Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Where are the Girls?

The You Go Genealogy Girls are both still on the planet and alive!  Life doesn't seem to slow down for either one of us.  Until #2 slows down more, I'll be handling this blog ... hope you all don't mind!

YGGG #2 has been freezing garden produce Go-Hubby tended to all summer.  It seems never ending and now she is about out of freezer space.  But, it will taste good this winter.  Just think of the pots of soup and chili with those frozen tomatoes and home--made salsa for the tacos.  I think she should share some with me since I'm tending to our blog.

She is also still fighting the computers with various types of malfunctions.  After months of her printer speaking to her in a foreign language, she finally figured out how to make it return to English.  It was so foreign that she didn't have a clue about what things meant.  So far she hasn't put her main computer in the dumpster or in the middle of the street or even on the sidewalk with a sign, "Take me!"  I think she's getting close to that point though.  Last week her mother-in-law blessed her with a couple of large albums from a genealogy aunt, all needing to be scanned.  What a nice gift, especially with malfunctioning equipment and a garden that needs to be picked.

As I am preparing to go on a research trip before too long, I decided it was time to bid adieu to my old, red wheely computer bag.  It has been on many trips in the US and overseas, thrown into the overhead bins of airplanes, crammed into the trunk of the car or smashed between boxes in the back seat of the car as the YGGGs head out for Salt Lake City.  It has traveled around airports, up and down stairs, escalators and elevators, never complaining, but wearing out.  The wheels are down to nothing and there is a hole appearing in the bottom of it.  Even though wheely bag is a good friend, I am retiring it for a while to the closet and maybe eventually to the dumpster.

Today I purchased a new wheely bag.  It has bigger wheels and lots of compartments.  Now I am faced with the problem of knowing exactly where to put things in it.  I'll be flying so need to have it light enough to lift into the overhead bins.  It's black.  Red wheely bag was easy to spot among all the others that are usually black.  I hope that my new wheely bag doesn't elude me ... ancestors are enough.

Fall is that great time of year that the kids go back to school and life is supposed to slow down. The other day I realized that Lil' Red has taken on a new name ... Grandma's Taxi.  I thought those days were over when my own children learned to drive and obtained wheels (many years ago).  The rewards for this service are the smiles, hugs and togetherness I experience with my granddaughter and her friends.  But sometimes I need a perk or two along the way.

Do you need a perk?  How about a genealogy perk?  I have been enjoying the courses at the FamilySearch Learning Center.  The best part is that I don't have to be at school at a certain time, don't need to drive Lil' Red somewhere ... just allocate some time at the computer to study and learn.  The courses range from one hour to 12 minutes.  Even those of us who think we know everything can learn something.

Grandma's Taxi is parked in the garage today.  My only garden is my basil plant which is about at the end of its 2011 summer life.  I have nothing to freeze or can, so it's either learning online or learning how to pack my new wheely bag ... or both.

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby

Friday, September 2, 2011

Chocolate Chip Cookies and Genealogy

Today feels like I think September should feel.  It is cloudy, a few sprinkles of rain and a very cool breeze.  What a change from 99 degrees that greeted us on September 1st (yesterday).  It's a pleasant change.  It makes me think about a different kind of genealogical research, such as roaming a cemetery, looking at interesting tombstones, finding stones for relatives and just absorbing the change of season.

Since my last post I am still not organized.  I have decided it might make a good winter project.  Maybe I won't be able to put it off until the snow flies.  Today I'm taking a needed break from my book so I can blog (also needed), write an article, go for a walk and maybe stopping by a cemetery.  Several years ago I had a boss who referred to these days as "chocolate chip days."  He would try to talk me into taking the day off to bake cookies with pay.  I'm going to call days like this "the enjoy genealogy days."

You Go Genealogy Girl #2 has been doing catch up from her trips this summer, plus resting and reading.   She is still doing research even though she has an aching, failing computer.  Occasionally I can hear her all the way to my house (more than 100 miles) telling the computer that it has to go, possibly by putting a give away sign on it and placing it on her sidewalk.

In my busy days of non-stop writing, I have discovered some interesting things that I'll share.  I know many of you, myself included, are not fond of the library catalog on the new web site for Family Search.  One way to overcome some of the frustration is to use both catalogs, the new site and old site.  The more frequently you use the new site for the library catalog, the more adept you will become.

Another tip ... Ancestry.com is great for searching "Historical Documents", but there's a lot more you need to do.  From the pull down menu of Search, select "Search All Records."  Up pops a listing of databases by category such as census, military, newspapers and more.  If you are specifically interested in one of those categories, browse through the collections available.  Should your research be in a specific area, such as the state of Kansas, click on the state in the US map or the link below to see what is available in all collections for that state.  This will enhance and enlarge your research possibilities beyond just searching "Historical Documents."

Time to decide if I'm going to write the article, go for a walk or bake chocolate chip cookies.  Those cookies sound really good!

You Go Genealogy Girl #1 --- Ruby

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