Putting Off Writing Blog Posts

Sometimes one does not feel like writing or things get in the way of getting the words to flow in writing a post. Lately I have been doing a lot of reading, more as a distraction from dealing with my mother's probate and the selling of her home. Even though we are working with a potential buyer and have had several offers, my anxiety is running rather high. Over the weekend I spent about three hours re-doing the power point presentation for this week's class.

36 Classes, Time for a Break

Last Saturday was my final class of thirty six total for the year and there is now a two month break. There are already ten classes scheduled for next year. That day my presentation was at Portland State University, in the Cramer building. After searching online to figure out the best on-street spots for parking, onward I went with a prayer that there would be one close to the building. There on the street corner was a wonderful spot and I was very grateful to only have a couple of blocks to walk.

Counting Up to the 30,000 Pageview of Gopher Genealogy

Four more pageviews to go and this blog will reach 30,000 pageviews in two and a half years. The ride has been fun, sharing with family, friends and fellow genealogists. This week included teaching a class at the senior center and one at the local genealogical center, the Genealogical Forum of Oregon, to the Virginia Interest Group.

PowerPoint Presentations and Webinars

In 2002, right after graduating from BYU, I presented my first genealogy class on how to do Cemetery Research at our local Family History Center. Since that time my list of classes has grown to twenty, with presentations to about twenty four groups. For some groups I presented numerous times in the past eleven years and to a few only once. Usually the number of classes is one to two at a time, but there were a couple of all day seminars of three or four classes.  Most of the groups are here in Oregon, but some classes were in Washington and at BYU in Utah.

Life As a Genealogy Instructor

I love teaching, especially genealogy classes. It is stressful, time consuming, unpredictable and very rewarding. The hours just to put together a presentation and then having to update before every lecture can never be truly measured. Unlike other presenters, I do not practice the presentations out loud. Every class with me is unique, open to questions and sometimes sidetracked as those are answered. Somehow the time is magically consumed, but we manage to end pretty much on schedule.

Catching Up After A Busy Couple of Weeks

It's been nine days since my last post. Things have been hectic, with Thanksgiving at our house for fifteen, and watching our granddaughters most of the week, I am a little behind. Today I was talking on the phone with a friend and she asked me if I was enjoying a quiet house. Until that moment I had not realized I was home alone for the first time in many days. While working in solitude I can make enormous progress on genealogy projects. That is why I often work late at night, so my train of thought can flow freely, uninterrupted.