Party of Five

Not the 1st day of school.  Not even the 1st day of a new job. Today was my 1st day at my 1st genealogy conference!!! It was also day #2 of our "Griswold Family Vacation" and day #2 that I had to wake up early enough to be on the road by 6:30 am.  Although not normally a bright and cheery morning person, I was awake, showered, dressed, and wondering if we REALLY had to stop and eat breakfast first, but apparently, feeding children is one of my responsibilities as "mom"...so just as soon as bellies were full, we were on the road from Sandusky to Ft. Wayne!  Not everyone shared my excitement of what today held in store... "Clark" (Griswold) pulled up in front of the Grand Wayne Convention Center, and I was off and running for my 1st experience surrounded by fellow genealogists!  I was prepared with my backpack and pre-registered, so I checked-in...and was handed a complimentary bag.  Hmmm...backpack AND bag?  Not a problem, I can carry both, fold ...

In case you've been living under a rock or hidden away in a cave, you may have missed the news that I'm attending my first genealogy conference. Although I registered for it weeks ago, it's still not too late to pre-register for yourself and in the process take advantage of some of the fantastic benefits that are being offered: Access the conference syllabus online prior to the conference. Guarantee a spot in the "extra" conference events (on-site tickets may be available to events if they have not sold out): 10 luncheons over the 4 conference days.  5 workshops over 3 days. There is still room in the Researching African Americans in University Libraries workshop. We have also added extra spaces and still have a few seats left Researching Midwestern American Indians and Using Griffith’s Valuation to Identify Your Ancestors' Origins. The other workshops are sold out.  FGS Opening Social on Wednesday, August 21  Friday Night at ACPL on August 23 with...

Have I mentioned that I'm going to a genealogy conference? I'm going to a genealogy conference! It's just a few weeks away...15 days actually, and I'm starting to scurry as I think on all of the things I need to get prepared for.  Okay..."panic" may be a better word.  And it may take many...MANY late nights, and A LOT of chocolate and Mt. Dew that I will pay dearly for with evil trainer Sean at the gym...but I feel confident that when we do finally head out of here in 2 weeks, I'll be ready to take on The Genealogy Center in Ft. Wayne. In the mean-time...they've released the conference syllabus. It's a mere 614 pages long. Good thing I have couple of Hershey bars to get me through tonight's reading material. ;) C.