FGS Goes to Texas while I get dragged around FanExpo

To be honest, I'm not being dragged tooth and nail to FanExpo Canada. I kinda wanna go. Kinda. The hesitation stems mostly from the hoards of people surely to be present and ... well, annoying. That, and the fact that the miles of walking and hours of waiting in lines are sure to do my poor body a grave disservice. But ya can't let Fibromyalgia ruin your life, right? I don't want to stay at home in bed forever! [Don't I? No. I don't. I really don't... Really! You hear that Legs?? Listen up!]

But, even with three days in my very recent past devoted to lovely genealogy learning, I am jealous of all those gathering in Texas for the upcoming FGS conference. As much fun as I'm sure to have stalking Norman Reedus, canoodling with celebrities and cavorting with like-minded fan people, it is still going to be difficult. Unlike Jamboree, there will be no tweeting for me. No hashtag following. No virtual attendance. I will be gobbled up by geekery.

On the bright side, every conference attended, regardless of theme, is more experience under my belt. I will be better prepared for the US national conferences I hope to attend in the not-too-distant future. Travel tips and techniques for refining my conference-attending skills should be forthcoming. Stay tuned!

Preparing for my First Trip to the Archives of Ontario

I'm crazy excited to be in Toronto this August for not one but TWO genealogy conferences before hubby drags me along to four days of geekery and shenanigans at FanExpo!* IMO, that much of a trip alone is cause for some serious SQUEE but imagine my surprise when I realized we're going to be staying at a hotel not 10 minutes from the Archives of Ontario.

*blink*
O.O
WHAAAAAAT?????

Let the preparations begin!!! HUZZAH!!!

First on the list: reorganize trip schedule so that visit to the zoo takes place on the only day the Archives is CLOSED, rendering all free and clear to drag hubby to a FULL day of research on a day on which it is OPEN! [Shhh!! Don't tell hubby!! lol]**

Next, determine what records they have that A) I want to see in person, B) I can't get anywhere else and C) I'm ready to look up and, frankly, understand. After all, there's much info out there, lying in wait beneath the surface of the "regular" sea of records, that I still have no clue about -- and I only have 1.5 months to be organized enough to make this one, lonely little day [sigh, I always wish there could be more TIME! ...more hours in the day, more money in the bank... ] as productive as humanly possible.

Thus began the Spreadsheet of Death -

DUHN-DUHN-DUHHHHNNNNNNN

otherwise known as a comprehensive list of all the estate files and wills in the province that I still require. Which is a lot. I think I have my father's, both my grandmothers' and that someone in my family has a copy of my biological grandfather's and hubby's great grandfather's... but that's it. So my list is pretty long.

Then I have to go through the list and, according to county at time of death and date, discern whether or not the record of each person will be available to me at the archives. For many of them - those less than 40 years old - I have to contact the local courthouse. [P.I.T.A.]. For the rest... there's a mess of microfilm indices and inter-library loans to work through so that I can obtain the correct file numbers for each record. I'm not sure if I can view the indices at the archives AND see the stuff I want to look at on the same day. It's all kinda complicated... at least for someone relatively new to it all and especially for a zombie, like me, whose brain is akin to mush at times.

So, in the interim, as I make additions to the Spreadsheet of Death [DUHN-DUHN-DUHHHHNN!] and further investigate the AO website I have a plan. I'm going to start going through the printed materials for the course on Canadian Archival Centres for which I'm registered through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (NIGS). It will likely help me as I prepare for this EPIC JOURNEY in August.




Yes, The Asterisks Mean Something

*Technically, he's not dragging me. I even brought it all on myself when I bought him the Premium tix for Christmas (what a good spouse I am, eh?). I'm actually looking forward to going - though I'm not so thrilled with the lineup so far... but that's another post for different blog.

**Actually, I've already told him and he's fine with it. Really! For now anyway. LOL His tune may well change around the fourth hour of forced labour as my little zombie research gopher... [ha!] But, in all honesty, he is very supportive and didn't bat one eyelash at my exclamation of glee upon discovering our pending proximity to the repository into which I've been dying to dig my grubby little- erm, I mean, my gentle and cautious white-gloved paws.

International Children's Book Day

Today, April 2nd, is International Children's Book Day.

My favourite "toys" as a child were BOOKS, period. I had a bookcase chock-a-block full of books. I had a library card and knew how to use it. I won contests in elementary school for reading "the most" books... a Read-A-Thon for a Mutiple Sclerosis charity, I think. (I won a book, of all things! Specifically, an Empire Strikes Back photo book. For posterity's sake, I should mention that TJ Kaminski came in second). My favourite part of the school year was the annual Book Fair. So, for me, this is a difficult choice. As it stands, I could only partially narrow it down; therefore, in no particular order...

I enjoyed:

i) Judy Blume's "Super Fudge" series.
I'm pretty sure I first enjoyed this book courtesy of my fabulous grade two teacher, Mrs. Morton. I quickly read all the Judy Blume books I could get my grubby little paws on.

ii) any stories starring Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, illustration by Lynn Sweat.
I remember  my mom reading these to me as we snuggled together, chuckling along at poor Amelia's klutzy though well-meant antics.

iii) and Polly's Christmas Present (aka The Christmas Puppy) by Irma Wilde.

I checked this out of the Mayerthorpe Public Library over and over again. I was Kindergarten age or younger. I believe it's even where I got the idea to ask Santa for a puppy. He eventually bestowed upon us Holly Berry Crawley... an ugly-but-oh-so-cute little black and white terrier-slash-chihuahua, complete with big red bow who, immediately upon being "found" in the porch (boot room) by my father who claimed he had heard her whining where Santa must have left her, crawled under the toy box in my bedroom and peed on the floor.

iv) The Toothpaste Genie by Sandy Frances Duncan.
I fell in love with this story in elementary school (grade two, I think, but it could have been three) and spread the love one day when I was babysitting my cousin, Jessica, one summer.

v) the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene

old, yellow hardcovers... new paperbacks bought here in Canada and overseas... Nancy and the gang teamed up in "double issues" with Hardy Boys... all of them! I still have my collection neatly stored away, in fact! My auntie Sheila gave me my first three Nancy Drews. I remember that I must have been slightly too young for them, even though I was a pretty advanced reader for my age, because I tried to read them and had difficulties. I actually remember thinking "these must be too old for me; I'll just put them away for later". 

vi) The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

In grade three, from a stool at the front of the room Ms. Emons read my class a chapter from this novel once a week from a stool and I officially fell in love with the strange and wonderful world of Narnia. Years (and years and years...) later, my now-husband purchased the entire series for me for Christmas one year.

In general, I remember that I loved any and all books with unicorns in them - even better if they had stickers! The Elves and the Shoemaker also captivated me, although I cannot recall which version or author. I had memorized Sleeping Beauty from my mom reading it to me out of my book of fairy tales before the age of two - my mom thought she had a genius on her hands for a brief minute until she realized I skipped a few words here and there. Before kindergarten, I recall getting in serious trouble when I used my scissors to cut up my Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet book. I can actually recall thinking "this is going to be really good when I'm done" but, somehow, it didn't quite work out and my next memory is mom yelling at me in the car on the way to the library with the book carefully taped back together. I had made tiny pieces of it so that craft work was to be commended. As I grew older, I enjoyed the scary novels of Christopher Pike. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'engle was a classic. Anyway, I could go on for ages reminiscing about the books of my childhood... I will spare you more. For now.

Hubby's all-time fave kid's book was "What Ernie and Bert Did on Summer Vacation" by Patricia Thackray. I have been instructed to purchase immediately if I ever come across a copy for sale.

So... All of this begs the question:

What was YOUR favourite children's book and/or series growing up?