Thoughts on Cleaning and Life (and Genealogy!)

I had started writing a comment to Greta over at Greta's Genealogy Blog about her response to the ongoing Geneamommy posts down the street and around the bend at The Scrappy Genealogist. (Ah, the genea-neighborhood). It got so long, I decided to shuttle my response over to this blog, so as not to hog all of Greta's screen space.

Firstly, what a great surprise to hear about Geneamommys! When I started this blog nigh four years ago, I had just had my first son, and I wasn't running into too many women who were trying to balance caring for young children with working on genealogy. My blog was going well, when, well, nature struck and I got pregnant with my daughter, who was born in January of 2010!

After a hiatus from blogging in order to accommodate myself to the new chaos of raising a toddler and a preschooler at the same time, I see that all sorts of new gals have joined the brigade, and I'm so excited about it!

But on to what Greta posted, about her dozen ways to get life in order, in order to get to life.

I particularly agree with #7 and #11. For #7 (chucking paper where digital will do), I know that since I got my Kindle two years ago I have purchased only two books in physical form... this from the person who had shipments coming in from Dover books many times per year. I cleared out the bookcases for donations to a prison reading program, keeping only the books I treasured most or knew I would read again. The bookcases are no longer groaning under the weight of a mass of modernist and victorian lit paperbacks, and I can change my mind about what I want to read in the middle of the night without having to get out of bed. How's that for improvement and making life easier?

And for #11 (sweating the small stuff so that it doesn't sweat you)... it's so true. Being in the "intense" phase of parenthood with a 4yo and 1.5 yo, the little things tend to not get done. When I walk around the house and count the chores, I get dismally tired!

To combat the stress, I scaled back my freelance work load for the rest of the year in order to get our house under control again, and it is making a huge difference. Cleaning out the fridge, defrosting the freezer in the garage, hanging up pictures that have been leaning against the wall for the better part of a year... stuff like that. It makes the world seem so much more serene when I feel like I have some semblance of control.

And that sense of serenity is what I need, what with the busy life I have tending to the kids, taking care of the house, cooking for the family, not to mention helping out my 81yo mother, visiting my father who is in assisted living, completing my freelance writing and editing work, completing the last five chapters of my first fiction novel, and shopping around my nonfiction manuscript to agents!

When my son goes into 1st grade next year, I'm hoping to place my daughter in a full-day care a few days a week, so that I can have some time to work on my projects in an uninterrupted fashion. If all goes well, in a few years, I'll have published my first two books, resurrected my now-dormant research and record retrieval services for the Bay Area, and be running my own team of writers offering editorial services to websites and blogs.

Well, a Geneamommy can dream, right?

Oh I Wish I Were in Charleston, Hurrah, Hurrah... or: The Charleston "Mariner's Church"

Words can't describe how badly I wanted to attend the NGS conference in Charleston, SC, where most of our noted brethren are headed this week.

My husband has a heavy swath of ancestors in Charleston, as well as some relatives living there today. We had the good fortune to visit in 2006, and I was enraptured by the city, which is so historical, so charming, so grandiose yet so comfortable.

In order to calm my envious passions, I have been devoting myself to some long overdue Charleston research. In trying to connect a certain gentleman to my husband's family, I found the funeral notice for his wife:

The Relatives, Friends and Acquaintances of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. H. Harvey, and of Captain John Carnighan and family, are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral Services of the Wife of the former, at the Mariner's Church, THIS MORNING, at 10 o'clock.-The Charleston Daily News, 13 December 1871.

I know that Mr. Harvey's father was a shipwright, and dear William may have been one as well. Mrs. Harvey's father, John Carnighan, was a Capt. Thus, I suppose, the affiliation with the Mariner's Church.

I found some interesting information on the church, which was actually heavily damaged in the 1886 Charleston earthquake:



The church was a Baptist one, which is an interesting piece of information for my research.

There is an interesting image of the Mariner's Church, post-earthquake, at the Charleston Museum site, here.

Interested in the history of the First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina? Well, the internet has that too. Now if only it could jet me over to Charleston while the kids are taking their afternoon nap...

Well, That Took A While!

Ah, yes, so it's May already. And I note that I've had a wish for a Happy New Year up since the dawn of the first day of the year... so it goes, in life, and in life, and in life.

At any rate, a few months, a layoff and a re-employment, and a foray into freelance writing later, I'm back and ready to cover some items of interest in genealogy.

Can I get an AMEN?

(Almost) Wordless Wednesdays: Sweet, Sweet Family History

My husband's Great-Great Grandfather, John Richard McIntosh, the famous confectioner of Columbia, South Carolina. Date unknown.

A Moving Experience [Personal]

Well, the housing crisis really came home for our family when we found out our former landlord was losing his house to foreclosure. I had been happy that as renters, our stake in the current mess would be limited to matters of home economics, and not to our place of residence. Unfortunately, that turned out to not be the case, and a rather impromptu and unplanned move soon followed.

We're getting settled in now, and as often happens, I see a lot of possibility and happiness in our new home and neighborhood. It was just an expensive and exhausting adventure to get us here! Follow the chaos of boxes, boxes, boxes with the recent (much-needed) waterlogging of our area (paired with an outdoorsy toddler) and things have been a mite rough. I'm glad to say, though, that my files are unpacked, the number of boxes are dwindling, and things are getting back on course. I hope to be posting regularly again by the end of the week. Thanks everyone for your patience!

Accomplishments and Resolutions [Personal]

'Tis that time of year again, and a good opportunity to re-gauge direction in this meandering experience we call life.

Accomplishments

I didn't take the time to propose any formal resolutions for 2008, but I made a good set of accomplishments this year that I will list here for posterity's sake:

1. My first article in a genealogy journal was published in the Summer of this year. The California Genealogical Society blog was kind enough to post about my article, since I am a member there. I was excited that the article was published, even though when I read back on it, it seems a little stilted. Ah well, if we don't see room for improvement, I suppose we'll never see reason to try it.

2. I lost thirty pounds this year, in about four months. I had a good diet and started running, all of which combined to finally get me back into wearing a belt! Both endeavors have been pretty shoddy during the past month, but I aim to keep them going next year, as you'll see below.

3. (Almost) debt-free! My husband and I paid off our car loan this year, so now all I owe is a mountain of cash for my under-utilized (but personally appreciated) graduate degree. What with other matters more pressing, I think trying to pay off the student loan early can wait. I'm proud of our accomplishment in this regard, though. It is very freeing to start off the month by paying yourself and your future, instead of some creditor.

Resolutions

I have a modest five things I hope to accomplish in 2009:

1. Run a 5K

2. Run Bay to Breakers

3. Attain beginning conversational skill in Mandarin

4. Publish another genealogy article

5. Finally get all of the data in my database properly organized, reviewed and cited!

Remarkably, it's number five that seems like the real doozy!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to All! [Personal]

Sorry for the lack of posts this month; December came crashing down on this family like a sledgehammer, but we escaped without too much damage! Long and short of my experiences this month: this year's flu is a lingerer, the DMV is a time-consuming bureaucracy, and the housing crisis can come home to roost even if you're a renter. Luckily, we're now all healthy, our car's registration records are all sorted out, and we have (as of today) rented a nice, much larger home into which we'll be moving come January 15th. In short, God has been good to us, despite the trying month we've had.

In that spirit, I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, or just a generally peaceful, loving and wonderful holiday season. It's been a trying year for everyone in this country, but I look around and realize how blessed I am with the love of family, the camaraderie of friends, and the endless gifts of sharing, interest and kindness from the online genealogy crowd. You guys have been supportive, inspiring, and just generally awesome. I look forward to spending 2009 with you all!

I'll be back after the New Year with some new series, and, if everything goes right, some online tutorial videos. In the meantime, I'll be taking some time to rest!

Graveyard Rabbitin' [Personal]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I am rabbitin' up a storm over at my Graveyard Rabbit blog, Graveyard Rabbit of Contra Costa County!

Thanks a million to Terry Thornton for bringing a fun new endeavor into my blogging mix.

On President Obama [Personal]

I have been today, like much of last night, crying and feeling amazed.

Whoever you were rooting for in this election, one has to feel pride that America has done something momentous, something that re-establishes and re-asserts the truth of what seemed to be the mythology of our society; namely, that we are a meritocracy, and do not winnow those who seek to excel by their sex, background, or race.

I become truly amazed when I see this election through the eyes of my son. He's 1.5 now; by the end of Obama's first term, he will be in Kindergarten, and understand who the President of the United States is. That it will never occur to him that a black man with a "funny sounding name" could NOT be President, that he will be incredulous that we've only had ONE black president, will make my heart warm all over again.

There is a whole generation of children in this country who are living in a better world not because of Barack Obama and his politics, but because of the voters of the United States, who reaffirmed once again that barriers stand no chance against the progress of this amazing country.

Wordless Wednesdays: Great-Great Grandparents

My great-great grandparents, George Washington Burgess and Maria Ann Boans. Image obtained initially via the Boston Studio Project, now viewable via Nebraska Memories website.

Getting to Know Me, Getting to Know RDGR [Random]

I love Terry's idea of a general "get to know me" post, so here I am, asking you to get to know me, and get to know Rainy Day Genealogy Readings.

Some Tidbits About Me

• 32 years old, married for four years, one adorable 16-month-old son
  
  
  
• Stay-at-home mom, and lucky to be such
  
  
  
• Registered Republican, but have voted Green Party and Democrat in the past (believe it or not). I vote on the candidates and my own core issues, and pretty much loathe party platforms.
  
  
  
• Committed bibliophile; thrift stores and Dover are my favorite places to shop!
  
  
  
• I have a BA in English from the University of Rochester, and an MA from Mills College
  
  
  
• I am half Sicilian
  
  
  
• I love crafting, and knit, crochet, weave, embroider, and do paper-crafts
  
  
  
• The internet is my lifeline, and has been for about the past thirteen years.
  

Why I Blog

In short, genealogy is a great intellectual stimulation for me, which I need very much, and which can sometimes be sorely lacking in the life of a stay-at-home mom. Blending my son's naptime with writing, research, blogging and transcription work has kept me afloat and kept me feeling connected to the rest of the world, even when being at home can be a little lonely. I enjoy the connections I have made, indeed the friends I have made. That's the main reason I blog.

Secondly, I am internet-addicted, and see limitless potential online. As a younger member of the genealogy circles, I try to bring a different perspective to the way research and information is approached online. I see genealogy as a discipline growing and changing right before my eyes, and I want to be a part of the movement that brings family history research into the realm of this new technology-oriented age.

My Best

A. Brightest: iGoogle and Organizing Your Online Research

One of my early posts, this one captures what I am really trying to do in this blog: present online tools and show my readers how helpful they can be in accomplishing our research goals.

B. Sassiest: Ancestry Newspaper Rollout: Why I Say "Meh"

I love Ancestry.com, I really do, but in some respects, they fail, and fail hard; the poor treatment of their potentially invaluable newspaper resource is one example.

C. Beautiful: Extra! Extra! Rethinking Newspaper Research

I don't have any "beautiful" posts per se, so I chose this post, which captures a subject I am becoming increasingly passionate about: the necessity of incorporating newspaper research into our research toolbox.

Getting to Know Me

I am a pretty introverted person, a bookish sort, and have been all my life. One of the most surprising, but pleasant, things I have discovered, is that by writing a blog, you CAN get to know people, and people want to get to know you. I am pretty starched-shirt business-only with my blog, but my ultimate goal is to provide a usable tool to others, and to get to know the little world of geneabloggers a little better. Please don't hesitate to let me know if a post helps or confuses you! As I tell my little son quite often, "Helping others can be so much fun!"