You are currently browsing the monthly archive for December 2007.
In thinking about ways I’d like to improve in 2008, I discovered that most of them revolve around “time.” A good friend of mine long ago claimed the 25th hour of the day should it ever be discovered. (Maybe I can convince him to share it with me if he does find it.) Here are my resolutions for 2008:
- Have a schedule for each day. This one isn’t so much a resolution as it is a necessity. I’m taking 20 credit hours this quarter, plus my website/database work to do. I don’t think I’ll be able to start the day saying “Ok, today I’m going to work on A and B.” Instead, I need to say, “Ok, from noon until 1:00, I’m working on my Native American History paper and from 1:00 until 2:00, I’m working on converting the Civil War database.” (Obviously that’s a very shortened example!)
- Organize my office. (If I had a dime for every year I’ve said that… ) During my Christmas break, I became increasingly frustrated by losing things in my office. I shudder to think of how much time I’ve wasted and lost just looking for things. It’s not really in that bad of shape (I’ve seen worse!), but it can definitely be improved. I think the first thing to go will be back issues of periodicals. If I need one, I know of several libraries where I can find them.
- Devote 15 minutes each day to a “fun” project. This is a mental health necessity! Whether it is spending 15 minutes updating my file on WeRelate, finding info for DeafBiographies, or looking for census records of collateral relatives, I want to devote that time to something fun, productive, and fulfilling.
- Make backups on a more regular basis. I do make backups, just not as often as I should
That’s probably enough to keep me busy!
Happy New Year!
The Internet is a wonderful thing. I subscribe to Google Alerts for several things, including genealogy. One of the posts listed today was George Morgan’s comment on Steve’s Genealogy Blog about “Visiting Mom’s Grave.” Steve’s original post was in response to Destination: Austin Family blog post: “Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories.” I marvel at how one thing leads to another on the Internet, though it does make me wonder about developing an attention disorder.
The various posts got me thinking about Christmas memories and what a poor job of recording them I have done. Like many genealogists, I sometimes feel like I know my long-deceased ancestors better than some of my living relatives. Further, too many of us aren’t doing enough to record our own lives so that our descendants can know more about us than just our names.
Like George and Steve, I also lost a loved one at Christmas. My Grandma Johnson died December 22, 1979 — 28 years ago today. She was the only grandma I had, and I loved her dearly. A week before she died, I was supposed to go to her house to spend the night, but I woke up that morning with a fever and had to stay home. Later that afternoon, she had a heart attack. (I sometimes wonder what I would have done as a 13-year-old if I had been there when that happened.) She was rushed to the hospital and never returned to her home.
Christmas was the one time a year when my family would get together with my aunts and uncles and cousins. My grandparents had 14 grandchildren — I was the youngest. All of us would pack into Grandma’s tiny house. To this day, I don’t know how we all fit!
Oh the memories of those Christmases. I remember the thermostat was directly across from the back door. Every time someone came in, a blast of cold air would hit it and the furnace would kick on. To keep from roasting, my Dad would set the thermostat for about 40 degrees It’s funny what you remember.
Grandma loved to decorate. One time she brought out some Christmas candles only to find they had warped in storage. Not a problem. She put them on a cookie sheet and placed them in a low oven — get them soft, and then you can straighten them out. It works like a charm… provided you remember to take them out of the oven before they completely melt.
Every year, Grandma would make all of us something. My two favorite things were a beanbag frog with button eyes and, the year before she died, a long rolled pillow with tassels on the ends. I still have both.
The year she died, things seemed very empty. Christmas afternoon came and none of us knew what to do; we had always gone to her house.
Christmas was Grandma’s favorite time of year. Maybe that’s one reason why I sometimes get a little teary listening to some Christmas songs. After 28 years, I still miss her.
The Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana has done it again. They’ve come up with another wonderful resource for genealogists: Our Military Heritage
Our Military Heritage has numerous digitized books that are full-text searchable. They range in subject from the Lucky Bag (the Naval Academy yearbook) for 1906 to The United States Navy in the World War (an awesome collection of photos from the War Department) and the Valley Forge Orderly Book of General George Weedon. One book I was particularly impressed with was Woman’s Work in the Civil War. It contains dozens of biographies of women who served as nurses, aid society organizers, etc. (I particularly liked the section titled “Ladies Distinguished for Service in Soldiers’ Homes and Volunteer Refreshment Saloons.” (Funny, I thought the latter were called “bars” )
There are also original documents, such as the Civil War diary of Robert E. Best of the 36th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, letters of John C. Potts of the 95th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and a World War II diary of George P. Martin, a purchasing agent in Brazil.
Most of the resources can be found in the Genealogy Center at the Allen County Public Library. (The website even gives the call number when it’s available.) They are encouraging people to submit their own material, too.
With materials ranging from the Colonial Wars to World War II (with material for the Korean War, Vietnam and, one would presume, more recent wars to be coming soon), there is something for everyone on Our Military Heritage. This is definitely a site worth keeping an eye on and checking often!
