Went out for a walk...

Over the past month, I was preparing for, going on, and then recovering from, a very long walk. 70 miles, to be exact. My completion of this task could be said to have been a major woggy project of its own, had I the wherewithal in the flurry of my planning to actually have posted it here previously.

The full walk was originally supposed to theoretically be 55 miles, but ended up being about 80, ten of which I did not participate in on day 6 (of 8) due to foot issues. But if there's nothing we've learned here in woggsville, it is that incomplete success is success nonetheless. And as I did begin at the beginning, and end at the end, and I did actually walk seventy miles, which is more than most can claim to have accomplished, and overcame many personal emotional challenges along the way, I have deemed the whole of this experience to have been an unqualified personal success.

The walk itself was and is part of a larger art project thought up by my genius artist sister, who has a project website about it, a blog of her thoughts and musings, and a photo album. I encourage you to check them all out.

Woggy #17: Family Tree

At some particular point in the last year, my sister-in-law, who had been doing some extensive family tree research on my husband's side of the family, uploaded her research to a popular family tree website, and invited us all to have a look. This of course inspired me to create a tree of my own, filling out my half of our family tree.

For a week or two, I began working regularly and diligently to expand my tree, taking advantage of the free trial membership the site had. I decided to go ahead and sign up, paying a monthly fee, thinking I would see this thing through in a month or two, culminating sometime after the holiday season, when I would incorporate all the info I got talking to all my extended family and/or receiving their replies to my organized letters that I would include with the yearly card and newsletter.

I have of course forgotten about this woggy project entirely until about last month, when I was reviewing my finances, and again this past week when I was visiting my family and thinking about the various details I might want to know about my family tree. I have yet to even formulate the sorts of questions I'd like to ask extended family, let alone create any sort of letter, organized or no, that could help me gather additional information to add to my tree.

Meanwhile, I continue to pay monthly fees to this website, sure that I'll be finishing this project up any day now, and have no need to switch over to the yearly fee structure. (It's obviously this sort of wishful thinking that keeps these folks in business.)

Things Left To Complete This Woggy Project:

• consider switching to the yearly fee structure..
• finish up doing as much research as possible given the info I currently have
• figure out what sort of info I need to try to get from whom to fill out the tree
• send out letters/emails/etc. to get info and photos from pertinent family members
• update new info as it comes in
• finish up doing as much research as possible given the info I get
• Do any needed external research
• Complete the tree as much as possible
• print a final copy, send to family members, etc.