Where Has The Time Gone?

One of the best aspects of genealogy (and the worst in honesty) is the fact that there is always one more bend in the road to take before stopping for the night, one more index to compare, just one more article to read, and so it goes...........  and has commenced in my life over the past several months.

I have learned that I can have fantastic weeks of being a blogger only to fail short then at scanning some of the slides from the 1960's that my mother has recently entrusted to me. Or that my organization soars as my completion of Pro-Gen assignments get behind. Rearranging my den/office to be a true office with desk, reference materials, and space to complete reports and research means that several boxes now sit in our living room screaming for some attention.  And on it goes......

I have taken the past couple of days to look back at the extensive list of goals I set for myself at the beginning of 2010, an ambitious list I must admit, but then as you can see that's the way I roll. Today I will look at the positives, my pats on the back. Tomorrow I will make a new plan.

Completed:
-Joined several genealogical and historical organizations related to professional and personal skill building
- Significantly built up my genealogy library with not only reference material but I have also been lucky
   enough to come across a few rare books about the family as well
-I have made interviewing my parents a priority this year and carry a portable digital recorder in my purse at
 all times. You would be amazed at what can be done in 5 minutes. I also put the recorder down in front           of my plate at Thanksgiving to catch all the stories.
- My brother and I completed the DNA testing process on my father
- I have completed establishing the binder system for my records that stay at home, now knowing exactly
  where to find "X.s marriage" record if I have a copy.
- 1/2way through the process of completing the mini binders for my mother and myself to carry anywhere
- I did take my first class at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies and liked it (planning for more)
- I also have tried several of the workshops on FamilySearch (assisting with early writing, research analysis,
        and more)


I am particularly pleased with two areas of my goals for 2010:

Breaking through a brick wall that seemed impossible 6 months apart is crumbling under my feet and I am thrilled! Enoch McDaniel had parents, and so did his wife! Further information on this family will be shared in later posts, but just knowing they didn't just land on Earth is cause of celebration on this special day.

I also spent time focusing on the Raley line of the family, but there is much left to do. The reunion trip to St. Mary's County, Maryland for my mother, my daughter, and myself was special not in the actual reunion itself (newcomers had do some fending), but in the celebration of family and heritage and all that makes each of us who we are. There is much to learn of my Maryland roots, and Massachusetts, and.....

That's another day.