Whose Valentine Was She?

This is picture of my mom back in 1941. She was 22 years old. It would have been the year before she started dating my dad. I'm thinking her Valentine back then might have been Mike...

[From "A Gift of Memories From Grandma"] Who is the boy you remember most? "Mike. I went out with him for 2 years. He was not Catholic. My dad objected. After I was married my dad saw him a few times. He thought Mike was the greatest guy, but I never saw him again." ~ Lucy

It's amazing what a grandparent will share with a grandchild.

I know I asked my mom about her boyfriends back when I was a kid but she'd always give me an evasive answer. "Oh, I dated lots of fellas but I wasn't serious about any of them.", was her favorite response.

Then when my kids were in grade school I bought 3 of those "Grandparent Books". You know the kind, they look like a glorified pamphlet with a couple questions on each page and a half dozen blank lines squeezed together for a response. My mom filled out one, as did my mother in law. I gave one to my father in law too but I guess he wasn't interested. He never filled his out.

Anyway, my mom filled hers out almost completely and gave it back to me. I remember looking through it briefly at the time, thinking, "she never told me that!" over and over again.  Then I filed it away. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to ask her about Mike back then but it didn't. After my mom died, in April 2007, I came across that book again. I read every page and was amazed at how much she'd shared with my kids that she had never shared with me.

If my mom had any photos of Mike, she never showed them to me. But then, my mom kept her share of secrets. She was quick to clam up when she didn't want to answer a question or she would reply, "Never you mind". One day when my brother went over to visit her he found her in the basement burning what looked like photos or documents in the wash basin. When he asked her what she was doing she replied, "Just getting rid of some things", and changed the subject. She liked her secrets.

My parents had a troubled relationship, which is another way of saying my mother was the victim of my father's physical abuse. I'm sure my grandparents must have known my mom was not happy in her marriage. I can't help but wonder if my grandfather ever regretted that he kept his daughter from marrying such an upstanding guy as Mike. Oh what I wouldn't give to know Mike's last name so I could look him up and see what ever became of him. But that's another of the secrets my mom took to the grave with her.

As Valentine's Day rolls around I'll be thinking about my mom and wondering, "Whose Valentine was she in 1941..."

Written for the Smile for the Camera carnival, February 14, 2010.

Carnival of Genealogy, 89th Edition

Welcome to the February 4, 2010 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for this edition is: Ode to My Family History. We are recording our family history in a different way this time around... poetically. There is such writing talent among us, I just know you'll be impressed! Maybe you'll even be inspired to write some family history poetry yourself. At the very least you'll find yourself well entertained.

In this edition I'll be commenting on several of the poems. As is most often the case in the COG, the submissions will be presented in the order I received them. The poems I've selected to comment on were chosen not because they are "better" than the rest but because there's something about them I want to call your attention to. Maybe they were especially well researched, maybe they made me laugh, maybe they are a good example of story-telling, maybe they taught me something I didn't already know, etc. Just think of it as me pointing out some of the various rides offered at a carnival ;-)

The featured poem, which appears at the end of the COG, is one that stands out from the crowd. It's a shining example of putting all the ingredients together and coming up with a 5 course dinner. It covers the topic thoroughly, in an engaging way, and leaves you fully satisfied at the end.

I invite you to come along on our poetic journey across foreign lands as well as those familiar to us, sailing oceans,  planting fields, having babies, changing our surnames, and leaving memories... many and few. So hang out the "do not disturb" sign on your office door, pour yourself a glass or mug of green tea (for a good dose of antioxidants), and take in some truly creative writing. The carnival's back in town!

Bill West presents ODE TO MY FAMILY HISTORY posted at West in New England, saying, "This was a toughie for me this time. I am prone to second guessing myself and editing things right into the wastebasket. I even agonized over writing this intro!"

Cyndi Beane Henry presents Ode To The Family McBean posted at Mountain Genealogists, saying, "This is a small poem regarding the angst of trying to locate an ancestor who just will not be found!"

Greta Koehl presents Ode to My Family’s History: Through the Lens of Gilbert and Sullivan posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog, saying, "I can only write poetry as alternate lyrics to the songs of Gilbert and Sullivan, which just might be the only way I can get my own family interested in our family history!" Greta has a unique way of writing poetry with amazing results. Her poetry, which in her mind is set to Gilbert and Sullivan songs, is thoughtful and well done... appreciated even by those of us who are Gil and Sully challenged! Be sure to stop by Greta's blog and read her wonderful poetry. You just may find yourself whistling a tune as you leave...

Caroline Pointer presents An Ode To Family posted at Family Stories, saying, "I can't help it. I love them all -the good, the bad, and the ugly. They are all my family, and it is my honor to tell their family story."

Leah Kleylein presents Ode to My Family's History - 89th COG posted at Random Notes, saying, "a poem bewailing and yet having a good time with my brick walls!"

Smallest Leaf presents Crossing: A poetic remembrance, 1909 posted at 100 Years in America, saying, "Thanks for throwing out this poetry challenge, Jasia. It is my favorite form of expression! I love reading and writing poetry and look forward to seeing how you and other family historians express their stories within poetic form. Lots of fun!" I knew our Smallest Leaf would rise to this edition's challenge. She's quite experienced and talented at penning verse you see. This time she writes of one woman's journey across the ocean and pulls at our hearts with images of a mother and child suffering, separated, and finally reunited as a family again. Great insight and emotion here. Don't miss it!

Linda Hughes Hiser presents Carnival of Genealogy, 89th Edition--Ode to Hughes posted at Flipside, saying, "Hartlepool, England to Pittsburgh, PA--over 100 years of Hughes history."

Dorene Paul presents Ode to Daniel Larkins posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, saying, "In this homespun ode, Dorene from Ohio pays tribute to her Irish heritage."

Jasia presents Polish and Proud, an Ode to My Family History posted at Creative Gene. Sometimes words come easily to me and that was the case with this ode to my family history. If I tried it again I'd probably struggle with every word. When it flows, it flows! (And sometimes it's hard to ebb the flow, LOL! ;-)

Vickie Everhart presents An Ode to My Family History posted at .: BeNotForgot :: begotten & ne'er forgotten :., saying, "This poem was composed as an introduction to an imaginary book about the entire community of kith 'n kin that is buried in a certain little country cemetery in Central Texas ... many are connected to a particular group who were known as "Us Mississippians" during the latter part of the 19th century ... written as if talking to the descendants of my nieces & nephews, et al ..." Vickie takes us on a stroll through the cemetery her family has chosen for their final resting place. One by one she introduces us to them. Clever, touching, thought provoking. Take Vickie's hand and walk beside her on this journey through time and family...

Nancy Fermazin presents FERMAZIN POEM posted at Fermazin Family Genealogy and Others. Nancy writes a playful ode to her family which begins and ends with the morphing of her surname. This will make you giggle and I'm sure you'll be able to relate to it too! Her family roots were in Prussia and it's there her tale begins. But it doesn't end until the tree has branched out to many points here in the USA. Interesting and moving. It's a story of immigration and migration many will relate to.

Terri presents The COG - 89th Edition - "Ode To My Family History" posted at The Ties That Bind, saying, "I don't really fancy myself as much of a poet. When I was working on my Habben family history and produced my first book, "Searching" I did make an attempt at it. The poem is entiteld - "The Immigrant 1868" - and is my thoughts of what my ancestors may have been feeling as they left everything they knew for the unknown." Terri's poem gets to the heart of what many of us try to imagine, the difficulty our immigrant ancestors experienced in saying goodbye to the only life they'd ever known and casting their fate to the winds that blew upon the shores of this land of opportunity. Uncertainty, fear, sadness, excitement, and conviction... she captures all these emotions and more. You can almost feel the waves rocking the ship...

Pam Taylor presents Ode to My Family History posted at Genealogy. Pam's poem is simply lovely. I really enjoyed the ending and how she engages you and challenges you to take that first step towards learning about her family history. I can so imagine this as the intro to her published family history. It makes me want to turn the page and learn more. Terrific!

John Newmark presents Ode to Sarah Hartley Denyer Foster (1836-1898) posted at Transylvanian Dutch, saying, "I composed an ode for the family of my mother's mother's mother's mother, and all her descendants." And so much more! (Check out the links to more of John's poetry too.) John is an accomplished poet and he manages to engage us in just a few words, "Let's see if we too can tree a few rabbits" pulls us right in wanting to know more about dear Sarah who lived during tumultuous times. How did she manage? How did she fare? Take us on that journey John, tell us her tale!

Msteri presents Introducing: My Family History! posted at Heritage Happens, saying, "I enjoyed putting together this little poem. Just maybe it will intrigue you a bit regarding my ancestry. Enjoy!" I'd say Msteri has mastered the art of writing a teaser! She tells just enough of her heritage to interest us but only eludes to the details she's uncovered. She tempts us and taunts us to read her family history. Very effective and very well done!

Sherry Stocking Kline presents Carnival of Genealogy ? My Poem to My Ancestors posted at Family Tree Writer, saying, "Thank you, Jasia, for selecting my article last month. It was such an honor for me, and I was so surprised. I submitted it just hoping to be chosen to be included, never hoping or dreaming for more than that. So once again, thank you for the honor. Sherry" Sherry, the pleasure was all mine! And thanks for participating again :-) Sherry's poem very craftily asks the questions she asks herself in the course of her research and by so doing plants these same questions in the mind of the reader making them curious to know more. You're a sly one to engage us this way Sherry! And then, to pique our curiousity even more, she doesn't name-drop but career-drops, "There are plane builders, engineers, and more than one preacher, There are programmers, a writer, and an NASA astronaut once a teacher". Who are these people? I want to meet them! Great job, Sherry!

footnoteMaven presents Just Shoot Me! posted at footnoteMaven, saying, "Yes, just shoot me. This was the result of a Twitter challenge. So do I have egg on my face, looking like a fool?" Leave it to fM to take us out in style! More than a giggle, this one will make you belly laugh! I have no idea what the Twitter challenge was all about but I don't need to to appreciate the humor in her poem. And you won't either. Although if you haven't seen the American Idol/YouTube video you won't be able to fully appreciate her verse. We love your foolishness fM! Thanks for your poetic humor!

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~*~*~*Feature Poem *~*~*~

Joan Hill presents Carnival of Genealogy's Ode to My Family History: I Dinna Hear The Voices posted at Roots'n'Leaves. Let me begin with the word, WOW! I was blown away by Joan's family history poem. She had me with her strolling the streets of Edinburgh, in the midst of the battlefield surrounded by kilt-wearing Highlanders, and admiring the magnificent castles of Scotland. HONOR is the next word that comes to mind. Her ancestors should feel well honored by her ode to them and their Scottish heritage. She does them proud! AWED is how I'll sum this up. I am in awe of Joan's ability to convey the history and way of life for her Scots ancestry in verse. It moved me, made me wonder, and left me wanting to know more. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! 

Please join me in congratulating Joan for being the Featured Author for this 89th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy!

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That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. I hope you enjoyed and were inspired by all the creativity presented here! We have great talent in our midst!

And now it's time for the Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition (#90!) of the COG will be: The Third Annual iGene Awards, The Best of The Best! It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog posts of 2009 in the following 5 categories:

• Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2009. Tell us which you liked best and why.
• Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2009 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
• Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2009?
• Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2009?
• Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2009?

Please feel free to use this graphic on your post.

Start digging back into your archives and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding achievement. This is not a competition between bloggers but a chance for you to spotlight your own shining efforts at recording your genealogy and family history in 2009.

There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy. Please act as your own "award presenter" by writing an introduction and include it in the "Remarks" box on the BlogCarnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is February 15th, 30 submissions will be accepted.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for the poster, fM!

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SNGF - My January Ancestor's Calendar

Randy challenged us to make a calendar using our genealogy database software of choice and post the January page. Well, this was a really easy challenge for me because I use my Legacy software to make a calendar every year. It took me just a few minutes and there was no learning involved.

I'm not especially fond of the calendar that Legacy creates. Templates often frustrate me because of the lack of flexibility. I would have preferred to make the title much smaller, on one line, eliminate the spaces between the boxes, and make each box larger. I really don't like that my family events are continued on to a second page and I would like to be able to play with the layout so as to fit them all on one page. But hey, this is better than creating a page by hand and having to enter the info for each event one by one!

On this date, January 30, in my family history there were a number of significant events. Today would have been my parents' 66th wedding anniversary and the 92nd anniversary of the marriage of Jakob Lipa (my 1st cousin twice removed's wife's aunt's husband's brother) and his third wife Katarzyna. It was also the 151st birthday of Marianna Opiela (my 1st cousin 3 times removed); the 125th birthday of Marianna Lisowska (my second cousin twice removed) who only lived a little over a month; and the 122nd birthday of Leon Ronowski (my grandaunt's husband's brother).  

Happy Anniversary and Happy Birthday to all!

Polish and Proud, an Ode to My Family History

The ode to my family history is a bit of an epic. I guess that comes as no surprise given how wordy I am in my blog posts ;-) I didn't intend for it to go on and on, but it sort of took on a life of its own as I was composing it.

I haven't done a scrapbook page in quite some time so I thought I'd brush away some of the cobwebs and give it a go. (Click on the image to view it larger.)

I'm no poet. I don't even know the rules of poetry. But I know that good poetry comes from the heart. And so I give you a heartfelt ode to my family's history...

Written for the 89th Carnival of Genealogy, "Ode to My Family History"

Carnival of Genealogy, 88th Edition

Welcome to the January 18, 2010 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for this edition is: volunteerism! We have a collection of terrific articles for you this time around. Our participants are an ambitious and helpful bunch as you'll see in their articles. Not only will you learn about their volunteer efforts but you'll also see how in many cases they're following in the footsteps of family members. The genealogy community is filled with people who are dedicated to helping others. And it's that helpful attitude that makes the genealogy community the wonderful, warm, welcoming, and helpful group it is.

In this edition I'll be commenting on several articles. As is most often the case in the COG, the articles will be presented in the order I received them. The articles I've selected to comment on were chosen not because they are "better" than the rest but because there's something about them I want to call your attention to. Maybe they were especially well researched, maybe they made me laugh, maybe they are a good example of story-telling, maybe they taught me something I didn't already know, etc. Just think of it as me pointing out some of the various rides offered at a carnival ;-)

The featured article, which appears at the end of the COG, is one that stands out from the crowd. It's a shining example of putting all the ingredients together and coming up with a 5 course dinner. It covers the topic thoroughly, in an engaging way, and leaves you fully satisfied at the end.

Enough of all that now. Winter's wrath is upon us and we must fortify ourselves against the cold. So pour yourself a glass of wine, perhaps a good red, and put your feet up. Start a fire in the fireplace, relax, and appreciate all the many volunteer efforts our participants have to share with you. The carnival is back in town!

Wendy starts us off with Helping Hands posted at All My Branches Genealogy. "Researching the many volunteer activities and the organizations my family members have been involved in, has led me to the conclusion that they were very giving people and have passed on this sense of helping others. I have spent a good number of years wondering if “no” is part of my vocabulary."

Amanda presents Volunteerism in the Genealogical World posted at A Tale of Two Ancestors, saying, "By volunteering through RAOGK and indexing records, Amanda has increased her research skills, learned about new record groups and found a new career."

Thomas MacEntee presents No One Should Go Unclaimed posted at Destination: Austin Family, saying, "For the 88th Edition on Volunteerism. I've decided to highlight the work of Unclaimed Persons and discuss how it pertains to genealogy." Thomas shares his insights in working with the Unclaimed Persons group as only Thomas can, personally and with feeling. In Thomas' article you learn not just what he thinks about the mission of the group but also how he feels about volunteering his time for it. Thanks for all you do, Thomas!

J.M. presents Part 1: Adolph Knura In Memoriam, Part 2: Adolph Knura In Memoriam, and Part 3: Adolph Knura in Memoriam, posted at Tracing My Roots, saying, "My entry for the COG edition about volunteerism is not about the volunteer work I do, but about the volunteer work of my grandfather and what that means for my genealogy research. I hope it tells you how volunteering ancestors leave traces that you can find!" J.M. brings up and details an excellent point in her three-part article. Reading about the volunteer efforts of our ancestors in newspaper articles can give great insight into their personal values, talents, and how much they were appreciated by their community. Thanks for showing us a great example of how it's done J.M.!

Tina Lyons presents Volunteerism: My Vevay Newspaper Index Project posted at Tina's Genealogical Wish List. Tina's volunteer project is one of her own design, born of necessity. She saw a need and took on the job of filling that need with an indexing project all her own. What initiative and what dedication! Check out Tina's article and read about the project she's undertaken. You'll be inspired. Thanks Tina!

Frances Ellsworth presents My Favorite Volunteer Project.... Family Search Indexing posted at Branching Out Through The Years. "Family Search Indexing is absolutely the greatest project in my way of thinking, nothing opinionated here. I love helping others find their ancestors, especially those that are hard to find."

Charles Hansen presents Volunteering at the Library for COG #88 posted at Mikkel's Hus, saying, "Hard to believe I have been volunteering at the library for 17 years, just seems like a few years ago I started there."

Jasia presents A Gift of My Time Freely Given posted at Creative Gene. I've been volunteering for genealogy related projects for several years now. I've used my skills as a web designer to create web sites for historic churches and a genealogical society too. Volunteering has been very rewarding for me!

John Newmark presents Volunteerism posted at Transylvanian Dutch, saying, "Volunteerism - it runs in my family. I discuss my family history of volunteerism, and my brief stint as a volunteer for RAOGK." John's article gave me a good chuckle. While volunteering runs in his family, he's blazed new trails and gone where no man (in his family) has gone before. Check out his article and prepare to be surprised when you discover where some of his volunteer efforts have gone. Thanks for showing us a different type of volunteer organization, John!

Sheri Fenley presents Volunteerism or What I Do With My Free Time posted at The Educated Genealogist. "Working with different types of records, either transcribing or extracting, has enriched my genealogical education unlike any classroom ever could. It is ALWAYS a "win-win" situation when you become a volunteer." Sheri takes us around the country with her volunteer efforts. This girl gets around! If you're transportation-challenged and think that you can't be a genealogy volunteer, THINK AGAIN! Sheri shows us how it's done. Thanks Sheri!

Judith Richards Shubert presents A Volunteer Historian posted at Genealogy Traces, saying, "My charge as volunteer Historian was to organize and protect the large amount of memorabilia that has already been donated to the 50 Year Club over the years. I follow after other dedicated and competent Historians that served their fellow graduates well." Judith is working to preserve a segment of personal and academic history for the students who attended Mineral Wells High School over the years. How fortunate those alumni are to have her keeping and maintaining the items that represent their teenage years! Go Rams!

Missy Corley presents Carnival of Genealogy: Volunteerism posted at Bayside Blog. This article surprised me! Why? Because Missy wrote about a great internet resource for genealogists that I'd never heard of. I love to find out about new resources! Missy volunteers regularly at the Internet Public Library. Not familiar with it? Check out her article to find out more! Thanks for sharing a great resource with us Missy and thanks for all your volunteer efforts!

Tonia Kendrick presents Help Others, Help Yourself posted at Tonia's Roots, saying, "My first FamilySearch indexing experience was serendipitous on three counts. . ."

Carol presents 88th Carnival of Genealogy, Volunteerism posted at Reflections From the Fence, saying, "A subject very close to my heart. But because I felt a tad uncomfy writing just about me, I wrote a second post, titled, Volunteerism, The Rest of The Challenge. Thanks to Jasia for the opportunity to chat about something I am rather passionate about." Thank you Carol for sharing with us! Carol has written a nice article about her own volunteer experiences including a picture of her teaching genealogy at a campground of all places. Then she went on to write a wonderful plea to others to get involved with volunteering. Wonderful articles Carol. I sure hope people take you up on your suggestions for getting involved!

Sheri Bush presents Volunteerism: Look to Your Local GenWeb posted at TwigTalk, saying, "When you think about volunteering, think GenWeb! Read about what is involved and how much fun it is to volunteer or just submit data to your GenWeb!" If you're like me and you've wondered about all the work that goes into a county GenWeb site this article is for you! Sheri tells of how she started, how she's progressed, and encourages others to get involved. She's very committed to her county GenWeb site and has grown it from 50 pages to 2500 pages! We should all be so lucky as to have that much information available for free in the counties we're researching!!! Thanks for all that work Sheri!

Kathryn Doyle presents Volunteerism: One Day in the Life posted at California Genealogical Society and Genealogy Blog, saying "Several meetings and twenty-one volunteers make for a lot of hours in just one day." Kathryn takes us inside the day to day operations of the California Genealogical Society in words and pictures. She names names generously giving credit to those who are the working foundation of the organization. What a wonderful bunch of dedicated volunteers... especially Kathryn! I really like the way this article was presented and I think you will too. It's got me wishing I could be there to join in!

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~*~*~*Feature Article *~*~*~

Sherry Stocking Kline presents Volunteering - Carnival of Genealogy posted at Family Tree Writer. Sherry's blog wasn't on my radar screen (or in my feed reader) until I read the article she submitted for the Carnival of Genealogy. She engaged me right from the start with her enthusiasm. This article is well written and a pleasure to read. Not only does she share her volunteer work at the Sumner County (Kansas) Genealogical and Historical Society with us but she shares new ideas for other genealogical societies to consider too. So it's educational as well as interesting. She puts a good face on her society, her responsibilities, and herself. I was only slightly surprised, when I read her bio looking for a picture to use here, to learn that she is a professional writer. It's easy to see why. The article covers the topic thoroughly and makes her volunteer position sound easy (we know that's not always the case Sherry ;-). The article is engaging, polished, and a great entry for the Carnival of Genealogy.

Please join me in congratulating Sherry for being the Featured Author for this 88th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy!

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That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. I hope you enjoyed reading about all the terrific volunteer efforts being made throughout our genealogical community. We all richly deserve a pat on the back for our efforts!

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Ode to My Family's History! This time around we'll be composing a poem that tells our family's history. It can be long or short, rhyme or not rhyme, funny or serious, illustrated or not... you choose, but make it appropriate as an introduction for a book or video on your family history. The challenge is on! The deadline for submissions is February 1st, 30 submissions accepted.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Thanks for the poster, fM!

Technorati tags:carnival of genealogy, blog carnival.

My "Happy 101" Award

Nothing like a fun and friendly meme to get you thinking happy thoughts on a frigid January day. So it is with pleasure I accept the "Happy 101" award from Becky at kinexxions. Here are 10 things that make me happy...

1. Spending time in St. Joseph, MI

2. Being able to read online Polish web sites/documents thanks to Google Translate, and the online dictionary on the University of Pittsburgh web site.

3. My children

4. My husband

5. Extended family get togethers

6. Chocolate, dark to white and every variety in between

7. A phone call or email from a friend

8. Taking pictures, viewing pictures I've taken, creating scrapbook pages with photos I've taken, and displaying my photos

9. Sunshine

10. The Peanuts Gang (especially Snoopy)

11. Publishing a good edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

12. Finding new family in the course of my genealogy research

13. Amber

14. My dog and cat

15. Getting a new computer/phone/camera/software and having it work just like it should right out of the box

16. A good book

17. Paying the bills and having money left over

What's that you say? I was only supposed to list 10 things? Sorry, guess I got carried away in happy land. Sure was a nice day dream while it lasted!

In keeping with my "only pass a meme on to three people" rule, I'm going to tag:

Cheryl at Two Sides of the Ocean

Valerie at Niwiska, Poland

Steve at Steve's Genealogy Blog

I know you guys don't like to post off topic on your blogs but hey, that's what Facebook is for!

I Won't Be Going Bald Anytime Soon!

It's true. I won't be going bald anytime soon! I can stop pulling my hair out in frustration. My prayers have been answered. Yippee!

What is the reason for my joy and glee you ask?

I now have what I have longed for for many years... a complete Polish / English dictionary. It's not an ordinary Polish / English dictionary, it's a COMPLETE one. What do I mean by that? I mean I can look up a Polish word in any of it's glorious conjugations or cases and find out what it means. This is terrific because in the past I'd have had to know the root of a word to find it's meaning and with 7 cases in the Polish language, believe me, that was often a challenging task. Here's an example of what I mean...

mieć = to have

Present Tense-Actual

ja mam = I have
ty masz = you have (singular)
on/ona/ono ma = he/she/it has
my mamy = we have
wy mamy = you have (plural)
oni /one mają = they have

Present Tense-Frequentative

miewam
miewasy
miewa
miewamy
miewacie
miewają

Past Tense-Actual

ja miałem/miałam
ty miałeś/miałaś
on/ona/ono miał/miała/miało
my mieliśmy/miałyśmy
wy mieliście/miałyście
oni/one mieli/miały

Past Tense-Frequentative

miewałem/miewałam
miewałeś/miewałaś
miewał/miewała/miewało
miewaliśmy/miewałyśmy
miewalicie/miewałycie
miewali/miewały

Future Tense-Actual

ja będę miał/miała
ty będziesz miał/miała
on/ona/ono będzie miał/miała/miało
my będziemy mieli/miały
wy będziecie mieli/miały
oni/one będą mieli/miały

Future Tense-Frequentative

miewał/miewała
miewał/miewała
miewał/miewała/miewało
miewali/miewały
miewali/miewały
miewali/miewały

Conditional-Actual

ja miałbzm/miałabym
ty miałbyś/miałabyś
on/ona/ono miałby/miałaby/miałoby
my mielibyśmy/miałybyśmy
wy mielibyście/miałybyście
oni/one mieliby/miałyby

Conditional-Frequentative

etc. etc. etc.

Imperative... Particples... on and on...

All those words in bold print... they are versions of "mieć" which means "to have". But if I come across any of them when I'm reading I won't be able to find them in a standard dictionary. Just like in an English dictionary you won't find "parties" as a separate word. You have to know that it is a version of the root word "party" and then you'll find the meaning of it in the dictionary. Same is true here. But if you don't know the language, like I don't know Polish, when you see "będziecie" you don't think, gee, I wonder what "mieć" means. You look up "będziecie" (not realizing it's paired with "wy" and "mieli") and you come up with nothing. Now I can look up "będziecie", be referred to "być" and learn that it's a version of "mieć" which it tells me means "to have". Yay! :-D

I know this is not unique to the Polish language, having to know the root of a word to look up the meaning. But yee-gads that makes it tough to translate a Polish document for research!!!

If you are researching ancestors with Polish roots you're bound to come across this same problem. And now you too have the means to solve your problem. You can find it for free on the University of Pittsburgh web site...

Online Dictionary, Polish>English, English>Polish

Hat tip to guest blogger Barb, writing for Anna's Polish Blog.

Celebrity Genealogy

FACES OF AMERICA

Wednesdays, February 10-March 3, 2010

8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on PBS

– Elizabeth Alexander, Mario Batali, Stephen Colbert, Louise Erdrich, Malcolm Gladwell, Yo-Yo Ma, Mike Nichols, Queen Noor, Eva Longoria Parker, Meryl Streep and Kristi Yamaguchi Join Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. As He Attempts to Find Out: What Made America? –

Professor Gates with actress Meryl Streep Credit: Joseph Sinnott /©2009 WNET.ORG

What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series FACES OF AMERICA. Building on the success of his series AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES (called by The New York Times “the most exciting and stirring documentary on any subject to appear on television in a long time”) and AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. turns again to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 11 renowned Americans. The series airs Wednesdays, February 10-March 3, 2010, 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on PBS.

Looking to the wider immigrant experience, Professor Gates unravels the American tapestry, following the threads of his guests’ lives back to their origins around the globe. Along the way, the many stories he uncovers — of displacement and homecoming, of material success and dispossession, of assimilation and discrimination — illuminate the American experience. Professor Gates’ guests include poet Elizabeth Alexander, who composed and read the poem at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, writer Malcolm Gladwell, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, film director Mike Nichols, Her Royal Highness Queen Noor, actress Eva Longoria Parker, actress Meryl Streep and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

FACES OF AMERICA spans four episodes.

· “The Promise of America” (w.t.) (2/10) – Episode one explores the dynamic and shifting relationship America had with her new immigrants in the 20^th century. World war tore apart families and sundered the fabric of many lives, but America beckoned and millions came. America was an ambivalent host, however. At its best, it was a place of refuge and salvation, as it was for film director Mike Nichols whose entire family escaped Nazi Germany. At its worst, it was a country that would imprison two generations of Japanese Americans, including the forebears of Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. Viewers will discover the buoyant American optimism that shaped chance — as in a single encounter that changed cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s life forever — to pave the road to success.

· “Becoming American” (w.t.) (2/17) – Episode two explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s-1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian country into a booming industrial power. Stephen Colbert’s Irish great-great-grandfather escaped poverty and religious oppression in Limerick and never looked back, whereas Mario Batali’s great-grandfather, who left the place where his family had lived for centuries, struggled to survive in the quartz mines of Montana. Queen Noor’s Syrian great-grandfather quickly found his footing in New York’s first Arab-American community, while Kristi Yamaguchi’s grandfather faced exclusionary laws and racially defined barriers to citizenship for decades. The obstacles, short cuts, tragedies and successes encountered or created by the guests’ ancestors from around the world reveal the complexity of our shared history and identity as Americans.

· “Making America” (w.t.) (2/24) – Episode three tells the story of the peopling of the New World, how land came to define the settling and identity of America and how the guests’ ancestors were part of this history. Viewers learn of Meryl Streep’s eighth great-grandfather who fought in Metacom’s War; records of a land dispute in Spain that forced Eva Longoria Parker’s ancestors to leave for the New World in 1603; and Yo-Yo Ma’s Chinese genealogy, which gives insights into the identity that Ma has longed for his whole life.

· “The Record Within” (w.t.) (3/3) – Episode four takes up the ancestor search where the historical record leaves off and links the guests’ distinctive family histories to the broader history of “the family of man.” Combining the documented stories of some of the guests’ last known ancestors with DNA evidence, the series travels backward through time to reveal both distant relatives and surprising shared ancestral connections. Elizabeth Alexander learns that she is a direct descendent of Charlemagne and that her paternal roots are not only European, but Jewish. Meryl Streep and Mike Nichols discover that they are distant cousins, as do Yo-Yo Ma and Eva Longoria Parker. Interwoven with these stories and others is the journey of the host, Henry Louis Gates, as he, his father and brother undertake a historic project to have their entire genomes mapped, thereby learning everything they possibly can about their own family. This episode offers a compelling and thought-provoking meditation on the importance of ancestry, the meaning of family and the role of both in creating identity.

FACES OF AMERICA will be available from PBS Home Video: ShopPBS.org; 800-531-4727, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Underwriters: The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Atlantic Philanthropies, Johnson & Johnson, The John D. and Catherine T. Macarthur Foundation, Public Television Viewers, PBS and Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Producers: Kunhardt McGee Productions, Inkwell Films and THIRTEEN for WNET.ORG in association with Ark Media

Presenter: THIRTEEN New York

Executive producers: Henry Louis Gates Jr., William R. Grant, Peter Kunhardt and Dyllan McGee

Senior producers: Barak Goodman and Sue Williams

Online: pbs.org

Format: CC Stereo HD (16:9)

For images and additional up-to-date information on this and other PBS programs, visit PBS PressRoom at www.pbs.org/pressroom.

A Gift of My Time Freely Given

It's hard for me to remember a time when I wasn't volunteering for one thing or another. I don't think I volunteered for anything during my high school or college years or even during the early years of my career. I think it started for me when my kids were born so that's going back about 25 years or so. I volunteered to help out at dance recitals, soccer games, field trips, teaching art appreciation to second graders, etc. That sort of stuff went on for years as my kids went from grade school to middle school and then to high school. By the time I got interested in genealogy (13-14 years ago) I had plenty of volunteer experience under my belt.

I didn't start volunteering for anything that could be classified as genealogy-related until about 10 years ago. My first "project" was to create a web site for the Polish Catholic church in Detroit that my great grandparents attended. Not only did I research the parish history to do so but I went through the parish record books to put together a genealogy section as well. Nobody asked me to do it. I just wanted a web site and I made one. I got to know the pastor and few key people in the parish and it all went well. Then one day the pastor put a notice in the church bulletin asking for people to work on creating a database of the baptismal, marriage, and death records for the parish. I volunteered for that too. I started with the death records and worked on them on and off for several years. I had hoped to get others to help me out but I just couldn't coordinate the project to get it off the ground.

Then the pastor was assigned to another neighboring parish. It too was a Polish Catholic church that some of my ancestors had attended. That parish didn't have a web site either, so I made one for them too. So then I was maintaining two parish web sites and working on the database.

Somewhere along the way I discovered that I had family ties to yet another Polish Catholic parish in Detroit. It didn't have a web site either. Yep. I did it again. So then there were three. All with genealogy sections and historical ties to my family.

At about the same time that I was creating all these church web sites, I volunteered to take over and expand the web site for the Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan. It wasn't long after that that I was asked to join the board of directors. So then I volunteered to serve there too. While I was a member of the board I wrote for the society journal in addition to what I was doing on the web site and I voluntarily did a survey of the membership (primarily to take a pulse on where they were technology-wise). I made many friends during the time I was active as a board member but it was a very time consuming activity for me when combined with the writing and web mastering I was doing.

I also created a genealogy web site with information of specific interest for those with Polish ancestors from Detroit. I'm sorry to say that site has really suffered since I started blogging. I find it hard to keep it current these days.

As a result of the web sites I've created, I can count on getting several email requests for help each month. I do my best to connect people with the resources they need to research their family history. Sometimes that's a quick thing, sometimes it takes more time. Sometimes I don't have the answers people seek. But I give it my best shot in any event.

I find it hard to say "no" when people ask me for help so I end up over-committing myself. I can't begin to guess at how many hours I've put in volunteering for genealogy-related projects. I can say this though, I've met the very nicest people in the course of my volunteering. I don't regret any of it. I only wish I had more time and more money to give to further the cause of genealogy research.

I've cut back on my volunteering some in recent years. I still maintain the church web sites and my own Detroit/Polish genealogy web site but I'm no longer active with the PGSM web site or the board of directors. Blogging dominates my time these days and in a way that's a volunteer effort in itself. While much of what I write is for my own needs, there's also a great deal of information I pass along on my blogs that is strictly for the benefit of others. So I definitely feel like I'm still giving voluntarily to others in the genealogical community that way too. And once again I've met the nicest people along the way...

Written for the 87th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, Topic: Volunteerism

Changes in the Carnival of Genealogy for 2010

A new year has arrived and with it will come changes in all of our lives, some for better, some for worse. That's just the nature of life. Changes are inevitable in the life of the Carnival of Genealogy too. The arrival of the new year seems like a good time to introduce some much needed changes to the COG. Most of these changes have come about out of necessity but some are entirely my preference.

When I first started the Carnival of Genealogy, over three years ago, it was "the only game in town" so to speak. What I mean by that is, it was the only themed writing project of it's kind for genealogy bloggers. Now, of course, it is only one of many, many themed writing projects available for those who choose to blog about their family history and genealogy research. With so many options now available to genealogy bloggers including daily, weekly, and monthly blogging prompts, as well as a variety of blog carnivals, the COG is poised to change to something a bit different from the rest.

Change in Format

The format of the COG will change from one all-inclusive group of a varying number of articles to a maximum of 30 articles per edition, 10 of which will be "select articles" that I will comment on and introduce, and one of which will be "the feature article" which I will highlight more extensively. A photo/avatar of the author of the featured article will be posted in a prominent place on the Creative Gene blog until the next edition is published. I'm thinking about awarding a prize to one of the featured authors in conjunction with the 100th edition of the COG later this year. Let me know what you think of that idea. I'll keep ya posted on that part.

The cap of 30 submissions comes out of necessity. I need to be able to plan my time and know in advance the maximum amount of time needed to put the COG together. The most recent edition of the COG, published earlier today, had 65 submissions. I didn't read them all because I just couldn't free up that much time in the period from the deadline to the publishing date (48 of the 65 submissions were received in the 48 hours before the deadline). In my opinion, there is a point at which the COG is just too big... too much for readers/fans to read in a reasonable period of time and too much for me to deal with on short notice. I think that point is 30 articles per edition.

Just for reference, of the 25 editions of the COG published in 2009 (December 15 was a "twofer" which I'm counting as separate editions for this purpose), only 5 editions exceeded 30 submissions. Those 5 most popular topics were: #1 Happy Dance [50], #2 NY Resolutions [40], #3 Uncles [33], #4 Women's History [32], #5 Swim Suit Edition [32]. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm terrible at guessing which topics will be popular and which will be "misses". I expected "Happy Dance" to be popular but not that popular. And I expected "Family Fun" to be popular but with only 11 submissions it was a real miss. The average number of submissions was 24.5 per edition in 2009, well under the new maximum of 30. So it really shouldn't change things all that much.

How will I decide which 30 articles will be included in each edition of the COG? I will not be using a juried selection process for COG submissions. The first 30 submissions received, "on topic", will be included. Period. However, "on topic" will now mean that those articles submitted that essentially say "this doesn't apply to me/my family" or "I don't have much to say on this topic" will no longer be included. I will consider them "off topic" to allow that opportunity to go to someone who has something relevant to share on the topic.

I have put a widget/doodad on the left side bar of this blog to keep track of the number of submissions I have received for each edition. It would be a good idea to get into the habit of checking here to see where things stand. I will update it as often as possible. I wish there was a way for me to cut off submissions on the blogcarnival web site but I can't. I know many (many!) of you are in the habit of waiting until the last minute to write up your COG posts. When it comes to popular topics (whichever those may be) it may mean your article won't get included. I'm sorry for that. All I can say is write early and submit your article early if it's one you really care about.

Change in Emphasis

I want to keep the COG open to everyone, including those new to blogging. But I also want to encourage quality writing. Early on in the COG I highlighted good writing and encouraged readers to visit the blogs of those authors who showed real talent. I want to get back to those roots. Therefore, I'm asking you to put your best foot forward when it comes to submitting articles to the Carnival of Genealogy. Please don't dash off a quick post just to be a part of it. I want the COG to be a quality publication with well thought out, well researched, and well written articles. For the most part, it has been. But there have been a few articles here and there that weren't. Because those articles were still "on topic" I've included them in the past but I won't be doing that anymore. I'm no editor, but I recognize a compeling story when I read one. Likewise I can recognize an article that is well researched, well written, well sourced, or creatively presented. These are the sorts of things I will be mentioning in the 10 "select articles" in each edition.

The "feature article" will be an opportunity for me to highlight that article/author that stands out from the crowd. Let's face it, we bloggers put a lot of time and effort into what we publish on our blogs but we don't get much recognition for it. There are the comments, yes, and getting mentioned in someone's "roundup" is always nice, but there's not much else. Until now. Now those who participate in the Carnival of Genealogy have an opportunity to get recognized, thanked, and promoted for their outstanding efforts. 

Change in Marketing

I welcome and appreciate promotions and links from bloggers participating in and reading the COG but the Geneabloggers Group on Facebook has gotten so big that a promotion there can create a "blog-alanche" of submissions, more than I can deal with. I cringe at the thought of all the rejection notes I'd have had to send out for the edition published earlier today. So, I've asked Thomas not to promote the COG on the GeneaBloggers on Facebook group anymore. I'm looking for quality not quantity of submissions and I think word of mouth blog promotion will better suit this relatively small publication. This is actually not a new way of marketing the Carnival of Genealogy, simply a return to the old way of doing things.

Change in Frequency of Publication

I've had several requests to change the COG to a once-a-month carnival. I have thought about this request long and hard. And then I thought about it longer and harder. I've agonized over it, really. I asked some veteran participants in the COG for their opinions and then I thought about it even more. I came up with a list of topics that would require more lengthy research and writing time and would work well in a month-long time frame. I pretty much decided to go ahead with the change to once-a-month and then I read about the "favorite" topics that participants enjoyed in the past and look forward to in the future (in COG #84-What the COG Means to Me) and I realized that if I continue to include the favorite topics (which I would personally like to do) it would only leave me with 5 "new" topics each year. I admit that thinking up new topics has become more challenging with all the other themed writing projects out there but I can come up with more than 5 good ideas off the top of my head! So, here's what will happen. Some months the COG will have 2 editions and some months it will have one. I'm going to change it up and you'll have to pay attention to the deadlines in each "call for submissions" to know which is which. COG participants are a highly intelligent bunch and I'm sure this will not be too confusing for you all ;-)

Changes in Topics

I will not be listing future topics for the COG on the Creative Gene blog this year. I think it took some of the fun out of it to know in advance what the next topic would be when each edition was published. I'm also going to play around with some more creative and challenging topics this year. I hope you're up for a challenge! I think you'll find them fun and educational.

All in all, I don't think these changes are major ones but they will hopefully make for a higher quality publication and one I can better manage putting together. I hope the COG will continue to be a platform for new bloggers and also become a place where genealogy and family history researchers who excell in writing will get noticed, applauded, and promoted. I welcome your feedback on these changes and I hope you will continue to read, participate in, and promote the Carnival of Genealogy.

And on that note, it's time for a Call for Submissions!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Volunteerism! Here's a chance to toot your horn about whatever genealogy projects, organizations, or events you voluntarily give your time and efforts to. What do you get out of volunteering? How did you decide what to volunteer for? How much time each month do you spend volunteering for genealogy projects/organizations/events? Is there an organization or project you'd like to recommend to others? Tell us all about it! The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2010.

Carnival of Genealogy, 87th Edition

Welcome to the January 4, 2010 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic for this edition is: New Year Resolutions! We're starting the year off with 66 articles detailing the participating genealogy blogger's plans for their family history and genealogy research for 2010. We will certainly be a busy bunch this year!

Because this edition of the COG was promoted via the Genea-bloggers group on Facebook, there was a deluge of articles submitted. I can't imagine anyone reading through all 66 articles in one sitting so I've put them in groups of 10 with an identifying letter/number to more easily reference where you left off when you come back to reading.

The cold winds of January are blowing and there's nothing like a nice hot mug of peppermint tea to warm you up. So pour yourself some tea, grab a handful of the leftover Christmas cookies or fruitcake (pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to "freshen" them), and check out this extra large collection of articles. The carnival is on for 2010!

A1 Elizabeth presents Uncorked: My Goals for 2010 posted at Little Bytes of Life, saying, "2010 promises to bring exciting changes and new challenges. But as long as 2009 goes away, I'll be happy!"

A2 Randy Seaver presents Genealogy Goals and Dreams for 2010 posted at Genea-Musings, saying, "tried to set achievable goals and describe wild dreams for his 2010 genealogy adventures."

A3 LOOKING4ANCESTORS presents Ch-ch-ch-Changes and Genea-goals for 2010 posted at LOOKING4ANCESTORS, saying, "Kathryn shares the changes that are happening at her blog LOOKING4ANCESTORS, plus her own personal genealogy goals for 2010 as well as announcing her four new family history blogs."

A4 LOOKING4ANCESTORS presents Just One Genea-Goal for 2010 posted at The Lake Family of Lincolnshire, saying, "Kathryn has just one genealogy goal for 2010 for this ancestral line of her family. Read her post to find out what it is."

A5 LOOKING4ANCESTORS presents Genea-goal 2010: Proving William Ryckman posted at Our Ryckman Roots, saying, "Achieving these goals may result in happy genea-dancing!"

A6 LOOKING4ANCESTORS presents George Family Genea-Goals 2010 posted at George Family Gleanings, saying, "Starting a new genealogy blog focusing on my Welsh roots is one of my genea-goals for 2010, and since it's still 2009, I guess I'm off to a good start. Read Kathryn's post to find out more about her goals for 2010."

A7 LOOKING4ANCESTORS presents My Walsall Way Wishes for 2010 posted at Walsall Ways, saying, "Connecting with cousins across the pond is one of the goals I have to achieving genea-bliss in 2010."

A8 M. Diane Rogers presents New Year's Genea-Resolutions - 2010 - Carnival of Genealogy posted at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt', saying, "My 2010 genealogy goals are similar to 2009's, but mainly involve more scanning, more organizing and, from both these tasks, more sharing of my personal genealogy research. And I want to have some fun while I'm working and encourage others to join in."

A9 Joan Miller presents Genealogy Goals for 2010 posted at Luxegen Genealogy and Family History, saying, "Digitize, DNA, GG and more!"

A10 Greta Koehl presents New Year’s Genealogy Resolutions for 2010 posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog, saying, "Though I admire the courageous people who resolve not to resolve anything but to let life lead them where it may and let their research guide them rather than the other way around, I have to publicly shame myself into doing the hard work I know that I will need to do. Thus, my resolutions - it's the only way."

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B1 Tina Lyons presents 2010 Genealogy Goals - 87th Carnival of Genealogy posted at Tina's Genealogical Wish List.

B2 Whitney McKim presents 2010 Genealogical Resolutions posted at MyNeChimKi's Genealogical Services, saying, "I'm beginning to become more serious about my genealogy. Therefore, I'm taking this epic year (2010) to focus and do more quality work and educate myself further. I have resolved..."

B3 Thomas MacEntee presents My Personal New Year's Genealogy Resolutions posted at Destination: Austin Family, saying, "For my 2010 genealogy resolutions I set out seven simple steps to having a better genealogy experience - will I make it? Will it be that simple? Stay tuned."

B4 Gayle Gresham presents 2009 - What A Year! 2010 - Bring It ON! posted at Colorado Reflections.

B5 Kathryn Doyle presents Blog Resolutions For 2010 posted at California Genealogical Society and Library blog, saying, "Blog resolutions go hand-in-hand with my marketing and "Internet Presence" duties for the California Genealogical Society. I crossed a big one off the list just last week!"

B6 Leah Kleylein presents Random Notes: 2010 Genea-Resolutions (COG 87) posted at Random Notes, saying, "5 Genea-Resolutions/Promises for 2010"

B7 Caroline Pointer presents Genealogy: To Know Them Is To Know Me posted at Family Stories, saying, "What my one focus has been all along on my blog."

B8 Tracy presents A Checkered Past, A Better Future posted at The Pieces of My Past, saying, "My plans for the upcoming year and the new decade."

B9 Margo M. presents 2010 Genealogy Goals | Briley Genealogy posted at Margo, saying, "NewYear, new page, and hopefully, resolutions kept."

B10 Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents Resolutions 2010 posted at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors, saying, "After an unsuccessful 2009, I've narrowed my goals to three: two realistic, and one from my wish list."

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C1 Regina presents Getting It Done In 2010 posted at Kinfolk News: Random Thoughts and Research Notes, saying, "Just two but I'll be working on them all year!"

C2 Dru Pair presents Find Your Folks: 2010 New Years Genealogy Goals posted at Find Your Folks, saying, "Professor Dru's 2010 genealogy goals and assessment of 2009 goals."

C3 Judy Cole presents New Year Resolutions posted at The Genealogy Gals.

C4 Donna M. Moughty presents Genealogy Resolutions for 2010 posted at Donna's Genealogy Blog, saying, "Here are some resolutions not only for 2010, but also for the new decade."

C5 Susan A. Kitchens presents How can I help you with your resolutions for 2010? posted at Family Oral History Using Digital Tools [News], saying, "I've done the big ambitious list of what I want to accomplish for the year. Nope, not doing that. (though I DO have plans). I'm turning the tables this year in what constitutes MY resolution. It has to do with helping you with YOUR resolution."

C6 Steve Danko presents Genealogical Resolutions for 2010 posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog, saying, "I accomplished two of my five resolutions for 2009. The other three resolutions from 2009 remain on my list for 2010, and I've added two more resolutions just to make sure I don't slack off in the New Year!"

C7 Al Wierzba presents Al's Polish-American Genealogy Research: My 2010 Genealogy Goals posted at Al's Polish-American Genealogy Research.

C8 Leah presents Resolutions for 2010 posted at The Internet Genealogist, saying, "I don't really have any resolutions so I chose to write about the things I'd like to keep in mind more in the coming year."

C9 TK presents 2010: The Year of Getting Stuff Organized posted at Before My Time, saying, "My resolution is simple... do some grunt work so I can get MORE STUFF!!"

C10 Sheri Fenley presents You Say You Want A Resolution, Well You Know . . . posted at The Educated Genealogist.

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D1 Jasia presents Resolutions for 2010 posted at Creative Gene.

D2 Donna Pointkouski presents Here We Go Again: Genea-Resolutions posted at What's Past is Prologue, saying, "Donna Pointkouski reviews last year's genea-goals and firmly resolves to try harder this year!"

D3 Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith presents Follower Friday - My 2010 Genealogy Resolutions posted at Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories, saying, "My 2010 Genealogy Resolutions - thank you for the opportunity; I would generally not write them down, but it was a really good exercise. Hope each of you have a positive experience with it as well. I've also enjoyed reading the early ones posted, as well!"

D4 Liza presents New Year's Genealogical Goals posted at Folk Archivist's Blog.

D5 Ruth Stephens presents 87th Carnival of Genealogy: The Little Engine That Could* posted at Bluebonnet Country Genealogy.

D6 Tami Glatz presents My 2010 New Year's Resolutions posted at relatively curious about genealogy.

D7 John Newmark presents 2010 Genealogy Resolutions? posted at TransylvanianDutch, saying, "I resolve to continue my family history research, and I resolve to continue to breathe. Pretty much the same thing."

D8 Kathy Buirrow presents Finishing the unfinished or where to I go from here in the coming year. posted at Kat's Mountain.

D9 Liz Haigney Lynch presents Carnival of Genealogy: New Year’s Resolutions! « The Ancestral Archaeologist posted at The Ancestral Archaeologist.

D10 Carol presents 87th Carnival Of Genealogy, New Year's Resolutions posted at Reflections From the Fence, saying, "Resolutions, bumps in the road or opportunities? Neither, I now think it is the journey that matters."

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E1 Jennifer Shaw presents New Years GeneaResolutions 2010 posted at ShawGenealogy, saying, "My goals to complete in 2010."

E2 Apple presents I Firmly Resolve posted at Apple's Tree, saying, "I firmly resolve that, come hell or high water, I will......."

E3 Pam Warren presents New Year's Resolutions, Goals, or Whatever They Are posted at Granny's Genealogy, saying, "Things are piling up in Granny's genealogical world! No clear plan yet, but a goal of taming the monster, and a new acronym invented: DWTD!"

E4 Kim Eisman presents Carnival of Genealogy- 2010- Brick Walls, Paper Piles, Proof, & Expansion posted at Ancestors of mine from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky & beyond, saying, "2010 Resolutions in All Their Glory."

E5 Frances Ellsworth presents New Year's Resolutions and Other Hopes. posted at Branching Out Through The Years.

E6 Wendy Littrell presents I Resolve To . . . (2010 Edition) posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "I wasn't as ambitious in my resolutions as I was last year, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the 5 I listed I'll be able to accomplish!"

E7 Bill West presents West in New England: GENEA-RESOLUTIONS FOR 2010 posted at West in New England, saying, "Eternal genea-optimist that I am, I'm ready for another year of genealogy research and fun!"

E8 Susan C Pentico presents My Resolutions, Enhancing my Research, Carnival Bound posted at Susi's Chatty Performances on Genealogy.

E9 Geniaus presents New Year's Resolutions! Carnival of Genealogy 87th Edition posted at Geniaus, saying, "My first task is to repost and evaluate my list of resolutions for 2009"

E10 Antra presents Genealogy Goals for 2010 posted at Discovering Latvian Roots.

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F1 Becky Wiseman presents Ain't Makin' No Resolutions! posted at Kinexxions.

F2 Midge Frazel presents Time to Plan posted at Granite in My Blood, saying, "Keeping better records of who I have helped, what we accomplished, and the dates we did it are part of my goals for the coming year. Isn't March the beginning of the new year?"

F3 Amy Coffin presents COG 87 - New Year's Genealogy Resolutions posted at We Tree, saying, " Amy looks back at her 2009 resolutions and offers up some goals for 2010."

F4 Melody Lassalle presents My Genealogy Goals for 2010 posted at The Research Journal.

F5 Cheryl Fleming Palmer presents My Wish for 2010 posted at Heritage Happens, saying, "After Christmas I still have a wish? What could it be? Can it come true? Can 2010 take care of that wish? Is this a wish or a resolution?"

F6 Shauna Hicks presents New Year Genie Aspirations - In 2010 I Will posted at Shauna Hicks, saying, "These ten points summarise how I plan to progress my family history research and share my knowledge with other family members and friends in 2010."

F7 Family Tree Gal, Carolyn presents New Year. New Goals. How About You? posted at Family Tree Quest's Blog, saying, " Now that I've recovered from spinal surgery, 2010 is bound to be great!"

F8 Carol Wilkerson presents COG - Modest Genealogy Goals For 2010 posted at iPentimento | Genealogy and History, saying, "I made some genealogy goals for 2010. Come check them out."

F9 Jessica Oswalt presents My 2010 Genealogy Resolutions posted at Jessica's Genejournal, saying, "My genealogy research goals for 2010."

F10 Amanda Acquard presents Goals for the New Year posted at A Tale of Two Ancestors.

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G1 Terri O'Connell presents 2010 New Years Resolotions posted at Finding Our Ancestors.

G2 Tonia Kendrick presents Reflections and Resolutions posted at Tonia's Roots, saying, "Anniversaries invite us to reflect, review, and plan for the future. The two-year anniversary of this blog, combined with the year-end, put me in a particularly reflective mood. I’ve been thinking about what I’ve accomplished and what goals I want to set for the coming year. . ."

G3 J.M. presents New Year's Resolutions posted at Tracing My Roots, saying, " I have a few resolutions for this year. Some of them are very blog oriented at first glance, but really, they just help my research stay on track"

G4 Julie Cahill Tarr presents 2009 Achievements & 2010 Resolutions posted at GenBlog, saying, "A look at my accomplishments from 2009 and my plans for 2010."

G5 Cyndi Beane Henry presents COG - New Year's Resolution[s] posted at Mountain Genealogists, saying, "My New Year's Resolution[s]"

G6 footnoteMaven presents Putting on the Pearls posted at footnoteMaven. My mistake for not including Maven's ever so creative post. Better late than never!

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Whew! Did you take notes? It will be interesting to see how far we get with our plans this year!

Call for Submissions! (blank)

No, that's not a mistake. There are changes coming to the COG this year and I'll be detailing them in a separate post later today. The call for submissions for the next edition will appear in that post as well. Stay tuned!

Thanks for another great poster, fM!

Technorati tags:

carnival of genealogy, blog carnival.

Resolutions for 2010

It's the last day of 2009, a good time to think about the year to come. A good time for making resolutions for 2010.

Over the last couple of years I've come to the realization that I'm not young anymore and I can no longer take my health for granted. Like it or not, I have to take better care of myself. I don't like to think about giving up hours a day to meal planning and prep, food discipline, recording my food intake, and exercise, exercise, exercise, but if I want to have good quality of life and live to see grandchildren some day (my fondest wish) I have to adopt the changes. This last year has taught me a lesson about living with limitations. It was a lesson I didn't want to learn.

Last February I ruptured multiple discs in my spine. The resulting back pain is still with me every day and I've become dependent on my loved ones to do many of the everyday things I used to be capable of handling easily. I'm a burden to them now and I hate it. They never complain about it but I feel bad just the same. I need to devote myself to relieving the pain and getting back to my daily living activities. In order to have the time to work on improving my health I will need to give up some of the time I've been spending on genealogy and blogging. It's all about balance. How many times have we heard that?

A major problem for me is that I spend too much time sitting in front of a computer. My job (web design) requires me to be on a computer much of the day and my hobbies (genealogy and blogging) require additional computer time. As a result, I spend too much time sitting. I need to be up on my feet and moving around more. So I'm going to try to find a new line of work and work more exercise into my day. (Notice I didn't say I'd give up my hobbies ;-)

In terms of my genealogy research, I'm doing little more than dotting i's and crossing t's. There are always more details to collect, of course, but honestly at this point my time would be better spent organizing my previous research info and writing up my family history than doing additional research. If only organization and composition were as much fun as research!!! I'm too addicted to give up my research entirely but I am looking at ways to be more productive with the time I will allow myself for research. For instance, I don't currently subscribe to any online databases. My local library (at home) has Ancestry.com and free WiFi so I go there when I want to look something up. But I'm thinking about getting a subscription to Ancestry so I can access it from home (or the condo) without the travel time involved. If the Detroit News and/or the Polish Daily News would create a digital archive of the past editions of their newspapers I'd jump all over those subscriptions too. Having to go downtown Detroit to research is another time drain. And it sure would help optimize my research if the folks at the Family History Library would put their microfilms online as soon as they are digitally created rather than waiting for everything to be transcribed. I'd be happy to look my family members up on my own without using a database to search... I do it that way now on microfilm (hint, hint ;-) . OK, enough wishing and dreaming!!!

So, with 2010 knocking on the door I find myself hoping for a healthier and less painful year to come. It is my intention to change my lifestyle (exercise more, sit less), change my job (to what???), and focus more on organizing and writing up my genealogy research and optimizing the time spent on research. I don't anticipate a great deal of change in my blogging. I can't give that up, it's too good a mental exercise!

As this year draws to a close, I want to wish all of my fellow genealogy bloggers and the readers of Creative Gene a happy, healthy, and rich New Year. May 2010 be your best year ever!

A Motown Christmas Wish for You

I'm busy getting ready for the Christmas Eve dinner I'll be hosting tonight but I wanted to take a moment to share some Christmas cheer here on Creative Gene.

This one goes out to all my blogging buddies and faithful readers. From your Motown girl Jasia, this is my Christmas greeting to you, sung by one of Detroit's true gems, Thornetta Davis.

I hope you all get some love for Christmas!