Advice to a newbie

[yotetrapper]

I have a project in mind. Some of you might think it's silly, while others I might even offend although I hope not. I'd been a regular on this forum in the past but have been gone for several years dealing with life.

I know many of you here are VERY serious about your tomatoes and I hope what I am wanting to do doesn't make any of you think that I consider the work, improvements, and advancements you make to tomatoes to be in any way unimportant. I LOVE all the work y'all do and time you put into creating new and improved varieties.

That said, what I am wanting to do is a bit more simple. I don't want to make a tomato with award winning flavor, one resistant to this blight or that mildew, a dwarf variety or one not prone to BER. I just want to make a tomato, because, well, I want to. Granted, both of the varieties I have in mind are good for the heat of the south so maybe I can make a heat resistant one?

I want to make a tomato, in short, so I can one day name it after someone very special to me. I hope ya'll don't consider that a frivolous reason for wanting to do so. Flavor, size, color, leaf type and heat resistance will all be factors I take into account when making my selections.

I finally have the time and space to do a project like this, so would like to. I have an understanding of the basics. I know how to hand pollinate, etc., to get my F1 seed. I know to grow out as many as possible to search for the qualities I seek. I know a little about genetics from breeding poultry, but not alot. I have no idea which traits in tomatoes are dominant versus recessive.

I'm wanting to cross two OP varieties, at this point I'd rather not yet say which two, one is a RL bi-color, the other a PL pink.

I guess I've wrote this whole post and not yet asked a question....

I guess right now I really don't have any yet. But am open to any free advice anyone might have for someone just starting down this road.

Thanks
Angela