THE INFAMOUS MISSING NOVEMBER ORGANIZATION CHECKLIST DearREADERS, It would appear by all accounts that Myrtle, here, has NOT gotten organized and provided the November Organization Checklist... :( 1. This is your 11th month of the organization checklist. To prepare for next month's assignments, you must make one last push before the holidays to get the last of your direct-line ancestors and their families into the database, using whatever genealogy management program you have chosen. NOTE: I am often asked what to do with INDIRECT (cousin) relations. I definately put them into the database whenever I run across them. It is short-sighted to put only direct (parent, grandparent) relations in the computer. One of my most exciting genealogy "finds" was when someone else had done work, on the ancestors of my mother's great aunt. If I did not have mention of her in my database, I would never see the connection to the other person's database. 2. Begin preparation for holiday gift giving, with genealogy in mind! :: Prepare gift-sized portions of chutney or pickles from great-grandma's recipe file complete with a bound photocopy of the entire recipe book printed on interesting parchment paper. :: Buy 4X6 inch wooden frames for the copies of old pictures you learned to make with your camera this year. Give the same photo to all family units on your gift list. Include a name list, and date on the BACK of the matboard. :: Prepare a family history video for your descendants. Take videos of old family portraits, narrating anecdotal information to spice up the sound track. One reader mentioned a unique way of combining old and new. He copies his old 8MM films to video, one segment on one tape. He makes a point of narrating the background, and funny recollections prompted by the old home movie. Interesting to hear grampa's voice recalling the "olden days" of the 1950-60's! He saves these until he has a chance to go to step two, below. During the last few years of his retirement, he and his wife have been visiting the same old haunts, to capture the "new look" of Hawaii, Banff, Canada, Ocean Shores, Washington, etc. on the appropriate video tape. In one case, he had his two grandchildren stand in the same pose eating sugar cane in the same field, as grandma had done in the 1961 8MM version!!!!! However, as he panned the background scenery (as in the earlier 8mm transfered to video) one notices the stark contrast of the former row of swaying palms with the so-called progress of modern development! Except for repeated references to Puffin Island in one video, his efforts have been applauded by his descendants. 3. Get an old suitcase to put your papers in if you need to clear off the dining room table for Thanksgiving. Then, force yourself to deal with 10-20 papers per day by filing, entering data, whatever is needed. When you work through that suitcase, reward yourself by ordering a subscription to your favorite genealogy magazine