Better comparison

So Alike and such little differences/Brown Eyed Jewish Mutant that I love :-)

My boys are still on step 5. I got them on gedmatch. They match my second cousins. Some of them.  I told my son Jamesy that I’m sorry I didn’t know. I offered him a bar mitzvah. Also—He has a different maternal haplogroup according to 23andMe than his siblings and me. Not an incomplete one, but a different one. I told him he was a mutant —he got a regular kick out of that. We are u5b2c2 (u5b2c according to 23andMe) He came up U5b2a2. I’d say lab problem due to the other theories meaning he had blood problems etc. He is healthy. I know he is mine and he is definitely his Dad’s. Mutations are rare. But then again so is he seeing as he is now my only brown-eyed mutant Jewish child. I contacted the company -no response yet.

Most of my highest matches on 23andMe are private. I sent out introductions with pleas to compare/share genomes. I sent out 6 and 3 people accepted so far. One wrote me back and shared his good tree with me. I like those public profile type folks like me 🙂 I don’t quite understand the other ones but maybe they are into other things. Nothing  closer though. I was hoping for a close match but it appears my people are someplace other than a DNA pool. i could be a great great aunt or something so maybe one of those matches will appear one day.

23andMe is set up sort of as a little fun site. One can even hear a tune played from their own DNA. It’s a little better with health info but that is no longer available. Thanks control freaks! Now I have no grace notes. I like the straight forward feel of FTDNA the best really. I wish you could add more matches to the chromo browser but it’s still a good data filled experience. Ancestry has the trees. Even if your match only has a tiny tree, you can at least develop it yourself to get an idea of where you may connect to them. That myheritage thing on 23andMe is a complete idiotic  farce if you are trying to figure stuff out. I guess it would be just fine if you had a little family that you knew about already and just wanted to display them. Maybe add a new member once in awhile, but it sucks moose cock for trying to discover anything new. The 23andMe is a pretty, colorful experience with lots of little tidbits and forums and ways to go her to do this and then go there to do that. It’s a cheerful place. I need info though. I suppose I need to familiarize more.

The main thing is  that I’m there now and soon the kids will update too. I already see the use for them to be tested when it pertains to my own search as I can see how much that pedigree collapse means. Not much. if we were 3rd or 4th cousins it may mean more. But us sharing all that cM means that even if we really should share less we would still be nearly 2nd cousins. I don’t see a need to go back too much further to cover that. Maybe an extra one gen. The boys match her the right amount -3rd cousins. Over  100 cMs.

Oh the neanderthal thing went up from 2.3 to 2.4% for me. No mention of my 1.5% denisovan. But my sons are 2.5% and 2.7% (for my little Jewish child.  🙂  )

A little bit of progress

I made it to step five ahead of 2 of my kits that were ahead of me. They have now made it to 4.5. I am getting little results here and there like the one above. Still not really German…. This one shows more Irish than the others seems like. It’s Northern Europe like the others. What happened to my Scandinavian thingy? lol It goes to show, the longer you have to wait on results the less Scandinavian you become lol If I waited any longer there is no telling what I’d be. 😉

I’m now a hair more Neanderthal as well. 2.4% I think I believe the geno 2.0 (2.3%) more as it includes my Denisovan 1.5 % as well. I’m still U5B2C2 but they left off the last 2. A lady and I shared genomes before my results even came in due to us sharing this haplogroup –a few surnames and locations in common and the fact we are just cool like that.

I have been contacted by a DNA pro willing to do a little pro bono work. This will definitely help as I’m going cross eyed with my results. I hope he doesn’t die when he sees my “methodology” tree. I’m thinking he will notice the same things I have but will understand the connections better. He will definitely spot things I haven’t or that I didn’t know meant anything. There is a little pedigree collapse here and there with my Quaker side. It worries me. But because of knowing this I automatically go back a few more gens than I probably need to. There are a few big families that seem to connect me with most of my dna matches. A chick/sibling here and there marrying into their family trees. Way back there are always Ball-Dodge-Lewis-Randall-Briggs-and Wrights. I’m afraid of all the Clarks-Moores-Smiths and Tuttles.

I’m hoping for one more close match and also my “updated” non id.  Patience. I have no new what I call “first pagers” in my matches.

I still check for results a few times per day as I’ve given in to the idea that I’m not going to stop. 🙂

When I was waiting for my FTDNA results I didn’t check near  as often. I knew they were going to take forever.  It was when i was offline the results came in and I found out by a new cousin contacting me about our match. She knew before I did.

I occasionally get emails that state “I’ve read your profile  and I’d love to help with this so I’m working my tree out more for you. You are definitely on my _____ side.” These are so helpful yet they set me looking down a different trail. I sometimes lose my spot lol The latest is a Nelson and yes, I’ve wondered about this branch/line before. Still haven’t found the mrca.

It will all connect soon.

(4) Sue Amazon – 4 people needed so she can unlock her transfer…

4 people needed so she can unlock her transfer results smile emoticon

via (4) Sue Amazon – 4 people needed so she can unlock her transfer….

https://www.familytreedna.com/autosomalTransfer?atdna=91w5OcY1oZXrZTTidT1oVw%3D%3D

Waiting………

Before I got my kit from 23andMe  I checked around the forums and set up a profile. I did some research and followed posts which showed me the waiting times. I knew I was going to get my kit there but wasn’t sure where I was getting the other kits from. The short waiting times reported back in early February sold me. It seems the minute my kits were received by them things came to an abrupt stop. I’m not alone.  I’m part of the stuck on step 4 group. I know they say allow 4-6 weeks from the time they mark it received (step 3) but the feedback was showing a week=tops, that is before I got the kits. I’ve been stuck on step 4 for a month now. They blamed the snow in NC. I have a kit sent to CA. and it is just as stuck. The problem with this extra waiting for me is, aside from me checking the site constantly, I feel like it’s setting me up for more disappointment. If the results came in already and there were no  close matches then that would be that. Instead I’m going to be so glad that they are actually done it’s going to be a greater let down if there is nothing really there. Blame the snow ….job maybe lol

My “first pagers” that communicate with me have no idea how we connect.  My DNA tree is a mess. I did find common ancestors but really have no idea how recent they are. No sign that any non id is even close. I have not received the updated non id yet. It would be nice if I did. Every “lead” has fizzled out for one reason or another.  DNAancestry matches are all out of order I found out.  FTDNA and gedmatch seem to agree more. Ancestry has a 43cM match with not so long a block way ahead of a match who shares 70cM and a much longer block. They are both on the same amount of chromosomes. There appears to be no rhyme nor reason to ancestry’s assessment to cousins.  Not all are on gedmatch so it makes things rough. I’d love to see my 23andMe results.

My one time but no longer birth mom’s origins are about identical to mine. (Yes her results are done) No we are not even remote cousins. I’d love to have her on gedmatch to lower the threshold just to see how in the hell that old DNA company could call us mother and daughter 13 years ago. At least if we were 7th cousins I could understand a little bit. But it’s too much at this point to urge her to upload to gedmatch. She doesn’t seem that into it. I was sure that we would at least be 5th cousins or something so I could at least say “not enough markers tested but I can see we connect distantly” But NO not even that close.  No match at all. Really, how dare they? Or was my swab contaminated some how back then? I don’t dare think too much on it. I can’t help but think “What the hell did they test exactly? Enough to determine we were both mostly European?” Enough of that walk down memory lane.

One more 1st pager closer than all others is all I need. Actually, my 3rd and  4th cousins want to know too. It may help with some of their brick walls as well.  This journey is exciting and nerve wracking all at once. I’m glad for the technology and chance to find out some answers. I’m also glad that maybe one day my DNA might provide answers for someone else. I am hopeful that it may help me in my lifetime. Maybe it taking an extra long time is because I am going to find a close match. Maybe the lab is on strike. Maybe the whole batch got contaminated. They need to fess up and just sent us new kits plus a coupon for a free one with no expiration date. Maybe I’ll end up checking yet again in the next few minutes although my goal was NOT to for a while lol They can’t tell us all that there is something wrong with our sample and have us believe it. We have already compared notes. No one is moving a long at all what so ever. Many of us have different kits at different labs. They were moving right along just fine, ahead of schedule no less, that is until I sent mine in. Then it all stopped. Crickets…………… Torture. By writing this post I am sure I will have an update or two. Or at least I’ll see someone else on the forum(s) does. I’m following at least 5 threads about this waiting time issue. Something is going on. Maybe it is just the snow. Or maybe it is more important clients than us consumers. They may be working on something special. I can’t imagine anything more important than our kits. If it is that big of a project then get more equipment and help for it. Work more hours. Don’t put us all off. Bigger project should equal more money.  Throw some money into it and make the customers happy. We are all going gray waiting. Some of us may be bald pulling out hair out by the time things catch up.

Patience. I am going to just check and not get my hopes up. If my results are ready….same thing. Grain of salt. No biggie. I  can’t stand it.

Max’s Opinion.

I asked Max what he thought of the wait time on 23andMe and what his message to them would be.

Max’s Opinion and Message.

I agree with him. The kid is smart 🙂

Another U5b2c2 born

Maximus was very tired from all the hard work he had gone through on March 9th. He weighed in at 9 lbs and was 21 inches long.  He is home now watching Hulu with my baby, his Mama.

It looks like I’ll have to fly down there for while before I’m done up here. I may not be able to wait for Summer. I can tell by looking at him that he needs Nana. That is two grand babies born this year that need me. Ok, I need them 🙂

I got two new matches on ftdna distant. One new fourth on ancestry. No trees and scant profiles for most of them. Nothing new on gedmatch and a few of us are still stuck on step four on 23andMe watching other’s move along. Bad batch. Slow=Bad.

I don’t want to miss out on my family that I know and love to chase a family that I may never know. I’ve dedicated a lot of time and effort. A tad of mula also on this quest. This is another reason I was hoping my results would hurry up. I hate to leave things unfinished but the cost of time away from what is the most important to me is too high. I’ll check my results from time to time of course but I have to get things rounded up here and go home. My home is where I ventured to 25 years ago. Maybe that is how my mother seen it. That may be why I don’t find her in the town/area that I was adopted from. She was just passing through. Or maybe she had never stepped foot here. I don’t know and quite possibly will never know.

I did get to video conference with my new grand baby. He is awesome. He got a good chunk of his Mama’s Creek DNA. His Daddy has some Cherokee also. I’m tempted to test him 🙂 He does however, have blue/green eyes like grandma and his Mama. His Mama’s paternal grandfather (Euchee Black) had greed eyes too. Genetics are interesting. Her paternal grandmother was full blooded Muskogee (Creek).

He is taking selfies already. This was taken today at age 2 days, at home after watching Hulu. He is settling in quite nicely to his new world. It is a better place now.

Example of Known German

After trying to figure out how I connect with my top cousins, I decided to look over my origins again. I’m looking on that English/German mother thing. The verdict is… maybe. On ancestry I reached out to see an example of a known German person and how their results appear. It showed European West on ancestry. I only got one example but several people replied with the text telling me about vikings and so forth. The Scandinavian thing seems so vague yet FTDNA and Ancestry seem to agree on it. In the descriptions of my results German is a second thought. Also found in Germany etc. The main reason I looked at this again is to help determine the differences on my parents’ sides. I put this together with my DNA cousins info on their trees and my own haplogroup along with my guesstimated place of birth. Those traces get ignored when trying to match things up but it only takes one feller with one parent of a certain origin to put that trace in your DNA.

Always some Guy with a “trace.” 23andMe has got to be the most aggravating company of them all. For the love of GAWD! Speaking of some dork with a trace. There is no rhyme nor reason to the wait times with them. At least FTDNA abuses/tortures all of us equally with the dang wait times.

These are mine. Gedmatch is more interesting but I’m needing simple for this quest.

I’ve hit twitter with my haplogroup and Gedmatch. I noticed others have done the same thing 🙂

Down the Basement Stairs….

I woke up in the wee hours of the morning and before I flung myself down the basement stairs I decided to take one last look at my laptop. I checked 23andMe —still demoted to step 3. My son’s kit is still suck on step 4 NOT 4.5 but 4. New remote matches on ancestry. I had already 2nd 3rd and 4th guessed myself on everything I ever thought about this whole thing. I was ready to un-attach myself from my little pretend person on my DNA tree. I checked FTDNA and seen my upgrade of course wasn’t ready and no new matches that were close. This time when I checked  my projects I decided  to google the only U5b2c2 match I had because it appeared on a New York state project. I don’t know if this person also did FF and just doesn’t match or if she only did mtdna. Which ever it was I checked out her tree anyways. Just about all the surnames in my matches were there. The Irish connection that my 3rd cousins and I have been looking for may very well be a FRENCH from Ireland. I added only her daughters and their daughters down the lines. I added notes. The only males I added were the ones needed to show any possible daughter’s surnames if by chance they were not recorded. I did add the first hubby and sons just in case they turn out to be on my matches’ trees. I saw a lot of similarities in facial features when I looked them all up on find a grave. That little spark of hope. The one that made me forget about the cellar steps. 🙂 I made another discovery. That second cousin is probably a 3rd or 4th. I share another cousin from a different side of her tree. They mingled lol The woman in Ireland may have also had sisters, aunts and certainly had a mother. It’s entirely possible I come off of them too. But this is something. Something more than what I had.  I have some more to keep my eyes peeled for. One of the surnames down the tree is Born. I have a Living Born in my tree now and I like that. It doesn’t show anything that matches my non id for my mother but of course nothing does at all ever. My mother most likely will never appear on anyone’s tree but mine. Someday.

I Flunked

Out of 3 kits One made it to step 4 so far On 2-21-2015
Both other Kits just made it to step 4 today! 2/24/2015
All still on step 4 3/02/2015
California Lab
My kit just flunked and got sent back to step 3 not enough DNA 3-03-2015.

Susan, our laboratory attempted to isolate DNA from your saliva sample. Unfortunately, the sample did not yield sufficient quantities of DNA.

Your sample is going through a second round of DNA isolation.

So now my DNA is faulty. I wondered why people were passing me and going to step 4.5 within a few days when their kits were received after mine. I hope this isn’t the case with my other kit. Not even held back but DEMOTED to step 3. I have no idea what happened. I tested at 3 other companies successfully. Must have been a bad DNA day for me. Or maybe they didn’t do something right when isolating it. Who knows? I hope this round works and I don’t have to spit in that stupid thing again. Good GAWD. I joined the little 23andMe groups now they probably think I’m a scammer with no kit who just wants to clone them all! There really was no way to study for this test. I don’t know what I could have done differently in order to pass. Maybe it will succeed this time and go quickly. If it’s their error, I hope someone else does it this time or the one who did it the first time has advanced in their skills. Maybe I’m dying of some strange disease and my DNA is diminishing before the final slumber. I’m trying to move Forward not backward. My spit has failed me? Oh brother. Or sister? I won’t know until my results come in!!!