New Things - A Car, A Calendar and Physical Therapy

The summer has not been boring! Trying to fit working on EVERYDAY GENEALOGY, my 'day job' in the software industry and weekends with my wonderful granddaughter Tori was hard enough. Then came the car accident, buying a new car and now physical therapy - it's enough to tire a girl out.

But, enough about me and more about EVERYDAY GENEALOGY . I had an idea early in 2010 that a calendar would be a great project for a group of friends or a society to create and sell. By doing it as a group no one person would have to pull together 365 tips. I am lucky to have a friend like Pam who knew that this was something I could do and nudged me to do it myself. She also has helped me at times when I was in a slump and given me a few tips of her own!

I submitted the concept to a publisher and was turned down. Chuck, my practical half, thought that I should go ahead and publish it on my own. I researched a number of the self publishing companies and did not find one that did 'sheet a day' types of calendars. Lucky for me, through family contacts I have found a printer, tapped my sister to handle the graphics and a host of friends to help me pick out the cover art!

So next week I should be sending the calendar to the printer, taking Tori shopping for school supplies and clothes and starting physical therapy.

Did I mention that Chuck found a soft shell baby turtle by the back door?

It seems when it hatched it missed the pond (where its parents live). Chuck and Tori thought we should keep it in the house until it gets a little bigger. It now lives in an aquarium on the lanai and I have a container of worms (the turtle's favorite food) in my refrigerator.

More on the turtle, Everyday Genealogy and my boring life next time.

Visit: http://www.everydaygenealogy.com

Feeling the Pressure!

Aren't hobbies suppose to be fun? That's what my friend Pam keeps saying about genealogy, but sometimes we ambush ourselves.

First, there is the 'secret genealogy' project. The basic work is done and I am about fifty percent done with the proofreading. I was actually feeling pretty good about it. My deadline is the end of the month and even with the car accident I was making good progress.

BUT.....

There it was at the door when I got home. The LARGE box from Amazon. This is usually a 'happy moment' because a book I ordered has arrived. Not this time. This was my in-laws anniversary present. A 12" electronic photo frame and of course we know who is loading all those pictures, making sure they are properly cropped, focused and censored. Censored? Unfortunately there have been a number of divorces in the family, so I have to make sure to not include the 'exes'.

The good news is 99% of the pictures are scanned. I just have to transfer them, but I know I will find problems with the pictures and start touching them up.

And did I mention I also have to build a website and come up with a plan to announce the 'secret project' to the world?

Talk to you next week - after my appointment with the orthopedist to talk about the numbness in my left hand since the car accident.

Life is never boring!

10 Days later.......

Has it only been 10 days since I was writing about electronic books? It seems like weeks.

The good news is I finished my 'secret' genealogy project. I have some proofreading and formatting to do and then EVERYONE will know about it.

Tori, my granddaughter has officially been diagnosed with CRMO. I will not get into the details too much, but it is heredity and is the reason she has had so many problems after breaking her collar bone and fracturing her back. I will update my Pahlke relatives since they and/or their children could be affected.

And last but not least I was hit by a dump truck (as many of you know) on Friday June 9th and totaled my car. The verdict is still out on if I have any complications. I have been having some numbness and tingling in my hands so I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow.

Oh, and I have to go car shopping this weekend!

Hope your last 10 days have been less eventful!

Electronic Books - Really?

You may or not know, but I have hundreds of books. I like looking at them, holding them and reading them. Recently Chuck asked me why I was still buying them - couldn't I just read them electronically?

I ignored him, after 40 odd years I've become pretty good at it! But, it has been on my mind. Yesterday my friend Pam brought her "Nook" to our genealogy meeting and let me try it out. While I didn't fall in love with it, I saw Chuck's point. Maybe I should at least test drive the notion.

After reading about the Kindle, Nook, Sony eBook, etc I decided not to purchase a device at this time, but borrow Clayton's iPad. He loaded the Kindle reader onto it and I purchased my first ebook, "You Never Give Me Your Money, The Beatles After the Breakup". It seemed fitting I would buy a book about one of passions, The Beatles, for my test. What isn't there to love about the Beatles! I was also pleasantly surprised that there were a number of books by F. Scott Fitzgerald (another passion)at no cost since the copyright has run out.

So, while it is raining in Tampa I will be working on my "Secret Genealogy" project and see if I can fall in love with electronic books while reading about a group that produced awesome vinyl.