Genealogy Do Over ReCap: Driving It Home (with one headlight)

Here we are. Final week of the Great Genealogy Do Over of 2015. For some reason the American storyteller Jean Shepherd keeps popping into my head. How would Shep have told this tale? It would have made us laugh, that's for sure. And wince. And nod in agreement.

My tale was one wrought with much weeping. And angst. And humor. You've got to have humor. The reference to "one headlight" in the title is an apropo joke for me and a few select inner circle compadres. (and all my Facebook friends, truth be told)

Oh all right, you are really my inner circle now too. I'll share.

Mid-way through my whining and weeping trip through the Genealogy Do Over I had my highly anticipated cataract surgery. Well, let's just say things were not a "snap" for me, as so many others have reported. Nope. My eyesight actually got worse, much worse. Seeing through 'one headlight' worse. Oh, don't worry - they say it can be fixed.

With laser surgery.

In about 10 weeks.

Meanwhile they were ready to proceed as scheduled and 'fix' the other eye.

This week.

Um, no.

So here I am in my Cave with one good eye and one that is growing more and more out of focus with each passing day. It is ever more difficult to see, to type, to do all the things I love to do.

Kinda like the Do Over. (You remember the Do Over? This is a post about the Do Over.)

I thought my research was OK. I thought I had things under control and organized. A few minor tweaks was all I needed, really.

Bwaaaahaaaahaaaa .......

At week three I hit my first bump in the road and have been limping along ever since. I almost quite several times. I dug in my heels, cried and declared this whole exercise "too hard".

Who wants to do dumb old genealogy anyway?

But then something happened.

I went back to the beginning, again. (It is, after all, the very best place to start) I started from scratch. Fresh, clean, new. It felt good!

It felt DAMN good!

I opened and actually used the Research Log Spreadsheet (did you hear me? I USED the spreadsheet!!!) I started to really organize all the downloads, photos, data, links that were scattered in more places than I care to admit on my computer. I started scanning the family photos and putting them in their proper places on my computer - and my backup.

I still find myself chasing after BSO's and shaking my fist at the Genealogy gods, who often sit perched upon my shoulder, mocking my attempts at serious Cave work. But I am making progress. Small, perhaps even 'unseen by the naked eye' progress, but every day I move a bit closer, move one more file, add one more name.

Inch by inch.

....................... with one headlight.

Who's ready for more?!

Genealogy Do Over: Recap or How I Got HERE: Part Two

And now for some good news.

I've spent a lot of time dragging my heels, complaining, weeping.

But I have actually accomplished a few things.

This Do Over has been hard. Harder than I imagined. Mostly because of my own inability to stay focused. Stay on task. Allow enough time.

And, there's the wanting to do it all. NOW.

And, of course my squirrell like attention span when there is something I don't want to do because it is not F.U.N. (ahem ... spreadsheet anyone??)

So, here is what I have accomplished over these past seven weeks.

• I set all previous research aside on the portion of my tree that needed the do over. I isolated the branch and am in the process of stripping it bare of all frivolous willy-nilly 'ancestors' I have no proof of. I decided to keep the original research my grandmother had done in tact and build from there - correctly this time. (Week 1)
• I already had some good base practices set from my experience working my paternal line. I had learned a lot of what to do and what not to do and have become a much better researcher because of it. (Week 1)
• My research goal was/is to clean up and well document my maternal line. (Week 2)
• I have been tracking searches with notes and comments attached to the individual ancestor's information page - this seems easiest for me, but I did create a series of notebooks to also do some written documentation. (Week 4)
• I have a nice bookmark "tool kit" going in a subfolder under my Genealogy bookmark tab - so I felt pretty good when this topic arrived! (Week 5)
• I also have been very meticulous at citing sources more recently, learning the hard way what happens when you think you'll "remember". A practice I will carry forward! (Week 5)
• I have also been very good at evaluating evidence. So I feel good about this one too! (Week 6)
• I have begun another bookmark with online education opportunities and have attempted to watch at least one podcast a week. (Week 6)

Huh. Look at that. In reviewing my accomplishments at this 'half-way' point I realize I actually have made some progress. The "hard" stuff (for me) is still left to do, but I seem to have a good handle on some of the other topics and assignments. Alright. Ok.

Yet I still feel lost.

Behind.

Overwhelmed.

I have hours and months of work ahead of me cleaning up and removing "ancestors" that never should have been claimed in the first place. It is a daunting task - one I tip-toed around for years. I still believe it is easier (if easier is the right word for this sort of tedious task) to remove than to re build. Who knows, I may chuck it all in a fit of frustration one afternoon, but for now I plug away like an assassin killing off long dead un-relatives. 

And there's the whole spreadsheet thing (let's not go there, I was feeling so accomplished!).

To be continued .....

Genealogy Do Over: Recap or How I Got HERE: Part One

Genealogy Do Over - Restart Button

Well, well, well. Here it is Week Seven. Where am I?

Stuck somewhere back in Week Three or Four.

I lost it. Lost total control. Everything was moving way too fast and my mind was reeling. I kept a paper bag on my desk in my Cave for the increasingly frequent bouts of hyperventilation.

And I wept.

Genealogy is hard ...... When you do it right .....

But here I am. Back in the Cave. Reviewing the topics of the previous weeks. Making yet another checklist of what I did and what is still left to be done.

And, as providence would dictate, these past two weeks I have been flooded with replies to old (some very old) message board posts and new DNA matches - BSO's that distracted me, caught my eye, sucked me in. Took me off course and down the rabbit hole.

Why is it so easy to follow that darn rabbit!?!

Seems I need to recommit. Seems this is a recurring theme. Seems I need to learn some focus.

Or make another checklist.

So. Back to the beginning I go. To the beginning of the year and my grandiose plan of cleaning up my maternal lineage.  I have been avoiding this for several years, as you may know from reading some of my previous posts. The Do Over was my savior. The thing I needed to kick my butt into action. Alas, it is a self-guided course, and I am famous for guiding myself to the coffee pot, facebook, pinterest, what the neighbors are doing next door .......

The beauty of this is that with each "restart" I have made a bit of progress. Each time I "restart" I am a little farther along. I have a bit of new knowledge and a new technique or two under my belt (or should I say in my tool kit).

As I review the past seven weeks I feel terribly lost. Terribly behind. Terribly inadequate. I glance at my paper bag feeling the twinge of overwhelmedness. I pull it together and begin to make a list of all I still need to do:

• Interview the living / conduct self-interview        (Week 2)
• Stupid spreadsheet - stupid, stupid spreadsheet, er, I mean Research Log (Week 3)
• Another stupid, stupid spreadsheet - um, Project and Task Log (Week 4)
• 
  

Wait? That's it?

So what has clearly been holding me up and creating undue anxiety and pig-headedness is the SPREADSHEET!  The elephant in the room that I am trying very hard to ignore as I squeeze past to get to my comfy Cave chair.

Well, if that's all it is maybe I need to just turn my focus on creating this Spreadsheet. I already have the template on my computer...... I'll just go grab a cup of coffee .....

And take a quick peek out the window .....

Tool Kit? Yes, I Have a Tool Kit: Genealogy Do Over Week 5

Well now!! Finally one I have accomplished! Or  have the beginnings of anyway. I just got done organizing my genealogy email inbox, setting up folders and sub folders to park all my interesting tidbits; correspondence, good link lists, etc. Now it's time to clean up and organize my bookmarks!

And what great advice Thomas gave about making sure the links still work. Brilliant. That is one I may not have thought of. This week is going to be easier for me, this is something I can do. (Really. I know I've said it before, but this time I mean it) This is something I don't have to learn. And I love to organize!

The second task this week is to begin to cite sources if you have not done so already. This is something I have actually been going back and redoing little by little over the past year or so. For the Do Over I vowed to re look at my grandmother's Big Box of Stuff and make the appropriate notations in my research where I have acquired the information from her years of sleuthing. I then hope to go back and reprove her findings if she has not listed her source. (I must admit - she was very good at listing sources, I am not as good at reading through all her notations ...) I have not been using a log up to now, I have just been writing notes on each ancestors profile. The log is something I would like to get up and running. It will make it much easier to see where I'm good, and where I need to do further research. All in one place.

So much to do!!

After my melt down and subsequent epiphany last week, I feel I am in a much better place. With the realization that this 13 week Do over is a course of learning, and not a list of tasks that need to be ticked off and accomplished that week I am able to take a breath, take notes, evaluate my strengths and weaknesses and move forward.

I'm still going to use notebooks. I like to write things down. I will start to play with the Research Log and Project and Task Log. It may end up being on paper too .... we'll see. I will make no promises and will undoubtedly change my mind several times.

But I'm beginning to see a light where I once saw darkness.

Sure hope it's not a train ......

Not Enough Hours In The Day: Genealogy Do-Over Week 4

ARGH!!!! I am feeling the effects of information overload coupled with way too much to do in my non-genealogy life.

Thirteen weeks? Not nearly enough time!! The next two months I'll be lucky to get even two hours a week alone in my Genealogy Cave. My organization has turned to chaos as I write post-it after post-it of need-to-do's.

I feel my digital files are not well enough organized. I'm still finding the odd photo or document not in it's proper place. (post-it to make time to sort through all docs and pics on computer) My interviews? Well, how am I supposed to interview everyone on my list in a week!? (post-it to find email address of relatives, draft email, send email) I have committed to learn to use the dreaded spreadsheet. (post-it to learn how to use a spreadsheet) I want to create a set of documents to store notes, to-do's, etc. on my computer instead of hand writing everything (post-it to created docs for plan, to-do list, etc) Learn to use Dropbox (post-it to learn to use Dropbox) .... well, you get the idea.

I feel like I'm swimming against the current. Working hard and getting nowhere.

So today I decided to be realistic. This is not a competition. This is a learning process. I want to take my time, slow down and really focus on each step for as long as it takes. My ultimate goal with the Do-Over is to have a well sourced, true pedigree. One I can proudly upload publically knowing it is 100% correct.

And that will take some time.

This afternoon I made a fresh pot of coffee and dialed up the Genealogy Do-Over web post from Legacy. I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders as Thomas reassured us that this will take time. That life will happen. That it might take 13 weeks, 13 months or 13 years ..... and that's OK. 

Yes, yes it IS OK. I'm OK. It's all good. (and I can throw away that post-it about spreadsheets!)

So, I'm back at the beginning, taking one bite at a time, doing what I can, when I can. The difference is now I have a support group and some great tools to use, so when life takes my attention I'll have a documented place to again pick up the quest. No more two steps forward, one step back for me! I've got all the time I need .....

I think thirteen months is quite doable.

A Bump On A Log - Genealogy Do-Over: Week 3

My progress came to a screeching halt when I read the first requirement for this week's Do-Over task. Setting up a Genealogy Research Log... Using a spreadsheet... What?? I never, ever, used a spreadsheet before. I had heard of spreadsheets. I had actually seen one, once. I did not understand it. It frightened me. I had hoped to live my entire life without needing to know how to use one.

Seriously.

I quickly declared "that's it! I'm out!" This old dog can not possibly learn this new trick! I closed the email and went on to something safe, feeling sorry for myself. (Might as well be honest, right?) I came back later that day and decided that I might as well at least look at the file, that way I'd know for sure I was in over my head.  I cautiously opened the 'preview' and felt my fears confirmed. What was I looking at? It didn't make any sense! I began to weep. (You may notice this is a reaction I have to things I don't understand) And burn with anger, "how can people possibly understand this!" I exclaimed. "I'm definitely out. There is no point". Off I went to something safe again.

the horrible-spreadsheet-monster-that-I-don't-understand

Later I decided to post to the Genealogy Do-Over Facebook group my conundrum. I received several responses all with helpful  answers. First, I was not seeing the tabs on the bottom of the document which pretty much laid everything out. I did not need to create anything, just fill in some blanks. Oh!

Well, I still was not having any part of it. Looked too complicated. I like to write things out by hand. I went off to do something safe, again.

Jump forward several days. And several views of the horrible-spreadsheet-monster-that-I-don't-understand, and I'm beginning to think that maybe I can do this ..... maybe. Maybe this old dog can actually learn a new trick. It would be nice to have all my notes in one place, all my research goals neatly packaged in one form. With one name. That I can quickly locate.

I'll give it a try.

                            What can it hurt?

                                                                Guess I'm back 'in'!