Genealogy notes 8-9 August Australian Census Night

Last diary entry included reference to a family get together where we would be showing old videos of ourselves and our kids which we had recently converted to DVD so that we could share them with other family members. It's amazing how much we can all change even in just a few short years. There was lots of laughter as we looked back on how much we had changed and Christmas lunches we remembered but not the details of what we wore, what we ate and the gifts we received. It was a great afternoon and we will now make copies for everyone.

Today is the 2011 Australian census night and as we are currently staying at Mum's we will have to complete it here. I have been nominated the census 'person' so I will have the job of filling in the answers to the 60 questions, three times over.While I suspect I know most of the answers, I will still have to ask the others for some information. And yes, we will be saying Yes to Question 60 which is about keeping a cover of our return for future generations.

The other major genealogy task for today is to complete my talk on mining ancestors for the monthly meeting of the Southern Suburbs branch of the Genealogical Society of Queensland which is next Monday. On the following Wednesday I am giving another talk, this time on Victorian Resources for Family History to the Queensland Family History Society at their monthly meeting. I have already finalised that talk as it is based on an earlier talk I gave to the Society of Australian Genealogists in Sydney in May.

I am all organised for my three talks at the Toowoomba City Library on Saturday so that is good. I hate last minute panics and like to have all talks completed in advance so that I can just tweak them if necessary. It has been so warm here in Brisbane that I am almost looking forward to Toowoomba's cooler climate.

I'm starting to get requests for genealogy talks next year and can't believe how quickly this year has gone. I suspect this year I accepted too many requests as I seem to have hardly ever been home which is one reason why it has gone quickly. Next year should be a slower so that I can actually work on my own family history, but then I seem to say that every year!