Slowly making progress

2011 is getting off to a slow start. I am just plain tired. Why, you ask? There are a number of contributing factors. Some have to do with activity levels that I can control. Some to climate and temperature levels (inside as well as out) that I can't control. Then there are so many interruptions that I can't seem to really concentrate on what I need to accomplish.

Yes, I am being vague. I could blame the fact that I don't sleep well due to being too warm (my husband suffers from poor circulation). To house dust that affects my sinus (totally my fault). to rain and icy conditions that make it unsafe for me to take my "normal" 30 minute walk this time of year. To scheduled medical appointments and other weekly commitments that interrupt my day. But I will be able to move forward soon.

One more week of physical therapy will free up 2 days a week. Holiday stuff is down and most of it put away. I am cleaning a section of the house every day and cooking enough at a time that there is enough prepared to last at least 2 or 3 days. Income tax computations are complete with one small exception that I must wait on. No, I am not just sitting on my rear doing sudoku, even if it might sound appealing. However, I do spend several hours each day in the living room with Richard. This is a priority - spending time together. The work will get done. It just takes forever to do it at my snails pace.

easy to lose time

It is so easy to get lost in the process of research. One thing leads to another and before you know it, hours have passed. Focus on details makes all else just fade into the background.

Over the past couple weeks I have been following the trail of a couple ancestors. One of my cousins back in Kansas has been sending me copies of his research for several, actually more like 20, years. So after getting set for Christmas, I started looking at his information. Long story short, I found some discrepancies, new information, and some family lines that are off the wall.

One line thought to connect us directly to Presidents John and John Quincy Adams turns out to be false. Oh we share DNA through John Adam's great grandfather, but not through the presidents themselves.

This finding lead me to discover that John Adams great grandfather had married a widow following the death of his first wife. We are directly descended from the second wife who's family line leads directly to John Alden and Priscilla Mullins of "Mayflower" fame.

Still further research found me going into the LDS ancestral files only to trace still other family lines through an illegitimate son to British and European nobility, early (600 AD) Welsh ancestors and still another to ancient nordic kings (200 AD). All this takes a bit to digest.

I plan on taking small segments of "family" history at a time, putting it together with photos and stories, where available, and giving a copy to each of my off spring. It should be good for several years worth of Christmas presents. Some of the grandchildren have asked for information on family history in the past. Now they can get it from their folks and add to it from their own additional branches.

This will be quite the undertaking. Each branch needs to be verified. I don't really need another huge project right now. I am still far from wrapping up all the sorting of boxes in the basement. So I will work on genealogy as a diversion from that priority task only, at least for awhile. Life has challenges. Some are external and some self-imposed. This falls into the latter category, so I can pick it up or put it down as I see fit. It should be fun, not a burden.

Happy New Year everyone.