Where have I been?

Hi, it's been 2 months since I posted. Time just flies by without my being aware of it! But I have been very busy this summer. The beginning of July was spent getting our daughter ready to leave for her semester abroad. She is studying at the University of CapeTown in South Africa. Skype has become my favorite program on my computer. We see and talk with our son in Australia, our daughter in South Africa and our son and his girlfriend in Arizona often. I truly don't know how parents let their sons and daughters go abroad before there was Skype.

But now our home is fairly quiet b/c it's just myself, Mike and our golden retriever Raleigh. Raleigh keeps me fit by demanding walks every day. We often go around the lake that is near our home and it helps me clear my mind and think about what projects I want to work on.

Genealogy has been consuming many hours of my life this summer. Both my parents have passed on and I have boxes and boxes of memorabilia to go through and record and decide what I want to scrap about etc. I am also sorting and trying to decide the best way to keep all these items. It has been very emotional for me but I am loving it. I am reliving many events of my life that I haven't thought about in many years.

I have started two genealogy notebooks for our families. I am using American Crafts 3 ring 8 1/2 x 11 scrapbooks b/c they are acid free. I am also using them b/c I have found it easier to define different sections in them  than in a regular 3 ring binder.  I covered them with paper and added my maiden name to one (Hodges) and the second one has McLaughlin on it. I suspect I may have to make more binders as I learn more about the Barber, Haughey, Fee and Galbraith families. Tim Holtz grungepaper, alteration dies and distress inks helped me decorate the covers of the notebooks.

Mike and I are going to Philadelphia soon to visit several cemeteries. We hope to learn more about where his family came from in Ireland so we can gather more information on a trip there someday.