Friday Night Extravaganza & Dessert Buffet

That's right - an Extravaganza and Dessert Buffet. It's all happening at the Family History Expo in Pleasanton, California on Friday, October 8th at 6:30 PM.

Lisa Louise Cooke will be hosting her show "Genealogy Gems" live and in person. Among her guests for the evening will be Craig Manson, the outstanding author of GeneaBlogie, and yours truly. Yes, Me! Craig and I will be discussing the columns we write for the phenomenal publication "Shades of the Departed" magazine. The illustrious footnoteMaven is the editor and publisher of this wonderful magazine. She's not able to take the stage with us, but I know she'll be there in spirit.

Lisa tells me that prizes will be given away throughout the show. So clear your calendar and come join in the fun. It will be a Friday night to remember!

The Expo Is Coming!

Learn the tech to trace your roots at the California Family History Expo, October 8-9 at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton, California.

“Family History Expos can be a beacon in a dark sea of confusing documents and information,” founder and president Holly Hansen said. “We want to be a guiding light.”

The Expo begins at 8 a.m. on Friday with a keynote address by Beau Sharbrough. Houston native and graduate of Texas A&M, Beau is presently self‐employed, maintains the RootsWorks.com website and is the author of Gene’s Anniversary Scrapbook. He was the founder of the FGS and GENTECH web sites, former president of GENTECH, Product Manager at Ancestry.com and VP of Content at Footnote.com. “He is an amazing speaker and we can’t wait for him to open the show,” Hansen said.

The Expo will feature almost 100 classes and demonstrations on techniques and technology to conduct family history research. The classes and demonstrations are taught by professional genealogists and industry experts from throughout the country. The cost of registration for the event, $75, allows participants to select from a variety of classes being taught throughout the two day Expo. “We have something to offer everyone from those who are just curious about family history to those who are performing genealogy research professionally,” Hansen said.

The exhibit hall, open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 9a.m. to 4p.m. on Saturday, will feature companies focused on families and family history research. The event is sponsored by FamilySearch, Ancestry.com, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Generation Maps, Flip Pal, California Genealogy Society, and Criminal Research Press.

Butch and Jean Wilcox Hibben of Sawdust and Strings will be the highlight of the luncheon both days. Hibben plays multiple instruments and is frequently accompanied by her husband, Butch, on the saw. Hibben is a board certified genealogist and president of the Corona Genealogical Society and the Southern California Chapter of APG. Hibben has a doctorate in folklore and an MA in speech communication. She is a national speaker and staff trainer for the Corona California Family History Center.

Our Friday evening event features genealogy podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke who will be chatting with the audience and a captivating line-up of guests including Craig Manson of GeneaBlogie and Sheri Fenley of The Educated Genealogist blog. Attendees can partake in a delicious dessert bar and see first-hand a podcast production in action.

At the door registration for the Expo begins at 7 a.m. on Friday, and 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Register in advance online at http://www.fhexpos.com/. Contact Family History Expos by telephone at 801-829-3295.

SNGF - It's All In The Blood Line or Why I Get To Be Czarina of Stockton.

It's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun over at Randy Seaver's place. This weeks fun and games allows me a perfect opportunity to show the naysayers why I get to be Czarina of Stockton and they don't. Here is the task for the game this week:

1) Pick one of your ancestral lines - any one - patrilineal, matrilineal, zigzag, from a famous ancestor, etc. Pick a long one if you can.

2) Tell us which position in the birth order that your ancestor was in each generation. For example "third child, first son." Also list how many children were born to these parents.

3) Share your Birth Order work with us on your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a comment on Facebook, etc.


I am going to zigzag through my maternal ancestral lines.


1. Me - 1st child - Only daughter - 6 children

2. My Mother - 1st child - 1st daughter of Darrell Kenneth Skillman & Mary Ellen Harris (3 children)

3. Mary Ellen Harris (1916-1995) - Only child of Hillery T. Harris and Hazel Berry

4. Hillery T. Harris (1894-1959) - 4th child - 4th son of George Wesley Harris and Minda Ellen Wallace (5 children)

5. George Wesley Harris (1864-1949) - 2nd child - 1st son of Hillery Taylor Asbeth Harris and Mary Ann Frances Bess (10 children)

6. Mary Ann Frances Bess (1841-1900) - 1st child - 1st daughter of Peter Bess and Sarah H. Beam (7 children)

7. Sarah H. Beam (1823-1915) - 3rd child - 2nd daughter of David Beam and Mary Ann Wacaster (8 children)

8. David Beam (1797-1852) - 4th child - 3rd son of John Derrick Beam and Mary Hoyle (10 children)

9. John Derrick Beam (1765-1822) - 1st child - 1st son of John Teeter Beam and Rebecca Raynolds (15 children)

10. John Teeter Beam (1732-1807) - 1st child - 1st son of Michael Beam and Sarah Rudolph

11. Michael Beam (1702-1801) - Unknown

Now the explanation of my blue blood. Tradition has it that my 8th great grandmother, Sarah Rudolph, was a daughter of Rudolph, once Emperor of Germany as handed down by S. G. Goodrich, a German writer. Rudolph, once Emperor of Germany, had seven beautiful daughters who contracted alliances that proved to be happy ones. Sarah Rudolph was a member of the ruling family of Germany. Rudolph I of Hapsburg (1218-1291) Emperor of Germany, founder of the Imperial House of Austria, was the eldest son of Albert IV, Count of Hapsburg and Landgrave of Alsace. Elected Emperor in 1273. He defeated Ottokar, king of Bohemia and gave the latter's territories to his sons Albert and Rudolph. (see "Winston's Cumulative Loose-Leaf Encyclopedia" by Thomas E. Finegan, copyright 1926). The Rudolphs ruled Germany until 1830.

So that about says it all, no? I more than qualify for the Czarina seeing as how I have Emperor blood running through my veins. Thanks Seaver for the opportunity to clear this issue up.

How I Overcame Writer's Block In Less Than 24 Hours

So. Yesterday I could not write my own name, much less a sentence or the 3 client reports that I need to have done by Saturday. I tried my usual block breakers. Mood music such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy and old Motown did nothing for me. I extended my ice cream breaks from 5 minutes to 20 minutes - Nada.

Then it occurred to me that what I needed was an instant gratification fix. Now I know what you're thinking and I am not "that" kind of girl. Not on a weekday anyway. No, I am talking about seeing the results of one's hard work immediately. A job worth doing, is worth doing well and I am ever so pleased with myself when I work hard and the end result is better than expected.

My youngest son recently moved out (again) and I have the room for my office (again). I decided to pull up the nasty carpet and low and behold, there is a beautiful wood floor beneath 5 layers of old varnish and shellac. Aha! this could be my project - refinish the wood floor in my office. I run down the hall and open the door and Gasped! OMG the walls are PURPLE!

I forgot that right after son moved out, I painted the room purple. My thought at the time was - surely son will never move back home again and live in a purple room.

[note: I have since been medicated and realize how silly that thought was. Hah, the room has to be purple AND paint the trim fuchsia pink in order for son not to move back home. ]

[note to self: need to buy fuchsia pink paint ASAP]

So I figure a couple of hours and I will have the floor done in no time at all! Hahahaha.

Heee, Haahaahaa. The photo above is the fruit of six hours of my labor. Instant gratification FAIL.

Not. Even. Close.

This little diversion will now set me back at least another month before I can move my office in.

Oh well, I mustn't worry my pretty little head about such things. I will think about it another day and with that, I closed the door to the purple room. And then POOF! Just like that - like magic - I am ready to write again.

Oh and an unexpected bonus? Completely by accident, I made this scientific discovery - Jasco brand wood floor stripper works better than Nair at removing the hair from your legs. Awesome.