Last Monday was a great day but Tuesday was not the best.

ATTENTION:  July 16 meeting is NOT CANCELLED; it’s HAPPENING.

Last Monday was our June Genies meeting and it was filled with great conversation. Peggy admitted that she checks for new DNA matches every morning. Wow! I check every three months, at the most. Cheryl told us that she makes family trees constantly: for family, for friends, for neighbors, and for strangers. Sometimes she reads an obituary and builds a tree. She’s amazing!

For some of us Monday involved sitting in traffic, missing the meeting, and being disappointed.  A produce truck turned over at the Slater Road exit and highway traffic was backed up for eight hours.  What a tangle that caused!  We missed you, Suzie, but your message got through.

As I said, Monday was great but Tuesday was not the best. In the morning I fell in the garden and hurt my wrist.  All day we went to doctors and got x-rays. The bad news is 4 to 6 weeks with a cast on my arm.  It could have been worse. So now I am happy to have my Dragon dictation software. I bet I will become an expert.

Meetings coming up: July 16: In my absence Cheryl has offered to host our meeting. Come along and help her set up. There will be no prepared talk but lots of conversation. Cheryl says she’s built over 400 trees and we know that she specializes in DNA and unknown parentage.  Another “don’t miss” gathering.

Our Genies meeting on August 20 follows right on the heels of the Northwest Genealogy Conference on August 15 – 18.  We will be reporting back on the most interesting and helpful things we learned.

As we talked last Monday, Linda B. pointed out that webinars can be a good substitute for conferences. There are so many new sources for webinars. You can put together your own conference. Linda B. and I just joined the Virtual Genealogical Society. The membership is $20 a year and they offer 3 webinars each month. Linda watched one about planning a research trip and I have one coming up on future trends in genealogy. On the Genies blog there is a tab at the top Favorite Webinars which is filled with ideas.

Two Ancestry DNA tips resurfaced at this meeting.  First, if you are contacting a DNA match, don’t use the green CONTACT button on the individual match page.  Click on the person’s username and go to their profile page.  Here you will find out more about them.  Use the orange CONTACT button.  The green button does not alert your match by email.  Use the orange, not the green.  Second tip:  On your DNA match list there is a blue dot to the left of the matches that you have not looked at.  There is also a filter at the top to display new matches only.  These will help you check new matches like Peggy.

More posts are in the queue and coming soon.  Guest bloggers are welcome to share family stories or tips.

Meanwhile enjoy your summer and happy hunting!