Do you have any special memories that you want to make sure are passed on to your children or grandchildren? ~Family History Tuesday~

*Books, reading and one-one-one trips to eat breakfast out with  my Dad.

*Plants, Library, Museum and annual trips to experience the blossoming of the Cherry Trees with my Mom.

*Au Bon Pain, Orangina, Tower Records, Commander Salamander, Vintage clothes while  hanging out with someone I looked up to in my older sister when were both attending College.

*Laughing my guts out, navigating the Singles scene, my travel buddy and having an instant friend in my younger sister.

*A smart guy, up for anything, a friend and  someone I can always count on in my little brother.

*And I cannot forget our annual summer trips to the beach where we could forget all our busyness as we played out on the sand, in the waves with seagulls flying overhead in the warmth of family.





{Family History Tuesday question can be found at designzbydede}

Did you have any favorite uncles, aunts or cousins when you were growing up? ~Family History Tuesay~

My parents immigrated to the U.S.A. and so the great majority of my relatives live outside the country.  My dad did have 3 siblings (out of 9) living in the same state we grew up in. My mom only had 1 sibling (out of many step and half-siblings), a brother, who lived about 30 minutes away from us. 

I never felt particularly close to any of my adult relatives for reasons that I recall had to do with mental challenges, addictions, negativity...

We played with our cousins whenever we had family get-togethers, but we rarely asked to play with them outside of those family meetings.

The only times I met my international relatives was when I was 4 years old and then again when I had just completed my first year at college.  It was a grand time! Lots of food, conversation (well as much as I could with my limited ability in speaking their language), family time, travel, parties and even a catholic wedding were all part of our stay with them.

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Possibly the only relative I am at ease with today is my uncle, my mom's brother who has always stayed in touch with us. He regularly visits my mother. He is always invited to travel or attend activities with my parents.  When my Dad can't go, my uncle is always pleased to go and be his happy, laid back, social self wherever he goes.  He is not demanding or prying and maybe that's why I enjoy his company.

I'm happy that he is there for his sister, my mom.


{Family History Tuesday question can be found at designzbydede}

Tell about a great victory or personal success from your school days ~Family History Tuesday~

Oddly enough one of the greatest successes I had in School was in my Physical Education class.

Remember how I told you it was always my worst class. I always performed way below everyone else. There were times that I hid behind a wall as I watched my classmates run laps -- to suddenly reappear when the last lap came around.

I even purposefully missed out on the swimming portion of class.

So, IT IS  strange that my victory was in an event of the Presidential Physical Fitness Test (do they even still do this in schools today?) . I think it was called the bar hang. Boy, could I hang!  I could hang longer than anyone else! It was truly a feat that felt like it didn't take much coordination or strength.

As I think about it now, I believe this success was only possible because I was a very small, thin-boned High School girl at 4 feet 10 inches tall and probably around 80 pounds heavy. A weakling who could definitely hang on for dear life! :)

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{Family History Tuesday's question can be found at designzbydede}

What are some of your favorite decorations? Do you have a collection (nutcrackers, santas, village, etc.)? Describe your collection and where and how you have added to it over the years. ~mini holiday prompts~

I have 2 favorite collections:

1- Several years back, I was at the dollar store and stumbled upon these little wooden decorations.  They reminded me of Christmases past and I HAD to get them.  They were packaged in 3 different sets at, of course, $1 each.  Every Christmas season, I choose different ones to display.

2- I don't know when it started, but I decided to collect different Nativity sets. As a child my favorite part of putting Christmas decorations up was when we set out each person and animal involved in the First Christmas. It is a family treasure!

I now own about 6 or 7 Nativity sets from different countries. They are my absolute favorite.

Is there something in your life that you have always wanted to do, but haven't done so, yet? ~Family History Tuesday~



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Who wants to write a book?

I do!

and this year I did take one step towards it.  I joined NaNoWriMo. I didn't complete it, but I did write about 2,000 words of a story that's been living in my head for about 10 years now.

Writing a whole novel seems like a daunting task, but I just might churn one out one day.  It may not be published, but it will be MY book!

{Family History Story prompts available at designzbydede}

When do you usually put up your holiday decorations? ~mini holiday prompts~

{Every day from now until Christmas, Story@Home will post story-prompts. Use them for your family gatherings, writing your personal histories, or just making the most of a moment with someone you love}

We would drag the boxes out from the attic, some time in December, and place them in the living room. As long as we got them up before Christmas Day we were good.

Some years we would decorate just days or the day before Christmas and then once they were up, we would have no problem keeping them out through February.