crazy weather we've been having here lately. A week ago we woke up to 2 inches of snow, and yesterday was in the 80s. I'm pretty sure this only happens in Ohio. We took the plastic off of 3 of our windows to let the fresh air in, but left it on the others. We can't be sure that we're not going to get cold nights again!

Not a whole lot has been going on in Amy's world. Going to work, coming home, continuing that routine 5 days a week, then sleeping in on the weekend. This week will be a bit different though-I have been selected for Jury Duty. I was really hoping I would get out of it and go to work, but alas, I have to report at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I understand that it is a privilege of living here in the US, but I don't want to go! I mean, what would've happened had the case that I was involved in a few years ago gone to court. The jury would've listened to how the lady that was suing me could no longer have "marital relations" and as a result was suing me. That's not something a juror really wants to hear, is it? (Mind you, after the case was over, I saw her at the gym working out. Hard to believe a person working out at the gym would have those problems at home. I'm just sayin'....) I just hope that maybe I'll just sit there and read my book, then go home in the evening.

Well, that's all for now. I have had several topics for my blog come to mind while I'm driving to and from work. One of these days I'll actually remember what they were. I am also going to keep my eyes out for a dictation program that runs on my phone. Then I could dictate my blog as I'm driving-wouldn't that be awesome?!

Have a great Easter and fantastic week everyone!