Monday, October 31, 2011

My genealogy day - 31 October 2011

The day started out well, then turned brownish in the evening...

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Petition of Abigail Seaver posted.  Gathered my OASIS things and left at 9 a.m. for the UPS Store.  copied the last three class syllabi and headed for Mission Valley.

*  OASIS class went well - 9 of 10 showed up, lots of good homework done and good questions.  Hopefully, a good presentation too!  Demonstrated RootsMagic and LearnWebSkills and FamilySearch today.

*  Home by 1 p.m. to eat lunch, read, noted that Hallowe'en Names in the WorldConnect Database posted. 

*  worked in FTM 2012 for awhile, then wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 14: Making Descendant Charts.

*  Answered emails, then worked in Find-a-Grave for awhile, adding content and sources to the database. 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. for the pre-game show.  We ate dinner and watched the Chargers game.  They lost 23-20 to Chiefs in overtime.  Terrible game all around - played well enough to lose. 

*  Back online at 9:45 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, and write this post.

Genealogy today was 7.5 hours.

End of October Genea-Musings statistics:

* 846 Feedburner readers
* 1,117 Google Reader subscriptions
* 19,436 web page visits (627 per day, Site-meter)
* 34,253 page views (1,105 per day, Site-meter)

End-of-October statistics for RootsMagic database:

* 41,393 persons (+74)
* 16,365 families (+46)
* 108,184 events (+301)
* 4,862 places (+26)
* 689 sources (+4)
* 23,369 citations (+453)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

My genealogy day - 30 October 2011

One more day in October...it's been a fast month!

*  Read email and blogs, got Best of the Genea-Blogs - 23 to 29 October 2011 ready to post after noon.

*  Got ready for church, left at 9:20 a.m., went to Hallowe'en Carnival afterwards - lots of small children there.  Ate lunch there.

*  Home by 12:15 p.m. to check in on Scanfest.  Chatted but mostly scanned material from the Seaver probate record collection.  Many pages were oversized so did them in parts, then will need to stitch them together somehow.

*  Went in at 2 p.m. to watch football, read the paper, and take a nap.  Went out at 5 p.m. to clean up back yard and trim the front rose bushes.  Too warm to mow the lawn.

*  We had dinner then back on computer at 6:30 p.m. to read, work with the files and capture more Ancestry census images.  Wrote WikiTree Press Release - WikiTree Makes Collaboration Less Frightening.  Printed out my masters for the three OASIS classes. 

*  Wrote tow posts for Monday, checked Facebook, added to the Best Of post, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 6.0 hours.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

My genealogy day - 29 October 2011

A stay-at-home Saturday with no grandchildren vying for attention and getting it...so what did I do?  Hours on end on the computer.  Made some progress, too.

*  Up early and out for a 7 a.m. breakfast with Linda's Dolphin club. 

*  Home by 8:30 p.m. to read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - PAINE (England > Massachusetts) posted.

*  Wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Where Do You Fit? and set it for after noon.

*  Decided to capture as many US Census records as possible from Ancestry.com for my families.  The previous images are mainly GIFs and relatively small, the latest Ancestry images are JPG and fairly large.  In the process, I implemented my latest computer file naming scheme - I hope this one sticks!  Got the Seaver folks done, then started at top of the Surname list and worked my way down to Plimpton by 4 p.m.

*  Went in to watch football highlights and read the paper.  We left at 5 p.m. for Outback for dinner - Linda finally had a good dinner somewhere!  We'll go back more often now. 

*  Home by 7 p.m. to watch the SDSU Aztecs football game.

*  Came in halftime with SDSU losing 27-13, read everything, added to the Best Of post, worked in Ancestry and files some more to finish the R names. 

*  Checked Facebook, wrote this post, and back to watch the end of the game.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.

Friday, October 28, 2011

My genealogy day - 28 October 2011

I did venture out briefly today for my weekly constitutional with George (I know, I seem to miss two or three weeks) - this is my only exercise this week, until the lawn mowing on Sunday.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote Follow Friday - Ideas for Weekend Genealogy Fun.  Worked on Follow-Up Friday - FTM 2012, Great Blogs and the ePrize and set it for late morning.

*  Answered some email, and worked a bit making charts in FTM 2012.  figured out how to do the Direct-Line Descendants chart!

*  Had lunch, left at 11:45 a.m. for my walk with George on the bayfront.

*  Home by 1 p.m. to read, then worked on Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 13: Making a Direct-Line Descendants Chart.

*  Did some sorting of collected papers to find the next batch of data for entry to the RootsMagic database.  Found I didn't have data on James a. Smith, so found marriage record and several census records and added them to the database.  That was fun.  No death data, though.

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch the World Series, read the paper, check the mail, and have dinner.

*  Online at 6:10 p.m. to listen to Geneabloggers Radio and then back to the recliner at 7:30 for the rest of Game 7 of the Series. 

*  Online again at 8:30 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, write the Surname Saturday post, check Facebook, make a list of the Dill ancestors to check for probate records, and write this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

My genealogy day - 27 October 2011

The days of October are falling faster than the leaves off the trees, it seems...and the hurrier I go, the behinder I get, it seems.

*  Read email and blogs, checked Ancestry to see if my free subscription was registered yet (no...), and wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - Alma Seaver's 1962 Autopsy Report.

*  Got into FTM 2012 again, and made a nine generation book - failed again.  Wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 12: How Big a Book Can It Make?  The answer seems to be at least six or seven generations with lots of notes, and maybe eight.  I think it's funny that nobody but Russ and Caroline seems to care...but I will press on!  It's good blog fodder, if nothing else.

*  Decided to work on my FORUM column that's late, and got quite a bit done today.  Need to proof it again and do a little more research. 

*  Checked in on Ancestry.com subscription and I'm good to go after nudging the AARP lady.  Sent Class 1 handout to the students, and called the two that didn't attend Class 1.

*  Wrote RootsTech 2012 Genealogy Conference Video and then Off My Chest: Give Me One Column for Reading Online Magazines.

*  Added the Bradstreet data from the Eva Kempton Volume 2 book to the database, and sourced appropriately. 

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to watch the ball game,m eat dinner, read the paper, read NGSQ, and start a new book as the game went on for over 4.5 hours.  Good game.  Got the dishes done between innings.

*  Online at 10 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, check Facebook and write this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

My genealogy day - 26 October 2011

Today was mostly a genealogy day - but some problems arose.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 176: Inside the Four-Mile Inn Kitchen and Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 11: Making an Ancestral Family Book - Part 2.  Watched the Ask AncestryAnne video on YouTube.

*  Called Ancestry.com to cancel my account so that AARP could contact them and add the one-year subscription I won.  My part was completed, but AARP did not call!  Nicely worded email followed.

*  Left at 11:15 a.m. to have lunch at McDonalds, then to the library for the CVGS Program meeting. 

*  Home from the library by 3 p.m. to read, then write Ancestry.com Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2011 Financial Results.  Answered email.

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to read the paper, eat dinner, and not watch the baseball game - rained out. 

*  Online at 7 p.m. to read, worked in FTM 2012 creating different charts and reports.  Worked in RootsMagic 4 adding Facts for Education, Residence and Occupations, plus some Burial facts. 

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

My genealogy day - 25 October 2011

Yikes, only 6 more days in October left.  I feel like I've done nothing good this month, and am further behind than when I started the month.  Probably due to the two stints of being with the grandkids.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Levi Holcomb (1763-1854) in Burnett, Wisconsin.

*  Started over with FTM 2012, made several books and wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 10: Making an Ancestral Family Book - Part 1.  Worked some in RootsMagic 4 also trying to do the same thing there - RM4 is much faster!

*  Had lunch, and wrote The Moment I Knew and set it for mid-afternoon.  Worked a bit more in FTM2012 and RM4.

*  Left at 2:15 for my doctor's appointment.  Waited over half an hour to be seen - unusual for this medical group.  Took all of 10 minutes to tell me to keep applying the creme...$40 co-pay, $84 cream pack.  Sh!t! Home by 3:30 p.m.

*  Read everything, then started work - finally! - on my FORUM article due two weeks ago.  Matt hasn't complained yet...

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

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, and added notes and sources to the database from the Eva Kempton book for two ancestral families. 

*  Checked Facebook, Twitter and google Plus, answered some email, and wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours.

*

Monday, October 24, 2011

My genealogy day - 24 October 2011

This was a really different genealogy day for me...taught my OASIS class, worked in FTM 2012, wrote no blog posts, and not much else.  I feel like I wasted the day.

*  I tried to print the 10 copies of my OASIS class syllabus last night, and the black ink crapped out after one copy.  Nope, none in the drawer.  I have the one copy - I'll just take it to the copy shop in the morning.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Will of Ephraim Hildreth (1654-1731) of Westford, Mass. posted.  Packed up the laptop, flash drive and one syllabus copy and was at the copy shop before 9 a.m.  They open at 8 a.m.... cool, no problems!  Except I forgot to take the receipt with me.

*  Got to the OASIS classroom at 9:35 a.m., got set up on their laptop, checked in with the staff, taught my class to 6 receptive students, and met Linda afterwards in the parking lot.  She brought In 'n' Out for lunch, so I ate it while she drove to her 1:15 p.m. medical appointment about her soy allergy in Poway.  Afterwards, she dropped me at my car, and she went to Costco to get several items, including more computer ink..

*  I got home from her appointment at 2:15 p.m., read everything, and noted that Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 9: The "Ahnentafel Report" posted.  Russ commented on it, and we exchanged emails the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch the World Series game, read the paper, and eat dinner.  Back online after 6:30 p.m. to do more emails.  Linda brought in the printer ink, and I opened one pack and installed the black.  I went to put the rest of the packs in my "printer ink place" and found that I already had some.  Drat.  I never checked there...only in the drawer.  Senior moment again.  Drat again.  Now I hope that the printer doesn't crap out in the next six months or so!

*  worked creating a book in FTM 2012.  Had success, but it sure took a long time to get a 10-generation ancestral report done (832 pages), and the Index never finished.  Rats - will have to do it all over again, I fear.  That wasted a lot of time.

*  Went in to watch the end of the baseball and football games, then back online to read, add to the Best Of post, check in on Facebook and Google Plus, and write this post.

Genealogy today was about 9.5 hours.  I still have my FORUM column to write, and finally think I have a topic.  That's the hardest part - the topic for a column that publishes three months later! 

Friday, October 21, 2011

My family history days - 20 and 21 October 2011

These days have not been full genealogy days because the grandgirls came on Thursday at 11 a.m. along with the new grandhound, Spencer.  Tami and James are in La Jolla, where Tami has a conference. 

Both days have been mainly reading and blogging when I can find a spare 20-30 minutes.  We've stayed home and played in the house, in the back yard, and taken walks with Spencer.  Spencer is a young basset hound puppy, and is very active.  He wants to grab anything that he can get his mouth around and shake it to death, or shreds.  Our challenge has been to keep things, or take therm, away from him.  We shut the doors to all of the bedrooms and the genea-cave! 

The girls have been great, although they don't go to sleep as well as they used to.  Lauren has impressed us with her vocabulary and third grade reading left (she's in first grade), and really shares/plays well with Audrey, who is 3.  They are really good, sweet, happy, smart little girls - we love them so much! 

So you can see - not much genealogy work, but lots of family history!  They go home on Sunday. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

My genealogy day - 19 October 2011

It was another full genealogy day - probably the last one until next week!

*  Read email and blogs, wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 175: Inside The Four-Mile Inn at Old World Wisconsin. 

*  Worked in FTM 2012 and GEDCOM files for awhile, and emailed with Russ about our problem.  Wrote October 2011 issue of CVGS Newsletter and CVGS Research Group Summary on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.Wrote Using Google Maps to Document Your Way.

*  Left at 11:15 a.m. for lunch at McDonald's, then to the library for the CVGS Computer Group.  Did two sensing things with Gary - what computer problems do you have, and what genealogy challenges do you have?  We talked for two hours showing how to find things or do things on the computer, and then in Ancestry.com.

*  Home by 2:30 p.m. to read, answer email, then wrote Do you Have "Comments" on Your Ancestry Member Tree?

*  Went out at 4:45 to pull weeds, put out the trash, watch the World Series game, read the paper, and eat dinner.

*  Came in at 6 p.m. to watch Jean Hibben's webinar, then watched the last half of Tom Kemp's webinar.  Worked in GenealogyBank for awhile, then went in to watch the end of the ballgame.

*  Back online at *;15 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, answer Ancestry messages, check Facebook and Twitter, do a little work in Find-a-Grave and sources, and write this post. 

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

My genealogy day - 18 October 2011

It was a stay-at-home genealogy day, and I got some things accomplished.  Not everything I wanted to, but better than expected.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Anna (Leland) Woelffer (1859-1892) in Deerfield, Wisconsin.

*  worked in FTM 2012 some more trying to sort out the GEDCOM issues.  Wrote Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 8: Receiving and Installing a GEDCOM File.

*  Had lunch, then got my four Beginning Computer Genealogy presentations and handouts edited for the OASIS class that starts next Monday.  Answered some email.

*  Wrote Is Family History Knowledge Declining? and then Ancestry has Added Many Vital Records Collections.

*  Worked some more in FTM 2012 - still no solution - and then went in at 5 p.m. to eat dinner, read the paper and watch a little TV.

*  Online at 6 p.m. to read, then add content and sources to the RootsMagic database using the Whitney article from a book copied at ACPL.  Checked Facebook and Google Plus.

*  Added to the Best Of post, then worked on reorganizing the computer files.  Got quite a few files and document images into the new file folder system.  Wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 12.0 hours.

Monday, October 17, 2011

My genealogy day - 17 October 2011

I'm back in town, and in the swing of things, but got caught up in the FTM 2012 stuff today rather than work on my two imminent projects.  Maybe I can finish both on Tuesday!

*  Read email and blogs, and wrote Amanuensis Monday - The Will of Thomas King (ca1600-1676) of Marlborough, Mass.  Answered several emails.

*  Worked in FTM 2012 some more, and posted Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 7: More GEDCOM Trials.  After lunch, went to the library to return a book, and get another.  Added comments to the FTM2012 post, then emailed with Russ until 4 p.m.

*  Wrote Guess Who Won the AARP "Discover Your Roots" ePrize? and then Linda needed to work on the computer.  Went in and took a nap, then read the paper, finished one book, ate dinner, did some chores, and watched the football game.

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, check Facebook, take some phone calls, then worked on File Organization more.  Need to go back into the files and use my file naming protocols.

*  Wrote this post. 

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours today.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

My genealogy day - 12 October 2011

Warmest day of the year in Chula Vista - 99 F.  Last time it was this warm, in early September, the power went off for a day.

*  Read email and blogs, wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 174: The Four-Mile House in 1930.

*  Worked in FTM 2012 for awhile, and wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 5: Importing and Exporting Media Files with GEDCOM, and set it for later in the morning.

*  Gathered up my Wisconsin research stuff, and headed out for lunch at McDonald's, then to the library.

*  Hosted the CVGS Research Group - we had 16.  Presented my Lessons Learned vacation talk, and it seemed to be well received.  Second hour was sharing by others, then I showed a bit of FTM 2012 to several who were interested.  The Syncing worked.

*  Home by 2:30 p.m. to read, wrote some blog posts, including CGSSD Mini-Fair on Saturday, 15 October 2011.  Answered some email too.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the baseball game, read the paper, eat dinner, take out the trash, and water the front plants.  Too hot to mow the front lawn.

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to read, write more blog posts, answer more email, and started backing up files to the laptop.  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook and Google Plus, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

My genealogy day - 11 October 2011

It was a strange day...but I got a lot done and I'm almost ready to go off to Santa Cruz on Thursday to see the grand-boys.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Anna and Torger Leland in Deerfield, Wisconsin.

*  Was answering email when the Internet connection went down at 9 a.m., and didn't come back until 11:30 a.m.  Laptop didn't work either.  Called Cox at 10 a.m. and the message said they were working on it.  Called cox again at 11:30 a.m. and the guy said things looked OK.  Sure enough, I was back online.

*  During the downtime, I sorted my paper piles again (to be entered, to be sourced, and to be filed) - maybe I can keep them straight now.  Started on the Lessons Learned pitch for the CVGS Research Group on Wednesday.  Got it pretty much done by the time the Internet came back.  Scanned some images for inclusion in the presentation.

*  Worked in FTM 2012 and wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 4: Census Source Citation Comparison for almost two hours. 

*  Added material to the Lessons Learned presentation, saved it as a PDF, copied it to the USB drive and then to the laptop.

*  Worked on the checkbook for over two hours - done and better organized. 

*  Went in at 5:15 p.m. to watch baseball, read the paper and eat dinner. 

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to read, added to the Best Of post, write two posts for the week ahead, and added some content to the RootsMagic database.  Checked Facebook and Google Plus, and answered some email.  Added to the Family History Mystery Tour Compendium post also.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.

Monday, October 10, 2011

My genealogy days - 9 and 10 October 2011

1)  Sunday, 9 October:

*  Read email and blogs, and finalized Best of the Genea-Blogs - 2 to 8 October 2011 before going off to church at 9:40 a.m.

*  Home by 11:30, and read and worked a little in RootsMagic before going in at 12:15 p.m. to watch football and eat lunch.  Watched the Chargers game (we won 29-25), and did some chores too.

*  Online at 4:30 p.m. to read, print off the CVGS Newsletter to copy, worked on the financial report, then we had dinner and watched the news.

*  Wrote two blog posts for Monday in anticipation of not having much time.  Started the new Best Of post, checked Facebook and Google Plus, and worked some more in RootsMagic.

Genealogy on Sunday was maybe 4.0 hours at most.

2)  Monday, 10 October:

*  Read email and blogs, helped Linda get set up for her group meeting and luncheon at our house.  Noted that Amanuensis Monday - the Will of Thomas Pierce (1584-1667) of Charlestown MA posted.

*  Sorted through my financial paper piles and put the notebook together.  Gathered up the CVGS Newsletter stuff at 10 a.m. and went off to the UPS Store to publish it, then took copies to post office to mail on Tuesday. 

*  Home by 11 a.m. to read, then had lunch with the nice ladies.  Put stuff away after they left.  Online at 1 p.m. to note that Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 3: Syncing an Existing Ancestry Member Tree posted and to write My picture is in the newspaper.

*  We left at 2:30 p.m. for the conference with our financial advisor, went to Hunter's Steak House in Mission Valley for dinner, and home by 6:30 p.m.

*  Read, sent the CVGS Newsletter off to the members, and added content (notes and sources) to Thomas and Joseph White in the RootsMagic database.  I still have lots of paper to use to add content - lots from the vacation trip, and from my earlier paper piles.  I'm doing the vacation papers first!

*  Checked Facebook and Google Plus, added to the Best Of post, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 7.0 hours at most. 

Saturday, October 8, 2011

My genealogy day - 8 October 2011

It was a full day, but it wasn't all genealogy.  Some friends made family history.

*  Read email and blogs, noted that Surname Saturday - PEIRCE (England > Massachusetts) posted, and then wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Genealogy Database Statistics.

*  Packed up the laptop, and went off to the SDGS meeting in San Diego.  Met Linda Serna and we chatted for awhile - we exchanged cards.  Linda gave two excellent presentations on interesting topics - I loved the record examples she used in her talks.  What a wealth of experience and material.

*  High-tailed it down the freeway to Bonita for the CVGS Workshop at 1 p.m.  Shirley and Gary talked about Windows computer systems, then Gary and I talked about Family Tree Maker.  I installed FTM2012 on my laptop and loaded in a recent GEDCOM - it took about 90 minutes to do it. 

*  Left just before 3, and high-tailed it home.  We left at 3:15 for the barbecue restaurant to get food for Linda, then Io Sherry's house for the wedding at 4 p.m.  Saw cousin Ken Wing there and we talked some Wing family genealogy. 

*  Home just after 7 p.m. to watch baseball, then SDSU football game, read the paper, then my book.

*  Came in at 9 p.m. to read, add to the Best Of post, check Facebook and write this post.  SNGF had a great response tonight!

Genealogy today was 8.0 hours.

Friday, October 7, 2011

My genealogy day - 7 October 2011

The best-laid plans often get messed up - today is a good example.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Follow Friday - Weekend Genealogy Fun and More on Norwegian Names.  Wrote Follow-Up Friday: Creating a Naturalization Source Citation and set it for early afternoon.

*  Went to the pharmacy, then Costco for a hot dog, and picked up George for our constitutional on the bayfront.  A nice day - blue sky, about 70F, no wind. 

*  Home by 1 p.m. to start in on adding content to an Ancestry Member Tree, then using FTM2012 to sync it.  The plan was to capture the moves and show how to do it in a blog post.  Well, three hours later it finally finished.  Too late now.  I did email, wrote the Surname Saturday post, did some computer file reorganization, and added content to my RootsMagic file while I waited.

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the end of the ball game - Brewers beat Snakes 3-2 in 10 innings.  Then watched the Cards-Phils game while eating dinner. 

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to read, then joined Geneabloggers Radio in progress (I forgot about it!).   Worked in FTM2012 a bit investigating things - got the screens for the blog post I didn't write yet. 

*  Cards beat the Phils 1-0, and I worked on the CVGS Newsletter for awhile.  got it pretty much done - hope no one sends me more content! 

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Facebook, Twitter and Google+, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.5 hours.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

My genealogy day - 6 October 2011

The hurrier I go, the behinder I get... I see deadlines approaching and too many things to do in the time I have.

*  Read email and blogs, then wrote Treasure Chest Thursday - A Certificate of Naturalization for T.S. Leland and then Genealogical Referral Coupon for Scandinavian Research and set it for later.

*  Answered some email, read the Summer 2011 FORUM magazine, talked on the phone with my daughter, had lunch, and had my phone call about the AARP prize with Heather. 

*  Researched and wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 2: Syncing Both Ways.

*  Decided to reorganize my online genealogy files so that they contain what is in the research notebooks.  I started this about six months ago, but didn't follow through.  I still have a lot to do with photographs, reports and collected documents and webpages, but it will be much better when I'm done.  I've already eliminated many duplicate files.

*  Went in at 5:30 p.m. to read the paper, watch the ball game and eat dinner.

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to proof my FORUM column, then to write CVGS Workshop on Saturday, 8 October: "Expanding Your Usage of the Internet."

*  Watched the end of the ball game, then worked on the CVGS Newsletter.  Updated the Best Of post, checked Facebook and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 11.0 hours.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

My genealogy day - 5 October 2011

Time sure flies by when you're having fun...

*  Read email and blogs, wrote (Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 173: Hunting for Natvig Land in Cottage Grove WI.  Got cleaned up.

*  Wrote Exploring Family Tree Maker 2012 - Post 1: Loading and Syncing and set it for later.  Worked a bit in FTM 2012 with charts and sources. 

*  Had lunch, gathered my CVGS stuff, and went off to the library for the CVGS Board meeting.  It lasted a long time...

*  Home by 3:15 p.m. to read, then wrote SDGS Meeting on Saturday, 8 October Features Linda Serna.  Worked some more in RootsMagic, Legacy and FTM 2012 checking out GEDCOMs and sources. 

*  Went in at 5 p.m. to watch the playoff games, read the paper, eat dinner, put out the trash, and watch it rain.

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to write Open Source Community Source Templates and a post on the CVGenCafe blog for tomorrow.

*  Watched more of the baseball game until 8:15.  Worked on CVGS Newsletter - got the first edit done and available material inserted and edited.  Watched the end of the game.

*  Added to the Best Of post, checked Google Plus and Facebook, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 10.0 hours.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

My genealogy day - 4 October 2011

Ah, a pretty good genealogy day, complete with doctor visit and nap.

*  Read my email and blogs, then wrote Tombstone Tuesday - Severt T. Leland (1804-1889) of Deerfield WI.  Got cleaned up.

*  Wrote Photos from my Visit to the Wisconsin Historical Society Library in Madison WI and set it for later in the morning.

*  Got out FTM 2012 and installed it easily.  Used the last GEDCOM file from RootsMagic and imported it, and then uploaded it to Ancestry through the program.  Didn't work the first time, but did the second.  Did more with it, but it hung up later on media downloads from Ancestry. 

*  Had lunch, started on the FamilySearch update post.  Left at 1 p.m. to go to the skin doctor, who prescribed a cream for my head and arms for the pre-cancerous bumps.  Home by 2:15 p.m.

*  Worked more on the FamilySearch post, and wrote New FamilySearch Historical Collections - September 2011.

*  Went in at 4 p.m. to watch the playoff games, read the paper, take a nap have dinner, and read my new Sandford book.

*  Back online at 7 p.m. to read, write Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - October 2011 and another Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe post for tomorrow.

*  Messed around with charts in FTM 2012.  Checked Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, added to the Best Of post, and wrote this post.

Genealogy today was 9.0 hours.

Monday, October 3, 2011

My non-genealogy days - 1, 2 and 3 October 2011

After the two days on the road to Victorville, we hosted Linda's brother and his wife for three days, so these days were pretty much non-genealogy days.

1)  Saturday, 1 October 2011

*  Read email and blogs, and then went off to my men's breakfast at 8 o'clock, returning at 9:30 a.m.

*  Noted that Surname Saturday - BOYDEN (England > Medfield MA) posted, and wrote Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - List Your Matrilineal Line(s).

*  We left at 11:30 a.m. for the airport to pick up Paul and Deb.  They were late.  We went to lunch at the Boathouse on Harbor Island, then drove past my grandparents house on Point Loma, and out to the Cabrillo National Monument to view San Diego from up high and enjoy the static displays about Cabrillo and the lighthouse.  Then we drove along the ocean through Ocean Beach, and home to Chula Vista for dinner.  There was even some talk of ancestors and our two week Midwestern vacation.

*  I managed to keep my reading up to date after everyone went to bed early.

2)  Sunday, 2 October:

*  Linda went off to church early.  I finished Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 25 September to 1 October 2011 and set it for noon time.

*  We left at 10 a.m. for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido.  Tami, James, Lauren and Audrey drove down from Victorville to meet Paul and Deb  - they had not met the girls.  The girls were great, we enjoyed the park, and Paul and Deb got to know our granddaughters a bit.  They were impressed!  We headed for home at 4 p.m., and stopped at Black Angus in Chula Vista for dinner, then home to have Paul's birthday cookie cake, and watch some football highlights. 

*  I managed to write a post for Monday and start a new Best Of post before going to bed.

3)  Monday, 3 October:

*  Read email and blogs in the morning, noted that Amanuensis Monday - Probate Records of Samuel Rice (1634-1684) of Sudbury MA posted.

*  I showed Deb the database for her ancestry, we did some searching on Ancestry for her grandfather without success (still!), and talked to her mom on the phone trying to track down her grandfather's sister, Lola. 

*  We left at about 10:30 a.m. to go shopping in Otay Ranch Center, and I got a look at the iPad2.  Not overly impressed.  We made it to Miguel's in Eastlake for lunch at 12:45 p.m., and at 2 p.m. to took off for a look at the Mexican border (I took a wrong turn, didn't get across!), the Silver Strand, a walk on Coronado beach up near the Naval base, then across the bridge through downtown to the airport, arriving at 3:45 p.m.  We dropped them off, said goodbye, and were home by 4:15 p.m.

*  I got on the computer (finally!), read everything, and wrote Family History Month Infographic from Archives.com.

*  Went in for dinner, watched some of the baseball games, watered the front plants, and washed the dishes.

*  Back online at 6:30 p.m. to read, then write CVGS Fall Seminar Summary: Donna Bradley – “Ways of Getting Over, Around, or Under Your Brick Walls”, CVGS Fall Seminar Summary: Anne Bowman – “Irish and Scots-Irish Genealogy Research” and CVGS Fall Seminar Summary: Donna Bradley – “American Indian Research" on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.

*  Answered some emails - lots more to answer after five days essentially tied up!  Added to the Best Of post, checked in on Google Plus and Facebook, and wrote this post.