Many cousins (3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) know me only through genealogical research. But some cousins know me by sight, and at least one nephew and niece (cousins) know each other, and me, by sight also. Since one of my goals in retirement is to share all my accumulated data, I've "met" a lot of you who I'll never see. This short confessional, and the few pictures I've linked to, are my way of showing you a bit more of who I am, and what I am about.

I'm a WASP, born in Covington, Kentucky, educated in AR, KY, AR, MO, IL and CA (in that order), who started working with computers before the parents of many surfers were born. In that prior life this work usually related to hospitals, laboratories or graduate studies. [Methodist Hospital of Southern California, Huntington Memorial Hospital, Tampa General Hospital, University of Southern California (M.B.A.)]

Now my husband, Jake, and I have retired to Kentucky, Mallard Point, a gated community whose mail comes via the post office in Georgetown, eight miles away. Jake goes out every day, taking graduate classes at Lexington's University of Kentucky campus, attending book discussions, writing practice(s) and shopping. He buys all the groceries and does most [99%] of the cooking. He seems to like this arrangement, and I know I do. For a person who gave up cooking when my son took it up, it seems strange that I've done more baking for volunteer groups in the past five years than I did for my family in the prior thirty.

One of my frequent sayings is, "I'm going to be a recluse when I grow up." But it seems that I'll either never grow up, or learn to say "NO" in time to have a more reclusive life. For now I'm on too many Boards of Directors and working committees to ever have a week when the garage door isn't opened. Still, I manage to stay home enough to assuage my guilt and utilize my "talents" by making web pages, doing look ups, and managing mail lists. Growing up in a good Calvinist family I was taught early on that I was given talents and a purpose in life - it was up to me to develop the talents and find and fulfill the purpose. I must never, never, never be lazy! Somehow I learned that was the first deadly sin. I don't think all members of my family got that message, so maybe I got a double dose - who else's I'm not quite sure. But along the way I learned that I have a few talents, such as self discipline, perseverance, pragmatic creativity and a cache of trivia that helps me learn from mistakes. What I don't have is focus. Along the genetic way I lost some filters, so too many things interest and/or distract, or annoy, me; but, like many other qualities this is both a curse and a blessing. Though not many people would characterize me as calm or placid the inner Jo is usually at peace!

The links I've put on this page are to help those who recognize themselves in the revelation above. I've spent a lot of time since the winter of '94-'95 finding Internet spots that:

Thiessens' Index Scott Co., KY Links Patriotic Links Helpful Sites My First (4/18/96) Downhome Page Songs I Remember Frank Petersohn's Songs and More From Russia to China and Beyond Bradley Lehman's Mennonite Links