Hi Mary......I am so impressed with your "unending list" of wonderful projects and activities that you have planned to start/finish after your recent retirement. First, let me wish you HAPPY RETIREMENT!! I would love to know more about your projects as you tackle them, and I am interested to know what the book is about your are co-writing/editing with your friend. It sounds as if is an "in-depth" project, as well as the building, yard work, etc. I too am in the process of writing short stories about my WV childhood on our family life. My plans are to include them in what I am calling "The Second Creek Chronicles" - just plain folk stories about a city turned kid introduced to a new life in the hills and hollers of WV. For a brief flavor of my writing style - I have done one about the time my mom and dad ventured into the attic of our "old" farm house, and killed bats - many bats by burning sulphur and swatting them with tennis racktets....it's called "The B&T Story (not BLT) ----bats and tennis rackets. It was quite an event, and left some funny memories to write about. I interject humor with excitement, and tell the stories in the "John Boy Style", or as the boy who tells "The Christmas Story"did in reliving his childhood days. I am doing it for fun, and a way to remember the past. As Lynn is writing hers to leave for her daughter, I am writing mine to never let go of the simplier days in life! Best wishes as you continue on your journey and most of all, please enjoy this "new found" time!! We will be waiting to hear about your progress! Sheila in WV --------------------------------- Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.

Now it is catching.? I think it is wonderful to have talented people on this list.? Wish I had the time to do the same.? Maybe I need to get a few years older.? Still too young.? Not 70 yet.? Connie Hi Mary......I am so impressed with your "unending list" of wonderful projects and activities that you have planned to start/finish after your recent retirement. First, let me wish you HAPPY RETIREMENT!! I would love to know more about your projects as you tackle them, and I am interested to know what the book is about your are co-writing/editing with your friend. It sounds as if is an "in-depth" project, as well as the building, yard work, etc. I too am in the process of writing short stories about my WV childhood on our family life. My plans are to include them in what I am calling "The Second Creek Chronicles" - just plain folk stories about a city turned kid introduced to a new life in the hills and hollers of WV. For a brief flavor of my writing style - I have done one about the time my mom and dad ventured into the attic of our "old" farm house, and killed bats - many bats by burning sulphur and swatting them with tennis racktets....it's called "The B&T Story (not BLT) ----bats and tennis rackets. It was quite an event, and left some funny memories to write about. I interject humor with excitement, and tell the stories in the "John Boy Style", or as the boy who tells "The Christmas Story"did in reliving his childhood days. I am doing it for fun, and a way to remember the past. As Lynn is writing hers to leave for her daughter, I am writing mine to never let go of the simplier days in life! Best wishes as you continue on your journey and most of all, please enjoy this "new found" time!! We will be waiting to hear about your progress! Sheila in WV --------------------------------- Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

Hello, Connie, Sheila, and All. My birthday was Friday. I turned 59, so one is never too young or too old. As of right now, my back yard renovation project has been pushed out to spring. My brother is so booked up that he wouldn't be able to get to me until October. We already have night temperatures down in to the 40s, so by October, we'll be in to the 30s. I got to thinking that we are going to have to dig up our roses and other plants and put them in buckets until they can be re-planted. In October, they would either freeze in the buckets, or they would die in the ground because they wouldn't have time enough to re-establish a root base before winter set in. I've already gone through losing all my plants once, I don't want to do it again. Sooooo that project has been pushed out. I will keep you up to date on my other goals. As far as the book I am editing/co-authoring goes...... let me say this: I was just trying to be of service to my friend, Tony, to give him an idea of what types of grammatical/lingual errors he was making, in the hope of giving him tools with which to improve his writing skills. I never in this world expected to become the professional editor on the project. However, I learned something of value: editors just mark up the copy and return it to the author for change; when one actually makes the changes for the author, one becomes a co-author. I challenged this, because I really didn't want my name on the book, but apparently Tony checked with the publisher and was given that information to pass on to me. I offered to withdraw and let someone else of the publisher's choice become the editor, but nope! I stepped in it, and now I have to put up with the stink, so to speak. Tony will have no one else. He tried another editor, but that person didn't have the feel for the attitude of the story and in editing it, changed it completely. Wow! Did Tony have a fit! He is very adamant that I remain on the project. Now, this book is not something I would have written. It is totally out of my realm of interests. It is science-fiction about a woman and her son who were assassinated. The woman is brought back by the government as a cyborg-type secret weapon. There is espionage and mystery and all sorts of goings on. However, the book is very graphic; very bloody; the language is not what I would use; and some of the topics covered - though very prominent in headlines today - are quite unsettling. That is why I did not want my name on the book. However, all of that aside, I will be getting paid for my services if the book sells, so I am viewing this as a job. Who knows where it may lead!? That aside, I have actually started collecting things for a sort of auto-biography of my own. I, too, came from simple beginnings, as did my folks. My Mother's paternal line (GOEPPEL/GABLE) came from Saxony, Germany (we have many cousins over there); her maternal line (PLOUGHMAN/PLOWMAN) came from England or perhaps Ireland. I haven't been able to track them back across, yet. My Father's paternal line (SAEMANN/ SEAMAN/SAYMAN) originated from Obermoschel, Bavaria, Germany and may even have come from Switzerland before then; his maternal line (MAYO) from Wales. My concentration of research has been my father's paternal line because they are the people with whom I am most familiar. I have no children who will carry on, so whatever I write down, I am doing for myself. Perhaps another generation will take an interest down the road. Hugs to all, Mary ----- Original Message ----- From: twerppy@aol.com To: padutch-life@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, September 03, 2007 4:15 PM Subject: Re: [PD-LIFE] MARY'S RETIREMENT ACTIVITIES Now it is catching.? I think it is wonderful to have talented people on this list.? Wish I had the time to do the same.? Maybe I need to get a few years older.? Still too young.? Not 70 yet.? Connie Hi Mary......I am so impressed with your "unending list" of wonderful projects and activities that you have planned to start/finish after your recent retirement. First, let me wish you HAPPY RETIREMENT!! I would love to know more about your projects as you tackle them, and I am interested to know what the book is about your are co-writing/editing with your friend. It sounds as if is an "in-depth" project, as well as the building, yard work, etc. I too am in the process of writing short stories about my WV childhood on our family life. My plans are to include them in what I am calling "The Second Creek Chronicles" - just plain folk stories about a city turned kid introduced to a new life in the hills and hollers of WV. For a brief flavor of my writing style - I have done one about the time my mom and dad ventured into the attic of our "old" farm house, and killed bats - many bats by burning sulphur and swatting them with tennis racktets....it's called "The B&T Story (not BLT) ----bats and tennis rackets. It was quite an event, and left some funny memories to write about. I interject humor with excitement, and tell the stories in the "John Boy Style", or as the boy who tells "The Christmas Story"did in reliving his childhood days. I am doing it for fun, and a way to remember the past. As Lynn is writing hers to leave for her daughter, I am writing mine to never let go of the simplier days in life! Best wishes as you continue on your journey and most of all, please enjoy this "new found" time!! We will be waiting to hear about your progress! Sheila in WV --------------------------------- Building a website is a piece of cake. Yahoo! Small Business gives you all the tools to get online. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message