Wednesday, December 31, 2014

My Semi-Genealogy Day - 31 December 2014

Another year completed...where does the time go?  I'm now 71 years old, so that's about 25,980 sunrises.  The big family news this year was the birth of grandson Charlie in September - that makes 5 grandchildren.  

It was cold last night (below 40F here), and cold today (a high of about 52F), and snow in the foothills down to 1500 feet last night.  That happens every ten years or so.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote BB Guns and Coonskin Caps at Christmas 1954 -- Post 340 for (Not So) Wordless Wednesday and Top 20 Most Popular Posts on Genea-Musings From 2014 and set it for later.

*  We left at 10:40 a.m. for Carlsbad to meet Tami and the girls at In 'n' Out for lunch, then brought the Sweethearts of Huntington Beach home with us.  We got home by 1 p.m.

*The girls played by themselves, watched videos and TV, read books, etc.  I checked Facebook, answered email and wrote Dear Randy: How Do You Use Notes and Sources in RootsMagic 7?

*  We went to dinner at El Pollo Loco at 5:15 p.m. and were home by 6:30.  The girls and I had Dove bars for dessert.  They played and read, and I answered email and read blogs and checked Facebook off and on.  Linda was on her Chromebook and needed help almost every minute for awhile there.  Audrey and I had a little party in her room, then played balloon soccer in the family room.

*  At 8:30 p.m., we went to the family room and watched the New Year's activities in New York - the girls were excited, counted down the last minute, and cheered on the hour and kissed everybody.

*  Added to the Best Of post, and wrote the New Year's post, and then this post.  Genealgoy today was about 5.0 hours.

Here are the numbers from my RootsMagic database as of 31 December (with increases in the numbers from 8 December 2014 in parentheses):

* 43,986 persons (+ 4)
* 17,572 families  (+ 19)
* 136,426 events  (+ 241)
* 7,837 places  (+ 15)

* 1,135 sources (+ 4)
* 57,783 citations (+ 257)
*  1,071 Multi-media Items (+ 2)

*  2,888 Multimedia links (+ 4)

 I'm up to 42.35%  (+0.10%) for citations/events and 131.37% (+0.55%) for citations/persons.

Genea-Musings statistics for December (compared to stats for November 2014):


*  Genea-Musings traffic rank:  Worldwide: 288,951; US: 77,873 (Alexa)

*  114,321 page views (3,688 per day, Blogger Stats, -77)
* 19.910 web page visits (642 per day, Site-meter) (-69)
* 30,800 page views (994 per day, Site-meter) (-90) 
*  >1,100 readers on Feedly (+??)
*  1,586 readers via email (Feedburner) (+ 17)

Industry database statistics for 31 December 2014:

*  32,529 Ancestry.com Databases (+ 17)
*  2,147,483,647 profiles in Public Member Trees on Ancestry.com (unchanged)
*  3,854 Birth Marriage and Death Databases on Ancestry.com (+7)
*  577 Census and Voter List Databases on Ancestry.com (+2)
*  113,551,253 Entries in U.S. Find A Grave Database on Ancestry.com (+1)
*  94,331,869 Entries in Social Security Death Index Database on Ancestry.com (+ 0)

*  1,870 Record Collections on FamilySearch (+13)
*  869 United States Record Collections on FamilySearch (+11)
*  171 Census and Lists Record Collections on FamilySearch (+1)
*  1,088 Birth, Marriage and Death Record Collections on FamilySearch (+5)
*  93,946,127 Entries in Social Security Death Index on FamilySearch (unchanged)

*  124,060,301 entries in Find A Grave on FamilySearch (unchanged)


*  423,803 Databases on Mocavo.com (+0)

*  5,708,072,169 Historical Records on MyHeritage.com (+0)

*  64,803,737 MyHeritage member profiles*  1,410,940,996 Profiles in MyHeritage Family Trees (+10.7352,333)
*  140,439,379 Profiles in Geni.com World Family Tree (-3,077,393)

*  1,532 Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+20)
*  558 U.S. Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+5)
*  581 United Kingdom Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+12)



Tuesday, December 30, 2014

My Geneaholic Tuesday - 30 December 2014

We got back from our Christmas holiday to Santa Cruz and Monte Rio on Monday night.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - SlideShare.net has Some Genealogy Presentations.

*  Worked a bit in FindMyPast First, then their tree Hints, and then in WikiTree a bit.  Answered email.

*  Set up Linda's Chromebook, then helped her learn to use Gmail.  After 3 hours, she can read email and write email, and delete, but she struggles to remember the steps.  A mouse would probably be good for it!

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, answered email, and wrote So I Went Away For a Week... and then My Best Ancestral Genea-Discoveries of 2014.  Answered more email.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper and eat dinner. 

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to review, edit and practice the Probate talk.  Worked on email some more, especially several Seaver problems.  Checked Facebook.

*  Worked on the Top Genea-musings posts for 2014.  Read blogs and email.  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.


Monday, December 22, 2014

My Semi-Genealogy Days - Sunday and Monday, 21-22 December

These were not genealogy days in the full measure of the term...but I'm ready for Christmas now.  The last packages came today from Amazon!  Still one more I forgot to order last week, but it will go to Lori's house after the holidays - out of stock.

1)  Sunday, 21 December - first day of winter!  A family history day, but not much genealogy.

*  Read email and blogs, and got the Best of the Genea-Blogs - 14 to 20 December 2014 ready to post after noon.  

*  We left at 9:30 a.m. for church, then left there at 10:10 to drive to Tami's for our first Christmas celebration with her family.  Got there by 11:50 a.m. and Charlie was smiling, the girls were excited to see us.  We went to lunch at Marie Callenders, and came home to open gifts.  The girls loved their scooters, and we got a 2015 calendar with 2014 pictures.  We love them!  I got a Hawaiian shirt and Linda some jewelry.  Tami and Linda went shopping, while James and I watched football, and I took a nap.  L&T came home and all the girls made gingerbread cookies.  We had dinner, and left at 6:40 p.m. and made it home without a stop at 8:20 p.m.  Charlie was smiling more and giggling a bit, and didn't cry very much.  Took some pictures but not a great set.  Drat.  

*  Checked email and blogs, but really tired.  Tried to go to bed early but tossed and turned.  

2)  Monday, 22 December 2014

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Post 248: Inventory of Simon Gates (1739-1803) Estate posted.  Finished up the wash, got the suitcases, wrapped presents, and packed. Transcribed more of the Gates file, and wrote an Amanuensis Monday post for next week.   Wrote New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - December 14-20, 2014.  

*  Checked Facebook, answered emails.  Went to lunch with Linda at Olive Garden with Barbara and Jean.  Home at 1:30 p.m.  Wrote More Online Genealogical Education from NIGS.

*  Went in at 4 p.;m. to watch TV, tread the paper, and took an hour nap.  Had dinner, then watched the Broncos-Bengals game.  In the second half, got the laptop out, added the OCCGS talks to the files, fired up FTM and updated it, then synced Deb's tree with Ancestry, and attached a bunch of records to Deb's family tree using the Hints.  Added several more ancestral families too.  Bengals won 37-28.  

*  Online to read, check Facebook, and write this post.  Genealogy today was 6.0 hours at most.

3)  We  are on our way to Lori's and Paul's for the rest of the week, so Geneaholic will be dark, and Genea-Musings will be on autopilot.  I will have the laptop with me, so will try to stay on top of blog posts and email but not much else.  



Saturday, December 20, 2014

My Semi-Genealogy Saturday - 20 December 2014

Linda woke up bright-eyed and bushy tailed, feeling much better, so our visit to Huntington Beach is on for Sunday.  No real symptoms, used eyedrops several times.

*  Read email and blogs after breakfast with the Men's group at Marie Callender's at 8 a.m.  Stopped by the bank on the way home, didn't go shopping...home by 9:45 a.m.  Noted that Surname Saturday -- KENDALL (England to colonial Massachusetts) posted.

*  Answered email, checked X-matches at FamilyTreeDNA - I have some 3rd to 5th cousins, but none with trees with common ancestors.

*  Transcribed the Simon Gates inventory for the AA post, and wrote the post for Monday.  Noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Make a Surname Christmas Tree posted.

*  Went in with a headache at 3:15 p.m. to watch TV, read the paper, and took an hour nap.  No headache afterwards!  Checked Facebook.

*  Back in the family room at 5 p.m. to watch the Chargers pre-game, and eat dinner.  First half was terrible - down 28-7 and it should have been 35-7.  Chargers came back in the second half, outscoring 49ers 28-7 to send it to overtime, and the Chargers won 38-35 after a Niners fumble.  From deep despair to hope to exultation.  They're still not a playoff quality team.  Just sayin'  A win a win, now I have to watch next week at Paul's house.

*  Online at 10 p.m. to read, finish up the Best Of post, check Facebook, and write this post.  Genealogy today was 5.0 hours.

Friday, December 19, 2014

My Genealogy Friday - 19 December 2014

We had a good day shopping ... got Linda taken care of!  She had the droopy eye, some chills and a headache tonight, we still haven't figured out what is happening - almost two weeks now.  Someone suggested it might be shingles.  I hope not.  We've canceled Sunday at Tami's and might cancel the trip over Christmas too.  Frustrating, and she isn't a happy camper.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 51: #58, William Knapp (1775-1856) posted.  Wrote FindMyPast Announces Start Your Family Tree Week 2014/15 and Inaugural FindMyPast Tree Awards and set it for later.

*  Looked in the FHL Catalog for New Jersey wills - very confusing.  Tried to find a book/page number for the ones mentioned in the Calendar of Wills - found some online but not many of them.  

*  Answered email, also answered some Ancestry messages.  Went through the Carringer line for New England guys in Essex County MA and downloaded several probate records from AmericanAncestors.  Renamed them and put them in the surname/family files.

*  We left at 1 p.m. to go shopping - found clothes at Catherine's and then to Office Depot to look at Chromebook for Linda.  Seems to work OK, hope she can adapt to it.

*  Home by 3:30 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, and then wrote New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - 13 to 19 December 2014.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, eat dinner, read the paper, and wash dishes.  

*  Online at 7 p.m. to read, then saw my first FMP Hints and figured out how to use them.  Blog post next week on this.  Linda had a headache, droopy eye, some chills, wanted eye drops, no lesions (which is good).  My eyes are itchy too.

*  Wrote two Surname Saturday posts just in case.  Checked Facebook.  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.  




Thursday, December 18, 2014

My Genealogy Thursday - 18 December 2014

The days have dwindled to a precious few...7 days until Christmas!!  When will I finish my shopping for Linda?  She had a good day medically today - no overt symptoms except for the droopy eyelid occasionally.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 244: Marriage Record of Nathan Gates and Abigail Knowlton and then Crestleaf Publishes "How Are We Related?" Family Relationship Chart and set it for later.

*  Put together the chronology of Linda's symptoms and events.

*  Worked a bit on the FindMyPast tree to see if I could stimulate a Hint.  Nope, not yet!

*  We left at 1:15 p.m. for the medical center, and saw Dr. Long.  She listened well, and thought that it might be Bell's Palsy for the eyelid.  If so, there's no treatment but patience.  Checked her for stroke symptoms and found none.  Went to the store, and home by 3 p.m.

*  Wrote FGS Conference, RootsTech Conference and the Family History Library - a Win-Win-Win For Me and worked on the To Do list some more.  Answered some email.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, eat dinner, read the paper, finish the wash, and wash the dishes.

*  Online at 6:50 p.m. to write two 52 Ancestors posts, then downloaded some probate files from AmericanAncestors.  Put them in the surname/family folders.  Need to rename them, transcribe them, and use them for AA and TCT posts.

*  Checked Facebook, added to the Best Of post, and answered email.  Got an email from a Whittle descendant in Sacramento area - cool!

*  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

My Genealogy Wednesday - 17 December 2014

Sometimes things don't go as planned.  I was going to go shopping today, but got bogged down doing genealogy stuff and never got out the door.  Linda's eyelid was OK all day until evening when it drooped again.  The daughters are concerned, and we have a doctor visit on Thursday afternoon.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Christmas at the Carringers - Post 338 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday and checked into FindMyPast Hints.

*  Talked to Tami for awhile, then wrote I Am Not Doing a Genealogy Do-Over.  Had lunch, checked Facebook, and answered email, including getting the syllabus for Palm Desert finished and sent off.

*  Looked at Geni matches, then researched and wrote FindMyPast Introduces Hints in Family Trees.  Added to the Best Of post and read more email.

*  We left for dinner at El Pollo Loco in National City at 5:10 p.m. and home by 6:30 p.m.  Read the paper and watched TV news.

*  Online at 7 p.m. to check Facebook, and then finish off the 45 remaining 1940 Record Hints in the 1940 census, adding some content and 72 sources to the database.  Did a little investigating on a Seaver problem from an Ancestry mail message.

*  Checked email and blogs, then wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

My Genealogy Day - 16 December 2014

Another rainy day, but I didn't stay home all day.  Went shopping.  A bust.  Drat.  Linda is so hard to shop for.  Me, I go on Amazon and find stuff for me, and the grandkids, with ease.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Tuesday's Tip - Use the Learning Resources on the AmericanAncestors.org Site and then CVGS Annual Holiday Luncheon Highlights and set it for later.

*  Ran the Tree Count in RootsMagic and found singles and doubles and deleted some of them.  Answered email.

*  Left at 11:45 for Costco for a Polish dog, looked longingly at the Samsung tablets, then to Catherines for Linda bnt nada.

*  Home by 1 p.m. to read.  Worked on the MSMoney file - got one bank account done, need to split out the credit card statements.  Then do the other bank account.  I let this go since December last.

*  Worked on NameClean in RootsMagic, and wrote NameClean Function in RootsMagic 7.  Didn't finish it until after dinner.

*  Went in at 5:45 p.m. for dinner, read the paper, watched TV, and then online at 7:15 p.m. to read, then worked in the 1940 census.  Had 103 matches from the latest effort, cleared 58 of them adding content and sources.

*  Read email, added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.

Monday, December 15, 2014

My Genealogy Monday - 15 December 2014

Finally got all of my shopping done, except for Linda!  Amazon is great!

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Post 247: Letter of Administration for Estate of Simon Gates (1739-1803) posted.  Kind of missed Mondays with Myrt!  Wrote New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - December 7-13, 2014 and set it for latem orning.

*  Shopped for about an hour.

*  Worked in the database, closing out completed To-Do items and adding new ones.  Went through the whole set of ancestors back to 4th great-grandparents.  Had lunch and went out to prune the rose bushes.

*  Answered email, added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, bored.  Wrote Ancestry Green Leaf Hints Keep Sprouting in my Ancestry Member Tree.

*  We left at 5 p.m. for dinner at Outback, Linda had a reaction to the filet again, on our no-no list now.

*  Home by 6:45 to watch TV sports and read the paper.  Online at 7:15 p.m. to read, then work haphazardly in Seaver names, especially those with a dead end, adding content and sources.  Found more Seaver names too.

*    Wrote this post.  genealogy today was 10.5 hours.


Sunday, December 14, 2014

My Genealogy Sunday - 14 December 2014

This was not much of a genealogy day, although I did capture several probate record sets in the evening.  And my Chargers lost to the Broncos - bummer.  Probably out of thep layoffs now.

*  Read email and blogs, and finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - 7 to 13 December 2014  post.

*  Went off to church at 9:30 a.m., home by 11:15 p.m.  Watched football and read the paper, then watched Broncos beat Chargers 22-10 in a good game until the 4th quarter.  So now 8-6.  Good news is the 49er game is on Saturday night, not Sunday when we're at Tami's for Christmas.

*  Read email and blogs and Facebook after the Chargers game, then went in to eat dinner, read the paper and watch TV news.

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, answer email, transcribe three records and write the Amanuensis Monday post, then downloaded 4 sets of Essex County probate records from AmericanAncestors - 2 for Colby guys and 2 for Bartlett guys.  Still have more to do!

*  Checked Facebook, wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 4.0 hours.


Saturday, December 13, 2014

My Genealogy Saturday - 13 December 2014

This was a stay-at-home day because we finally got our new forced-air heater installed after a month of waiting.  It rained more overnight too, but dried up this morning.

*  Read email and blogs, then noted that Surname Saturday -- BACON (England to Colonial Massachusetts) posted.

*  The heater guy came at 10:40, and was finished by 1:10 p.m.  It works!  

*  Worked on the OCCGS presentations and handouts and got them almost done.  Need to proof them on Sunday.  Then the PDSC talk and i'm set for January and February.

*  Noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Dear Genea-Santa Letter posted.  Added to the Best Of post.  Checked Facebook.  Answered email.

*  Went off at 3 p.m. to the store for groceries, and home by 3:45 p.m.  

*  Putzed around in the database, added some content and sources.  Worked on several Seaver lines adding to the FamilySearch Family Tree.

*  Went in for dinner at 5 p.m., read the paper, and watched TV.  Helped Linda with her piles of papers.

*  Online at 7 p.m. to do more FamilySearch Family Tree work, then worked in the J surnames adding content and sources - got into the Jones names.

*  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.

Friday, December 12, 2014

My Geneaholic Friday - 12 December 2014

This was supposed to be the day our new forced-air heater would be delivered and installed five weeks after it was ordered.  But it rained about an inch today - all morning...and they called and said they would come on Saturday.  Tonight will be the coldest night of the fall so far...blanket time.  We've not had a heater since June when SDG&E said ours was unsafe.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 50: #57, Anna (Row) Auble (1787-1860) and Season 2 of "Genealogy Roadshow" on PBS Starts 13 January 2015 and set it for late morning.

*  Wrote December 2014 Issue of CVGS Newsletter is Available and December Research Group Highlights and the Holiday Luncheon summary of the CVGS blog.  

*  Printed off more Christmas letters and stuffed envelopes - we did about 90.  Checked Facebook and answered email.  I left at 1 p.m. for the post office, then went shopping for Linda.  Came home empty handed in the rain.

*  Sent CVGS newsletter to society editors, then sent Christmas letter to friends via email, and sent out surveys to CVGS members.  

*  Wrote New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - 6 to 12 December 2014.

*  Looked for obituaries in GenealogyBank for Seaver people - Russell and Stanley.  Added some content and sources to the database.

*  Went in for dinner at 5:30, read the paper, washed the dishes.

*  Onlnie at 7 p.m. to read, worked more in GenealogyBank.  Wrote the Surname Saturday post.  Then downloaded the Michael Bacon 1701 probate record from AmericanAncestors.  Downloaded the Simon Gates 1803 probate record from FamilySearch, then found that I already had it.  Drat.  Edward Hildreth's probate in Worcester County is not online yet since it is post 1881.

*  Facebook again, added to the Best Of post, and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 11 hours.


Thursday, December 11, 2014

My Geneaholic Thursday - 11 December 2014

This was the day of the CVGS annual Holiday Luncheon, and also the first day of Christmas card stuffing.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 243: 1816 Baptismal Record of Samuel Vaux and then Heritage Books Genealogy Cruise - The Genealogy Activities and set it for later.

*  Gathered up my CVGS surveys, and the script for the officer installation, and went off to South library for the CVGS Holiday Luncheon.  Helped set up chairs, talked to folks, and the party started at 11:45 a.m.  Left at 2 p.m.

*  Read, talked to Mark on the phone, and researched and wrote Another Try at MyHeritage "Instant Discoveries" Feature.  Checked Facebook and answered email.  Printed off the second page of the Christmas letters.

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper, eat dinner, and stuff letters into Christmas cards and envelopes.  

*  Online at 7 p.m. to print more letters, then added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, and worked on the Anna Row Auble profile for 52 Ancestors.  

*  Genealogy today was 11.0 hours.



Wednesday, December 10, 2014

My Geneaholic Wednesday - 10 December 2014

Linda woke up with a fever, was OK all day, and then bad chills, vomiting and fever after dinner.  Drat.  Hope I don't get it too.  Know of two others with similar symptoms from the cruise.

*  Had to go to the store for Bayer aspirin and a thermometer at 8 a.m., home to read email and blogs on my phone, and wrote Thomas Richmond Family in About 1887 -- Post 337 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday and then 2015 Legacy Family Tree Webinar Series Schedule Announced and set it for later.

*  Worked a bit on the MyHeritage Discover feature.  Gather stuff up and off at 11:10 a.m. for McDonalds for lunch, then the library for the CVGS Research Group.  We had 12, and a good discussion on various topics.  Went to Office Depot afterwards for mailing labels.

*  Home by 3 p.m. to read, write MyHeritage Introduces Instant Discoveries Feature and check Facebook.  Answered email.

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper, eat dinner, put out the trash and wash dishes.  Then Linda got sick, so I tried to help.

*  Printed off more CVGS surveys, and the Christmas letter mailing list, and the first page of the letter.  

*  Futzed around on Facebook, wrote some Christmas week posts.  Totally unmotivated and sleepy.  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

My Geneaholic Tuesday - 9 December 2014

Only 15 more days until Christmas - I may never catch up!  But I'm trying.  I actually got a pretty good jump on several pending projects today.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip -- Check Our Ancestry.com's FREE State Research Guides and Heritage Books Genealogy Cruise - On The Boat and set it for late morning.

*  Started working on editing the three presentations for early January.  Need to get the handouts to the society program chairs for publicity.  Two are evergreens, but the FamilySearch talk has major changes.  

*  Answered email, and added to the Best Of post.  Made airplane reservations for SLC/RootsTech, and for San Jose/Christmas after talking to Lori on the phone.  Ordered three books from NGS for me.

*  Researched and wrote First Look at the Updated AmericanAncestors.org Website.  Checked AncestryDNA matches - more have been added.

*  Went through the recent Record Hints on Ancestry, adding sources and content.  Checked Facebook.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper, eat dinner and wash the dishes.  

*  Online at 7 p.m. to read, then edited the two CVGS member surveys and printed off some for Wednesday.  Need more for Thursday.  Added RootsMagic 7 to the laptop, added the latest database in Dropbox, and resolved the media items.

*  Worked on the Christmas letter and got it almost done.  Didn't have many good pictures of the grandkids - gotta do that at Christmas!  

*  Had a glitch in Genea-Musings - it flipped to a spam page.  Ran Speedy PC and now it works right.  Maybe I need to change the Blogger/Google password again.  Hmmm.  

*  Checked Facebook, added to the Best Of post, and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 10.5 hours.


Monday, December 8, 2014

My Genealogy Sunday and Monday - 7-8 December 2014

We got home from our genealogy cruise with Heritage Books on Saturday afternoon.  I spent the afternoon and evening reading over 1000 emails and started on the 2200 blog posts in Feedly.  Gave up after reading about 600.  Marked the remainder as "read."  Did put together a Sunday Best Of post.

1)  Sunday, 7 December:

*  Read email and blogs early, finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 30 November to 6 December 2014 post.  

*  We went off to church at 9:30 a.m., went to the store afterwards, and got home at 12:30 p.m.  Read, checked Facebook, and sorted saved emails into folders.  Answered a bunch of them.

*  Finished up the CVGS Newsletter and emailed it to the members.  Worked on the two surveys.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the Chargers/Patriots game.  We were ahead for three quarters, and lost 23-14.  Good defensive game - one mistake.  It was a winnable game.

*  Linda had bad headache and chills this evening. Finally asleep at 9:30 p.m.

*  Wrote a post for Monday morning.  Genealogy this day was 5.0 hours.

2)  Monday, 8 December 2014:  Linda was better today.

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - 29 November to 6 December 2014 posted.  Wrote Ancestry.com Publishes "Ancestry Global Family History Report"and set it for late morning.

*  Joined the Mondays With Myrt Hangout on air and contributed a bit, including a cruise summary.  

*  Wrote More on RootsMagic and MyHeritage Links and set it for early afternoon. 

*  Printed off the CVGS Newsletter masters and the postal mail list, and went to the UPS Store and published it.  Needed new ink cartridges to do it, both color and back.

*  Home by 2:15 p.m. to wait for Linda to read her email and Facebook.  Agony...watched TV news.

*  Finally online at 3:45 p.m. to read, then wrote New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - November 30 to December 6, 2014.

*  Checked Facebook, added to the new Best Of post.  Printed off the Christmas letter mailing list.  Need to work on the Christmas letter - we're late with that this year.  Got the photos into file folders too.

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to eat dinner, watch TV news, read the paper, wash the dishes.

*  Online to work a bit in the database - sort of randomly.  Added some Seaver folks found in 1940 census.  Uploaded some photos from the cruise to Facebook.  Need to do blog posts too.

*  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.

3)  Here are the numbers from my RootsMagic database as of 8 December (with increases in the numbers from 31 October 2014 in parentheses):

* 43,982 persons (+ 301)
* 17,553 families  (+ 106)
* 136,185 events  (+ 1684)
* 7,822 places  (+ 152)

* 1,131 sources (+ 9)
* 57,536 citations (+ 1216)
*  1,069 Multi-media Items (+ 26)

*  2,884 Multimedia links (+ 76)

 I'm up to 42.25%  (+0.35%) for citations/events and 130.82% (+1.82%) for citations/persons.

Genea-Musings statistics for November (compared to stats for October 2014):


*  Genea-Musings traffic rank:  Worldwide: 329,100; US: 77,254 (Alexa)

*  112,955 page views (3,765 per day, Blogger Stats, -100)
* 21,324 web page visits (711 per day, Site-meter) (-51)
* 32,529 page views (1084 per day, Site-meter) (-40) 
*  >1,000 readers on Feedly (+??)
*  1,569 readers via email (Feedburner) (- 74)

Industry database statistics for 8 December 2014:

*  32,514 Ancestry.com Databases 
*  2,147,483,647 profiles in Public Member Trees on Ancestry.com (unchanged)
*  3,847 Birth Marriage and Death Databases on Ancestry.com (+18)
*  575 Census and Voter List Databases on Ancestry.com (+2)
*  113,551,252 Entries in U.S. Find A Grave Database on Ancestry.com (+1,323,605)
*  94,331,869 Entries in Social Security Death Index Database on Ancestry.com (-12)

*  1,857 Record Collections on FamilySearch (+14)
*  858 United States Record Collections on FamilySearch (+12)
*  170 Census and Lists Record Collections on FamilySearch (+4)
*  1,083 Birth, Marriage and Death Record Collections on FamilySearch (+8)
*  93,946,127 Entries in Social Security Death Index on FamilySearch (unchanged)

*  124,060,301 entries in Find A Grave on FamilySearch
*  423,803 Databases on Mocavo.com (+156)

*  5,708,072,169 Historical Records on MyHeritage.com (+36,323,320)
*  1,400,188,663 Profiles in MyHeritage Family Trees (+126,511,743)
*  143,516,772  Profiles in Geni.com World Family Tree (+916,262)

*  1,512 Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+27)
*  553 U.S. Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+9)
*  569United Kingdom Record Collections on FindMyPast.com (+16)





Friday, November 28, 2014

My Geneaholic Friday - 28 November 2014

One more getup and we go to L.a. in the morning.  Geneaholic will be dark for the next week.  Geneamusings will be on autopilot.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 48: #55, Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1883) posted.  

*  Wrote the two Surname Saturday posts, and then researched and wrote The Ultimate Challenge - Building a Family Tree From Sources - Post 4: Westfall Family.

*  Left at 1:15 p.m. for Sears to get a new battery for my watch.  Stopped and got a birthday card at CVS on the way home.

*  Home by 2:30 p.m. to read, answer emails, add to the Best Of post, write the SNGF post, print out some Genea-Musings blog posts on elusive ancestors and DNA for the cruise.  

*  Went in at 5 p.m. for dinner, read the paper, watch TV news, water the front yard, and wash dishes.  Packed for the trip.  Packed the genealogy bag also with everything I need - electronics, passports, papers, etc.  

*  Online at 6:20, Imported GEDCOM file into Legacy so I could export an Ancestry narrative report.  RM won't do it right.  Frustrating, gotta write about that later.

*  Worked on the CVGS Newsletter - got it finished, sent off for proofreading, fix it in a week.

*  Checked Facebook, read blogs, answered more email, made a map for Saturday, and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 9.5 hours.


Thursday, November 27, 2014

My Geneaholic Thanksgiving - 27 November 2014

We are only two getups away from leaving on our cruise.  That means I have only one more day to do any research, finish the CVGS Newsletter, or write blog posts.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that I Am So Thankful... and My Mayflower Connections - Soule, White, Warren, Cooke, Brewster, Hopkins and Fuller posted.

*  Wrote several posts for next week.  Wrote two posts for the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe.  Wrote two 52 Ancestors posts for this Friday and next Friday.  Printed off the cruise syllabus and got the book bag ready to go.

*  Added content to the CVGS Newsletter for December.  About 70% done now.  Still have about 2 pages and some smaller holes to fill, plus the society list and the table of contents.

*  We left at 4:40 p.m. for dinner at Cafe Lamaze.  Had salad, turkey, no stuffing, veggies, baked potato, pumpkin pie.  Brought home half of Linda's meal.  Took some pictures too.

*  Home by 6:30 p.m. to read the paper and watch football for awhile.  Online at 7 p.m. to read, then wrote RootsTech 2015 FREE 3-Day Pass Winner: Janice Sellers and Book Review: Crash Course in Family History, 5th Edition, by Paul Larsen and mistakenly posted it.  Oh well.

*  Worked in Ancestry a bit looking for sources and images for the Underhill and Metcalf lines.  Found some, downloaded images and attached them.  Nice to get back in that mode again.  Also made gravestone images the Primary Photo if there was no head shot of the person.  That's better than a document being a primary photo IMHO.

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, answered some email, and wrote thisp ost.  Genealogy today was at least 9 blog posts and 11.0 hours.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

My Geneaholic Wednesday - 26 November 2014

Three more getups and we're off on the cruise.  I have so much to do before then!  Including shopping for Linda's birthday.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Randy and His Girls at the Beach -- Post 335 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday and another for next week, then Register Now for San Diego Genealogical Society January Seminar with D. Joshua Taylor and set it for later.

*  Researched and wrote First Look at RootsMagic 7 WebHints and set it for early afternoon.

*  Left at 11:05 a.m. for McDonalds for lunch, the bank for money, and the library for the CVGS program.  Helped get the AV equipment set up since Gary was gone, then the program with Georgie Stillman on "Heirloom Discovery Day."  Finally, got a book to read.  Home by 3 p.m.

*  Read email and blogs, added to the Best Of post, and did the Alford search.  Went in for dinner at 5:30 to watch TV, read the paper, and eat dinner.  

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to write The Ultimate Challenge - Building a Family Tree From Sources - Post 3: Alford Family.

*  Back to the TV at 7:50 to watch the Aztecs game, they lost 60-58 to #3 Arizona.  Drat.

*  At halftime, came in and worked on the December CVGS Newsletter.  I need to finish it before we go cruising so I can publish it when we return.  

*  After the game, did the dishes, then online to read, check Facebook, and write this post.  Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.



Tuesday, November 25, 2014

My Geneaholic Tuesday - 25 November 2014

This was a fairly boring day until tonight when I discovered RootsMagic 7 had been released.  I got it.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tuesday's Tip - AmericanAncestors.org Has Free Databases.

*  Answered email, and left at 10:30 a.m. for the dentist office for my cleaning.  Talked with Sylvia a bit about DNA tests and family history - she's interested.  Home by 12:15 to have lunch.

*  Read, then wrote The Ultimate Challenge - Building a Family Tree From Sources - Post 2: Meyers Family and did a lot of research to try to add content to the tree without success.

*  Checked Facebook, added to the Best Of post, and watched two of Cousin Russ's videos.  

*  Went in at 5 p.m. and watched TV news, ate dinner, watered the front yard, and read the paper.

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, and posted RootsMagic Adds MyHeritage Matching Technologies for Powerful Automatic Research Capabilities.  Wow.  RootsMagic 7 too!  Checked it out.

*  Went in at 7:10 p.m. to watch the SDSU basketball game, read my book, then watched Finding Your Roots and the end of the basketball game.  Aztecs won 74-57 over Pittsburgh, now 5-0.  They play Arizona tomorrow.  

*  Online at 9:30 p.m. to read, then downloaded and paid for RootsMagic 7, and installed it.  Wrote RootsMagic 7 is Now Available - with WebHints (FamilySearch and MyHeritage).

*  Checked Facebook, and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 8.0 hours.


Monday, November 24, 2014

My Genealogy Days - 23-24 November 2014

1)  23 November:

*  This was not a big genealogy day - read email and blogs, then finished the Best of the Genea-Blogs - 16 to 22 November 2014 post and wrote CVGS Program on 26 November is "Heirloom Discovery Day" with Georgie Stillman and set it for late afternoon.

*  We went to church at 9:30 a.m., home by 11:30 a.m. and I watched football until the Chargers won 27-24 over the Rams.  

*  We left for dinner at Black Angus at 4:45 p.m. and home at 6:30 p.m.  Read, then wrote the amanuensis Monday posts for this week and next.

*  Mucked around in Ancestry a bit, answered email, checked Facebook, but went in at 10 p.m. and read my Sandford book.  Genealogy this day was 4.0 hours.

2)  Monday, 24 November 2014

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Post 245: 1873 Deed of Land in Taylor County, Iowa from Devier J. and Abbie A. Smith to C.S. Meeks posted.

*  Joined the Mondays With Myrt panel and we went until 10:45 a.m.  Read email and blogs, then wrote New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - November 16-22, 2014.

*  Researched and wrote The Ultimate Challenge - Building a Family Tree From Sources - Post 1: Crawford Family and set it for later.

*  Worked in the 1930 US census on Ancestry - resolved 36 more, so down to 216 left.  Added some content and many source citations.  Checked Facebook, answered email, and added to the Best Of post.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper and eat dinner.  Watched the Ferguson briefing and the riots.  Online at 7:15 p.m. to read, and worked in Ancestry for awhile trying to find California BMD data for the Smith family.  Had some success!

*  Went in at 8:30 p.m. to watch the Aztecs game - double overtime we won 92-87 over BYU.  Almsot finished the Sandford book.  Online at 11:15 to write this post.  Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.


Saturday, November 22, 2014

My Geneaholic Saturday - 22 November 2014

This was not a typical genealogy Saturday - I stayed home and worked online and in my database for most of the day.

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that Surname Saturday -- NICHOLS (England to colonial New England) posted.

*  Decided to take Tanner's ultimate Challenge - picked four families at random in the 1940 census and tried to build trees on Ancestry for them.  Two are bare, two are fairly full.  Will blog about this sometime.

*  Wrote blog posts for the cruise.  Noted that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Make a Timeline for an Ancestor posted.

*  Answered email, added to the Best Of post, and checked Facebook.

*  Worked in the 1930 US Census on Ancestry - resolved 41 entries, adding content and sources.  252 left to do.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV, eat dinner, and watched football.  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, watch some of DearMYRTLE's and Russ's videos, then worked in the database adding content and sources for the Ja and Je surnames.  

*  Wrote this post.  genealogy today was  12.5 hours.


Friday, November 21, 2014

My Geneaholic Friday - 21 November 2014

8 more days and w're going cruising.  I need to start writing blog posts for those days...

*  Read email and blogs, noted that 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 47: #54, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) posted.  

*  Watched/listened to Wacky Wednesday show, then wrote So Many Matches, So Little Time! How Do I Deal With Information Overload? and also Updated List of PERSI Collections with Page Images.

*  Answered email, added to the Best Of post, and wrote New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - November 15-21, 2014.

*  Wrote the Surname Saturday post.  Went out at 3 p.m. to mow the front lawn.  Online again at 3:45 p.m. to read, answer email and check Facebook.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, and eat dinner.  Online at 6 p.m. to write the SNGF post.  Also checked the recent leaf Hints on Ancestry and added a few sources to the database.

*  Went in at 6:30 p.m. to watch the Aztecs football game.  It was a must win game against Air force and we won 30-14.  Now 6-5 on the season and bowl eligible.

*  Online at 10 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, then wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.


Thursday, November 20, 2014

My Genealogy Days - 19-20 November 2014

We went to Huntington Beach and Yorba Linda on Wednesday, and came home today - 24 hours away from home.

1)  Wednesday, 19 November:

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Our Family in 1982 -- Post 334 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday posted.  

*  AncestryDNA updated their matches, so researched and wrote First Look at Improved AncestryDNA Matches and AncestryDNA Improvements Description - UPDATED.  Wrote a Treasure Chest Thursday post too.

*  We left at 11:45 a.m. for Huntington Beach, stopped for lunch in Carl;sbad, and were in our hotel room by 2 p.m.  Rested a bit.  Went to Tami's house at 3:45, saw the girls and a sleepy Charlie.  I got to walk the awake crying Charlie for about 30 minutes.  We both got some exercise.  Tami made dinner and we ate at 5 p.m.

*  Left at 5:40 p.m. for the GSNOCC meeting at 7 p.m.  After checking traffic online, decided to go city streets rather than freeway - every freeway was slow and go, and several had accidents during rush hour.  Not sure that was a good choice, but it was probably safer.  Brookhurst had some construction that slowed us down, Ball Rd was OK, State College had some construction, and Yorba Linda was good.  Traffic lights every quarter mile or so, though on all of them.  We got there right after 7 p.m. and I got set up quickly.
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*  Business meeting went to 7:30 p.m., and I gave my Crafting Great Source citations talk until 8:30.  Had some snacks, and lots of chatting, and we took off for the hotel at 9 p.m. and were there in 25 minutes.  Watched some TV, checked my email and blogs on the phone.

*  Genealogy this day was 5.5 hours.

2)  Thursday, 20 November:

*  Slept in until 8 a.m.  Read email and blogs on the phone, went to breakfast in the hotel, checked out and we were on the road home by 9:10 a.m.  Went 65=-80 the whole way, 98 miles in 80 minutes.  Got home at 10:30 a.m.  Unpacked, turned the computer on.

*  Took off at 10:45 for the Rohr engineers luncheon at 11 a.m., had a good time with 14 attendees, even some genealogy questions today.  Home by 1:15 p.m.

*  Read, added to the Best Of post, noted that Treasure Chest Thursday - Post 241: 1733 Marriage Record of Thomas Dill and Mehitable Brown posted.  Computer got slow so rebooted.

*  Wrote Dear Randy: How Have You Saved Your Research So Someone Can Search For It?  Checked Facebook, and went in at 5 p.m. to watch TV news, eat dinner, and wash dishes.

*  Online at 7 p.m. to read, then wrote 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 47: #54, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) and messed up the post date - meant to do it on Friday.  Oh well, no one will notice.

*  Wrote a book review for the cruise week, worked on the next 52 Ancestors subject.  Checked blogs and Facebook again.

*  Wrote this blog post.  Genealogy today was 6.5 hours.




Tuesday, November 18, 2014

My Semi-Geneaholic Tuesday - 18 November 2014

I had to go out to a doctor's appointment, and watched the Aztecs basketball game, so this wasn't an all day genealogy day.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Tombstone Tuesday - James A., Mary Jane and Melissa Kemp in Delhi (Ontario) Cemetery and then Book Notice: A Genealogist's Guide to the Washington, D.C. Area and set it for later.  Wrote a post for the cruise week.

*  Left at 10:30 a.m. for the medical center, got my yearly eye exam.  Nothing's changed.  Eyes were dilated, so watched TV in the dark.  At 12:30 p.m., checked email and blogs.

*  Watched the Aztecs basketball game - they beat Utah 53-49 in a defensive struggle.  Not much offense.  Got the presentation on the laptop, and got the Windows updates too.

*  Online at 3:15 p.m. to read, wrote a blog post for Thursday, and wrote Waiting for the AncestryDNA Improvements.  Checked Facebook, answered email.  Printed maps for Wednesday in Orange County.  

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch TV news, read the paper, and eat dinner, water the front yard, and wash dishes.

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, write a Wednesday blog post, and then puttered until Finding Your Roots was on, and watched that.

*  Read, then worked in Ancestry in the Ja surnames, adding content and sources.

*  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 8.5 hours.

Monday, November 17, 2014

My Geneaholic Monday - 17 November 2014

It was a stay-at-home Monday, and I accomplished some tasks.

*  Read email and blogs, then noted that Amanuensis Monday - Post 244: 1875 Deed of Land in Taylor County, Iowa from Devier and Abbie Smith to Bazzel Turner posted.

*  Joined the Mondays With Myrt panel and shared my RootsTech contest and my phone call with Sharon and Scribd reports.

*  Noted that New or Updated FamilySearch Record Collections - November 9-15, 2014 posted.  Practiced the source citation talk, with some edits, then put it in Dropbox and the flash drive.

*  Answered several emails, then wrote Received my Requested Photo Duplication Document from FamilySearch.

*  Wrote up the SDGS program review and sent it off.  Worked in Gmail adding the SDGC folks and sent out the CVGS Newsletter to them and others.

*  Worked in Ancestry Hints for the 1930 US Census, and resolved 27 more, adding some content and sources.  

*  Went in at 5:40 p.m. to watch TV news, eat dinner, read the paper and wash dishes.

*  Online at 7 p.m. to investigate the HRC flash drive.  Checked Facebook, answered email and added to the Best Of post.  Then worked in Ancestry adding content and sources for the Hy and all of the I surnames.  Sources at 56,830.  

*  Wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 12.0 hours.

Sunday, November 16, 2014

My Genealogy Sunday - 16 November 2014

My brother Scott was 59 today.  It makes me feel old.  This was not much of a genealogy day.  I'm still sick, but did sleep better last night and went to church (and dozed off...must be the meds).

*  Read email and blogs, and finished up the Best of the Genea-Blogs - 9 to 15 November 2014 post.

*  Off to church at 9:30 a.m., and home after 11:30.  Watched football, read the paper, dozed off, and had lunch.  Then watched the Chargers beat the Raiders 13-6.  Two hapless teams it seemed.  Our offensive line still can't run block or pass block well, and now rivers is hurt a bit.  

*  Online at 4:15 to read, check Facebook, then back to watch TV news and ea dinner, then wash dishes.

*  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, send a CVGS email, write two posts for Monday, and worked in Ancestry in the Hu-Hy surnames.  Almost done with the H names!

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook and wrote this post.  Genealogy today was 5.0 hours.



Saturday, November 15, 2014

My Genealogy Saturday - 15 November 2014

I didn't sleep well last night -coughing, up at 3, and back asleep at 4:30 to 7.  Felt blah all day with the cough and then low fever.  I don't need to be sick next week...it always takes 8-10 days to go away, this is day 4.

*  Read email and blogs quickly, then off to the CGSSD meeting at UCSD.  Sat through boring SIG reviews and then Gena's talk was great.  Home by 12:30 p.m.

*  Noted that Surname Saturday - RICE (England to colonial Massachusetts) and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What Did You Collect as a Youth? posted.  Read blogs, added to the Best Of post.

*  Went in at 1:40 p.m. and watched football, read the paper, and took a decent nap, but then a headache.  Took more meds.

*  Online at 3:15 p.m. to read, then wrote 6 posts for Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog - 3 to post later.

*  Went in at 5:15 to watch football, eat dinner, finish the paper and read my book.  Online at 6:30 p.m. to read, do a little bit in FamilySearch Family Tree, and then at 7:15 watched the Aztecs football game.  Got out ahead of Boise State 20-0, but lost 38-29.  Drat, now 5-5, may not get a bowl bid.  

*  Online at 10:45 to read quickly, check Facebook, write this post, and done.  Genealogy today was 7 hours.

Friday, November 14, 2014

My Genealogy Friday - 14 November 2014

It was another stay-home day for me.  We got the heater installation appointment date - 12 December.  4 more weeks without heat.  The mnth is almost half over already.

*  Read email and blogs, and noted that 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 46: #53 Mary (Bell) Smith (1805-1865) posted.  

*  Had trouble staying connected on the AncestryDNA link call - BSOD 3 times and reboot.  Figured out it was the video link - stay away from that and everything worked fine.  Interesting discussion, more news next week.  AncestryDNA not showing me matches for some reason.

*  Wrote New or Updated Ancestry.com Databases - November 8-14, 2014.  Worked as bit in RootsMagic resolving names/dates/sources/notes with FamilySearch Family Tree.

*  Answered email, added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, feel like a wasted an hour here. Posted Zap the Grandma Gap Book Releases - Getting Kids Hooked On Family History.  Feeling lazy!

*  Did the next 20 Hints in 1930 census, resolved 36, down to 320 left.  Facebook, email, bored.

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to read the paper, eat dinner, watch TV news.  Online at 6:30 p.m. to write the Surname Saturday post.  Back to the TV at 7 p.m. for the Aztecs basketball game.  At halftime, wrote the SNGF post.  Then back to watch the second half.  Aztecs won 79-64.  

*  Online at 9 p.m. to read, then tried to resolve names/events on FSFT but got errors so gave up.  Tried to find spouses names for the John Kenyon children but no luck.

*  Wrote this post.  genealogy today was 10.0 hours.