Today was fun. I was working on finalizing my presentation last night (leaving it to the last minute, as usual) and finally got it where I wanted it. Today the events started at the stake center at 10:00, and at 11:00 I taught a class of youth and a few adults about the Find a Grave database, more specifically how to use it for family history research and how to contribute to it by creating memorials and taking photographs of headstones. Without doing a practice run it took me 50 minutes to do my spiel. I was a few minutes late starting (had to get the laptop set up to the projector), and in our last few minutes I let them browse for celebrity graves. The kids seemed interested and I made them laugh a few times. It probably helped that I had a ton of energy for this. I am passionate about family history, and volunteering to photograph graves for Find a Grave - paying it forward, in a sense, in anticipation of others fulfilling my photo requests thousands of miles away - because it has opened doors to new photos and more names to add to the family tree.
There was a terrific turnout to this event. At noon we had lunch served to us - soups, buns, fruit and desserts - and then the classes continued into the afternoon.
Today my brothers were in Toronto attending a family reunion and birthday party for the youngest sibling of my mom's family, my uncle Jean-Marc, who turns 80 in two weeks. Obviously I wasn't there, as I was committed to this presentation a few months ago, and also committed two years ago to my big trip next week. My brother took a copy of my mom's family history there for them to look through. I hope they're having a great turnout and lots of fun!
Mr. TD&H (tall, dark, and handsome) and I were supposed to finish booking our travel plans today (trains and hotels) but he was too tired from a busy day and went to bed early. Can't wait to see him. Hurry up Friday!
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