Saturday, January 26, 2013

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The "Other You"


It's Saturday Night - 
time for more Genealogy Fun! 




Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:


* Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.  Be mindful of your family's privacy, though!

* Write a blog post of your own, respond with a comment to this post, or write a Facebook status post or a Google+ Stream post.


Here's mine:

Do I really have a life outside of genealogy and family history research, society activities, blogging and speaking? Of course I do - I only do that 8 to 12 hours a day when the grandkids aren't here or we're not traveling.

My other interests include:

* Being with my two daughters and their families, including the four grandchildren (boys aged 9.4 and 6.9, girls aged 7.9 and 4.7). I'm not averse to making family history with all of them!

* Traveling - although we usually combine genealogy research and conference-going with sightseeing and visiting friends. 

* Reading mystery novels - authors like James Patterson, John Sandford, John Grisham, Michael Palmer, Lee Child, Jack Higgins, Michael Connelly, John Lescroart, Tom Clancy, etc. I usually read in the evening while watching baseball games or news shows.

* Keeping up with current events (including politics, science, religion, aerospace) via online forums and websites, network and cable news shows, print newspapers, etc.

* Being a devoted fan of the San Diego Padres (MLB baseball - we go to about 25 games a year, and watch on TV) and San Diego Chargers (NFL football - we don't go, only watch on TV). 

*  Entertainment - I don't watch any entertainment shows on TV, don't rent or go to movies, except once in a long while.  We used to have a tear membership to a local theater, but don't this year.


*  Friends - we go to church almost every week, and some church social events, and occasionally go to lunch or dinner with friends.  We go to parties when we're invited.  Linda goes out swimming, shopping and lunching almost every day (thank goodness!).  

* Eating and sleeping - Linda is an excellent cook and I really appreciate her culinary talents. We go out to eat occasionally at steak houses or El Pollo Loco.  I try to get 7 hours a night to stay sane, and occasionally take a 20-30 minute power nap in the afternoon in my recliner with the TV on.


*  Exercise?  Um, not much these days.  Does typing count?  I used to walk a mile or two several times a week, but my feet hurt now when I do that.  Ah, mental gymnastics solving genealogy puzzles!  I know that I need to do more exercising my body, but genealogy is so addictive!

Pretty tame, isn't it? But, but, but - see, I have a life!


The URL for this post is:  http://www.geneamusings.com/2013/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-other-you.html

Copyright (c) 2013, Randall J. Seaver

9 comments:

Taco said...

I'm a father and husband first, I have a 40 hours a week job in IT at a college, I play guitar, watch soccer (local team) on Saturdays, and I ride my bike 1.5 to 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. I love comedy, science, history, and art house movies. We visit family and friends whenever time allows us, and we take trips whenever the opportunity arises (this Monday the wife and I are off to Rome for 3 days!). Somehow, I still have time to do research into my and my wife's ancestry, and that of several others.

Lisa S. Gorrell said...

I'm retired after 32 years at BART where I worked as a train operator and train operator instructor. Besides spending 3-5 hours a day on my own genealogy, I am also a member of two genealogy society boards. I volunteer at the local historical society's archives, the local Friends of Alhambra Creek (where we support several other organizations), and Girl Scouts where I train adult leaders. For fun, I'm taking guitar lessons and learning German at the community college & adult school. I like to ride my bike, take walks with my husband and dog, and bird watch as much as I can. When our girls are home--we spend time together.

Celia Lewis said...

Almost 5 years' retired and enjoying every minute! Genealogy has become a number 1 passion, but I also do creative fiction writing and am taking another course currently; plus I plant heirloom seeds in my small backyard vegetable garden, the bounty of which half-fills my chest freezer until the next season. I love to make "kitchen-sink" type breads and share them with friends. I walk everywhere and deliberately walk up any stairs I find rather than take the elevator. I have arthritis and a 4 year old new knee, and I'm determined to keep all the joints as healthy as possible with movement. And then there's my 4 kids and 6 grandchildren, all living within 4 hours of me for a change; I don't see them as much as I'd like mainly because they're so busy with activities etc. I have some wonderful friends I made since the divorce many years ago, and we also like to do things together. Life is very good - I highly recommend retirement. Now if only I could win a small lottery...! :)

Liz said...

Here's my post:

http://gatapleytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-other-you.html

Midge Frazel said...

I like to do projects with plastic canvas. I love to read mystery novels on my nook. I used to collect stamps and I carefully packed my collection when I moved. You never know, I might quit genealogy and go back to that! Everyone knows how much I love technology.
Midge

Binney said...

Yikes!

Well I'm a recent empty-nester so I'm still trying to find that other life! I ski - with my oldest daughter, so not much anymore. I used to love to read (admittedly historic - a favorite is Jeff Sharaa's "Rise to Rebellion" and his "The Glorious Cause" actually brought me to tears) - but I think I need glasses ☺.
I am happily married for 25 years to a man that still leaves me breathless.
Oh, I have 2 pugs that keep me entertained otherwise!

Mary said...

Here is my post!http://meandmyancestors.blogspot.com/2013/01/your-mission-should-you-decide-to.html

Greta Koehl said...

I often say that foreign languages are my vocation/job and genealogy is my avocation/hobby. Languages do spill over into my hobby area, though, so I would say collecting foreign language dictionaries and textbooks is one of my other interests. In addition to that - family time (movies, cooking, talking, and what we call "spazzing out"), our cats, the birds in our back yard, gardening, and reading.

Anonymous said...

I have a number of other interests; I've never understood how someone can have just one hobby! I'll list them in no particular order.

I love to travel, although that's pretty much on hold while I recover from being laid off 5 years ago. Takes a while to rebuild the discretionary spending fund! Although I do have my bucket list of places to visit, I'm a little over halfway done with my goal of riding the entire British rail network.

That might lead you to believe I'm a bit of a train buff, and you would be correct. I don't do a lot of railfanning (trainspotting, if that word means more to you), but I am a model railroader (in fact, I know Lisa -- previous poster -- from model railroading, not from genealogy).

I'm active in a local radio theater group that does re-creations of old shows as well as original work. We've been licensed to re-record the first four episodes of Zorro; maybe sometime they'll finally be available commercially!

Above all, I'm a musician. Although right now I limit my performances to the piano I play all brass, all keyboards, and bassoon; I sing, conduct, and compose; and I'm hundredth-heartedly working on learning to play fiddle and bagpipes (in other words, I'm not working very hard at it!).

Finally, I like to hit the little white ball on the golf course, but I'm not sure I'm even good enough to say I play golf!

Dave Liesse