It's Just A Jump To The Left . . .

This post was written for the 65th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

I am way late on my posting for this edition of COG and I don't have a valid excuse like, "the dog ate my homework" or "I was attacked by zombies." And the fact that I have a past as a ballroom dancer means that I should be very interested in this topic, "Do You Know The Steps To The Genealogy Happy Dance?"

Over the years, I've had several opportunities to shake my genealogical tailfeather, as it were:

And Then A Step To The Right

My first dance was in 1995 when my mother handed me a copy of Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants and said it was my family's genealogy. I knew there was much more to it than that but it put me on the path of tracing my roots. This is how I found Johannes Putman, my 9th great-grandfather and his story of being killed by Indians in February 1690 during the Schenectady Massacre.

Put Your Hands On Your Hips

Just as I knew there had to be more than just performing research either at libraries or archives and the Internet, I decided to make the plunge into blogging about my family history in late 2006. This has provided me with the rest of my dance partners over the past two years!

You Bring Tour Knees In Tight

As I blogged and got my surname information out there, it was only a matter of time until cousins I never knew existed found me. Talk about Happy Dance!

One cousin is from my Henneberg line (my maternal grandmother) and he has provided me with valuable information as well as some great photos of the Hennebergs!  Another is a cousin to whom I reached out on a hunch that his mother was in fact my great great aunt.  He has given me some great McCrickert and McGinnes family info which I hope to use very soon!

But It's The Pelvic Thrust

Many of my Happy Dances have just involved interacting and just being silly with other Geneabloggers. Who can forget the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories or the 2008 GeneaBlogger Games? It was through Geneabloggers that I found several cousins including Randy Seaver, Kathryn Lake Hogan, Lorine Massey, Becky Wiseman and Midge Frazel!

That Really Drives You Insane!

Have you ever just busted some moves into a totally crazy dance and felt that some other force was controlling your motions? Very often that's what can happen with the Happy Dance. Sort of like a St. Vitus' Dance directed by my ancestors who've gone on before me.  Quite often, something will come over me and I'll take a certain research path and BINGO! I strike gold and once again do the Happy Dance.  

Let's Do The Time Warp Again!

I hope the dance never ends and I think with a supportive group of fellow genealogists that I've found in Geneabloggers, with all the resources available on the Internet, and all the great archives, libraries, and societies out there, I have no excuse not to dance!

Photo: Thomas MacEntee and Nancy Klokner, Black & White Ball, May 1989." Taken May, 1989. San Francisco, California. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2009.