I was very very lucky in that I knew all six (thank you paternal remarriage) of my grandparents and one greatgrandmother.

Wow, very lucky. Both of my maternal g'parents were gone before I was born, though I did get a set of steps on that side, thankfully. My paternal g'parents died when I was ten and twenty, and we lost my mom's stepmom when I was 15. Mom's stepdad (practically the only Grandpa I've ever known, just passed in 2000. (And Amen to that one bereavement a year thing. I lost my favorite aunt [plus my first cat]that same year. That year sucked). The closest I've come to knowing one of my great-grands is my paternal great-grandfather who was Irish mafia, and I've been able to do a little research on him because he was killied in gang wars of the time.

I never knew any greats, but I'm the only one of my siblings who knew all four grands. I'm really glad I didn't miss that - I feel especially bad for my sister, who only ever knew the bad grandma.

I had a lovely post with all sorts of commiseration and condolences, but my computer ate it, so I'll settle for {{{{{{{{Aimee}}}}}}}}}

Has anybody been watching Roller Derby on A&E? I haven't (no cable) but just saw a commercial, and dang, that's tempting...

I've watched parts of a few episodes, but haven't really been watching every one. It looks like so much fun, though.

{{Aimee}} Your employers need smiting.

Smite, smite, smitey-smite, SMITE!!

This is where I miss the military. You could get anywhere from 15 to 30 days emergency leave for a death in the family. My company gives 3 days and as generous as it is compared to other local companies, it pales in comparison.

3 days and as generous as it is compared to other local companies, it pales in comparison.

When my grandpa (stepmom's father) passed away, we'd all been with him at the hospital through the whole night in Loma Linda. I watched the sun rise as I left the hospital, drove the couple of hours home and called in sick to a temp job that I had been at for a couple of months. And was fired. Decided I didn't much care since my agency didn't.

Cindy, sadly, those links (which I've spent much time on with no fruit) would be of use if I knew the Firstnames McLastname of the great-grandparents in question--I have to somehow reverse engineer from Norman Murdoch McLastname.

It should not be this hard. I mean, I was able to, without having to talk to ANY HUMANS, armed with only a birthdate and a remembered conversation with Gram's cousin Stella (and, okay, a credit card), track down the family for Arthur Reuben Stannard (born Dettmer) by triangulating information in various census records and vital stats.

I keep thinking (Gram told me some things once, a long time ago, and I foolishly decided she'd never die, so I never wrote them down) that Dad's grandfather's name was Alexander, but of the 300+ McLastnames in PEI in 1901, I'd guess about 1/4 of the men were Alexanders.

Feh.

Aimee, that sucks.

{{{Aimee}}} I'm so sorry for your loss. You're employers are evil, cold hearted, SOBs.

Congratulations on the good news, Daniel!

So, it appears that the professors of my first two classes got together and made their schedules. Every. Single. Test. is on the same day.

Ugh! That sucks, vw.

((((Aimee))))

I'm in a 5-generation picture taken when I was about 2 months old. A copy of the photo is on an end table in our living room

When Hubs' oldest brother became a grandfather, I made sure there were some 4-generation pictures taken.

so, tomorrow, I'm speed dating, what the hell do I wear? I'm thinking of coming home to freshen up, so I could change out of work clothes. I could wear:

1. black suit with knee length black jacket and knee length skirt. can wear either black pumps, slingbacks or boots.

2. charcoal grey suit with short jacket, long trumpet hem skirt. same shoe options.

blouse options: slate blue silk sweater, crimson silk vneck sweater, shiny slate blue shell, turtlenecks in various colors.

or I could wear an LBD with a jacket or sweater.

Discuss.