RootsTech 2013 - Can I weigh in here?

After reading the post written by the Genealogy Nitpicker on her critique of RootsTech 2013 I couldn't resist the urge to jump on the bandwagon and add my two cents - for all it's worth.  It seems the author was not overly impressed with this years selection of Official Bloggers chosen nor did she seem keen of the conference itself and so decided to knock pretty much everything about the event. 

I want to start off first by saying that she did make some valid points.  The selection process and  criteria used may have been slightly skewed and unclear.  Most of the bloggers chosen were repeat bloggers with a few 'locals' thrown in for good measure.  And there was no clear requirements outlined as to posting.

Ok, Miss Ginger - I hear you on this one.  Being a blogger for a selected  community can be frustrating.  Top anything is usually given to the same sites/people year after year.  Making the Top 10, 40 or even 100 list is virtually impossible since the better known and heavier trafficked sites fill up most spots.  I rarely bother to read who 'makes' the cut anymore because I can pretty much guess who will be in there.

While I don't dispute the content of your post I do have concerns about your delivery.  Attacking people you call 'friends' not only doesn't earn you any brownie points but isn't productive.  Your issue is with the selection process and the organizers of the event and not the people who attended/didn't attend.  There are lines between critiquing, nitpicking and just down right bitching. A critique I enjoy - the other two - not so much.

Your comments against Thomas MacEntee were simply uncalled for and unkind.  I do not 'run' with Thomas. We don't buddy up for coffee and I am probably number 500 on his dance card. The man IS busy.  He pours his heart and soul into whatever he is doing and without ever stepping on anyone's toes.   When I began blogging it was he who welcomed and introduced me to the world of Genea Bloggers.  Since then I have messaged him several times for all kinds of advice or with stupid questions and hair brained ideas.  He has ALWAYS found the time to reply (usually fairly quickly) and tried to answer every question thoroughly, with patience and without ever making me feel stupid or out of my league.  My question to you is just what the hell is a cat herder?  I have a few ideas but if any of them are correct then you just basically slammed every geneablogger out there.  Way to earn respect, Ginger.  In spite of this Thomas replied with class - as always.  To read his reply visit his post titled  Dear Diary: It Seems I’ve Been a Bad Official Blogger .

As for Dear Myrtle  how dare she not live up to your expectations and choose to do more video interviews instead of playing Ernest Hemingway for your amusement! And to actually stop and have a proud mama moment and watch her daughter instead of blogging about the conference - well the shame of it all! After all when you are an Official Blogger you should not try and enjoy any of the event for fear your readers will miss something.  Doesn't she know she has responsibilities? Maybe she should have checked with you first to ensure her priorities were in line with yours?   Oh but I do have one complaint with her blog - the font is too small.  No wait - that's just me. My eyesight is going so no, I don't have any complaints about her blog. 

I'm not going to get into the rest of them because my post is just going to get sillier.  I don't know you nor have I ever heard of you before this and you more than likely don't know me.  Do I tweet - yea, kinda - when I can figure our how to use the hashtags and when I have something worth tweeting about.  Do I blog - probably not very well or enough to make a difference but again, yea.  Facebook?  I rock that - I can share a thousand pics with my friends.  Do I live, sleep and breathe genealogy - unfortunately no. I am a mom first with a full time job. This is my hobby which I have been doing for several years.   Have I ever attended RootsTech - nope.  Would I like to?  YUP one day.  Would I care that it catered to newbies (like me)?  Not at all.  If it didn't meet my expectations then I either set then too high, or I should find a new genre to excite me..

I would have continued to read your blog - you are an excellent and interesting writer.  But looking back through your posts it really does have negative feel to it. My feedback to you is if you want to be selected, recognized or respected by those who share your passion then earn it.  Give out as much as you would like to receive and then add 100% to that.  Expect nothing and be kind.  The rest will follow.

And for the sake of everything that is sacred to you - learn to enjoy life and quit nitpicking.  It doesn't become you. 

Happy Valentines Day/Family Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Hard to believe it's mid February already! Weren't we just celebrating Christmas/New Years?  It's been a crazy few months here with all the renovations and mom having had her recent surgery but I'm happy to report that the electrical work we've been doing for the past 10 months is FINALLY complete! There are still some minor fixes required but all the major stuff is done.  Of course there's still a lot to do - the bathroom has been gutted to make room for a new shower and the old kitchen is gone.  The laundry room has been extended as well (yea, no more folding clothes on the dining room table!). Then new drywall on the ceilings and new flooring - I think we may actually finish this by summer.
This is one of those times I wish my dad was younger and in better health.  He was quite the handyman when he was younger.  I remember him putting in the new addition to our home  in New York in the mid 70's - 1200 sq. feet (plus the foundation which he dug himself) consisting of new bedrooms and a bathroom for us!  Growing up in an Italian family back then you learn a few things so I am looking forward to laying some new tiles and helping out with the drywall (does that sound insane???) I really just want to get things back to normal here - we're living out of totes which really helps keep the dust out of all the clothes and everything we wanted to keep but weren't using has gone into a storage unit.  20 plus years and five people mange to accumulate a lot of crap so lots of things have gone to the poor or the trash.  Even much of my paper files are gone.  I tried to digitize most of the important stuff.  Once all this is done I'll be ready to construct my built ins  - which I plan to do myself this summer. 

Gente di Mare Italian Genealogy

Looking forward to getting in more research.  Found a lot of interesting things I can't wait to share!  But for now I've been concentrating most of my efforts the last few months re designing the sites and adding info to the Facebook Pages.  The Italian Surname Database has also had a facelift.  You can search two ways keeping many of the spammers away making it easier for me to filter out much of my emails.  I've also included a widget to the Italian Surname Blog so all updates can be seen right in one place. 

Time to go extract some records and catch up on emails.  Loving the fact this is a long weekend here so I plan to take advantage of it!

2012 - A Year in Review

Christmas Eve 2012

The year is almost over and I can't say I'm going to be overly upset to see it end.  It's not been the best of years for our family - in fact, it's been one of the worst I can remember.  It started out fairly quiet and serene but less than 5 months into the year it seemed we must of pissed off the Gods above who in turn showered us with mis fortune & for lack of a better word, plague.
Last year this time my neighbor's (from hell) were selling their home & I had a few offers from people to sell mine - I thought it was funny then.  I  never liked living here but we bought it almost 20 years ago because it was close to my parents & we only had one child. I planned to live here for no longer than 5 years and then upgrade.  Two more children followed and just like that we had out grown the house.  Less than 4 years later my parents sold their home of 25 years and moved out of the city.  It was about the same time my husband informed me he liked living here and had no intentions of selling.  I was trapped. We decided to make the best of it and renovations began.  I took a full time job and we worked hard to make this house a home.  Almost everything was upgraded and we planned on an addition to give use more living space. Unfortunately the addition took a back seat when hubby became ill and as the kids grew up this house began to feel more and more like a sardine can for me.  For 5 years we didn't (couldn't) do anything more to the house until son number 1 - now an adult - decided to renovate the basement. It needed new drywall and he wanted to add a shower to his bathroom.  He had been saving for a few years and so the reno's began yet again.

The first problem came when we noticed some knob and tube wiring in one area of the ceiling. How did we miss that? We would need to hire an electrician for that. Might as well move the electrical box then and upgrade the circuits. 
Second problem: My insurance company calls out of the blue and says they want to come over to do an inspection.  "Why?", I ask. We've never put in a claim.  Some new routine thing they were doing. I have a bad feeling about this but ok.  The inspector shows up, camera in hand and begins snapping pictures. WTH?  Again, routine. We get to the basement and he takes out this thingy and points it to the ceiling. He asks if I am aware we have knob and tube wiring.  Yes, I'm aware.  What are our plans? Are we going to fix it?  Duh!  Anyone with a half a brain can see we are in the middle of reno's - of course we're going to fix it. When?  A week?  Month?  Before next year?  I'm not sure but yes, definitely before next year. Ok next question - why don't I have a handrail on my basement stairs. Well (you moron) my stairs are only 28 inches wide and both sides have walls with ledges to lean on. Why would I need a handrail?  The roof is next - I inform him we just fixed the roof .  Smoke/carbon monoxide detectors?  I have them on every floor and in each bedroom which is more than I need legally.  Furnace? New.  Kitchen and upstairs bathroom?  New. House alarm? Installed. After another 30 minutes of questions and alot of snapping he leaves.  Relieved I get back to cleaning.
A week later I get a call from my insurance.  Seems I have a lot of upgrades in my home - my insurance rates are going to increase.  Unless of course I don't fix the knob & tube wiring and put a handrail on one side of my basement stairs - in which case my insurance policy will be cancelled.  I have 6 months.  Oh and I need to fix my roof and upgrade my smoke/carbon monoxide detectors.  I flip out - the roof and detectors are new and I have receipts to prove it.
And so we are now almost at the end of our 6 months grace period and still under reno's.  Since the time the insurance has been out we managed to have our car breakdown, get into a car accident, & have an attempted B&E where my son was beaten and stabbed to highlight a few.  Yup - I should have sold this house.
On the up side - I have great new neighbours...

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Some people are blessed to have children and even more blessed to have children that get along.  My brother, sister and I for the most part got along very well.  We're all fairly close in age as my sister is only 14 months older than me,  my brother 2 years younger.
My parents weren't young when began their family and were fairly new to North America.  Mom could barely speak English so Italian was the first language we learned.  By the time we moved to the United States in 1970 she could only have limited conversations in English.  Dad who had been here a few years longer had a bit of an advantage as he could both read and speak English.
Our life wasn't easy.  Dad worked as a landscaper during the day while mom ran the little grocery store my parents took on right next to my grandparents apartment and just down the street from our home.  When dad came home mid afternoon he would take over the store and mom would go on to her second job which was working in a factory until 3 am.  She slept about 4 hours a night.  Somewhere during this time she would still need to cook. Dad built a kitchen in the back room of the store and she would prepare dinner there.  At lunch we would eat there. For dinner, she would prepare the food at the store then bring the food home where it would continue to cook as she got ready for work. We would be responsible for watching it when we got home as dad didn't close the store until at least 9 each night.
We were on our own much of the time as we were part of the 'latch key' generation. My sister was in charge as the oldest.  My sister was quiet and considered the 'good' one.   She always studied hard and never got into any trouble.  She was fiercely protective of us and took very good care of my brother both at home and at school.
I wasn't as good always getting into some kind of mischief.  Truth is I was bullied a lot the first few years because of my size and although I never showed it I was always afraid.  I read a lot during this time since going outside wasn't an option for me.  I got into fights often - especially with one girl who made it her life's mission to beat me up at least once annually.  This always ended up with my sister stepping in to 'rescue' me but not before I took a few lumps.  Then one day I was alone and during a fight I was pushed up into a stone wall. This resulted in three stitches to my head.  I realized that eventually my sister wasn't always going to be able to protect me and so I swore that would be the last time anyone would ever hurt me physically or otherwise.  And for the most part it was.  From then on I wasn't afraid anymore and during my last annual asskicking proved it.  My sister never had to worry about defending me again.
As teens my brother was a prankster.  He'd love to jump out of closets or pin strange objects against my bedroom window to hear me scream.  My dad was forever yelling at us to settle down 'or else'.  When he turned 16 he got his license and drove us everywhere.  We shared the same group of friends so we often went out together.  By the time he was 21 he was hooked on fixing up old cars and I often gave him my credit card to by parts from car shows.  Eventually he bought an old car,  fixed it up and gave it to me for Christmas one year so that didn't have to take the bus to work anymore.
My sister married first - a hard year for me as I didn't want her leave but turns out I didn't lose a sister, I gained a brother. They moved in with us until they bought their own home.   I married the following year and moved in with my sister.  When my brother found out I was pregnant he told my parents and insisted we move back home to save money.  During one visit home I walked in to find the first floor of my parents home transformed into an apartment complete with a nursery he and my father had built.  Two hours later my furniture was moved back in.  My brother was with us every step of my first pregnancy and somehow when I went into labor he arrived at the hospital before I did!  He waited there patiently with me and my husband for 2 days I until I gave birth.  After my husband he was was the first to hold my son and got up every morning to take care of him so that I could get a shower in and some time to myself.  My sister and her husband became Godparents to him and my brother Godfather to my second son. 
We respected and feared our parents.  We had responsibilities,  however small but we had them.  And we had each other.  To say we didn't argue would be a lie as we did fight but we all paid the price for it.    My father believed any argument was the result of two things - an instigator and a person who bought into it.  The person not involved in the fight should have been the one to stop it and so they also suffered the punishment with the other two.  He trusted and relied on us to always do the right thing.  He had to in order for him and my mother to be able to make a decent life for us.   And we relied on them and each other.
So today as I prepare for Thanksgiving at my parents tomorrow I am reminded of all the things I have to be thankful for.  Dad will be making the turkey as he always does followed by a pic of him, the grandchildren and the turkey.  Mom will be recovering from her recent surgery so my sister and I will cook the rest having divided the meal in half.  The cousins will all take off and do their own thing together until dinner is ready.  My brother will figure out some new prank which will instantly turn us back into kids and cause my father to use the 'or else' phrase (which is not an easy feat with his limited use of vocal cords).  And we will thank God that we had at least this one more holiday together.

28 Sep 2012

Thanks to Nick from Hungary Exchange for always finding such informative info for us to share!

Today, genealogy ranks second only to porn as the most searched topic online. goo.gl/U7XiD #genealogy
— Calabria Exchange (@calabriaxchange) September 28, 2012

Ardore Pubblicazioni 1884 nblo.gs/C9PO6

— Calabria Exchange (@calabriaxchange) September 15, 2012

Homade Tomato Sauce - The Old Fashion Way

Step One: Wash Away the Dirt

Every year while growing my mom made her own tomato sauce.  It was usually a family event with everyone helping out in one way or another since she made enough sauce to last us until the following year.  Unfortunately I was never interested in making the sauce so I usually ended up cooking dinner which was - you guessed it- pasta with homemade spaghetti sauce!  Once I got married I tried using the canned tomato sauce and we hated it so I began making my own.  It's not hard but it is time consuming so if you plan on making a couple of bushels ask a friend to help.

Step Two: Boil Until Soft

Pick your tomatoes and shop for price and quality.  I got lucky this year - 9.99 a bushel, hardly any dirt to wash off, none spoiled and they yielded me 15 jars per bushel.  They weren't filled with a lot of water either so I kind of regret not buying more.                                                                             Step One:  Wash the tomatoes in cold water as many times as needed to clean the dirt off them.   You can also sort at the same time and remove any that look spoiled.   Step Two:  At the same time get a large pot of water boiling on your burner.  If you are only making a small amount you could use a smaller pot on your stove.  Add some to the water and allow to boil.  You will be repeating this step several times until all your tomatoes have boiled.

Step Three: Drain to Remove Excess Water

Step three:  Once the tomatoes have softened scoop them out of the water and into a clean basket or bushel lined with an old tablecloth.  Put weight on top on the tablecloth so the excess water is drained from the tomatoes and then allow them to cool slightly.  Add more tomatoes to your boiling water.

Step four:  Have your tomato press set up on a table.  I wouldn't recommend using a glass top table.  Set up a large pot or pail below the machine but elevate it so it doesn't splatter everywhere.  Use an shallow pan on the left side to catch the peels and most of the seeds.  Do not throw them out right away as you can normally pass them through the machine a second time but not more than that or it may jam up on you.

Step four: Strain

Step five:  In clean jars add a couple of washed basil leaves.
Fill jars to the neck and then put the lids and covers on them tightly.  Once done line them into a VERY large pot or old metal barrel if you have one and fill with cold water until all the jars are covered.  You should use old towels, table clothes or cardboard around the jars inside to keep them from banging against each other or the sides once they begin boiling or they'll break.  Cover pot with a cardboard. 

Put in jars with Fresh Basil

Bring water and jars to a boil and let boil for another 20 - 30 minutes.  Turn off burner and let cool COMPLETELY before removing them.  I usually wait until the following day.  Store them in a catina (cold room) until you're ready to use it.  You can cook with them immediately if you like but you will get more of a "fresh" taste.  I prefer to use my older sauce first and allow them to age a few months but it's a matter of preference.