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Sorting Saturday: Attempting some organization

Lately I feel like I have been running in several different directions at once. Normally I am very organized and everything has its place. However, as my life gets more stressful, my desk has become cluttered in one large pile. Friday it was cool enough to do some cleaning and rearranging upstairs.

My work area is quarantined to a small section of my incredibly small bedroom. I began by emptying out everything onto my bed. My cat was not happy with me! To help organize things I put everything in its own pile: a writer's magazines pile; miscellaneous magazine and pamphlet pile; a diabetes info pile; a running and fitness pile; a church pile; a pile for my work at Hospitality Basket; and finally what was left on my bed should be genealogy related.

As I'm going through the piles and piles of things I came across an article  from the NGS Quarterly volume 82 # 4 from December 1994 . to article titled " Tracking a Soldier Between Enlistment and Discharge:  the Example of Private Charles Plucker" by Elizabeth Kelly Kerstenens.   She defines genealogy as "the story of nation or society on a personal level." What really neat definition!

This month – May – Genealogical Gems has highlighted various veterans in recognition of National Military Appreciation Month . Each of these men and women highlighted have given of themselves in ways some of us can only imagine.  They have each left their own personal mark on our nation  and our society.  Sometimes we forget that as we trace our family histories, that are genealogy is more than just the sum of dates and figures and places and names, but rather a story woven into the communities across our nation,  a story about our nation  on very personal levels.

By sorting through everything I also was able to organize my genealogy information sorted into Surname Files. This is something I started doing a long time ago. The Surname Files are information I have found along the way on a specific person that I just can not place. I go through the files every so often and can often piece together family members that I previously could not. Often it helps find an extended line.

I also found some things that I really do not need, like the wood buildings from The Cat's Meow and Hometown Collectibles. I just have to figure out where to best sell them. I have available:
  • Fieldcrest Apartments - Brethren Village, Lancaster PA (4th in the Brethren Village series) c.2000 The Cat's Meow
  • Village Townhouse Apartments - Brethren Village, Lancaster PA (5th in the Brethren Village series) c. 2000 The Cat's Meow
  • Grace Lutheran Church, Lancaster PA c. 1998 Hometown Collectibles
  • St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Lancaster PA c.2000 Hometown Collectibles
  • Masonic Temple, Coatesville, PA c. 1997 Hometown Collectibles -- this one is numbered 291/500.



Maybe next Saturday I can sort through a Surname Folder one by one.

In addition the organizing my genealogy files and information, I found several reference items to be used for various other articles - mostly health related and most of which will be useful for publication on Examiner.com or on Facing Diabetes. I also found some information that will be useful for a church related book I am considering attempting. I also found several ideas and prompts for prepper related articles.

In the end, I feel less cluttered. There is a lot of work for me but I feel I can tackle it better now. And the best part ... Alice has her perch back and seemed pleased with the changes!


 

Comments

  1. Organizing is so important!

    Regards, Grant

    ReplyDelete
  2. That it is, Grant! It clears the mind ... and re-opens avenues explored long ago!

    ReplyDelete

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