Another Slump or Just Too Many Distractions?

I've not been blogging as much lately... not been doing much research either. The reasons vary and it's not unusual for me to go through one of these "times". I've had one of these slumps earlier this year and while I know it will pass, it's never comfortable for me. I feel as if valuable time is passing and I'm doing nothing about it. In reading blog posts from several other bloggers lately, it's not just me; it seems that many of us are in a bit of a slump or stretching ourselves too thin.

My blog is suffering for several reasons - lack of what I feel are interesting topics, lack of time to sit and write a meaningful post and the biggest reason being it's summertime and I've got lots of kids! I've spent the last 4 weeks taking them here and there, sending some off on trips, getting them back home and sending someone else out. All of my children are under driving age and two of them are under school age... birthday parties, play-dates, get-togethers, sports activities, sleepovers, boo boos.. these are the things that summer break are made of. One plus this month was a recent visit to my parents home which did provide me some valuable research time in the way of family photos and putting some timelines together.

My research is stalling again and I think it's partly because I simply tend to go through this every few months - I just don't have anything that's "calling" to me right now. This has been something that I've done for the last 15 years - take a bit of time away from it and come back with renewed excitement to do more. The trouble is, I wasn't blogging before last fall and now that I'm into one of my down times, my blog is also suffering because my research is slowing. Tombstone Tuesday and Wordless Wednesday are about all I can muster at this point. In the meantime there are MANY records that I need to get entered into my database - something that I've always had a problem with. I go through a research "flurry" find lots of great stuff and then it sits in a folder waiting to be entered. Maybe during this slump I could get that done, trouble is whenever I open my software I have trouble keeping myself off the internet - anyone else suffer from this distraction? The next thing I know I've skidded on over to Ancestry looking something up, checked my email, replied to a few, stopped by reader to catch up on some reading, left comments on great posts, and searched the new members at GW... viola! an evening wasted and no data entered. This is certainly an area that I need to work on.

Two more distractions that have come my way recently are Twitter and GenealogyWise. While I am still loving GenealogyWise, I have not found much use for Twitter. I'm not sitting at my PC all day, I don't use a mobile device for texting/mailing/twittering etc. I think I am ready to get out of the world of Twitter - because I never truly entered it anyway. GenealogyWise is another story. Because I was not a user of Facebook (I was tempted but never got "into it" if you will) GenealogyWise offers me another way to reach other researchers and possibly other family. Rather than waiting for someone to trip over my blog, I can reach out to any other members researching the same surnames & areas and directly contact them. This is a wonderful tool in my opinion and unlike facebook, we're ALL there for the same general purpose - Genealogy.

Whew, now that I've gotten all that off my chest, I think I'll go do some laundry and color with crayons for a while. No need to push it for today :-) I don't want to suffer another genealogy blackout.

Wordless Wednesday - My Parents Again

Still scanning photos from Grandma's collection and I couldn't go Wordless here. This shot is from 1966, Christmas Eve. The thing that strikes me about this picture is the look on my Mom's face... as if she's saying "Gosh I love you!".

Tombstone Tuesday - Virginia M. (Roles) Sullivan

I recently visited my parents who have many photos and momentoes that belonged to my Grandmother. I've been busy scanning some pictures and obituaries that I brought home with me from this trip. While scanning the obits I am of course adding the information to my family file. Today I scanned this obit and then went to Find-A-Grave and found her headstone as well. This makes a nice addition to my file along with the obit.

Virginia was the daughter of Nora Jemima Hott and Raymond Roles, she was my first cousin once removed.

Thanks again to Marie who has done so many photos of my family on Find A Grave.

Wordless Wednesday - My Wonderful Parents

Yes, it's Halloween :-) 1967

Genealogy Wise Social Network

I have to admit, I'm not a facebook or myspace user. I'm not into the social sites and never really knew what the attraction was. I wasn't interested in being contacted by hundreds of people that I didn't know.. but more than that, I really didn't want to be contacted by hundreds of people whom I hadn't seen in 20 years either. I think this would be the true and honest reason that I never joined one of these social sites.

Genealogy Wise is a different story. When I heard about it yesterday my interest was pricked. It felt like a better place for me - the difference being that the reason we're all there is because we love genealogy. This morning I jumped on the bandwagon and I must say I love the site. While I'm not sure that I'll be able to keep up with regular updates to my new page and all the other stuff that goes along with managing it, I'm sure that in time I'll come to love using it and making connections with others that love this hobby.

My blog has been suffering from lack of attention of late. I've been very busy chasing down various lines and making connections with other researchers. We also spent a long weekend out of town over the 4th of July. Summer is a very busy time in our home. Lots of kids in and out of the house every day and various plans with friends keep us busy. I hope to get back to regular posts soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Captain Morgan 1947?????

This is my Grandmother Edna Keener and one of her sons Jerry.

oh... and the chickens :-)