GrandtFamily.com

If I could sneak into Denver tomorrow and steal this and bring it back to St. Peter… i’d do it in a heart beat. It makes me drool.

OK, did anyone realize that funeral homes kept online records?? I stumbled upon the Gay & Ciha (IA) site today and they have all of the “obituary” things, you know – like what’s on the back of the memorial cards you get at a visitation/wake, online back to fall of 2002!!! Gay and Ciha Obit Archive

So, I thought – do others also? Lensing (IA) also has quite a few back to 2002. Lensing Obit Archive

The others I looked at only had the current month’s for 2008.  But for the 1st two, if you’re doing research that MIGHT have something recent… it’s not a bad source.  Funeral Homes are always a good place to start when you need directions to a cemetery, etc. also.  Keep that in mind.

Everything is the same as last week, according to the doctor today. No change. Could be today. Could be induced in 3-4 weeks.  I’m anxious to meet little Mr. or Miss.

Have made some big discoveries lately – all which of course just lead me to more places for research, but oh well! That’s the fun of it.

First – the West Liberty Public Library has an INDEX of the WL newspapers dating back to the early 1890s or so.  The local genealogical/historical society went through all the microfilm and created an index of any birth, death, marriage records in the papers.  While you still have to go to the library to look at the actual images, this creates a plan so that you know what issue you need to look at. VERY helpful. Have made 2 trips already and the pre-work made the actual research so much easier. Every time I get home from a research trip, I find more that I need to go back to WLPL to look up, since I’ve been finding more connections et al.

Second – Have pinpointed 3 direct ancestors of mine that served during the Civil War (in addition to many peripheral relatives).  Now I just need to order the actual records from NARA. Did you know that those are as expensive as they are?  I will spend about $300 before it’s all said and done to get all 3 records.  So, needless to say, now that I know WHAT to do and HOW to do it, it’s a matter of WHEN and with what money.

Third – Jason’s grandma called us last night and wanted me to find an immigration record for her great aunt.  She had when they thought she came from Germany (sometime between 1919-1922), how old she was, etc.  She was needing to find where in Germany she came from, b/c they have to get a birth record (this woman is STILL alive, can you believe it?).  Anyway, I get on EllisIsland.org this morning and within 5 minutes I had the record of the aunt AND her mother, including pictures of the ship, etc.  Ended up she came from Poland, not Germany.  But it was so fast and so easy. WHY can’t immigration records from the 1880s be that simple?  So, now I have to direct Grandma to the citizenship/naturalization records, b/c that will probably be the best source material. I doubt they’d find any birth/christening records in Poland that survived both world wars.

From the AP:

Barack Obama selected Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware late Friday night to be his vice presidential running mate, according to a Democratic official, balancing his ticket with a seasoned congressional veteran well-versed in foreign policy and defense issues.

Biden, 65, has twice sought the White House, and is a Catholic with blue-collar roots, a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has served at various times not only as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee but also as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation, Supreme Court nominees and Constitutional issues.

Found out that the Cedar Rapids library has a digital archive of ALL Cedar Rapids newspapers from 1857-1977, plus all of the city directories through 1995, plus more resources up to date through 1998 and it’s all FREE and all available ONLINE! WITH a search engine! For anyone doing any family history research, what a goldmine! I’ve been finding obituaries and articles about a lot of my family – many of whom live in Cedar County, NOT Linn County (where Cedar Rapids is). So, for anyone interested, be sure you check this out Cedar Rapids Digital Archive

On a similar note, I’ve been making great progress lately, thanks to actually having a plan and using a research map.  Have made a ton of connections and found lost people through the census records, because I actually started keeping track of where I was looking and for who.  Spent one whole day in May researching cemeteries in IA and another in July researching cemeteries in IL.  Too much fun! Have found people that I didn’t know had migrated where and when they did, which has led to more census and newspaper research.  Can’t wait to take the new baby to his/her first cemetery expedition!

I’m so glad I didn’t feel like this longer than I already have.  I don’t know hwo people do this.  I’m so uncomfortable all of the time.  I hate it. No sleep. Live in the bathroom. Can’t get comfortable. Contractions. But that’s all. No baby.

Today’s doctor’s visit was quicker than usual- which was good.  1 – 1.5cm dilated. 80% effaced for anyone who cares about that kind of thing.  That’s all.

And we still wait.

Washington (Elway Poll) – Obama 47%, McCain 35%……. Obama +12
Florida (PPP (D)) – McCain 47%, Obama 44%……. McCain +3
New York (Quinnipiac) – Obama 57%, McCain 36%……. Obama +21
Oregon (SurveyUSA) – Obama 48%, McCain 45%……. Obama +3
Wisconsin (WPRI) – Obama 44%, McCain 38%……. Obama +6
New Jersey (Rasmussen) – Obama 52%, McCain 42%……. Obama +10
New York (Rasmussen) – Obama 55%, McCain 36%……. Obama +19
Alabama (AEA/Capital Survey) – McCain 47%, Obama 34%……. McCain +13
Massachusetts (Rasmussen) – Obama 54%, McCain 38%……. Obama +16
Wisconsin (Rasmussen) – Obama 51%, McCain 44%……. Obama +7
Washington (Rasmussen) – Obama 54%, McCain 42%……. Obama +12
Missouri (Rasmussen) – McCain 50%, Obama 44%……. McCain +6
Michigan (Rasmussen) – Obama 49%, McCain 45%……. Obama +4
Colorado (PPP (D)) – Obama 48%, McCain 44%……. Obama +4
Oregon (Rasmussen) – Obama 52%, McCain 42.%…… Obama +10
Iowa (Rasmussen) – Obama 49%, McCain 44%……. Obama +5
Virginia (SurveyUSA) – Obama 47,% McCain 48.%…… McCain +1
Kentucky (SurveyUSA) – McCain 55,% Obama 37%……. McCain +18

The title says it all. My analysis this week is very simple: nothing’s changed. Virginia is still a true battle ground state showing a near tie in the most recent round of polls. All the other states haven’t changed much at all.

OK, I’m a dork and I know it. But I cannot wait for this next installment.

I like this doctor (my main one) more and more every time I see her. She has a great sense of humor.  Still no drastic change, but it could still be any time or not for another few weeks.  My mom says the baby should be smart enough to either come now or wait until she’s back from vacation (Labor Day)!  We’ll see, I guess. Have had some contractions, but nothing serious and nothing for longer than an hour.

Jason and I got our new Pack n’ Play out of the box, so that we knew how to set it up and take it down without too much difficulty.  (I will be using it the first time when I travel home for a baby shower in September after the baby is born. And I’ll be by myself!)  Neither of which were difficult, but the hardest part was putting the silly thing in its carrying case.  The bassinette piece caused the most problems and because that’s the piece I need right now, we had to include it.  I’ll be glad when we can leave that out.

Got online and looked at where we can get the car seat installation checked. So, Jason will do that sometime this week. We still need another base for the seat for our 2nd car. But that can wait a little while any way. Otherwise, I think we’re set. We went out and bought a few other “necessities” we thought we should have before the baby comes.