NGS Conference in Review - Day 4

The one and only...Elizabeth Shown Mills!

Day 4...it had to happen eventually but I hated to see it arrive!  Of course a 4 day genealogy conference is very tiring, but we all were having so much fun!  The difference between the Opening and Closing Ceremonies was incredible.  It was packed that first day and at least half empty on that last day.  A shame too, because those special sessions are worth attending!

Jay Verkler the President and CEO of FamilySearch spoke to us.  He basically put out the same information that we Geneabloggers got at our dinner which you can read about here.  Seriously, though, if you haven't started helping to index the various projects that FamilySearch has, why not?  These are important.  They are trying to bring more and more records to you with the images.  This is so vital to our research.  To be able to see an image of the document we are using is a necessity!  You don't have to sign your life away to indexing.  Just do it.  One or two...or lots more!  You aren't making a promise to sit there and index all day every day, but one is better than none and it benefits us all.  Know a Scout that is looking for a project?  This is a great opportunity and it really benefits the research community.

The second part of the Closing Ceremony was with Senator Glenn F. McConnell giving us all a presentation on the H. L. Hunley.  A confederate submarine that was so ahead of it's time.  It sank for the last time after destroying the Union ship, the Housatonic, in February 1864.  At the height of its glory, the vessel and crew were lost.  They would be found over 100 years later in May 1995 and it would be another 9 years before the submarine was completely raised, conserved and the crew given a proper burial.  I didn't know anything about the Hunley before this presentation, but I can tell you that I was on the edge of my seat during Senator McConnell's presentation.  At the time I didn't know if the recovery was a success, failure, or even still in progress so I was hanging on his every word for the outcome!  He was riveting.  A proper story-teller! If you would like to learn more about the H. L. Hunley, it's recovery, crew, etc check out the Friends of the Hunley website!

9:30am - "Research Reports:  Meeting Standards" presented by Claire Bettag, CG, CGL - An excellent class by Ms. Bettag and well worth attending.  She covered the various types of research reports and where to find examples (about halfway down the page you will see the subject "Research Reports" and then links to some examples).  Not only did she talk about writing a good research report, she drove home the point that you need to include time to write these reports in your billable hours.  The report is as significant to a client as the documents you obtain (even though the client may not appreciate it's significance until that finished report is presented to them with the research!).  I really enjoyed hearing about reports especially since I haven't done any.  What was the juiciest bonus was being able to listen to Ms. Bettag talk about how she billed clients, what you need to make sure is itemized in the billing statement and why.  Honestly, that should be a class in and of itself!

11am - "Convincing Your Audience:  How to Construct a Proof Statement" presented by Barbara Vines Little, CG, FVGS - another great class!  Essentially there are 2 types of proof statements, 1) a proof summary, you've got documents to provide the proof, and 2) proof arguments, where you do not have documents showing direct proof of a relationship and you need to "argue" your research with documents that you used to come to the conclusion you arrived at.  Again, the BCG Standards Manual (affiliate link) is referenced  as well as the necessity to conduct a "reasonably exhaustive search".  These are recurring themes so if you don't have the Manual, you really need to check it out!  Essential element of information...make sure you resolve all conflicts that arose as you conducted your research.  If you haven't resolved each conflict, your argument will not hold water.  The conclusion you came to may be correct, but you will not have proven it without a resolution of conflict.

2:30pm - "Identity Crises:  Right Name, Wrong Man? Wrong Names, Right Man?" presented by Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG, FNGS, FUGA - Honestly, I did not take a ton of notes here, but it wasn't because I was drooling on my notebook (as was my fear in a previous lecture).  Elizabeth Shown Mills is the most exceptional speaker I have ever had the privilege to hear!  I was completely engrossed in her lecture and had to urge myself to break away and take notes!  The amount of knowledge she has is incredible.  She covered various reasons why people from all walks of life may have changed their names from assuming a loved one's name after their death, to names becoming truncated, to assuming a name after the region/land they lived on (which could end up changing if they moved!).  A riveting lecture, but these characters could certainly leave their descendants cursing their names for the changes and ensuing difficulties in tracking them!

4pm - "Debunking the Myths Surrounding the Military Personnel Records Center" presented by Patricia Walls Stamm, CG, CGL - turn away now unless you want brutal honesty!  If you were looking for the magic code to get the folks in St. Louis to respond to a request, you have not found the Holy Grail!  I (and I suspect many of the others that sat in on this lecture) hoped to find out why it seems that we only get back a form-letter response from the Military Personnel Records Center (MPRC) informing us of a fire or of a next-of-kin relationship that is needed (or both).  Well, I can at least let you know that as to the next-of-kin bit...if you are not the spouse, child (think direct line here, people), then you ain't getting the record.  That means my great uncle's record, (never married or had children) will not be sent to me...until (and thankfully there is an "until") 62 years after the discharge of the servicemember.  At 62 years the records go from the hand of the military to NARA and can be accessed (and for me it's been at least 62 years).  This doesn't help in regards to the fire though...  We were assured that the staff does their best to fully service all requests, but when receiving 500 new requests a day, they are back-logged and it can take 6 months or more before a request is fulfilled.  I can accept that, if they were actually taking time on my request!  Allow me to go off on a tangent....

Three weeks prior to attending the NGS conference I sent a request to MPRC in St. Louis requesting information on my great uncle, Thomas Brown's, service in the Army.  I found his record showing where and when he enlisted on Ancestry.com.  I not only filled out the appropriate SF180, but included a cover letter with additional details regarding my uncle.  I effectively included every detail of information I had on him with my submission.  One week before leaving for the conference I received a letter from MPRC.  Enclosed was a form-letter explaining to me the whole "next of kin" bullshit as well as the fire.  They enclosed another SF180 and asked that I fill it in with as much information as I had in order for them to see if any portion of his record survived the fire of 1973.  I was livid.  Had they looked at my original request  at all?!?!?!  I know they are busy and I'm certainly prepared to wait for a response, but don't send me crap to try to delay the search!  At least that was my interpretation...and they should take that interpretation, because the only other one I have is that they are grossly incompetent!

So my take away from this lecture was:

     -Researching in person is much more effective then sending in a request, but you still need to contact them, forever and a day in advance with your travel plans to ensure that there is a chance of a possibility of a maybe that they may find the records you are looking for in time for your visit. 

     -Make sure that you have the appropriate visitation pass to grace their site because if you've got a pass for NARA in DC (or any other branch throughout the U.S.) it doesn't work there.

     -If they tell you that they couldn't find the record you are searching for, wait a awhile and resubmit the request, and resubmit the request and resubmit the request, because eventually the fairies that stole the stash of surviving burned records and odd socks, drop them on someone's desk and you may be lucky enough to see a copy of the record (if you get the right person...apparently the fairies don't like them all).

     -The magic number is 62 years...then you can screw the next of kin crap and instead deal with the previously mentioned fairies.

One last tip that was given to us (and I just know you'll love this one) is to not inundate MPRC with requests.  Wait until one request is fulfilled before submitting another.  Yeah...OK...how long were you planning on living?  Me, personally, I don't have that kind of time!  I don't want to have to will my research on to my great grandkids!  I can understand not sending in 5 requests at once, but you've got to be drinking some wacky stuff if you think I'm going to wait for those staffers to fulfill a request before I start swimming through their river of bullshit again to submit another!

Tangent complete.

So not the best way to finish an absolutely incredible conference, but please walk away knowing that the conference was truly an excellent and repeatable experience!  If you haven't gone, you really need to start saving those pennies because it will be worth every one that you spend!

I'll be getting into reviewing some of the goodies I purchased and looked at as well as some of the booths I visited, in the next few days.  I survived today's PTA meeting, but have a Pack of wonderful little Cub Scouts that want their awards and advancements on Monday.  I'll get out the next post as soon as possible!

NGS Conference In Review - Day 3

I swear!  Since returning home I have been inundated with general stupidity.  It's the end of the school year so it's time for the final award ceremony for Cub Scouts, a final PTA event, and then immediately after the kids get out of school...Cub Scout Day Camp.  I bet you'll never guess who's a key player in those.  Aaargh!

It looks like I just have to tread water until mid-June and then I may not feel like I'm sinking any longer.  Either way the conference did nothing but keep my motivation up to get out from under this volunteerism that keeps biting me in the behind.  So on that note, I'll continue with day 3 of the conference!

Jenn Woods, Alison Stacy, me and Ellie Woods (Jenn's daughter)

On Friday I spent the entire day between the BCG Skillbuilding track and the Methodology and Research classes, and I loved it!  I also got to meet Alison Stacy from Family Tree Magazine and the "Naked Cowboy's" dad (long story, which I will get to in another blog).  It was very excited to be able to finally meet the Family Tree Magazine staff.  I love the magazine, the podcasts, and it was great to be able to put faces with the names and voices! And, of course, I had to whip out the camera and ask for a Kodak moment!

8am - "Reporting the Facts:  Record as You Go" presented by Pamela Boyer Sayre, CG, CGL - a very big take-away from this class is that whether you are a genealogist doing your own research or a genealogist being paid to do someone else's, don't feel guilty about taking time to write your reports.  They are an essential part of your research and need to be completed in a timely manner (and "on the clock").  After all the reports are a very important part of what the client is getting!  The reports are going to help explain to your descendants what all these files you bothered saving actually say and how you came to your conclusions!  If you write as you conduct research the majority will be done apart from some tweaking.  The hardest part is to get in the habit of doing just that.  The class was more in depth than that and we were shown how to generate a Table of Contents, Index, Footnotes, etc to make our reports look more professional.  It may sound boring, but it wasn't and this class was excellent.


9:30am - "Helen F.M. Leary Distinguished Lecture - The Genealogical Proof Standard:  What It Is and What it Is Not" presented by Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS - If you've been following the other bloggers that attended the NGS conference, I'm certainly that you heard that Tom Jones' lectures are a cannot miss...that is 100% true!  If you ever get to hear him present, don't pass it up!  As I mentioned, I took a class on what a "reasonably exhaustive search" is and that theme does not go away in many of these classes.  It can't.  It's essential.  If you are just looking at an abstract or a transcript of a document, you need to stop and find that original (or the closest thing to the original as possible).  Abstracts and transcripts can be WRONG!  Human error.  Seriously, we type or blogs and by the time we get to the end there are mistakes.  Well, if someone is making an abstract/transcription, they are subject to the same human error.  If they are making a lot of them, how soon do you think it would take before you're going blind on paperwork?  Cite your sources (another element that is pounded into us and needs to be) and make sure that your work is clear, concise, and cited so that someone else can repeat it and hopefully agree with your conclusions.  The standards are laid out quite nicely in the BCG Standards Manual.  It really is an essential book even if you aren't considering certification.  It helps you make sure that you've done all you can and that the conclusions you are coming to are the best and most accurate they can be!


11am - "Kinship Determination:  Are They Really My Ancestors?" presented by Kay Haviland Freilich, CG, CGL - I'm so glad this class wasn't given after lunch or someone would have had to douse me with water to wake me up.  I felt like I was back in the Army and felt like I should probably stand up and move to the back of the room so as to not fall asleep.  I didn't do it, but staying awake was hard.  To sum up...I took absolutely no notes in this class.  I was afraid I would drool on my notebook...

2:30pm - "Speaking from the Grave: Exploring Probate Files" presented by Sharon Tate Moody, CG - Confession time.  I never ordered a probate file.  I naively figured that since my ancestors were fairly poor that it wouldn't be worth my time.  Yes...I'm a dumbass!  It never even crossed my mind that if I ordered my 3rd great grandfather's probate file that it might name his siblings in America (that I believe, but cannot confirm, lived in Pittsburgh) or their children.  It has the potential of revealing so much information when you think that you are at a dead end.  The motivation I felt leaving this class is almost indescribable!  Just keep in mind that even if your ancestors died intestate (without a will), if they had property (and I'm not just talking about land) it had to be taken care of.  That's not to say that everyone had a probate file, but you will most likely found that in more cases than not, there is one, so why not check!  Ms. Moody recommends a legal dictionary/source book to use when researching and the older the better!  Remember, we care about those old outdated definitions and how things used to be done.  Also, when looking at an ancestor's probate, make sure you understand what the laws of the time and region were regarding inheritance.  It may explain some odd things you come across in the packet!

4pm - "Building Better Citations" presented by Alison Hare, CG - I know...classes on citations probably excite you about as much as writing citations, but that doesn't mean that we can ignore them.  It's important that we learn to do them, do them as we research, and do them right!  Footnotes are preferable because if someone is reading your research they should be able to check the citation at the bottom of the page and not be continuously flipping to the back.  It was noted that endnotes are fine for citing your own family's research.  Naturally, Evidence Explained (affiliate link) was mentioned as the source to have. If you don't own a copy, why don't you?  Elisabeth Shown Mills has put together an excellent guide that will show you how to cite almost every possible resource we as genealogists would come across.  Ms. Hare makes some excellent points including the fact that the more you cite, the easier it will become.  Yes, you will have to check the book until you get used to citations, but they will come to you eventually and "click".  You will understand how they flow and be able to write them out like a pro with practice.  In the meantime, don't be afraid to make mistakes!

Friday the 13th was actually a pretty good day at NGS!

NGS Conference - In Review - Day 2

The Exhibit Hall - Oh the things you'll see!

Day 2 began with a pretty big challenge.  There was a 2 session long class on BCG Certification and while I really wanted to go there were other classes that I wanted to go to as well.  Since I was going to many of the other BCG Skill-Building classes I didn't choose this one.

8am - "A Professional Researcher's Tips and Tricks to the Family History Library Catalog" presented by Daniel S. Poffenberger, AG - The new search is about 1/3 to 1/2 complete, but the hope is that full implementation will happen in 3-4 months.  FamilySearch assures everyone that the old search will not be taken away until the new search is as good or better.  Bottom line with many of the tips and tricks:  don't just search under one of the search topics.  Try using as little information as possible and then add more to narrow the search down if you get too many hits.  Also the developers want your feedback!  They really are looking to get this right, so make sure you provide feedback if you see something you like or if there is something that doesn't seem to work right.  How often do you hear that!?!

9:30am - "Researching Eighteenth-Century Germans" presented by John T. Humphrey, CG - I was disappointed in this class.  It's not that John Humphrey wasn't a good speaker.  He was fine.  The title of his lecture was not.  The assumption I made was that I would be hearing about researching in Germany.  It wasn't.  I could have found something salvageable if maybe he spoke about 18th century Germans in the United States...not so much.  So what was the class about.  Pretty much researching your 18th German ancestors that either were in Pennsylvania or started out there.  There were the occasional references to Germans moving elsewhere, but that was it.  Not even an acknowledgement that they may have come to the country to go straight for another state, oh I don't know, maybe...WISCONSIN!  I don't know that the syllabus stated that the subject would be so narrow, but I will be checking once I finally get back home tomorrow and unpack it.  Bottom line...never assume...

11am - "German Territories and Maps:  You Can't Do Research Without Them" presented by F. Warren Bittner, CG - OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  He more than made up for the 9:30 class!  I could not believe the things he found!  A floor plan for an ancestor's house.  Some great dirt on an ancestor too that had to fight for 10 years before he was permitted to marry the woman he loved (and three kids illegitimate in the meantime).  There are more than just vital and church records to researching in Germany.  Remember that there were many and varied agencies/authorities that generated records and you need to check them!  Even more important...you need to know where the city/village is located in Germany and where it was during the time you are researching.  If you remember even a little of your German history, you'll remember that it's borders were more fluid than the faucet in the bathroom. 

2:30pm - What Exactly is a 'Reasonably Exhaustive Search'?" presented by Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG - a very good lecture that certainly showed me that I may need to dig deeper in some of my ancestors or risk linking wrong people to my tree.  You need to check all potentially relevant sources (and as close to the original source document as possible) and resolve any conflicts that arise in that search.  You need to use a wide variety of sources (not just vital records, census records, etc) and you also need to consider the reliability of each source.  Want to know more?  I did.  I grabbed the BCG's "Standards Manual" as soon as I could get to the exhibit hall!

4pm - "In the Wilderness and On the Battlefields With Your Civil War Ancestor" presented by Sharon Tate Moody, CG - I wasn't going to go to this lecture, but the others scheduled for this slot either seemed to basic or to regionally specific, so I tagged along with Jenn Woods to this class.  If nothing else, I'm a student of history.  Jenn finds it incredible that I don't have any direct line ancestors that served in the Civil War.  I agree with her on that, but I haven't found them yet.  I promised I would perform my "reasonably exhaustive search" on that when I got back home.  The class was excellent.  Sharon Tate Moody did an excellent job illustrating how attitudes and circumstances changed as the war progressed.  She urged that we look into the unit our ancestors were assigned to in order to put some "meat on the bones" and see what battles they fought in and what life was like for them in those units.  It certainly brings those ancestors to life.  Oh where, oh where are my Civil War ancestors! 

That's Day 2 minus any purchases I got in the exhibit hall.  I'll be arriving home Monday afternoon and hopefully the Cub Scout party won't prevent me from blogging tomorrow night, but no promises.  I will get Day 3 out to everyone as soon as possible!

NGS Conference - In Review - Day 1

So the conference is now over and it's time to prepare for the drive back to Killeen, TX.  A bit bummed that I couldn't post every evening, but with Blogger crashing and then acting a bit wonky yesterday I didn't want to risk it.  It doesn't appear that everything is back to 100% (I'm still noticing little things here and there), but I'll try to get this blog out and hope it doesn't fly off into the ether....

Opening Day (11MAY2011) - Already posted about the awesome opening session so I'll touch on the classes I took...and I will be honest about them!

    11am - "Chasing the Poor and Landless in Ireland" presented by David E. Rencher, AG, CG, FIGRS, FUGA - There is absolutely nothing I can say to do this class justice.  It was one of my favorites.  Bottom line, there ARE most likely records on many of your Irish ancestors, you just need to look in the right place!  Workhouses, poor houses, outrage (crime) papers, etc...all those things generated records!  Don't just look for Vital Records.  David E. Rencher is an excellent presenter and if you can hear him speak, take advantage of it!

     2:30pm - "Search for Ancestors in Passenger Arrival Records" presented by Julie Miller, CG - A good class for beginners, but that doesn't mean that I didn't walk away with a nice refresher.  I think we sometimes need to be reminded of the various ways to search different record groups, i.e. - search for just the first name (in case the surname is spelled differently).  Other tips?  Don't stop with the index...find the original or as close to the original as possible.  This was actually a pretty big theme in most classes.  Also, make sure you copy the entire passenger list.  There could be other relatives that aren't listed right next to them or even on the same page!

     4pm - "Solving Genealogical Problems by Isolating Errors in Records" presented by Henry B. Hoff, CG, FASG - a very good class.  Touched on issues that I was familiar with or had guessed were reasons behind differences in records, but he explained the "whys" and that really helps.  Some points - remember how the words were used at the time, i.e. - just because they called someone brother doesn't mean they weren't a half-brother, step-brother.  Also, calling people by relationships that simply did not apply.  We still do this today (I know I'm guilty of it).  Both of my grandparents passed away before I was born.  There was a sweet widow, Hazel Blum, that lived next door and we called her Nana.  When my first son was born we referred to some close Army friends as "Aunt Jaime" and "Uncle Rusty", but there was no relation.  My mom went through the same thing and while she knew that her "Aunt" wasn't a relation, it made things very confusing when I first started the family research!

That was Day 1.  I'd love to talk more about each class, but we really aren't supposed to share too much.  When I start putting some of the things I learned to use, I will be posting about them to be sure.  At least I can share that way!

I've seen people tweeting about being frustrated by the lack of tweets.  So on the off-chance any of them pop on over, I'll explain...Some fellow Geneabloggers and I attempted to tweet and were actually successful in the Performance Center, but as soon as you got near a classroom (or even in many hallways) it was like we hit a dead zone. The result was that with our fully charged phones on, continually attempting to search for Internet and phone signal, the batteries were dead or almost dead by 5pm.  A few of us did try hopping outside to tweet in between classes, but there were simply some classes that if you didn't get to, you were likely to not get a seat!

What made things worse was the Social Media Policy that went out.  We were under the impression that social media was being encouraged, but before each class we were told to turn off (not silence) our phones.  Not that it mattered too much since we had no signal to tweet, but if we had this could have been a bigger issue.  People really need to embrace this whole crazy social media "fad".  It's not going away people.  Get with the program or get left behind.

OK, enough griping :)  It was a wonderful day and there were no classes that made me want to nap!

More tomorrow...there is still so much more to tell!

Technical Difficulties...Please Stand By...

After dinner this evening with some of our fellow Geneabloggers, I was debating whether to post or not.  I was super tired (still am really), but didn't post last night because Blogger was on the fritz.  I reviewed my most recent blog post and it had some odd characters in it and comments missing, so I'm going to give the people at Blogger a little while longer before posting NGS Conference news.  I don't want to get into a nice, long post to have it wiped out if the site goes down again. 

Lots to talk about from classes to the exhibit hall, but it will keep a while longer.  I hope to be back tomorrow! (And as I just went to tag my post I saw some more odd characters...anyone else still having issues?)

Those Places Thursday - The NGS Conference

The Exhibit Hall

It was such an exciting day!  I know other genealogists and I attempted to send out tweets early in the morning during the Opening Session and were relatively successful, but after the Opening Session concluded and we went around to the Exhibit Hall and other classes, social media seemed to take a permanent dive.  The sad result was that the battery to my phone was almost completely drained by the end of the day since it was trying to catch a signal.  So if the tweets are few and far between it's certainly not from a lack of information to relay! 

The first big news of the day was the upcoming NGS conference dates/locations.  It was common knowledge that next year's conference was going to be in Cincinnati, OH (OK...I just found out the other day, but I tend to live in a box sometimes!) on May 9-12, 2012.  Then this morning NGS released that the 2013 NGS conference will be in LAS VEGAS, NV!  Get ready for Sin City!
 

Charleston Police Pipes and Drums

We were treated by some bagpipe music from the Charleston Police Pipes and Drums (very cool...I love a good kilt!) and then the Knights of Columbus conducted the flag ceremony.  The attendees were polled and asked that those who never had been to an NGS conference to please stand.  I would guess that at least half of us stood up.  We were then asked to stand if we were members of NGS.  It was so great to see that the majority of people stood up.  It was hard to see anyone sitting from where I was!

Knights of Columbus

Tributes, awards/honors and prizes were handed out and then our sponsor, Archives.com, came out and talked to us briefly about who they are and why we should check them out.  Archives.com wants to be able to make family history more affordable and seeks to add records to their collection that are not being offered on genealogy sites.  I haven't really dealt with Archives.com before and the thought of being asked to pay for another membership so I can view records made me cringe a bit.  After all, I auction off my first born annually for an Ancestry.com membership...OK, a little melodramatic, but it's not cheap to go around to all these various sites and shell out cash here and there!  Well, Archives.com sweetened the deal for us.  The NGS attendees that visit their booth are given a card with 6 months access to the site free of charge!  You can be sure I'll be diving into that and giving a review at a later date!  Thanks Archives.com!

Next we were treated to a talk by no less that the Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero.  He talked to us about changes that are going to be occurring at NARA which should streamline operations for the staff as well as for researchers.  NARA is being brought into current times with blogs, a YouTube site, Flickr photos, Twitter (@archivesnews), Facebook, etc.  With all the changes that are being planned, make sure you're checking out one of the social media sites mentioned so you will be on top of all the great stuff that will be on its way!  A final word by archivist Ferriero...spread the word about how important these documents are.  Make sure funding isn't cut, that they get preserved properly and that the public continues to have access to them!  Make sure the people making these decisions know that these documents and records are important to you, your work and to our country's history!

Buzzy Jackson

Jenn Woods, Buzzy Jackson, Ellie Woods and me

Finally, we were treated to another presentation, this time by Buzzy Jackson about her book Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Accidental Genealogist.  She was absolutley the most animated and entertaining speaker I have heard in quite so time!  I think the majority of the attendees left saying, "I've got to read that book!"  What's the book about?  Well, having just gotten my signed copy this evening, I can only give you a little taste of what Buzzy gave us!  She was not always interested in genealogy.  A PhD from Berkley in History, she seemed to know all about history...except her own.  She did have a brief encounter with genealogy before her son was born, but it wasn't until after that she really began to wonder who her people were.  I've got to say that if her book is anything like her presentation, it will be a hit!  I will be sure to post a review as soon as I get it read!

I was intending on telling a little about the classes I took today, but I've already posted way too much and if you've made it this far you deserve a drink on me!  So go and crack open a cold one (beer, iced tea, etc) and enjoy!

I will share some of today's classes tomorrow and leave you with this...I got to meet DearMYRTLE!  Pat Richley is an absolute sweetheart and I would have loved to talk to her for hours!

DearMYRTLE (Pat Richley) and me

On the Road!

I'm very excited. 

I'll be on the road this weekend on my way to Charleston, SC for the NGS conference.  My first genealogy conference! 

I've never been to Charleston before so it truly will be an adventure!  I'm excited that I'll be seeing two friends from my college days as I drive out and will be seeing a dear friend from Army days (and fellow blogger), Jenn Woods from Climbing My Family Tree at the conference!  Lots of stuff to look forward to, but my boys are very sad to see momma go.  This will really be the first time I've been away without them in years.  It'll be nice to have time to myself, but there's been lots of extra hugs and kisses given to me this evening and it does make it harder to go.  They asked for me to wake them up before I get int he car so I can give final hugs and kisses...not caring at all that it will be 5:00am. 

Thank goodness for cell phones.  I'm sure they'll start enjoying time with daddy shortly after I leave.  I just hope that daddy has the stamina to play single dad for the next 9 days!

I'll be back to blogging come Sunday night or Monday morning so everyone have a beautiful weekend!

Thankful Thursday - I'm going to Charleston!

I'm always so thankful for my husband, but he's got me particularly thankful right now.  He's cleared his schedule for the week of May 11-14th so I can go to the NGS conference in Charleston! 

This is no small thing.  He usually leaves for work before the kids would be allowed to show up for school and gets home a couple hours after they are out of school.  I'm also the one that herds the kids in the morning and gets them ready to go so this will no doubt be a challenge for him, since I'm the one dealing with the toddler that doesn't want to get out of bed in the morning and then not want to dress or eat!  My oldest is pretty much maintenance free.  You just have to get him out of the shower before he uses all the hot water.

I can appreciate the sacrifice he'll be making at work and the strain that this may no doubt have on his patience!  Hopefully, this period won't make him totally adverse to the possibility of having more children.  Sometimes kids can be unusually effective birth control!

I'm not going to worry about any of that.  My husband is awesome and will probably be out eating pizza, Chipotle, and partying with the boys while I'm in genealogy heaven!

I'm going to try to show up early so I can have an entire day to myself to go exploring at Fort Sumter!  I'm a history buff and absolutely love the National Park Service!  I'm always dragging the kids around to National Parks as we drive around this wonderful country during our summers.  This time, though, I'll be alone and able to walk through casually without worrying if the kids are trying to wander off!  I'll be able to take pictures at my leisure!  Hopefully, I'll be able to see an old friend from college as well!  One of my dearest friends from my Army days in San Antonio will be attending the conference too!

If anyone has tips for a conference newbie, I'd love to hear them!  I'll be scouring the NGS blog and website for all the postings on the conference, but nothing beat experience, so I'm looking for advice.  It's time to start preparing!