new timer

I like to use a timer to keep from dawdling during chore time. Recently, I realized I could use conference talks for this purpose, since most are about 10-20 min. Yesterday as I listened to David Bednar remind me of my love of Family History, I de-junked and cleaned 4 drawers in the kitchen. It turned out to be a wonderful spiritual experience, as he reminded my of my duty towards and love for my departed family. He reminded me of sweet Sister Doyle, who taught me how to fill out family group sheets and pedigree charts, when I was only 17. She also told me about the Family History Library in SLC, where I spent my first wonderful week discovering the joys of research...and pursuing my husband.

Later in the day, I spent a bit of time on FamilySearch. I entered the death dates of my newly departed in-laws. Then I looked at my own submissions from the above work and research I've compiled from the work of dear aunties like Aunt Dorothy. This time, however, I found much more. Wondering who this person was that knew about my sweet aunt, I emailed her to inquire. By the end of the afternoon, she and I had exchanged greetings and stories. She also let me view and copy pictures and documents relating to Aunt Dorothy and my Great-Grandparents.

Dorothy Winifred Bradshaw Nix

I've never seen a picture of Aunt Dorothy as a young woman and only knew her as a sweet white haired lady that cared for Evie, her younger sister with Down's Syndrome. We share the same deep set eyes. I also never saw a picture of my Great-Grandmother, who died at age 60 from breast and kidney cancer. She gave me my ears.

Mary Winifred Hall Bradshaw

Another thing I found was a link to the Pennington family of Muncaster Castle. This was a fun discovery and found some interesting things about the family, including the legend that the castle is haunted. I intend to contact the person who linked my submissions to this line today. It's all very exciting.

I intend to use conference talks as my work companions. In the past, my work companions were my family. Although we still do dishes together, I'm on my own for the rest of it. Working alone, I've been sort of lonely, because to me work is a time for comradery, talking, joking, laughing, and so on. Now that I've discovered this new timer, I need never be lonely again. Next I'm going to make a MoTab playlist for to keep my indoor gardening from lapsing into dilly-dallying and a classical one for dailies.